**I received an ARC from Netgalley. These are my honest opinions, and in no way was I compensated for this review.**
Dark of the West by Joanna Hathaway
Release Date: February 5, 2019
My Rating: 4 stars
Summary: He was raised in revolution. She was raised in a palace. Can their love stop a war? Code Name Verity meets The Winner's Curse in Joanna Hathaway's Dark of the West, a breathtaking YA fantasy debut.
Aurelia Isendare is a princess of a small kingdom in the North, raised in privilege but shielded from politics as her brother prepares to step up to the throne. Halfway around the world, Athan Dakar, the youngest son of a ruthless general, is a fighter pilot longing for a life away from the front lines. When Athan’s mother is shot and killed, his father is convinced it’s the work of his old rival, the Queen of Etania—Aurelia’s mother. Determined to avenge his wife’s murder, he devises a plot to overthrow the Queen, a plot which sends Athan undercover to Etania to gain intel from her children.
Athan’s mission becomes complicated when he finds himself falling for the girl he’s been tasked with spying upon. Aurelia feels the same attraction, all the while desperately seeking to stop the war threatening to break between the Southern territory and the old Northern kingdoms that control it—a war in which Athan’s father is determined to play a role. As diplomatic ties manage to just barely hold, the two teens struggle to remain loyal to their families and each other as they learn that war is not as black and white as they’ve been raised to believe.
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War is no good for the young, or for love.I wanted to read Dark of the West when I heard the comparisons to The Winner's Trilogy; then I saw the cover and I was desperate to pick this book up! Thankfully I was approved for an ARC, so I didn't have to wait too long. And this book did not disappoint! I greatly enjoyed Dark of the West, with one big exception.
One of my favorite things about this book was the writing. It was straightforward and succinct but packed so much meaning in in so little words, which is evident from the prologue. And this is a debut, which shows so much potential in Hathaway's future works.
You will always have the sky.The plot was so interesting and engrossing; I actually wasn't aware of the modernness of it, even though the summary literally mentions World War II (I know, I know, I should have read more closely smh), so that was a pleasant surprise! I don't think I've read such a modern-presenting high fantasy YA novel before. I definitely recommend it for this alone!
Also, I haven't read a YA fantasy with such political nuance in soooo long. The comparison to The Winner's Curse was definitely deserved, with the rebellion and secrecy and political intrigue. There are so much politics in this book and so many layers to it, I loved it. Of course, with politics comes war, and there is plenty of that in this novel.
"You have to be your father now, child. Do you understand?"Onto the characters!! I loved them all so much (except uh a certain diplomat ugh), especially the two protagonists, Athan and Aurelia. Their points of view read so distinctly, and I loved seeing the other person from one's point of view. It really showed the reader how you can think you know a person, but you never really know what they're thinking.
"I think I'll be myself."
The romance was so cute too! They have a lot of chemistry, and their interactions made me smile so much.
They are earth and sea. They can only go so far until they run up against one another. But you are the sky, my love. You are limitless.Of course, there were so many complex family relationships on both sides. Aurelia's brother, the crown prince, is near warring with their mother about the decisions for the kingdom, so Aurelia is stuck in the middle, trying to appease both of them without choosing a side. Athan so badly wants not to be under his father's thumb, but how can he escape with his dad as the commander and his brothers also in the military? He also wants to fly, and the air force is really the only place he can do that. But he does love his family in a real but also dutiful way?
Now onto what I didn't like. I'll start with the trivial aspects that were personal tastes (slight spoilers ahead).
The prologue occurs in the future, but the book never reaches anywhere near that time. I guess this would just to be to really put us in the story, but it made the ending of this novel anticlimactic, to me. Also, throughout the book, there were a lot, and I mean A LOT, of secrets hinted at, but we get to know...maybe two or three of them? I suppose we'll get to know more answers later, but personally, it felt like we built up to so much and never got rewarded for it in this novel, again making it anticlimactic.
**MORE SPOILERS HERE** Another thing that bothered me? Aurelia never finds out the truth about Athan, at least not in this book. I mean, she's keeping secrets from him, but that makes sense because she's a princess and she just thinks that Athan is a grunt soldier, so why would she spill state secrets!! Meanwhile, Athan keeps his entire identity from her! IDK, personally this was unnecessary to me and a bit too big a lie and a betrayal for me to ignore. **END BIG SPOILERS**
All of these things, I could have ignored, but this next thing was too much for me to ignore. I'm honestly not sure how to word this, but I haven't seen anyone else talking about it so.
Resya, where Aurelia's mother is from, is very much coded brown, as is the south, from what I got. Resya is the only kingdom, while the rest of the south is...I'm not even sure. They aren't kingdoms like the entirety of the north, and the fact that Resya is made it feel like, to me, that was presenting Resya as the only civilized country in the south, just because they have the same government as the north (i.e. the white people). That felt a little hmmmm to me, as well as the fact that Resya becomes fairly villainized later. Oh, and the fact that Resya and another country that was coded brown didn't have any distinct cultural characteristics from each other but that might just be a lack of worldbuilding. (I did ask the author if she had any cultural influences, and she said no, she drew influences from everywhere :/ )
Again, these were issues to me personally, and I feel like the sequel will fix most of them purely because we'll get to expand the world more. I hope that's the case.
I very much recommend this book, especially if you like The Winner's Curse or Code Name Verity. It had such a creative plot and great writing, and if you're in the mood for a fantasy, this is one you should check out. Dark of the West is a thrilling, engrossing ride of a novel; you won't be able to put it down. (I really wanted to make a plane pun, but I can't think of one right now, I'M SORRY, I'm not that great a writer!)
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About the Author: Joanna was born in Montréal and is an avid storyteller who was inspired to write after reading her great-grandfather’s memoirs of the First World War. A lifelong history buff, she now has shelves filled with biographies and historical accounts, and perhaps one too many books about pilots. She can often be found reading, traveling, or riding horses.
Her debut novel, DARK OF THE WEST (Tor Teen, February 5th, 2019), is the first in a WWII-infused fantasy series of forbidden love and deadly revenge.
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