I did not pick up “The Darkness Within Us” by Tricia Levenseller expecting a fun, dramatic fantasy. In fact, I did not pick up the book as much as I clicked to check it out on Sora, almost sure that I would give up halfway, like I have with nearly every e-book I tried to read. My first impression was, to say the least, wrong.
“The Darkness Within Us” begins with 19 year old Chrysantha, waiting out the cruelty of her husband, the duke, for the inheritance. However, a man named Eryx soon shows up, claiming to be the duke’s estranged grandson, there to take his inheritance.
In this book, Levenseller returns to her fantasy roots with a story that wastes no time pulling its reader into the pages, into a whole different world. The plot was outstanding and intricate, but I think what stood out the most for me was the pacing.
A lot of books I’ve read with romance as either a huge part of the plot or an important subplot have been oddly and unrealistically paced. But in “The Darkness Within Us” the tension between Chrysantha and Eryx doesn’t immediately blossom into love. In fact, in the beginning, the author seemed to be ensuring that her readers would be against any romance between the two characters, by making Eryx a hateable character. Through this, Levenseller made me feel what Chrysantha was experiencing, turning the story more vivid and immersive, a book worth being involved in.
I also loved the enemies-to-lovers trope, which was essential to this story. I keep thinking it’s the most clichéd trope out there, but I can’t bring myself to dislike it. As Chrystantha’s feelings for Eryx grew, mine did, too.
But of course, with every pro comes a con, and alas, I have yet to find the perfect book in which I cannot find an element lacking. In “The Darkness Within Us,” the lacking element was the development of Chrystantha’s relationship with her sister. It seemed almost fake, told rather than shown. I would have liked to see more of their interactions, scenes where you could clearly see the conflict between them through actions rather than words.
All in all, I would definitely recommend “The Darkness Within Us” to any reader who is looking for a good young adult romantasy book, though I will say it’s probably more of a book for ages 13+, for slightly mature themes. This book can be found at most bookstores, as well as the public libraries around Ann Arbor.
