Destined to be together, forbidden to love, two lost souls fight evil in an everyday world that belongs to the night. A dark romantasy by a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.
Aria Rialta is a girl of two realities. One she was born to. The other she was chosen for. Both are a threat.
Every night when Aria falls asleep, she enters the nightmare world of Faydor to fight a war. It’s her calling to help destroy the Kruen, who feed sin and chaos to our everyday world of vulnerable humans. It would be a lonely realm in which to do battle if not for Pax, Aria’s dangerously irresistible soulmate whose mere touch can kill. It’s also a realm that’s getting harder to escape.
Aria’s hallucinations are seeping into her waking world. And the Kruen are coming for her. To help Aria, Pax must do what no one in Faydor has dared to do before—join his soulmate in the light of day. Giving in to their forbidden attraction could be the death of them, but they might not be able to stop themselves as they embark on a cross-country journey to fight the evils hunting them.
As their desire grows, so do Aria’s untapped powers, and a menacing new force far darker than the Kruen.
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first things first
I’m pretty sure this was my first read by A.L. Jackson, which was kind of interesting considering she’s mostly a contemporary romance author. I’m unsure how comfortable she is in writing fantasy, but I personally felt like it was a wonderful foray into the genre. There was a pleasant mix of contemporary and fantasy and I enjoyed how the author connected the two.
main thoughts
Let me just tell you this: this book helped me get out of my Onyx Storm funk. I still liked OS more (personal preference), but this book did wonders in helping me out of the post-OS staring-at-the-wall funk that had me in its grip.
The switch between first- and third-person was a little jarring at first, but the more I got into the story, the more I actually kind of enjoyed it. The first-person was always during the contemporary setting, or the “real world” setting, while the third-person was during the “fantasy world” setting. It was also apropos for being a dream world; I felt like the third-person did a better job of conveying the “dream,” if you will.
This book had a fascinating premise. I’ve never read anything quite like this before and I had a lot of fun thinking about the “dream world” being where the chosen warriors are fighting off what are essentially demons.
The world was described so well, I felt like I could actually see it. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the people who are essentially Aria’s and Pax’s family. Also, the fight scenes were descriptive and exciting and incredibly fun to read!
bullet points
- I felt like this book was slightly Dramione-coded (iykyk) and being a huge fan of those vibes, I was so down.
- Pax is delicious. He’s the perfect level of morally gray and “would do anything for her.” Whew. 🔥
- The pining alone made this book worth reading. Damn.
quotes
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final thoughts
This book deserves to be given a chance. If you’re looking for something different from the “usual” fantasy romance, I think you should give this one a shot. I’m thoroughly glad I was able to read this one and I can’t wait to read book 2!
As always, if you’ve read or plan to read this book, let me know your thoughts in the comments below 🙂
Happy reading!
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