Give the Dark my Love by Beth Revis

Summary from Goodreads:

When seventeen-year-old Nedra Brysstain leaves her home in the rural, northern territories of Lunar Island to attend the prestigious Yugen Academy, she has only one goal in mind: learn the trade of medicinal alchemy. A scholarship student matriculating with the children of Lunar Island's wealthiest and most powerful families, Nedra doesn't quite fit in with the other kids at Yugen, who all look down on her.

All, except for Greggori "Grey" Astor. Grey is immediately taken by the brilliant and stubborn Nedra, who he notices is especially invested in her studies. And that's for a good reason: a deadly plague has been sweeping through the North, and it's making its way toward the cities. With her family's life--and the lives of all of Lunar Island's citizens--on the line, Nedra is determined to find a cure for the plague.

Grey and Nedra continue to grow closer, but as the sickness spreads and the body count rises, Nedra becomes desperate to find a cure. Soon, she finds herself diving into alchemy's most dangerous corners--and when she turns to the most forbidden practice of all, necromancy, even Grey might not be able to pull her from the darkness.

Review:

No matter what I end up thinking about a Beth Revis book, I always admire her creativity. She never ceases to amaze me, and make me go, “How on earth did she come up with that?”

I finished reading this book when I was on vacation, and I’m actually grateful for the extra time to think about this before reviewing it. It’s kind of a strange book, in that it starts off one way, and ends in a completely different zone. The first half felt like an amazing classic fantasy novel. I was comparing it to Tamora Pierce and Sherry Thomas. I was recommending it to my fantasy-loving friends.

Then, the second half of the book happens, and I guess stuff takes a seriously darker turn. It kind of goes from classic fantasy to dark horror in a blink of any eye. At first, I did not appreciate the shift. Mostly, I love a good fantasy story and I was saddened to say goodbye to the magical alchemy school and romance of it all. I had to say hello to death, necromancy, cut off limbs, suffering rats, political battles, and sadness. And well, it was kind of like being pulled out of Alanna the First Adventure and thrown into Frankenstein. It was a major shift of genre I was not anticipating. So, I was a little unhappy.

However, I rushed through the second half, on the edge of my seat the whole time. I had to know how stuff would resolve. And I kind of love dark stories…I guess my negative feelings was more of a shock thing than a dislike thing. I was not warned.

I 100% loved the end. I loved it so much I took a deep sigh, and smiled for like 10 minutes. I loved watching Nedra’s character descend into darkness. I loved her character arc. It’s kind of the character arc I hope for in all YA books about evil villains. I want to see how they become who they become in a believable way –and this usually doesn’t happen for me. Nedra was so believable and intelligent, and scary. I believed her story.

I literally just read a review for this book on Goodreads where the reviewer wrote about her slow progression of hatred for the main character…Like she didn’t get that her decline was intentional. It was so intentional. I love the moral ambiguity of this book. I love the main character’s “decline” in morality. I loved, loved, loved that. And the more I think about it, the more I realize the master Revis is at character development. It’s weird how one person’s misunderstanding can lead to a further appreciation from me, but it works that way.

All in all, upon further reflection, I really enjoyed this book. I’m happy to hear there will be a sequel. My qualms with the story were more for a lack of warning of what the story was about than for anything wrong with the book. I guess I just wish the summary or blurbs prepared me for it. The characterization of Nedra was amazing. The fantasy elements were amazing. And the darkness was addictive and suspenseful. I give this a 9/10.