

Pacat and failure don’t belong in the same UNIVERSE. My fears were totally unfounded because when has Pacat Sensei ever disappointed? C.S. OF COURSE Dark Rise exceeded ALL of my expectations and then some. My mom kind of takes 1st place but Captive Prince is a close 1.5)ĪND YET… and yet. The trilogy that means more to me than anything in this world. The trilogy that I can’t talk - or in this case, write - about without tears springing into my eyes. The trilogy that breathes life into my very being. The trilogy that pumps blood into my veins. The trilogy that has its claws wrapped around my heart.

The trilogy that literally changed my LIFEU. My favourite author of all time who created my favourite trilogy of all time. Was I doing myself a horrible disservice by thinking that this book was going to move mountains? How was I supposed to curb my expectations, though? This is C.S. They were so, so, SO massively high that I often worried about how grossly unfair they were. I went into Dark Rise with expectations that even I couldn’t comprehend. YOU HAVE NOT EXPERIENCED PAIN UNTIL YOU HAVE FINISHED THIS BOOK HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO RECOVER FROM THIS FREAKING BOOK PLSSDJALKDJLAKSJDLKASD?! If you thought you knew pain, THINK AGAIN, BITJ. I have let this book marinate for over 12 hours in my brain and yet the gaping wounds on my soul still continue to bite, throb, and sting like a mofo.

BUT HOW IS ONE SUPPOSED TO CONTROL ONESELF WHEN ONE FINDS ONESELF READING A BOOK THAT IS DISGUSTINGLY UNPUTDOWNABLE? ///SNIFFS IN GAY I told myself that I would make this book last for DAYS - to savour it and to cherish it because I’m going to have to endure a whole FREAKING year (and then some) for the sequel for goodness sake. I finished Dark Rise last night with an upset tummy, a tremor in my hands, and my heart in my throat. Oh did I mention the main character is bisexual? HERE FOR IT. I can already tell things are about to get really, really interesting. And then the last 50 pages and the ending happened and so I'm left screaming and panicking and already NEED the next book. However, while the beginning started off extremely strong, the middle half of the book kind of dragged a bit and I was looking at a 3 star read. We got a super slow burn romance, enemies to lovers, villain origin stories, characters reborn and reimagined, and basic YA tropes (chosen ones, best friend, warrior, love interest, etc.) all subverted and flipped on their heads. This is exactly the type of book I can see blowing up on BookTok (TikTok). I would shelve this as ' light fantasy', so newcomers are welcome and anyone looking for less high strung intricate fantasy. This was really good, in a slow moving and elegant kind of way. The book is the byproduct if Demon Slayer had a threesome with Lord of the Rings, and The Dark is Rising series.
