Book review: Court of Darkness by C.N. Crawford

Title: Court of Darkness

Author: C.N. Crawford

Also by this Author: Court of Shadows

Series: The Shadow Fae series, book 2

Age Category: Adult

Published by: 27 August 2018, self-published

Pages: 244 p.

Genre: Romantasy with an urban setting

About Court of Darkness

I would not say things are going well, exactly. I live in a burnt-out car under a bridge, surrounded by rubbish. When Ruadan shows up to bring me back to the Institute, I leap at the chance. That is, until he throws me into the dungeons.

I’m on the naughty list, and the mentor who once trained me is cold as ice. Now, I must pass every single trial, or the Institute’s executioners will rip me to pieces. Good thing I can handle it. I was the queen of the gladiator ring, and I do not go down easily.

(synopsis by Goodreads)

My thoughts on Court of Darkness

Sometimes, a book starts right when the previous book ended, while in others, like this one, some time has passed before the story starts. At the beginning of the first book, our main character is already in trouble when we meet her. She is caught stealing from a dragon and is trying to outrun him, which is when she runs into Ruadan again.

He convinces her to come back to the Institute; however, he does not inform Arianne of which circumstances. This book is a little bit darker than the first one, starting with Arianne being in a torture dungeon so small that it does not allow for much space to move. And being tortured by one of the other contestants.

Ruadan's actions are confusing at first, or at least they are to Arianne, as we as readers are pretty sure where it is going. In a way, Ruadan reminds me a little bit of Bryce from House of Earth and Blood. Bryce also does not explain her actions until the end of the book. The same goes for Ruadan, he does not explain himself either.

What I also liked about this book is that there is a lot of character growth, not only in our main character Arianne but also in the side characters, such as Ciara and Melusine. I like seeing how these friendships have evolved over these two books.

The world of the fae has also expanded more, as I was hoping for. We get more insight into the Institute's politics and learn that there are multiple worlds next to the world where London is based.

My conclusions of Court of Darkness

This was not the easiest review to write, I went through the book so fast that I just don't know where to start explaining what I loved so much about it. It is such an addictive book; once you pick it up, you don't want to put it down until you finish it.

This is a sign that this was well written; all the pieces fall together nicely. There are some loose ends to give you a clue as to where the story will be going next. Fortunately, there are no cliffhangers; this part of the journey is done. We are getting ready for another adventure.

The only thing that annoys me is that the author has chosen to ignore one part of the plot, the detail of who Arianne really is. It is now at the point where it has become this annoying little thing that keeps being mentioned and does not get resolved. Also, there is no way to ignore this detail as it is mentioned frequently throughout the book. I hope this gets resolved at the start of the next book, as this will become a problem for me if we do not get answers soon. It might leave me not wanting to continue reading the series.

Since this was my only complaint and I finished it within a day or three, this book gets 5 cats from me. It is definitely worth picking up after Court of Shadows. One more note, I do recommend reading the books in order, you will miss out on details if you have not read the first book in the series.