Dark Heir

• Author: C.S. Pacat
• Genre: YA Fantasy
• Publication Date: November 14, 2023
• Publisher: Quill Tree Books
• Series: Dark Rise #2

Thank you to YA Books Central and Quill Tree Books for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. You can find my YA Books Central review here.

“The dark is never truly gone; it only waits for the world to forget, so that it may rise again.”

The forces of the Light have survived the Dark’s first assault, but at a terrible cost. A new threat from the past is rising, and only a handful of heroes remain to fight. Pursued by dark forces, Will and his allies must leave the safety of the Hall and travel to the heart of the ancient world, making new and dangerous alliances and revealing the shocking secrets of the past. 

But Will is carrying a dark secret of his own—his true identity. Drawn to the beautiful and deadly James St. Clair, Will is pulled ever deeper into the web of the past, and finds himself tempted by the darkness within. As the ancient world threatens to return, can Will and his friends fight their fate? Or will the truths they learn tear their world apart?

Dark Heir is the explosive and highly anticipated sequel to the New York Times bestselling Dark Rise, from global phenomenon C.S. Pacat.

I read Dark Rise as a buddy read earlier this year, and I couldn’t wait for this book to come out. For the people who read book one when it first came out, the wait must have been unbearable. But let’s get to the good stuff, where I tell you how incredible the book was. I’m just going to figure that you’ve already read Dark Rise, so if you haven’t read it yet, beware: there will be spoilers for that book, but not for Dark Heir.

Pacat picks up where the last book left off, quickly tossing us into the action. The remaining Stewards are left reeling after a vicious attack, but in addition, Will is struggling with the new identity that he has learned about only recently, but hasn’t had time to process yet. And he knows that it it going to change everything about his life, as well as the lives of the people around him.

The action stays steady throughout the story, and it kept me glued to the pages. Also steady is the pace, which is fast enough to keep readers intrigued but just the right speed to let us grasp all the different plot threads that run through the story. In addition to the obvious good vs. evil fight, there’s also Will’s internal struggle about his new identity as the Dark King, his changing relationship with James, the journey that James goes through as a free person for the first time, and the way that the found family dynamic changes over the course of the story. 

One of my favorite parts of the story was the characters. While they were all together in the last story, this time they’re forced to split up, allowing us to get to know them all better. Will’s journey was obviously the most attention-grabbing, being the most central to the storyline, but I was also fascinated by Violet’s journey of personal growth, impressed with how much my feelings about James had changed throughout the duology from despising him at first to adoring him by the end, especially as he discovered the joys of independence and making his own decisions, as well as the growth and changes evident in Cyprian and Elizabeth. Even the new character of Visander was a fantastic addition, and managed to have some of the funniest scenes in the book.

Overall, I loved everything about this book. It was the perfect ending to the series, and snuck in the perfect amount of romance amidst an incredible amount of world-building existing side-by-side with a historical version of our own world. There’s a bit of straight romance and more than a bit of queer romance, but it never overshadows the action or the fantasy elements of the story. Pacat builds an amazing story, and although I though the last book couldn’t be beat, she proved me wrong with this one.

Edited to add: I was informed after posting this that it isn’t a duology, and there is a third book forthcoming! That explains the loose ends I was curious about …

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