Title: Promise of Darkness
Author: Bec McMaster
Genre: Fantasy, fantasy romance
Publisher: N/A- Independent
Publication Date: 2019
Page count: 453

Rating:

Promise of Darkness was gifted to me this holiday season by a wonderful friend who knows I have a love for fantasy romance novels. The premise is a bit of a blend of some major fantasies that are currently popular (think Blood and Ash meets A Court of Thorns and Roses with a mix of other fantasy elements), so she wasn’t wrong in guessing it would be something I’d like.

I did enjoy the story as a whole, though there was a lot to it. Every fantasy element or creature you could imagine seemed to make an appearance, but it did take a little while for their contexts to shake out. As the plot progressed though, I found that the action increased so much that I noticed the lack of details a little less.

The story of Iskvien and Thiago is based on some familiar tropes, with some unique plot elements that added a new voice to a story being told by a handful of authors right now. I found the plot moved at a good clip, and by the end, I was very invested in learning how everything would shake out. It was a neat take on the enemies-to-lovers category and a quick read that I enjoyed.

Fair warning: spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn’t read this book.

Book Review: Promise of Darkness by Bec McMaster

Promise of Darkness begins by introducing Iskvien, or Vi, the female main character. Vi is the second daughter of the powerful Queen Adaia, or the Queen of Thorns, in a world ruled mostly by queens and a couple of princes. Cast aside in favour of her sister, the heir of the throne, Vi is constantly vying for her mother’s attention and approval, and almost never getting it. Her world is full of magic and magical creatures, and danger lurks around every corner.

Queen Adaia informs Vi that a treaty has been signed between her realm and the Court of Evernight, where Vi will be sent as a hostage to live with the Prince of Evernight for three months. To deny her mother’s order would be to start a war, and so Vi is forced to comply. Before she leaves, her mother provides her with an iron dagger that holds the ability to kill the Prince of Evernight, and instructs her that she should not return unless she has succeeded in ending his life. Vi is not particularly vicious in nature and before she’s even left is worried that she won’t have the stomach to endure the task.

Upon being swept away with Thiago, the Prince of Evernight, Vi quickly finds that things are not as they seem. The prince is consistently flirtatious and seems determined to win her favour, and his court appear friendly and kind, extremely unlike the vicious court from which she’s come. She finds she’s surrounded by secrets, and eventually, through sheer determination of will, manages to get Thiago to divulge some of what he’s been hiding. The most shocking and jarring secret involves their relationship with each other, which is not at all as it seems, and leads her to question who her true enemy actually is. They then embark on a journey across their world to stop various forces of evil, all the while learning more and more about Vi’s unique magic and the role she will need to play in both Thiago’s life, and in their world.

Initially I didn’t love the quickly unfolding relationship between Vi and Thiago. It felt too spicy too quick, and it made Vi feel kind of childish to me. That said, when you start to get the relationship history behind them, it starts to make more sense. The more that the story went on, the more natural it felt, and soon enough I wasn’t bothered by them at all—in fact, I was rooting for them.

Promise of Darkness also blends elements of magic that feel both like fantasy and like science fiction. Initially the blend felt a bit jarring to me, but then I found it began to compliment the unique magic that McMaster was creating for Vi quite well and I started to enjoy it. There were also an odd assortment of fantasy characters, including banes, goblins, and boggarts, but as the story progressed they seemed to weave in more or less naturally and the world felt a little more formed to me.

What really held this book together for me was the narrative. The writing itself, the setting, even the characters to an extent all had echoes from other books I’ve read, but there were some unique elements to the plot that pulled them all together in a new way. By time I got to the end of the story, I was looking forward to seeing what the results of the build would be, and I thought it came together in a way that felt authentic to the direction the narrative had been headed in. Overall, I enjoyed this story. A solid 3 stars for me.