Book: Darkened Promises by Issy Eva
Reviewed by Booksbystarlightandshadows
Rating: 3/5
This started really strong and the first few chapters were a real gear change from the previous book. I was genuinely surprised at the route it went down (I'm not looking at that cover in the same light now!) and was prepared for the recovery to be really gritty to match that darkness. Unfortunately it didn't quite hit that balance for me; I appreciate trauma recovery is not a straight line but this fell into a holding pattern for quite a while and felt quite insular with Rosy only interacting with the MMCs for the majority of the book.
In the first book I felt Nate and Max were the most developed of the MMCs and the same still applies for me; Noah gets a little more page time but he and Brynn just didn't seem to have the same depth as the others which was a shame as Max in particular has a great character arc. I did like the natural conclusion Rosy's journey came to but I enjoyed the whole shadowy villains subplot more. The book leaves on an intriguing loose end which I'm interested in finding out more about in a future book!
My interpretation of the star system;
3 stars - I enjoyed it overall; would read the author again
4 stars - I really liked it; I am invested and definitely want more from this author/series
5 stars - I loved it; I engaged with this book completely until I finished it and it is one I will re-read