Review: Dark Breaks the Dawn

Title: Dark Breaks the Dawn
Author: Sara B Larson
Publisher: Scholastic, Inc
Release Date: May 30, 2017

On her eighteenth birthday, Princess Evelayn of Eadrolan, the Light Kingdom, can finally access the full range of her magical powers. The light looks brighter, the air is sharper, and the energy she can draw when fighting feels almost limitless.

But while her mother, the queen, remains busy at the war front, in the Dark Kingdom of Dorjhalon, the corrupt king is plotting. King Bain wants control of both kingdoms, and his plan will fling Evelayn onto the throne much sooner than she expected.

In order to defeat Bain and his sons, Evelayn will quickly have to come into her ability to shapeshift, and rely on the alluring Lord Tanvir. But not everyone is what they seem, and the balance between the Light and Dark comes at a steep price.

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In case you didn't know, this is a retelling of a prequel to the fantastic Swan Lake. Yes, that Swan Lake.

We start with Evelayn on her eighteenth birthday, having just come in to her power. Her mother, the queen of Eadrolan, is away at war, even though she promised she wouldn't miss her daughter's maturing. 

I'll get to the point and talk about a few different aspects of the book. First, the magic. I thought it was a really interesting idea to have the king or queen be the conduit for the magic, so that no one else could in the kingdom could use it without them. If the royal died, the magic had to be reclaimed for the kingdom through a specific ritual. The magical conduits being jewels made me think of The Girl of Fire and Thorns, which was totally okay, because I love that series. But it was completely different from that. While the dark kingdom held power over all that was dark and cold, the light kingdom held power over anything light and warm. They were more powerful in the sun, while the dark was more powerful in the winter or at night. The dark's powers materialized as shadows, while it was the opposite for light.

Really, the magic was pretty interesting. And I'd love to see more of it in the next book and delve even deeper.

Of course there are the people themselves: the Draíolon (I think that's how you spell it?) are a people that live to hundreds of years. Their skin is all kinds of colors, form alabaster white, to ebony black, to shades like purple. 

So this started off right with Evelayn meeting Lord Tanvir in a rather comical manner. And they become fast friends. Things take off from their as the war between the light and dark worsens. I loved how Evelayn handled everything with what she had been through. I loved how she took charge and basically told her generals and advisors to screw themselves when they told her she needed to get married and have babies to continue the royal line. And I love how both males and females fought alongside each other in the war.

Overall

I really enjoyed this one, and I can't wait for the next one. If you like the ToG series, you'll probably enjoy Dark Breaks the Dawn. Now for the year wait...

Character: 5 stars

Plot: 5 stars

Writing: 4 stars

World: 5 stars

Feels: 5 stars

5 stars

Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, and that in no way sways my opinion.