Week 24 Review: In the Ravenous Dark

From Goodreads:

A pansexual bloodmage reluctantly teams up with an undead spirit to start a rebellion among the living and the dead, in this dark YA fantasy by A.M. Strickland, author of Beyond the Black Door, whom Richard Kadrey calls "a storyteller of both grace and power."

In Thanopolis, those gifted with magic are assigned undead spirits to guard them—and control them. Ever since Rovan's father died trying to keep her from this fate, she's hidden her magic. But when she accidentally reveals her powers, she's bound to a spirit and thrust into a world of palace intrigue and deception.

Desperate to escape, Rovan finds herself falling for two people she can't fully trust: Lydea, a beguiling, rebellious princess; and Ivrilos, the handsome spirit with the ability to control Rovan, body and soul.

Together, they uncover a secret that will destroy Thanopolis. To save them all, Rovan will have to start a rebellion in both the mortal world and the underworld, and find a way to trust the princess and spirit battling for her heart—if she doesn't betray them first.

My Review:
This book was so fantastic! And yeah, I devoured it, it was such a great read! I loved the world, the characters, and the LGBT+ rep, it was all so excellent, and came together so well! I really enjoyed her first book under this pen name, and the synopsis sounded fantastic, so I just had to read it! Well worth it! 

I felt so badly for Rovan. The book kicks off with a prologue where she's a child, and something horrific and violent happens. Then we go the the present, and she's confronted with some very unpleasant truths, and has to find a way through this new world that she's thrust in, with not very many, or maybe at all, people to trust.

This book has excellent LGBT+ rep. Rovan is pansexual, Lydea is lesbian, Japha is nonbinary and on the ace spectrum. As well as that, there's a polymerous relationship, and I love who the members are! So yeah, excellent rep! 

I loved the magic in this book, and the politics and how it all wove together. It was infuriating how women were treated in this world. But the guardians are just so interesting! I loved the dynamic between her and Ivrilos, between what happened to her dad, and her feelings for Lydea, well, there's a bunch of reasons not to like Ivrilos. 

I did guess most of what had happened, what threat that they were facing. I was slightly off, but when we learned, yeah, that was just intense, I thought that was going to be the climax but not, plenty more book, to see them face off against the bad guy! It was so great! 

This was such a fantastic read and I really enjoyed reading it! 

Author: A.M. Strickland
Read: June 12th, 2021
Source: Ebook.bike 
Reason Why: Love her writing and it sounded really great, and it's a SAC 2021 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Imprint
Published: May 18th 2021

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars