Length: 426 Pages
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
“Normal is an illusion. Moral is an illusion. Whatever else happens, never lose sight of those two facts. What’s normal to the spider, is after all, chaos to the fly.”
Trigger Warnings in this book for Cannibalism, Homophobia, and Graphic Descriptions of Violence
I picked up "The Demon of Darkling Reach" by P.J. Fox on something of a whim. It had been on my to-reads for quite a while and ever so often I would glimpse the gorgeous covers of the series and been drawn to them. I've recently decided to read more romances and I thought this one, with a dark, mysterious hero who may or may not be human, and a richly drawn fantasy world, would do just the trick.
We follow Isla Cavendish, eldest daughter of the Earl of Enzie, Peregrine Cavendish, a bookish and shy girl of only nineteen who runs their estate, Enzie Moor, all on her own. She doesn't trust her father to do it, and her older half-brother, Hart, is more lothario than intellect, and her younger sister Rowena is keen on romance and beauty and the man she's been in love with since a child, Rudolph. We are thrown right into this story with the opening scene: a dinner in honor of their guest, the Duke of Darkling Reach, Tristan Mountbatten, the man who has come for Rowena's hand. Rumors abound about Tristan - he lives in the barbarous North and has had a plethora of young wives who all inevitably die or vanish. On the outside he is handsome, but pale with black eyes and strangest of all...claws. Isla is dumbfounded that everyone acts as if he is nothing but normal, though being the King's brother does come with its advantages. Rowena is sick, heartbroken, over the engagement, and Isla does what she thinks is only right. She offers her hand to Tristan instead.
At this we are thrust into a whirlwind of dark romance, necromancy, and yes, demons. Tristan is exactly what they claim him to be - The Demon of Darkling Reach.
There were so many things I loved about this book. I really like romances that are more than just romance, and this book is just that, with smatterings of information about how cheese was made, clothing dyed, and even how the poorer Aristocracy would water down their wine as much as they could stomach. This book is extremely slow burn, and at times it was too much. It could have definitely benefitted from some more editing, and I caught quite a few typos, as well.
My biggest issues were with Isla's character and the way, in particular, the villainous men were portrayed. Isla claimed early in the book that Rowena was her best friend, yet constantly put Rowena down as stupid and vain, and later when Rowena is proven to not only be smarter than she thought but downright Machiavellian, her barbed words earning her a smack to the face by Tristan, Isla does nothing to defend her. She goes as far as to tell Tristan he should have broken her jaw, and I couldn't make sense of it, having a sister myself. Isla falls too readily into Tristan's arms, and nothing seems to faze her, not even his cannibalism of one of her maids!
The main male villain of this book, Father Justin, is a priest who is seen as a hypocrite for having relations with his young "catamite", while simultaneously condemning it. Along with him there is Isla's stepmother's "pet" eunuch. They are both called effeminate as an insult multiple times, leaving me with a very bad taste in my mouth.
I would suggest checking out this book if you like dark romances, especially fantasy ones, and heroes with little redeeming qualities. I admit I was entranced by Tristan and will probably check out the other books just to learn more about his backstory!
