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

by Alison Goodman

[Nicole Lynn]

4.5/5 stars

Really enjoyed this book and I'm curious to see where the story is headed. I really liked the historical setting and Goodman did a great job writing it.

Review to come!
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This review previously appeared on my blog, PopCrunchBoom Books

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman follows Lady Helen in 1812 London. Helen has been preparing for marriage season at eighteen-years-old under her aunt & uncle's watchful eyes. However, one of her household's maids disappears and then the mysterious (presumably dangerous) Lord Carlston appears back in society. Helen wants to get to the bottom of her maid's disappearance, if Lord Carlston's involved and to figure out the confusing instincts/feelings she's been having lately. Soon Helen is swept away into a mission that might help her figure out who she really is and oh possibly save all of London as well. Of course, there's that pesky hindrance of not being able to trust anyone, even though Lord Carlston says he's an ally. All Helen really knows is that things are definitely going to be changing and she can't let her family know anything.Goodman does a wonderful job of bringing this interesting story to life. The world-building is excellent and I really felt like she captured the setting and time period well. The story develops somewhat slowly which could be a negative spot for some readers. For me, however, I felt the slow build up really played into the storyline and Helen's character. Helen is  just figuring out the supernatural underbelly of London and the slow changes to not only herself physically, but also in her knowledge base are developed wonderfully by Goodman in her writing. I really felt like I got a good sense of Helen's character. Also the slower build-up allowed me to be right with Helen as she discovered her new role in the supernatural world of 1812 London.


What I loved most about this novel is that romance actually seemed to play a back-burner role within this story. Yes, Helen does have a suitor within the novel and of course there some other possible shippings happening (really kind of just in my mind so far lol), but these "romantic" relationships don't play a major role in the novel. I felt the novel focused more on Helen's character development and the supernatural-side to things. I loved how Helen was a realistic character. She struggled to not defy her aunt & uncle, while also trying to stay true to her parents. Also, Helen doesn't easily agree to entering into and assisting with this supernatural world. She thinks through what she really wants--she has a choice. I find this refreshing since many MCs just jump right in like everything is alright and there's no worries about changing their life drastically. Of course, this could just be my practical personality shouting through.

I also really loved the prominent friendship relationship seen through Helen and her lady's maid, Darby. Their interactions, loyalty and trust of one another was a refreshing thing to read. Much like Truthwitch's friendship relationship focus, I felt The Dark Days Club definitely added to that friendship representation within YA novels.

Another thing I really enjoyed about this novel was the successful intermix of historical London with the supernatural. Goodman does a great job of weaving both of these genres together to create this story. Her writing is great and I felt like she has done a good deal of research into the time period because it felt authentic (outside of the supernatural stuff, course haha). Also, this plays well into her world-building abilities. Having certain people "in the know" about the supernatural side made it more believable for me.


Overall, I really enjoyed this novel. I rated it 4.5 stars mainly because of the pacing issue (see below) and the fact that I'm just slightly hesitant to give it a 5 start. I seem to be reserving 5 stars more lately for books that really, really wow me. However, this book was very entertaining and intelligent as well as an interesting take on historical fiction as well as the supernatural genre. I haven't come across this type of supernatural being/enemy before in my readings, so that's another unique aspect to this book. The only real down-side is the pacing which I mentioned above. While I didn't have a problem with the slower build-up type of pacing, someone who might not be as into historical fiction and looking for more quicker action might have issues with this novel. I personally found that the pacing fit with the story, but it might turn others to DNF or just get a little frustrated at some spots. With this said, I'd definitely recommend it to both historical fiction and supernatural/paranormal readers. I enjoyed this book a lot and cannot wait to find out what happens next with Lady Helen!