haitangkitty

This is the second part of the Dark Rise trilogy. It's a queer young adult fantasy novel. It's by C.S Pacat and I absolutely loved her Captive Prince romance trilogy so I picked up this book a year ago although it's YA which I never read. I have to admit I binge read it so I don't remember every detail but I will absolutely read it again.

Few things I really loved about this book:

- The romance.The protagonist Will is guilt-ridden with dark secrets and dominant tendencies fearing he will corrupt his love interest James like he has in his last life. So he holds himself back...he has so much repressed energy waiting to burst and James is waiting for him ready to submit to him! The romance has strong bdsm vibes which is very suprising for a YA story although nothing explicit happens the tension is very strong!

- Who is good and who is bad & How past dictates us. At the heart of this story is the question surrounding fate: how the past will be relived. Both dark and light forces have come to alive in a new time in new bodies. Will everything go exactly how it went the last time? Is good or bad something that we are born, is it our fate or is it how we decide to act? Are good and bad such simple concepts really? Will does everything to be good but he is drawn to dark forces constantly and even without trying he acts according to it. He hasn't done anything bad except for being born. James as his dark companion on a lonely road also makes their romance so lovely and angsty in a way that makes the middle schooler in me squirm.

I absolutely love C.S Pacat's writing! It inspires me to become a better writer.

4/5 stars