A heinous crime. An empire in turmoil. And a modern girl at the center of it all.Darkness has fallen on the Marinossian family, leaving ruined lives in its blood-stained wake and leaving Annika to pick up the pieces. With a deadly doppelgänger still loose and most likely in deadly pursuit, she’s escorted back home to wait out the storm and heal her broken heart…however long that may be. But … heart…however long that may be. But when she makes a shocking discovery, she’ll do whatever it takes to make things right.
A world away, Talvi has been dragged to the desolate prison on Bleakmoor Island where he awaits trial for murder. His time in solitary confinement has pushed him to the brink of madness. He starts seeing spirits in the shadows and an angel with red hair. The only thing keeping him from completely losing his mind is the mysterious outlaw in the cell across from him. He’s one of the Näkki–the dark elves who were banished from his country for seducing demons to gain their powers. As Talvi gets acquainted with his new friend, he catches a glimpse of the black magic gift that’s reflected in his demon eyes. Talvi also learns another version of his country’s history that makes him question his convictions. Is the oath he made to his country worth the sacrifice he’ll have to make in order to keep it? He vows to get some answers…if he ever gets out alive.
The bigger question for Talvi: Will Annika be there if he does?
The Darkest of Dreams is the 4th installment of the Annika Brisby Series. It will not be the last.
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AMAZING book INCREDIBLE series
I was afraid I was going to shoot myself in the foot by buying this book, considering I did when I gave this series another go with the second and third book. I am however happy that I did give this series a third chance. The Darkest of Dreams finally started reflecting the masterpiece that was The Flame and Arrow with the romance, adventure, drama and heartbreak. Although I am grumpy that, yet again, Annika and Talvi was apart for the major part of the book (for the love of god, please stop doing that Miss Cannaday!) their reunion was exactly what I hoped it would be and then some. It also helped that their time together was not only one chapter like in the previous book. Hopefully. In the next story there will be no separation between the protagonists at all and that Finn keeps his distance that he keeps promising bot doesn’t follow through on.
Finally the author has decided to move forward from the whole Annika-Finn fiasco and start working on Annika-Talvi instead. And It only took four books. Yay … Seriously though, I cannot stress enough how happy I am that it is finally over with the whole Finn and Annika star-crossed lovers BS. Or at least I hope to god it is since it felt permanent this time when I was yet again dragged through their final goodbyes. Sadly it would not surprise me if in the next book the author find some unnecessary and unwanted way to bring them back together again. Because at every ending of every book minus book one the issue is resolved and then for no good reason whatsoever it gets devolved back to that exact same issue in the next like no progress was made at all. And it makes me so frustrated that Emigh Cannaday does that, because The Flame and the Arrow, plus this book shows that she can really write and create a beautiful and complex plot and world with three dimensional characters to go with it. The fact that she doesn’t let the natural progress and development move us away from that bothersome triangle drama, but instead forces the story back there kind of gives me the feeling that she doesn’t really understand what her readers want or like. And sure, this series is her baby so of course she can do whatever she wants with it. However, as a reader I will then also review it accordingly.
It’s not only the infidelity and the continuous long distance relationship (if you can call it that) that makes me wonder how well the author understands her readers. It’s also the pacing and some of the aspects of the story that just did not do it for me. It felt like the least interesting and progressive scenes were dragged out the most which in turn made it a bit too slowed paced for my liking. And the most exciting and addictive scenes and parts were the shortest and the smallest amount of time on. Like Talvi And Annika’s interactions for example. The whole detective vibe that was going on were one of those scenes and moments that just held no interest to me and felt like it took over most of the story. It feels honestly like the author found it much more interesting than the readers do. Of course I am only one person and can’t speak for everyone so maybe I’m wrong. But reading others reviews I can see that a lot had the same or similar insights as me so I don’t think that I am that far off.
If it were possible I would give this book 3,5 stars. Since neither amazon or goodreads allow that I give it 4 stars. Afterall, despite the problems I have, the ending really did it for me and I feels like the series is moving forward to a to a better path.
Best book of the series so far. I can’t wait for the next one