Review of Light in the Dark
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Arohi Peiris
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- Latest Review: Light in the Dark by Lori Hyrup
Review of Light in the Dark
[Following is a volunteer review of "Light in the Dark" by Lori Hyrup.]
Light in the Dark is the story of a divine being that has been living among mortals under the name Alara for many lifetimes. But now in her latest life she is forced to embark on a journey alongside her party the Irregulars to rescue one of her best friends who have been kidnapped by undead who only left behind a cryptic message that implied a far more sinister goal.
One of my favorite things about the fantasy genre is the world building and the author Lori Hyrup absolutely delivered with a rich world with so much details and diverse characters. The two elf races in particular were quite well developed with their history and cultures getting explored in the story including the darker aspects such as the racial biases. Alara herself also aids in expanding the word with her knowledge and experiences from her past lives. That is also part of why I found Alara to be quite a refreshing protagonist compared to most others I have read and thankfully her power is also balanced well.
I quite like how warm and caring her personality was which was a well needed contrast in the grim setting of the world so she balances it out. Though having said that, even though the setting gets pretty dark the author doesn’t show anything explicit and I think the sensitive matters were handled well. Also the author does include a warning which lists potentially uncomfortable material within the story which is good for potentially sensitive readers.
However while I praise the world building, I also think the delivery of the information and exposition is a bit too much and hard to keep up with. Having a diverse world leads to a lot of information to take in and I found myself back tracking quite a lot to previous chapters to understand certain information or characters I forgot so I think adding a glossary would have helped a lot.
One of the things I didn’t like about the story was how most of Alara’s relationships were handled. A lot of her relationships are pre established and the overall story does not give most of her friendships within the party much focus. This in turn makes certain events and twists regarding the party less impactful than they really should be and I find the few relationships that do get focus to have some of the least interesting dynamics with Alara. Despite my fondness for her, in my opinion Alara comes off as a bit of one sided beacon of good sometimes with her closest friends being people that fawn and praise her a lot so I think the story would have benefited if she had a dynamic with someone more sophisticated to bounce off of instead.
Overall I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars, deducting a star for the previously mention issues I had. While I quite enjoyed the world, the story itself didn’t really captivate me that much. Though I still think this was a good read and well edited so I do recommend to anyone interested in action pack fantasy.
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Light in the Dark
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Light in the Dark is the story of a divine being that has been living among mortals under the name Alara for many lifetimes. But now in her latest life she is forced to embark on a journey alongside her party the Irregulars to rescue one of her best friends who have been kidnapped by undead who only left behind a cryptic message that implied a far more sinister goal.
One of my favorite things about the fantasy genre is the world building and the author Lori Hyrup absolutely delivered with a rich world with so much details and diverse characters. The two elf races in particular were quite well developed with their history and cultures getting explored in the story including the darker aspects such as the racial biases. Alara herself also aids in expanding the word with her knowledge and experiences from her past lives. That is also part of why I found Alara to be quite a refreshing protagonist compared to most others I have read and thankfully her power is also balanced well.
I quite like how warm and caring her personality was which was a well needed contrast in the grim setting of the world so she balances it out. Though having said that, even though the setting gets pretty dark the author doesn’t show anything explicit and I think the sensitive matters were handled well. Also the author does include a warning which lists potentially uncomfortable material within the story which is good for potentially sensitive readers.
However while I praise the world building, I also think the delivery of the information and exposition is a bit too much and hard to keep up with. Having a diverse world leads to a lot of information to take in and I found myself back tracking quite a lot to previous chapters to understand certain information or characters I forgot so I think adding a glossary would have helped a lot.
One of the things I didn’t like about the story was how most of Alara’s relationships were handled. A lot of her relationships are pre established and the overall story does not give most of her friendships within the party much focus. This in turn makes certain events and twists regarding the party less impactful than they really should be and I find the few relationships that do get focus to have some of the least interesting dynamics with Alara. Despite my fondness for her, in my opinion Alara comes off as a bit of one sided beacon of good sometimes with her closest friends being people that fawn and praise her a lot so I think the story would have benefited if she had a dynamic with someone more sophisticated to bounce off of instead.
Overall I give this book a 4 out of 5 stars, deducting a star for the previously mention issues I had. While I quite enjoyed the world, the story itself didn’t really captivate me that much. Though I still think this was a good read and well edited so I do recommend to anyone interested in action pack fantasy.
******
Light in the Dark
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Light in the Dark by Lori Hyrup
