The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen Trilogy, #1)

by Alison Goodman

The first book in the dark and compelling Lady Helen trilogy, set during the Regency period, will appeal to teenagers and adults alike. London during the Season is a whirl of balls, dinners and promenades – and, for a select few, the relentless battle against demons.

Jane Austen's high society and Cassandra Clare's supernatural underworld collide in the first book in the Lady Helen trilogy, perfect for fans of historical fiction and fantasy.

London, April 1812. Lady Helen Wrexhall is set to make her curtsey to Queen Charlotte and step into polite Regency Society. Unbeknownst to Helen, that step will also take her from the glittering ballroom of Almack's and the bright lights of Vauxhall Gardens into a shadowy world of demonic creatures, missing housemaids and deadly power.

Standing between those two worlds is Lord Carlston, a man of dubious reputation and infuriating manners. He believes Helen is destined to protect humanity, but all he can offer is danger, savagery and the possibility of madness. Not the kind of destiny suitable for a young lady in her first London Season. This delightfully dangerous adventure of self-discovery and difficult choices has all the unnerving dark magic of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and the swashbuckling action of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

Reviewed by empressbrooke on

4 of 5 stars

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More like a 3.5. Basically a Buffy set in the Regency era. I liked the meticulously researched details about the time period. I also liked that the main character is basically content with her life and doesn't really appreciate the intrusion of her higher calling. Which is Buffy-ish too, but I could see a different author making her more rebellious than a typical girl of her social standing during this time period would be. The constraints for women of her class are painfully spelled out, but it's also the world she grew up in. Setting her supernatural powers within these limitations makes for an interesting conflict.

The rules and worldbuilding for how the supernatural behave book are overly elaborate, to the point where I was rolling my eyes during some infodumpy conversations. However, I'm definitely planning on reading the rest of the trilogy.

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  • Started reading
  • 6 February, 2018: Finished reading
  • 6 February, 2018: Reviewed