Book Review - Darkangel

Darkangel - book 1 of the Darkangel Trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce
🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞 5/5 Lobsters, one of my favorites.

Hello dear reader!

I recently re-read one of my favorite books from Middleschool. The Darkangel which is the first in the Darkangel trilogy by Meredith Ann Pierce.

At the time I first read this book I was going through a vampire phase (I feel like most young teenager girls do), and was reading everything I could get my hands on that had anything to do with vampires. I thank my stars this was before Twilight. Anyway, out of all the vampire novels that were available to me at the time, this one stuck with me ever since and remains one of my favorite books to this day. I'm actually kind of sad to see that it has quite a few negative reviews. I feel like this is probably because readers are so used to the more adult, more graphic content that is now marketed towards the young adult crowd.

(I think when I think Young Adult I tend to think Middlegrade, more age 10 to 14 or even up to 16, whereas Young Adult actually ranges from ages 12 to 18. That’s a huge range in my opinion! I would not want my 12-year-old reading what I would be more comfortable with my 18-year-old reading.)

Anyway, I kind of wanted to defend this book against some of the negative reviews out there because it is near and dear to my heart and some of the negativity is unfounded in my opinion. So here we go!

What this book is NOT:

- The explicit and graphic kind of romance/fantasy most contemporary authors are now writing with lots of [insert hot pepper emojis].

- Deeply detailed with copious amounts of worldbuilding (see anything by Brandon Sanderson or Game of Thrones or Tolkein)

What this book IS:

- What I would consider to be truly Young Adult (which as I said above is more likely considered Middle Grade)

- More of a classic style of fantasy and storytelling with more of a fairy-tale vibe to it

- Actually Science-Fantasy

This book has fairly little to do with vampires directly (or as they are referred to in this setting vampyres). The plot focuses on Aeriel, our protagonist, who is actually quite young when the book starts, I think somewhere around 13 or 14. Hence the very understandable lack of any sexually explicit content in this series. Her mistress is kidnapped by the Darkangle, a fledgling vampyre who has yet to come into his full power. This part of the trilogy focuses on her quest to avenge her mistress and slay the darkangel.

I've seen reviewers complain about not understanding what a day-month is and other time phases used in the book. This book takes place on a terraformed moon. It's actually one of the very, very few Science Fantasy novels that I like. (Possibly because I was also re-playing the video game Lunar at the time I was first exposed to this, which also takes place on Earth’s terraformed moon and which I was also very much in love with at the time.) Oceanus (our earth) is present in the sky and Sol is the sun. One day (or period of light) takes approximately one month to complete (our lunar cycle), hence a day-month. The author drops lots of tid-bits and hints about this throughout the book and even her dedication at the front of the book states "this dream of the moon". Readers who did not pick up on this were likely either lazy or inattentive.

Others complain about there being a magical lion involved, whining about it sounded too much like Chronicles of Narnia. I have no doubt Pierce may have been inspired by C.S. Lewis and Diana Wynne Jones and several other authors in that same style and time period. You can see it in her work, but personally, it did not bother me at all, because the "lons" or guardians of the different regions of the world, were nothing like Aslan from Narnia. There is a unicorn and a wolf and cockatrice and all sorts of other powerful animal guardians as well. There just happens to also be one who is a lion.

Other people complained about the romance being too stupid or unbelievable. My counter-argument to this is, these are literally young teenagers (remember our protagonist is like 14). All people, but especially very young people are not the smartest when they're totally smitten. Second counter-argument to everyone saying Aeriel is stupid because she's captivated by his beauty: he's a vampyre made by evil and magic means. You don't think there might be some magic at play here? And even if you can't believe that there may be some supernatural force that holds her under his sway, please refer back to counterargument the first.

My final counterargument to everyone complaining that Aeriel comes across as timid, or dumb, or a crybaby... I actually like that about her. I think we've gotten so embroiled in strong, mouthy, sassy women that it's just expected in the genre now. I feel like there is this unspoken attitude that if your FMC doesn’t act super witty or tough or emotionally closed off then she’s weak. I disagree. It's OK to have a softer heroine and I actually appreciate that even more reading it now than I did a decade ago, and especially two decades ago. It is Aeriel's soft heart that actually helps her win out over and over in this series. She's terrified, she's not incredibly smart or strong, but she goes out and does the thing anyway, scared and unprepared because it has to be done. If that’s not a relatable hero, I don’t know what is. She's a very ordinary girl with a gentle heart who goes on to do incredible things. And I actually really love that about this series. It’s refreshing.

If you are looking for a sultry, smutty, action-packed, dark vampire romance novel, look elsewhere.

If you want to read something more reminiscent of a fairy-tale or chivalric romance (e.g. mythic quests and doomed lovers) in which an unexpected heroine must rise to the challenge, then this is for you. Despite this being very much not your average vampire romance novel, it still checks that box for me. Other checked boxes include ancient powerful civilizations with lost tech (extra bonus points because it occurs on earth’s moon terraformed moon, sometime in the distant past or distant future, which is a concept I love), and of course a female heroine. If you enjoyed books like Chronicles of Narnia, The Shapechangers Wife, and The Last Unicorn you will probably like this series.

Is this book perfect? No. But it definitely has its own charm about it that makes it well worth reading.

Bonus: It's a quick and easy read.

Till next time dear reader! I’d love to hear about a book that you feel is really underrated. Let me know! <3 Tiff

Tiff’s Lobster Rating Scale:

🦞🦞🦞🦞🦞 - A GREAT book, couldn’t put it down, still thinking about it after I’ve finished it, would read again, hit a lot of my ‘book sweet spots’.

🦞🦞🦞🦞 - A REALLY GOOD book, I genuinely enjoyed it.

🦞🦞🦞 - A GOOD book, not bad, but it didn’t leave me wanting more either.

🦞🦞 - Meh, JUST OK. I had serious problems with this book and did not enjoy it. I maybe didn’t finish it.

🦞 - This book was deplorable, and probably contained some highly inappropriate or questionable content.