I will always read about a death god and To Dream in Darkness utterly surprised me in the best way. I was expecting emotions and swoons, but the ending? This one had the best twists and turns. Keep reading this book review of To Dream in Darkness for my full thoughts.
Summary
China in the age of brilliance, where gods freely wander the three realms. Amongst them is the cruel and beautiful Death God, who has never failed to collect a soul on time. Until now. For when he seeks out Rujia, the noble god of healing―and the only god he is fated to kill with his own hands―she makes him an offer he can’t refuse: she will help lift the excruciating, century-old curse placed upon him if he gives her a one-month reprieve.
Rujia knows she isn’t as noble as everyone believes. Her deal with Death is merely an excuse to buy herself time while she figures out an escape plan. But when her plan causes the Celestial Palace’s collapse and the beloved crown prince’s disappearance, she and Death are both held responsible. The only way to avoid the wrath of all the other gods is to travel across the realms and safely retrieve the crown prince themselves.
Yet the journey proves far more treacherous than expected. As the unlikely alliance between them blooms into more, and Death’s resolve to kill Rujia weakens by the day, neither can outrun their intertwined fate without devastating consequences: A mysterious plague. An empire-destroying flood. A thousand deaths―and rising―to restore the balance Rujia’s disrupted. And if Rujia continues to live despite the will of the Heavens, this is only the beginning…
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
To Dream in Darkness entranced me from the beginning. I love a good mash up between a god of death and one of healing. And death really gets the short end of the stick. We know it’s coming for us, but we still blame death anyway. It’s inevitable, like breathing, yet we still rue its coming and curse it. It’s terribly unfair and the cruelty he experiences made my heart ache. The ways we can de-humanize death in the pantheon and the scraps of kindness he gets – heart broken. To Dream in Darkness examines the impact of kindness, of one person who sees us, and this cycle of hurt.
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To Dream in Darkness is swoony, but it’s also deeply tender. A story about pain and retribution and the power of forgiveness and love. It’s character driven as they go through different roles and these shifting tides of vulnerability and fear. To have the strength to face the cycle of violence and revenge, to break from our roles and be more than what they expect of us. My heart broke and was glued back together and this was even more emotion than even in A Song to Drown Rivers. Find To Dream in Darkness on Goodreads, Storygraph, Blackwells, Bookshop. org & Libro. fm.