Trigger warnings: Graphic depictions of murder, incest? Sort of?
Synopsis: The Republic of Itreya is in chaos. Mia Corvere has assassinated Cardinal Duomo and rumors of Consul Scaeva’s death ripple through the street of Godsgrave like wildfire. But buried beneath those same streets, deep in the ancient city’s bones, lies a secret that will change the Republic forever.
Mia and her brother Jonnen must journey through the depths of the ancient metropolis. Their quest will take them through the Godsgrave underdark, across the Sea of Swords, back to the library of the Quiet Mountain and the poisoned blades of Mia’s old mentors, and at last the fabled Crown of the Moon. There, Mia will at last discover the origins of the darkin, and learn the destiny that lies in store for her and her world. But with the three suns now in descent, and Truedark on the horizon, will she survive?
Review: I'll be honest, Darkdawn is not my favorite book in the Nevernight series. Let's talk characters. I still love Mia. She is such an interesting character to read, and I loved that we got to see her without Eclipse and Mister Kindly for a good portion of Darkdawn. One of my favorite aspects to this story is seeing how Mia makes choices when she has fear, and when her fear is taken away. She grows so much from her experiences, and Jay does a great job of showing that. In Darkdawn, Mia spends a lot of time traveling with her brother, Jonnen. This is fine, but Jonnen has this weird shift in personality where he hates Mia, but then suddenly doesn't? I liked that we got to see them interact because it made Mia wonder if what she did to Jonnen is the same thing Scaeva did to her. But having Jonnen refer to Mia as his sister just pages after he is still calling her a kidnapper was odd.
Still, most of what knocked this book down were plot elements. First off, I wasn't terribly fond of who the "narrator" was. I'm not going to say who it is, but the answer isn't Mister Kindly, but the shadow cat also really seemed to be the only character around Mia long enough to know her story as fully as the narrator. I could buy it if Mister Kindly attached himself to Jonnen or something so Jonnen could write the story as Mister Kindly tells it. That isn't what happened. I did enjoy the idea of these books magically showing up in the Red Church's archive, mostly because they matched the editions from Goldsboro. I thought this was a nice way for someone reading the Goldsboro edition to really feel like they had a piece of magic in their hands. Though, I did see a certain plot element coming because of these books. I'm sure some people are going to think Jay was being cocky with Nevernight and Godsgrave showing up and being read by characters in this world, but I thought it was hilarious. Jay was being cheeky in the text as characters talked shit about his story, but I was fine with it.
One major thing that I would have changed is how religion is handled in this world. It is talked about, but the only religious figurehead we really seem to understand is Niah, because she is the one members of the Red Church pray and give tithe to. That's fine, but Darkdawn tried to make other deities become a part of the story, and we don't really get know know these other deities. They're mentioned in passing, or in footnotes, but not largely explored. It made me wish that Mia and Ash had spent time, in Godsgrave, with some sort of monastery or temple related to one or two of the other deities so we can maybe get to know their followers and see what drives those other deities. Then that could be carried into Darkdawn and moments like when Mia is getting attacked by these deities would have made more sense. Or maybe I would have cared more. I didn't like Cleo's incorporation into the story very much either. She didn't seem like a large enough character to me. Maybe it's because she wasn't a physical character in the other books.
As an aside, I knew the short story that was given as a preorder incentive was going to be a threesome between Tric, Ash, and Mia, BUT I kind of wish Jay trolled us and made it a threeway fight between Eclipse, Mister Kindly, and Whisper. That would have been great.
I love this world and I love these characters. This isn't quite the way I would have ended the series, but it's a solid end.
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