What are you looking for?

Darkness #1

ARC provided by NetGalley and ALC by author

Author: A. L. Jackson

Narrators: Victoria Mei and Teddy Hamilton

Aria Rialta is living the dream.. Sadly not in the way you think. Since she was a little girl, every night, Aria goes to Tearsith while she is asleep. There she spends time with people who have her silver eyes and she is always with Pax, the boy of white hair and kind eyes. Her parents at first think it’s a cute “imaginary friend” situation, but they grow concerned as the years pass. Things go sour for Aria when she turns 16. That’s when a Laven becomes a warrior and starts fighting the Kruens, who plague mankind. The problem is that Aria’s body brings the wounds suffered in the hands of the Kruen to her “real life” in Albany, NY.  That gets her institutionalized for “hearing voices and harming herself” for a while.  Now she just lies. 

Pax has known forever that he’s Aria’s Nol, a soulmate and protector. He loves her above all things, but they can never meet “while awake”- it’s forbidden. But when Aria is forced into a mental institution again two days shy of her 18th birthday, he throws caution to wind and goes rescue to the love of his life. 

Wow! This is Amy’s romantasy debut and what a ride! I enthralled by the worlds and how she mixed urban fantasy elements with paranormal. 

The audiobook is narrated by Victoria Mei and Teddy Hamilton in dual style. Victoria’s soothing voice gives us a young, vibrant and yet vulnerable Aria. Teddy’s performance of the protective, loyal, morally gray and a little broken Pax is perfection. 

I loved this one! The romance is there (the pining, oh the pining!) and you get sucked by the fantastical elements into the dream world. The balance between the suspense, fantasy and the smoldering slow burn between Aria and Pax is just amazing. 

It doesn’t end in a cliffhanger, but it leaves the door wide open for more adventures. I can’t wait to go back to Tearsith!

Thanks, Amy and NetGalley for the audiobook and the ebook.

Content notes: violence, gore, forced institutionalization in a mental ward, mentions of self-harm and attempted suicide