Moth dark is a rich contemporary fantasy reimagining the myth of Ariadne and the labyrinth, with a beautifully done star-crossed romance and powerful messages of change at its heart. It follows Sascia, a girl obsessed with the Dark and all that dwells there. She is trying to solve the problem of the ever-present darknomaly which is rapidly surfacing, before it destroys the world she knows. But whether the world she knows ending is for better or worse, now that is the question?
I’ve put the publisher synopsis below to give you a better idea of what the book is about.
Publisher synopsis:
THE DARK HAS COME ALIVE . . .
Six years ago, vicious creatures began to crawl out of the dark crevices of the world, and with it Sascia’s fascination with the darkness was born. Now that fascination has become an obsession, and while exploring an area known for its connection to the Darkworld, Sascia – impossibly – pulls out a person from the shadows. But Nugau is no ordinary person, they’re the heir to the Darkworld, with one mission . . . to kill Sascia.
Except, the second time they meet, Nugau is younger and doesn’t recognise Sascia. And the third time, Nugau stumbles out of the darkness with poison running through their veins, expressing their undying love for her.
Piecing together the puzzle, Sascia makes two shocking discoveries: the timelines of her world and Nugau’s are not linear, and she is inexplicably entangled in a war between humanity and the Dark. But with their worlds at battle, is it worth fighting for each other . . . ?
This was an easy 5 🌟 read for me.
Now let me explain why this book was so good.
Characters:
The characters were extremely well written. I had so much fun living in Sascia’s head. I found it really interesting to see the way her obsession with the dark was portrayed as love and longing for something more and magical. The complexity of dynamics that existed within her whole circle of community, were executed flawlessly. The Umber, by the end feel like one big family willing to sacrifice all for each other, despite the fact that most of the time they don’t appear to like each other that much. Let’s take a second to call out Sascia’s relationship with her cousin Danny. I love this guy, the way he shows his love for Sascia even when it is abundantly clear that she is going through fazes of doubt and self hate. Everyone needs someone like that in their lives.
And lastly: Mooch, the perfect little sidekick, especially in chapter 27 You will know what I mean soon.
Plot & Writing:
Kika writes so beautifully.
The book is a gorgeous example of world crafting and with the complexity of plot paired with non linear timelines, I was hooked from page one.
The author is able to smoothly introduce you to this very rich world without taking away from your enjoyment of the story at all.
In terms of consistency and enjoyability I have to say I enjoyed the plot very much. The constant jumping back and forth between sections of time was an incredible tool to move the story forward, while also keeping me interested and second guessing myself in terms of what could have happened that led to the events of the present.
I also think introducing the Ymneen was helpful considering this book is a standalone and you don’t have as much time to develop your character and get people really invested. But the fact that I got to see Sascia and Nugau develop as people over years of choices and mistakes made me feel more satisfied with them both in terms of character development.
Enjoyment:
A bunch of challenges have been going around social media recently asking “‘was this book good or was it just the last hundred pages?’”
And in terms of this book: Moth Dark was the kind of good that made me feel like I was constantly reading the last hundred pages, and let me tell you it did not stop. The ‘just one more chapter’ rule definitely applied here during my reading. Introducing the Aesin along with their defence of the idea of the gender binary was so much fun. I’ve never seen that kind of queer representation in a book before and it made me so happy to know that there are people bringing the idea of gender fluidity to the table in the predominantly un-inclusive industry that is the publishing world.
Feeling seen by the books you read is so important, I cannot state this enough.
I’m going to call out a scene that I feel did this so beautifuly, towards that end of chapter 39 entitled ‘the making of a universe’.
Nugau offers to settle into one gender if Sascia is uncomfortable being with them when they don’t feel like they fit in any of the binary boxes and Sascia confirms that she never thought to care about the gender Nugau is, she just loves them for who they are.
I cannot describe the utter joy I felt while reading this scene.
Romance:
As I am a hopeless romantic and an absolute sucker for a tragic love doomed from the start, this book was exactly what I needed to feed my soul. While the romance in the book is definitely a subplot, i still found it extremely enjoyable and well balanced. I don’t read a lot of the star-crossed lovers trope because my emotions simply cannot handle it. I was in tears by the time I finished and multiple places in between, simply because of how Kika set it all up.
This is where I must end, otherwise I might potentially reveal all the spoilers of the book for you. It is all together wonderful and I can’t wait for you to discover for yourself.
if your interested in how i was scoring this book then please take a second to go check out this post here where i explain everything.
and lastly I’ve included preorder likes for Moth Dark in both the US and UK if you order from these bookstores in particular then you can get yourself a signed copy as well as some absolutely beautiful character art cards of Sascia and Nugau 🥰 (Mr B’s ships Internationally if your in nether of these places)
Moth Dark comes out on the 28th of October in the US and the 30th in the UK so make sure to mark your calendars for this amazing release!
An everlasting thank you to Kika Hatzopoulou and House Of YA at Penguin UK for giving me the opportunity to read this beautiful book before publication
-Sam
