Title: In the Ravenous Dark
Author: A.M. Strickland
Type: Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, LGBTQ+
Publisher: Imprint (Macmillan Publishing)
Date published: May 18, 2021
A complimentary digital copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
In Thanopolis, those gifted with magic are assigned undead spirits to guard them—and control them. Ever since Rovan’s father died trying to keep her from this fate, she’s hidden her magic. But when she accidentally reveals her powers, she’s bound to a spirit and thrust into a world of palace intrigue and deception.
Desperate to escape, Rovan finds herself falling for two people she can’t fully trust: Lydea, a beguiling, rebellious princess; and Ivrilos, the handsome spirit with the ability to control Rovan, body and soul.
Together, they uncover a secret that will destroy Thanopolis. To save them all, Rovan will have to start a rebellion in both the mortal world and the underworld, and find a way to trust the princess and spirit battling for her heart—if she doesn’t betray them first.
⤖ My Review ⬻
It had been a while since a young adult fantasy captured my attention the way In the Ravenous Dark by A.M. Strickland did. By the end of the first chapter, I was obsessed and barely read anything else while I made my way through it. I had never read A.M. Strickland before this and while I had certain expectations for what In the Ravenous Dark would be like–and I will say that those expectations were certainly met–Strickland also surpassed those expectations.
Before reading In the Ravenous Dark, I had never actually seen the blurb that came before the synopsis (A pansexual bloodmage reluctantly teams up with an undead spirit to start a rebellion among the living and the dead) and while I knew that this book would contain LGBTQ+ characters (at least to some extent), I was pleasantly surprised to find out In the Ravenous Dark was quite a bit more LGBTQ+ than I had anticipated.
After reading the book I found out that the author is actually non-binary which made me that much more happier to have read and to now be supporting and promoting this book!
I see a bit of a theme in my reading when it comes to young adult where I gravitate more toward young adult books that touch on more adult subject matter, or that have more of an adult tone overall. I found In the Ravenous Dark to be one of those (where, for example, I forgot how young some of the characters were at times because of the situation they were in and the world they lived in). There were also some situations that I would consider to be more new adult or adult, in regard to violence and sexual content of this book.
I think that I picked up In the Ravenous Dark at the perfect time for my reading mood because I found that everything in this book hit the spot; the characters (how they were described, their personalities, how they varied, the way they spoke), the story (including the violence and the sexual content, hehe), the pacing, the world building…I could go on and on.
Needless to say, I loved In the Ravenous Dark and will be recommending it far and wide. I also very much look forward to Stricklands’ new book, Court of the Undying Seasons, coming out in 2023 (it has vampires and I’m here for it)!
⤖ About the Author ⬻
⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻
⤖ Let's Chat ⬻
Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
Great review! This one sounds so good!
Thank you! It really was good 😀 As you saw, it made it into my top 21 reads of 2021 hehe
I’ve never heard about this book before, but your review makes me excited!
Yeah it hasn’t been getting much publicity for some reason which is a shame. So I’m glad to be able to spread the word about it 🙂
I hope that you enjoy it if you end up reading it!