The Dark Days Club by Allison Goodman

She remembered other whispers too, echoes of Lord Carlstons words: souls and darkness And one that she had heard over and over again: loss.

Another ARC I received! Of course it comes out in like 6 days but I was really busy okay.

Reading the reviews is a bit of a ? experience? Everyone seems to adore this book? I certainly didn't hate it. This book is a Good Story, a Good Historical, but a Meh Horror.

~this book will be released on Jan 25th~

the coveeerrrr, guys. ThE COvErR

Stats:

Genre:  Historical fiction paranormal

Feelings: Naw

Happiness: Fun?

Cuteness: Not really, for me at least. VErrrryrYYyyY vague romance. Like it's romance but not in your face insta-love

Fast pacing: Slow, but it fit given the time period for some reason 

Series: Yup

Read if you like: Paranormal regency? Quirky plots?

Content: Some sex talk. Like. The monsters and stuff. It's complicated. But there's sex stuff. Kissing very c l o s e l y. And that's about it?

Trigger warning? Vague rape-like situations. 

In one sentence... Helen is supposed to focus on finishing her Season and getting married....but paranormal abilities and monsters are definitely things that can get in the way of that

Thoughts: Parasols. Dripping in blood. 

Messages: I guess you could call in feministic but it's not really. it's what you'd expect from Regency-Girl-Can-Do-The-Thing but I found it far from annoyingly feministic 

Overall

Rating: 3.5/5

Vague Spoilers regarding the paranormal aspects of story

-The characters-

Helen was kinda just a lot fantastic. Like. She was a well put together heroine. She was realistically curious, not overly annoying, but also not overly Merida-istic. You know, the whole "I CAN CHOSE WHAT I WANT TO DO WITH MY LIFE FIGHT ME" Don't get me wrong I love Merida but this trope can be overdone, especially when books are set in decades when the way people treated woman was crap, even to anti-feminists.

And like. I love how Goodman didn't force the femisim. Helen didn't complain about stitching or cooking or parties because that's a part of her life. Helen didn't complain that she was being smothered in womanly duties because she was raised for that.

Anyway. Helen. I'm glad that she was noble, ready to do the right thing, without being arrogant about it. She genuinely wants the best for everyone including herself, and that's shown well. She's not too mary-sue, but she's not too I Am ~Special~. 

Normally I don't care much about "Special" characters, but after reading so much of this genre, I have started to grow more accustumed to what is used a lot. 

Which brings me to why I am the few not raving about this book. 

-Writing and structure-

I feel like I would have asbolutely adored this book if I was fourteen. Back when I first started writing. Back when I wanted an epic histroical girl kicking ass and gifted with COOL POWERS. That was the type of story I loved. 

Okay, I still do. Who doesn't want historical settings with cool powers and weird creatures?

But something about this story didn't feel quite as dark, gothic and unsettling as I like historical paranormals to be. This book felt like the type of story younger-me would write. A story that tries to be scary and Big but doesn't quite get there. A story that uses different fonts for when characters write letters and all that. If it weren't for the sex stuff, it'd feel more vaguely middle-grade-y, at least for me.

Please don't get me wrong. A lot of people will love this. A lot of people do love this. But I love gothic atmospheres, and so I went into this expecting a Regency Creepy Atmosphere, with fluid writing and scariness. And I didn't get it. Allison is definitely a good storyteller, and I think her voice fits well with this decade. But it wasn't quite there for me.

Fourteen year old Mariesa is dying of the Awesome inside of me right now, that's for sure. But as for my horror loving side....meh. It's fully my fault for expecting horror, since it wasn't advertised as such but what can I say. I really like horror. And I like my paranormal stories to scare.

-Other-

Okay, Goodman, you did your research.

I've read a lot of speculative historical, given that's what I write. And you can tell when an author cares about historical accuracy not just cool monsters. And I appreciate that.The setting was so vibrant, and I adored it.

Basically, this book has a lot going for it. The atmosphere is good in everything except the fact that it's trying to be scary.

Also like. The sex stuff. Really weirded me out. The monster legit sucks the energy from someone while fornicating with them. 

What.

What.

Yeah I was weirded out. 

I was glad that Goodman didn't fling too much at you. She actually invented her own demon thing. And it was weird and uncomfortable. But she didn't just have this regency setting and suddenly go "OH YEAH SO VAMPIRESWEARWOLVESWITCHESZOMBIES EXIST"

Because all those would be so freaking awesome but all at once is hard to pull off

Overall, this book did a good job of telling a story with some well done characters. The paranormal atmospehre was lacking for me, but overall I think Goodman has a great start to a series on her hands, and the more I think about it, the more ready I am to give book two a shot. 

Go you