Book Review: Dark Breaks the Dawn by Sara B. Larson

12/14/2017

SYNOPSIS

On her eighteenth birthday, Princess Evelayn of Eadrolan, the Light Kingdom, can finally access the full range of her magical powers. The light looks brighter, the air is sharper, and the energy she can draw when fighting feels almost limitless.

But while her mother, the queen, remains busy at the war front, in the Dark Kingdom of Dorjhalon, the corrupt king is plotting. King Bain wants control of both kingdoms, and his plan...

will fling Evelayn into the throne much sooner than she expected. In order to defeat Bain and his sons, Evelayn will quickly have to come into her ability to shapeshift, and rely on the alluring Lord Tanvir. But not everyone is what they seem, and the balance between the Light and Dark comes at a steep price.

In the first book of a remarkable duology, Sara B. Larson sets the stage for her reimagining of Swan Lake - a lush romance packed with betrayal, intrigue, magic, and adventure.

Synopsis from Chapters.Indigo.ca

PERSONAL REVIEW

I liked Sara B. Larson’s Defy trilogy, so I was happy to find out that she had released the first book of a new series, with this one taking its influence from The Swan Princess fable. After reading it, however, I largely just felt disappointed; it felt rushed, flat, and overall just not very interesting. Here are some of my thoughts…

What I Thought:

Weird POV decision: I didn’t understand why we switch between POVs, especially since none of them actually give us any further insight into characters. Readers are never really given the chance to make a connection with any of the characters, which means I didn’t care about what happens to any of them. The transitions between POVs are also incredibly awkward! One paragraph would be the POV of Evelayn, then it randomly switches to Lorcan in a different place, and then the chapter ends and we have a Ceren wandering around. It added a lot of confusion to the book and somehow still made it a very shallow read; we never get any depth from who these characters are.
Relationships Felt Forced: I did not care for any of the relationships in this book. Princess Evelayn and her best friend Ceren barely interacted, outside of Ceren constantly worrying about where Evelayn was. This was such a boring relationship!
- Lord Tanvir and Evelayn have awkward encounters, and then weird fights, and then get engaged….ummm, ok? Was this supposed to be romantic?
- King Bain could not be more stereotypical, and of course his family hates him…
- I actually think the only semi-interesting relationships was between Lorcan and his brother, and it’s really just because I found both brothers to be the only characters with some depth to them.
Very Flat Characters: I don’t feel like there was any character that stood out in this book – I literally had to go back and look up character’s names when writing this review because I didn’t remember anyone. They all fell flat for me: princess, bodyguard/love interest, evil king, villainous prince, and random best friend. None of these characters seemed original, and because we barely knew them, they were all completely forgettable.

I found this book incredibly flat (I feel like that’s my go-to word in this review) and was disappointed in how such a long book could give us so little actual information. For a series set in a world filled with magic, it’s surprising how boring and forgettable the story and characters ended up being. As always, I’ll probably read the next book because I want to give the series a fair chance, but this book did not impress me.

If I’m being to harsh, let me know! Maybe I’m the only one that feels this way?

FINAL RATING: 2.5/5