There Will Come a Darkness (Age of Darkness, #1)

by Katy Rose Pool

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2019/10/05/there-will-come-a-darkness-by-katy-rose-pool/
Oh, I’m conflicted about this book! I’ll start right off by saying that I didn’t love it. I think I liked it, though. Told from five different points of view, switching from chapter to chapter, at times it felt disjointed. As much as each character was a part of the over arcing tale, having that many points of view seemed like an odd choice to me.

I feel like I should probably explain what a Grace is, since they’re a driving force in this book. Graces are gifts that improve a person’s ability in some way. There’s the Grace of Bloody, used to heal or hurt; the Grace of Heart, which makes one a better fighter; the Grace of Mind which can create magical items; and the Grace of Sight, which is basically scrying.

With a book like this, the easiest way for me to organize my thoughts is to take it character by character. First, there’s Hassan, a prince in hiding. His homeland has been overrun by a group of zealots known as The Witnesses, intent on destroying anyone with a Grace. A Grace is a special power, but more on that in a minute. Half the time I really liked Hassan, and the other half of the time I wanted to smack him. He was a very naive character, which I guess makes sense since up until he lost his kingdom he hadn’t seen much of life. Hassan is without a Grace in a bloodline that has strong powers. He feels powerless to help retake his homeland and it plays a large role in the choices he makes.

There’s the Pale Hand, a girl who can kill with a touch. She sounded a lot cooler than she ended up being in the book. In many ways, she was just sort of useless. I really can’t say much else about her because her story was less developed than others in my opinion.

Anton is a gambler who’s terrified and tries to hide it. He’s on the run from someone violent who has a vendetta against him. I really liked Anton. He was never boring, and the careless veneer he showed others made for a fascinating juxtaposition with his stressed, paranoid thoughts.

Jude is the young leader of The Order of the Last Light, a group of prophets who’ve returned in time to try to make sure their last prophecy is brought to light. He is so incredibly annoying! He’s wishy-washy, immature, and ditches the entire team he’s supposed to be leading without a second thought. Ugh!

Beru was another interesting character to me. Her secret was something I haven’t seen in YA yet, and it was refreshing to see an author doing something new in a genre that can sometimes seem to fit a very specific mold.

These characters did eventually weave into one narrative, but it took a while. In a way, they sort of circled each other in their separate parts of the story. The writing was solid, however, and it ended up coming together well. I just didn’t love it. This was an “pretty good, but nothing to write home about” book for me.