Tricia Levenseller gives life to female characters that aren’t afraid of ambition, and will tear down the sky to achieve their goals. What I love most, is that the goal doesn’t have to be something thrilling like being a ruler of a kingdom, it could also be to be one’s own keeper. This was the story that I didn’t know I needed and it rekindled my spirit during a moment in time where I was feeling down, and I fell head first into a story that genuinely surprised me. I didn’t think I could love Alessandra’s sister after reading The Shadows Between Us, but Levenseller turned my world upside down, falling in love with Chrysantha even more.
The Darkness Within Us is a companion novel to The Shadows Between Us, taking place in the same world but focusing on Alessandra’s sister Chrysantha Stathos. Please keep in mind there might be spoilers to the previous book, so tread carefully!
In securing her position as a duchess, she has successfully won the game she played her entire life. All she has to do is wait for the wealthy old man she’s married to pass on so she can inherit his money, titles, but above all else: her freedom. In an unfortunate twist of events, it seems her sister has upended her life by marrying the shadow king, and upon her husband’s death, a man claiming to be his grandson has come into the picture. There’s no way she’s going to let this man take what is rightfully hers, and she will do whatever it takes to get it.
I was so conflicted when I picked this book up, only because I adore Alessandra so much. However, I was intrigued by what would happen between these two sisters over the course of this book. I was pleasantly surprised by Chrysantha as everything we’ve gotten to know about her in the previous book has been a façade. What I loved most was that although she donned a mask of a vapid beauty, she was rather honest with her goals. She yearns for freedom and the ability to make her own decisions. I loved that we got to explore just exactly what that meant for her, and for those around her, with particular regard to her sister. Chrysantha’s interactions with Alessandra were some of my favourites because we got to tear away the issues that created their tension and see their relationship take a turn. As it turns out, when Chrysantha finally lets her walls down she’s also a bit of a romantic, yearning for the experience of romance without being tied down by a guy.
When Eryx Demos arrives, everything gets flipped upside down for Chrysantha, and an intricate chess game begins. Chrysantha is not willing to go back to the cage she was just freed from, and Eryx is hiding a dangerous secret that she’s desperate to exploit to prevent her from losing everything she worked for. Their interactions are fraught with pent up frustration, and quite a bit of attraction. Regardless of her attraction to the interloper of her rightfully won fortune, she is ruthless in her pursuit to dominate. Eryx has met his match, to be sure. Their romance is very much enemies to lovers I would say, and I devoured every bit of them I got to read.
By the time I finished this book, the one thing that I was sure of was that I didn’t know where the story would go next. If you’re looking for a book where the female protagonist is a damsel in distress, you’re looking in the wrong place. However, if you’re looking for a bit of a villainess who lives by the arrow of her own moral compass, you will likely love this book as well as The Shadows Between Us. The only thing that I feel people might not love is that the relationship between Alessandra and Chrysantha seemed a little unrealistic for the way that it was set up in the previous book. That could have been something that was developed over the course of the book and it was not.
Overall, this was an incredibly satisfying read that I hope you’ll definitely add to your TBR list! I’m so happy to have my copy sitting alongside The Shadows Between Us. Now I just need some bookish art of the characters to go along with it.
The Darkness Within Us is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Chrysantha Stathos has won.
By hiding her intelligence and ambition behind the mask of a beautiful air-headed girl, she has gathered important secrets, earned her father’s constant care, and become a wealthy duchess—all by age nineteen. Now, she is only one elderly, dying duke away from having all the freedom, money, and safety she’s ever wanted.
Or so she thought.
Turns out her little sister somehow snatched the true victory away from her: Alessandra is wedding the Shadow King, the most powerful man in the world. Meanwhile, after the death of Chrysantha’s no-good, lecherous husband, a man claiming to be the duke’s estranged grandson turns up to inherit everything that should be hers.
Chrysantha is enraged. There is no way that she’s going to let some man take everything from her. Never mind that he’s extremely handsome and secretive and alluring with mysterious powers… No, Chrysantha wants Eryx Demos dead, and in the end, a Stathos girl always gets what she wants.
