The City of Dusk

Pros: lots of intrigue, interesting fleshed out characters with realistic motivations, multiple forms of magic, good fight scenes

Cons: /

The city of Nexus sits at the crossroads of the realms of the four gods. Since the Sealing 500 years ago they’ve been cut off from the other realms and their world is slowly dying because of it. The four houses are descendants of liaisons between past royals and the gods, and use their magic to help the people as they vie for the throne. Two of the house heirs want to unseal the pathways to save their realm, while the other 2 want political power and the ability to master their gods’ magic. Meanwhile, conjurors, practitioners of forbidden demon magic, have started creating havoc in the city. Godsnight is approaching, when the planets align and with it the heirs’ best hope of breaking the sealing. But what can four humans achieve when the gods have other plans?

There’s a lot going on in this book and you’ll spend the first few chapters trying to get a handle on the heirs, their houses, their various forms of magic, the political intrigues everyone is involved in and the characters various personal goals and problems. There is a handy guide at the start of the book that gives the house name, their god, the family members, and form of magic. Refer to it often until you get to know who’s who.

The characters were all fully fleshed out with varied motivations. Things rarely went in directions I expected and it was a delight seeing what each one would do next. Two of the heirs had overbearing parents and trouble mastering their magic. The other two had easy mastery but other problems to deal with. It was fun watching the various sibling relationships as well, some loving and others confrontational. The different family units felt realistic, including the dysfunctional ones.

The magic was cool. My favourite power was House Vakara’s necromancy, but seeing the light and shadow magics was fun. You don’t see as much of the elemental magic, given Angelica’s difficulties, though you do see others wield the power. The conjuration circles and learning how demon magic worked in this world was also interesting.

The worldbuilding was well done. In addition to the realms and magic, the principle world has several cultures, all represented in Nexus.

The plot is very complex and when the revelations started happening at the end I’d figured out a few twists while others were a complete surprise. There are some great battles, including a massive, multi-chapter one at the end.

If you like dark fantasy with complex characters and multiple plot threads, interesting magic with great worldbuilding, then give this a go. Just be aware that it’s the first of a series and the ending will leave you wanting more.

I NEED BOOK 2 ASAP

Recieven this E-Arc from Netgalley in return for my honest opinion.

Honestly, I liked this book. It was slow at the beginning and I had trouble getting into the story. I stopped reading halfway for about two weeks, but I'm glad I picked the book up again.

I have the special edition from Fairyloot and it's absolutely gorgeous.

I generally don't like multiple p.o.v books but this one was doable.

The ending was pretty good, will pick up the second book when it comes out.

dnf @ 42%

This is the first book that I've read from this author. Sadly, I thought it was just average. I'm pretty bummed about it because I was so excited for this one. I enjoyed the characters and I really liked the different types of magic each House used. Other than that, I was kind of bored.

Thank you to Net Galley for the e-arc.

First, I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I'm going to keep this review brief because I'm going to post a more detailed review on my my YouTube channel. This book follows the heirs of the Four Realms: Life, Death, Light and Darkness. These heirs all have the power of their god in their veins, which gives them powers. However, a long time ago, the gods cut this city off, and their city is dying because of it. These 4 heirs must work together to save everyone living here.

I really enjoyed this book. I will say, one thing that really confused me is why these people's parents weren't who this story followed. But that's neither here nor there. I thought the characters were all incredibly thought out. We have 4 very different personalities with very different motivations, but all ultimately wanting the same thing. I loved that some of the characters did bad things and made the hard decisions. I really felt like the stakes were high in this book. The plot was fast paced, if not a little confusing at times, but by the end I felt like I was fully in the loop and understanding.

I will get more in depth in my YouTube review! I would definitely recommend fantasy readers preorder this book, though.

TW: abusive relationship, alcohol, animal abuse, attempted murder, blood, bones, bullying, death, demons, emotional abuse, famine, fire, gore, hospitalization, murder, occult, racism (fantasy), skeletons, snakes, spiders, cannibalism, terminal illness, violence

This is a great read, if a little slow between points, but overall I really enjoyed following along the four heirs and how they navigated the situation. How they dealt with each plot twist and plans that go awry. It is I would recommend to my friends!

I found my new favorite series. Absolute wow factor from start to finish. I love dark, despairing worlds and mulit-realm dimensions. I get all that and so much more with The City of Dusk.

The world building with this one is fantastic. It's intricate, well-described and easy to get lost in. There are a few different characters, houses, gods and realms to keep in mind but the way this is written, it was easy to follow and keep track of. When so many different elements are involved, that is a major plus for me.

In The City of Dusk, we have a new morally grey character, Taesia Lastrider, and I am so here for it! She is absolutely amazing. Strong, smart, loyal determined ... cruel. She adds so much to the story for me.

This first installment is a tad long, BUT I think it was necessary in order to explain everything going on and provide enough background within the world and it's structure. Too often, that isn't done well enough. Plus, it reads so incredibly fast, at least for me, because it's just so well written you're quickly sucked in and lost to the pages. What a beautiful place to be. I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this one.

Even though I think this is meant to be an adult fantasy, it is in essence, a YA Fantasy with some minor adult content. That's perfect for me. It's dark, it's heavy, it has a melancholy atmosphere with hope fleetingly mixed in. Definitely a great mix and definitely one for fantasy fans who love this type of feel when reading.

I sincerely appreciate Hatchette Book Group for providing me with a review copy. All opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone.