Right, so I hated ‘The Infernal Devices’ series by Cassandra Clare, but I do tend to enjoy YA historical fiction, so I was torn between ‘eww not demons again’ and ‘yes please this sounds like 100% my thing.’ I found after reading, that I would recommend, nay, highly recommend, ‘The Dark Days Club’ both to those that hated TID and those who loved it. If you loved TID then you will fall in love with the characters exactly as you did in Clare’s work, and if you ate it, then you can better appreciate the historical accuracy and tone.

I think it’s pretty easy to split this book up into three 150 page segments.
First 150 pages:
– Really great world building, with the atmosphere and characters. We are in Regency London, 1812. Yes, I believe it, no need to show the receipts.
– Teasing later parts of the story in subtle hints of mystery. I’m literally lapping it up.
– There’s still something the reader doesn’t know and I’m still desperate to find out, please tell me more.
Second 150 pages:
– Exposition.
– Oh jeezus, more exposition.
– If this guy gives her one more speech about what she is and what she has to do, I swear…
Third 150 pages:
– ACTION
– ROMANCE
– DRAMA
– DEATH

So the middle is a bit dull, and I got thoroughly bored of having to learn all of the terms to describe what was going on and how was who. And it seemed like there was a never ending stream of information, and just when you thought it was done, there was even more lore that throws everything into a new light. It was extra. But at least every new bit of info raised the stakes that much more, making the chances of me wanting to read the sequel increase exponentially.

Secondly, I genuinely cared about the protagonist. She wasn’t acting like a ‘special snowflake’ and it seemed like for the most part she was going to be in control of her own destiny and not let any of the male characters ruin her decision making process. I can only hope this continues into the other books in the series.

And most importantly, I’m thrilled with the direction of the whole thing. It seems like the second book is going to be even more thrilling, taking place in a different setting to mix things up. There might be more politics, but I was relieved that that wasn’t rammed down our throats with all the world building because that would have been TOO much. I thought it was a really well crafted story for the most part, even if I did roll my eyes one or two times…but when don’t I when it comes to romance?!

I think this book is highly underrated and everyone should at least look into it to see if it would be their cup of tea, because I was pleasantly surprised!