Review: In the Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland

Release Date: May 18th, 2021

Genre(s): Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBT

Publisher: Imprint

Pages: 400

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to Fierce Reads and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis

In the Ravenous Dark follows Rovan, whose father died while trying to protect her from her fate of being controlled as a magic-wielder. After accidentally exposing her powers, she’s sent into a world of deception. In her plans to escape, she falls for Lydea and Ivrilios, two people she can’t trust. But together, they discover a secret that will destroy Thanopolis, and the three must gain each other’s trust in order to save them all.

Review

I’m quite a fan of dark fantasy novels, so books like In the Ravenous Dark always catch my interest. It features many unique aspects in its storytelling, and while I enjoyed this book overall, it’s certainly proved a difficult one to review! There were several aspects of this book that I enjoyed, but in the same breath, there are ways this story could have been executed that would have held my attention so much more.

To start, I really liked the worldbuilding throughout this book. Once Rovan is in the process of discovering her powers as a magic-wielder, we see just how in-depth this world is in terms of how magic is controlled and the lineages behind them. I really liked how the book continually builds on this information as the story progresses, and even though most of it is taught via explaining it to Rovan, I feel like it gave the story so much depth.

I really liked the characters as well. Rovan in particular was a really well-balanced character. For someone that is settling into her powers, her character demonstrates that growth so well. I tend to not be a fan of characters who are new to their powers and skillset and show perfection on day one, so I thought In the Ravenous Dark portrayed this really well.

Additionally, I (for the most part) liked the relationships and representation behind them in In the Ravenous Dark. This book features a polyamorous relationship, which is something I’ve yet to come across in many books. There was one part of this relationship where I found there to be a big power imbalance which I wasn’t much of a fan of. But overall, I thought the relationships between these characters were represented so well.

I think what I would have liked to see more of in In the Ravenous Dark comes more to personal preference than anything. Earlier, I mentioned how much explaining is done in this book to create worldbuilding. Personally, I also like that to mix with personal discovery and descriptions of scenery and the like, which helps me fall into a book’s setting a bit better. There were some really cool scenes in this book as well (i.e. ballroom scenes), but when books focus more on dialogue I find it harder to settle into the book. But, if flowery, descriptive writing annoys you, In the Ravenous Dark would be a better pick. 

All in all, In the Ravenous Dark was a very unique dark fantasy with great representation – there were just a few things I would have preferred in terms of execution! I’d tend to recommend this more towards those who enjoy dark fantasy with romance. Just be wary of content warnings going in for darker themes and violence/gore/blood. 

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