Book: Daggermouth by H.M. Wolfe
Reviewed by plotdrunk
Rating: 4/5
I really enjoyed a lot about this book. It didn't quite make it to five stars for me, but it was a strong dystopian world with surprising twists, dark romantic tension, and characters I really cared about.
I thought the worldbuilding was clear and harsh in a way that a good dystopian needs to feel believable. The delineation between the rings was easy to understand and gave good structure to the social hierarchy within New Found Haven. The power dynamics and oppression made sense, which made the stakes feel real within the world.
Shade and Greyson were another highlight for me. This book is billed as true enemies to lovers, but because the story unfolds over such a short period of time, they only hate each other for like a week before they start to shift. They do truly hate each other at first, and the banter and tension are excellent. What I loved most is that they truly see and understand each other. They feel like they are two broken people that are irredeemable, and it helps them recognize the pain and trauma in each other.
Callum Thane was by far my favorite character. He provided much-needed levity and felt like a full person. I loved that he could be harsh and cruel, but was soft for Lira. I loved every minute between him and Lira - the longing and pining, their reunion, and then him protecting her to the end - all of it made his death absolutely devastating at the end of the book (although I'm hoping maybe he's not really dead????).
The Brooker twist also GOT me. I genuinely thought we were headed towards the siblings reuniting against their father, so that twist totally surprised me. I truly couldn't believe that he betrayed the rebellion and was standing with his father the entire time.
Now for what didn't work for me:
Maximus felt increasingly one-dimensional as we got further into the story. He was somehow always two steps ahead of everyone and was positioned as this overarching villain, but without any backstory or motivation to make it compelling. By the end, he felt like a big bad guy for the sake of having an evil villain. The repeated moments where someone had a gun pointed at Maximus and didn't shoot him also started to annoy me. The characters made unbelievable choices because he was the bad guy, but there were so many opportunities to kill him.
Lastly, the pacing felt a little uneven at times. The book felt long, but I flew through it, which tells me that it was engaging but not perfectly paced. All in all, it was a fun read with a well developed world, interesting characters, great tension, and a few setbacks that landed it at four stars for me.