Scythe of Darkness by Dawn Husted (ARC Review)

Scythe of Darkness by Dawn Husted

Release Date: June 13th, 2017

*I was contacted by Dawn when she kindly asked me to read and honestly review her book – thanks so much Dawn, I really appreciate it!!*

For Mia Hieskety, surviving high school meant focusing on exams and avoiding stupid parties. After breaking up with the only boyfriend she ever had, dating was off the agenda. That is, until Thanatos came along.

Inexplicably drawn to Thanatos, she’s determined to find out who he is and why he insists on wearing gloves to school. Something is off about him. And it’s as if she can feel him when he’s near.

Without warning, she’s thrust into a sinister world and discovers a truth that she never expected. When a supernatural connection puts Mia’s life at risk, she doesn’t know who to trust—especially Thanatos. But what if she’s in love with him?

Bold, irresistible, and beautifully written, Scythe of Darkness explores a star-crossed destiny in a whole new way. Don’t miss this hot YA urban fantasy!

To be honest, I didn’t know quite what to expect when I opened this book. As I mentioned in my previous post for it, I had written a book about a Thanatos like character (Death himself), so anytime I see the name Thanatos, I definitely am all about it since I did a lot of research about him. So, combined with knowing Dawn via Twitter and seeing this, I was immediately excited to pick this book up – and I definitely wasn’t disappointed.

I think what was super interesting was that way that Husted pulled you, thinking the story is going to go one way and then all of a sudden it just went a full other way. I totally just went :O in the middle of the story, and I loved every second of it. It was a twist that was believable with the clues, but I was definitely not expecting Husted to go there with it. Which was epicccccc.

I also definitely liked Mia. She was a good heroine, and I enjoyed her as a main character. She didn’t make stupid decisions, and I found her enjoyable. She had trauma in her life, and a good deal of the time, her characterization matches that perfectly. Some of the time, though, her characterization in this regard – she was kidnapped – didn’t quite line up with how I thought she should act with that prior trauma, but other than that, I thought her characterization was solid and perfect to lead this story.

I thought this story was amazingly complex as well. Husted kept me guessing throughout and I really enjoyed her writing. I would definitely pick up another book by her in the future for sure, because I was whipping through it so easily and excitedly. I liked her twists, I liked her turns, and I thought it was a lot of fun. It got a bit weird at parts, but I kind of didn’t care because it was so interesting?

Ariel is glad to be back again…and she totally wants to steal that skull to add it to her hoarding collection.

The romance was okay. That was probably my least favorite part of the book. Due to some of the revelations, I wasn’t completely sold on it as much as I was in the beginning of the book. To tell the truth, the romance didn’t play a major part, and I was so focused on what was going on in the rest of the book, that I didn’t care as much about the ship (me, not care? I know – crazy, right?). Husted had me focused on everything else.

Overall, though, this was such an interesting read. I loved where Husted took this book, and it’s hard for me to be surprised by a lot of twists and turns in books anymore. She made this such a fun, unique book. Husted’s writing was definitely great to read. The only issues I had were with some of the romance and some of Mia’s characterization, but otherwise, I really enjoyed this book. An Ariel rating and four dark crowns! 😉

Check it out:

• Goodreads
• Amazon
• Barnes and Noble

What do you think? What things immediately make you excited to read a book? Do you have buzz words/names? Let’s discuss in the comments below!