Bright Burns the Night by Sara B Larson, 2018

Spoiler Warning: this is the second book in a duology. Click here to read my review of the first book, Dark Breaks the Dawn.

Click to view
on Goodreads 

Ten years ago, King Lorcan of the Dark Kingdom Dorjhalon defeated Queen Evelayn and cut her conduit stone from her. Since then, he has kept her trapped in her swan form. With the loss of balance between Dark and Light, winter has descended and the Draíolon of Éadrolan lose more power every day. But once a year, Lorcan transforms her back to her Draíolon form and offers a truce. And every year Evelayn refuses -- for he requires her to Bind herself to him for life.

But now, with an Ancient power bearing down upon them, everything may change. Evelayn will learn that the truths she once believed have shattered, and that she may need her enemies even more than her allies. Lorcan and Evelayn become partners in a desperate quest to return the balance of power to Lachalonia. How far will this partnership go? Can friendship -- perhaps even love -- bloom where hatred has taken root?

Sara B. Larson delivers a thrillingly romantic and hauntingly satisfying end to this extraordinary duology.

(320 pages)

Whew. What a ride. I can't remember being this emotionally invested in a book's characters in a long time. I really cared about them, and their stories. Evelayn and Lorcan's relationship was particularly fascinating to read.

That said, I fully recognize the flaws in the story. The insta-love issues I had with the first book are even worse in this one, and the plot largely consists of a bunch of characters running through the woods with their target and the antagonist both quite vaguely defined.

But in Bright Burns the Night, it just kind of works. I don't think anyone is going to categorize this series as fine literature anytime soon, but they're just plain fun to read–and Bright is much more fun even than its prequel.

I have some issues with Evelayn's love life in this book, which is basically entirely different from the first one, and I think it's really dumb how fast she moves on from literally being turned into a swan for ten years. Her and Lorcan's relationship is extremely unrealistic.

But still. It's fun to read. And really, that's all I want for a book. Bright Burns the Night didn't just keep me tied to the page while I was reading–it also stayed in my mind for several days, as I rolled the story around in my head and relished some of the most striking scenes and characters. It's a story that has staying power, and I love that. And that's not even mentioning the fascinating magic system, where characters can smell emotions and royals can shapeshift.

I can't delve much into the plot because most of it is just the characters in the woods, and then the end has spoilers, but I did find the ending rather confusing. I like it, but I have some questions about what actually happened and how certain things will work in the future.

Honestly, looking at the story objectively, I feel like I probably shouldn't review it quite as highly as I do. But I loved the experience of reading it, so that counts for a lot. If you like what you hear about the duology, then check it out for yourself and let me know if your impressions are the same as mine!

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Dark Breaks the Dawn by Sara B. Larson, 2017

Click to view
on Goodreads 

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 onto 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.

(320 pages)

Basically: I love everything to do with Swan Lake. Always have, always will. So when Dark Breaks the Dawn showed up on my doorstep with a swan on the cover and a reference to Swan Lake in the cover letter, I was thrilled.

And I was right to be. I loved seeing the old familiar tale being told in an entirely new light. I may just be imagining it, but I also sensed hints of Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl and even Gail Carson Levin's The Two Princesses of Bamarre in the story as well, and it was very cool to see how the author also made the story her own. The magic system is very intriguing and original, with a balance of magic between the "Light" and "Dark" kingdoms. The monarchs are kind of like the lodestones for the magic of their kingdoms, channeling the power given to them by the ancient tree of magic and into all of their people. When they die, their successor must go through a ritual of claiming all the magic within a few days or otherwise they lose all of their power and the new monarch must make a long trek to the tree to somehow get the magic back and restore the balance between the two kingdoms.

Very intriguing, isn't it? I love it, this whole magic system and the world Larson has created for the old tale. What I don't love quite so much boils down to, well, the romance. I feel like there are so many amazing ways the story could have gone, so many aspects of the world-building it could have focused on or side plots it could have included, but instead we spend a significant amount of time watching Evelayn and her insta-love romance interest. Don't get me wrong, Tanvir seems like a nice enough character (and more principled than a lot of love interests!), but I just didn't really . . . well, care about his attachment to Evelayn. Whenever they had a romance scene, I would read through it quickly to get back to the good stuff. Evelayn's awesome best friend Ceren more than made up for the gooey stuff with Tanvir, though, so everything's good.

Except for that ending. The ending is not good. Why? Because it really gets into the juicy Swan Lake stuff . . . and then it's over! I can't wait to see what happens in the second book of the duology!

Disclaimer: I received an unsolicited complementary copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.