The Deepest Night (The Sweetest Dark, #2)
Shana Abe
A rich portrait of post-Victorian England, The Deepest Night seamlessly blends thrilling romance with riveting history and adventure—perfect for fans of Libba Bray and Lauren Kate. It’s 1915, and sixteen-year-old Lora Jones is finishing up her first year as a charity student at Iverson, a prestigious, gothic boarding school on England’s southern coast. While she’s always felt different from everyone around her, now she finally knows why: She is a drákon, a rare, enchanted being with astonishing magical abilities. As war hits Britain’s shores, and Lora reels from an unimaginable loss, she finds that her powers come with grave and dangerous responsibilities. At the request of Armand Louis, the darkly mysterious boy whose father owns Iverson, Lora will spend her summer at his lavish estate. To help the war effort—and to keep Lora by his side—Armand turns his home into a military hospital, where Lora will serve as a nurse. For Armand is inescapably drawn to her—bound to her by heart-deep secrets and a supernatural connection that runs thicker than blood. Yet while Lora tries to sort out her own feelings toward Armand, fate offers an unexpected surprise. Lora discovers there is another drákon, a prisoner of war being held in Germany. And that only she, with her newly honed Gifts, will be able to rescue him. With Armand, Lora will cross enemy lines on an incredible mission—one that could bond her to Armand forever, or irrevocably tear them apart. Beautifully written, deeply romantic, and filled with daring adventure and magic, The Deepest Night is a mesmerizing novel of the enduring pull of destiny, and the eternal strength of love.
Publication Year: 2013
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As much as I loved THE SWEETEST DARK, this seuqel has effortlessly surpassed it. A strengthening heroine, a tender love story, and daring midnight flights over wartorn Europe... love, danger, magic... everything I could have hoped for in a story.
While THE SWEETEST DARK had to establish Eleanora's magical nature, THE DEEPEST NIGHT is all about her growing stronger. The social constraints hemming her in become less and less of a challenge, instead she faces her own magical limits and the realities of the war. Shana Abe has once again inserted a dragon into history, and rather than cloistered in their own enclaves Eleanora is surrounded by humanity, making the contrast all the more thrilling.
In addition to this wonderful world building, the romance wrung so much emotion out of me. Jesse loss was so heartbreaking, and his ephemeral presence adds a lovely, bittersweet backdrop to Armand's devotion to Eleanora. True to the time, true to the characters, these two don't fall into each other's arms. However, shared experiences built on friendship, respect adding to attraction, despite the social barriers in their way THE DEEPEST NIGHT gave me fragile hope that Armand's affection may be returned.
THE DEEPEST NIGHT fanned my anticipation to it's highest point, and once again I am dying to get my hands on the next in the series. So many conflicts, magical and mundane, still encircle these fragile characters. After this heartpounding adventure through the skies of enemy territory, I don't know how Eleanora and Armand are going to shrink themselves back down to fit the claustrophic society of every day life. I don't know if I'll be able to bear it... but I can't wait to find out.
Full review to follow.
Sexual content: Kissing.
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