Take Agatha Christie’s And There Were None. Put it in a bowl with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the movie with Gene Wilder). Add in a splash of both escape room and LARP-ing. It’s only then that you might get some kind of idea of what Darkly is, and even then you’re still pretty far away from understanding what you’re getting into. 

 

Believe me, that’s a good thing, because you don’t want to know everything about this book before going into it, because a huge part of Darkly’s attraction is you don’t know exactly what the heck is going on until the turn; and even then, you aren’t going to know the whole story until almost the last page. 

 

Darkly is a plot-forward YA thriller told in first-person POV, with the text heavily interspersed with epistolary and expositional (such as maps) material from the past. I do have to note for readers that reading this as an ebook was very difficult because of the small text used for the letters, blueprints, etc. I really think this book is probably best read in physical form. 

 

Darkly has a compelling and engaging start that hooks you and fast pacing that never lets up. The story completely engulfed me and I couldn’t put it down. It was a pretty quick read because I just felt like I needed to keep reading. The stakes were so high, the plot was so interesting, and it was just so much fun. I highly recommend it. 

 

I was provided a copy of this title by the publisher and author via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you. 

 

File Under: Action Adventure/YA Fiction/YA Mystery/YA Thriller