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Princess Dawn has been promised to Prince Geoff since she was a child. Although she tried to make herself believe that it’s what she wants, she’s conflicted. Marrying Geoff means leaving her home, and leaving the arcane fairy, Dusk, who has been her best friend her whole life. On the eve of her official betrothal, everything changes when a bizarre event turns her whole world dark. Literally.
Although Night Rise is charming, with a cast of characters who are complicated and well rounded, I struggled with it, initially. The prologue spanned around a decade of time, and being honest, was far too long. So much information was in the prologue that it was a kind of info dump. The main players of the novel were introduced in detail, possibly too much detail. I much prefer a prologue to be shortish, with a slight insight into something that will happen later in the book – or maybe from an unexpected character’s viewpoint. In Night Rise, the prologue seemed to be more of an opening chapter.
I loved the overall story arc of the book, that Dawn, Dusk and co had to try to save the world from the encroaching darkness. There’s a reason why a female saving the world is such a popular trope in Young Adult fantasy. When I was a kid, all I ever wanted to be was a character in a fantasy story, saving the world from enemies and evil. I’d wish I belonged in another world, or that I would be whisked off like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. And it wasn’t just me. Females saving a fantasy world is a strong message in our real world; it shows how strong we really are by creating a place for ourselves elsewhere. Anyway, I digress.
Once you can get past the prologue and the first couple of chapters; when Dawn stops mooning over the rather bizarre Prince Geoff, Night Rise picks up the pace and becomes a fantastic adventure through a dangerous, beautiful world.
S. A.
This was first published on Reedsy Discovery as part of the ARC program. Read the original review here
You can buy Night Rise here. It is also available to read for free on Kindle Unlimited.