The Dark Days Club Book Review
The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman
From Goodreads: London, April 1812.
On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?
Hey everyone, I thought today I would share a recent re-read of one of my favourite books. I fell in love with the Dark Days series last year, when I read it for YALC. It’s such a good series of books, and I feel like it deserves more shares and recommendations, and I knew when I read it again that I had to post a review on here.
The thing that I really loved about The Dark Days Club is the Regency setting. Goodman has clearly done her research about the fashions, customs and everything else that falls into place in this book. It isn’t my area of history expertise, but I love that this seems so well done. It also lends itself to a lot of the plot points in this book, as Helen struggles to adjust to her knowledge of the club and the expectations placed on her, while also trying to manage her position as a woman in this restrictive society. The book doesn’t try and sugar coat anything, but I like how it shows both the intriguing and terrible parts of the Regency period. It also brings the world to life. The book put me right at those parties and along Rotten Row. I felt totally immersed and I loved every moment of it.
Perhaps my most favourite part of the book though, is the characters. Helen is so steadfast and brave, and Goodman manages to expertly balance Helen’s character somewhere between awesome badass female protagonist and Regency lady. She reminds me a bit of Kestrel in The Winner’s Curse, there is physical strength there, but a lot of the time Helen relies on her mind and her quick wit. It both gets her into a lot of problems and helps her worm her way out of them. I also love love LOVE her loyal maid, Darby. She’s so kind and she’s willing to do anything to help, and she’s just such a wonderful person that it makes me want to reach through the pages of the book and give her a hug. Even so, my favourite character is without a doubt, Lord Carston. He’s one of those mysterious brooding males. He’s definitely very reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice‘s Darcy. I loved every page he appeared on, and did a whole lot of swooning while I read. He comes across very stern and with a terrible reputation, but there’s so many layers to his character and the book slowly peels back the layers.
Which leads me to admit that I was a big fan of the love triangle in this book. It tends to be a trope that I dislike, but this book handled it quite well, again using the whole Regency period to bring complexity and nuance to an overdone trope. From what I remember, it gets even more angsty in book two, but I am definitely LIVING for all the drama of this love triangle. I think it was just so well written.
I will say that the only drawback is that the plot takes a while to kick off. There’s murder and romance and monster hunting, but a large portion of the book is taken up by setting the groundwork for the rest of the series. Even so, if you’re a fan of Cassandra Clare’s Infernal Devices and Susan Dennard’s amazing Something Strange and Deadly series, I definitely can’t recommend this book enough.
Overall, I’m giving The Dark Days Club a 10/10 stars. I loved it the first time I read it, and the re-read hasn’t changed my mind 😀
Has anyone else read this book or plans to? I love to know your thoughts and opinions, so feel free to share them in the comments section below <3
