was not my favorite installment

Dwellers of Darkness is the third book in the young adult/new adult paranormal fantasy series by Stacey Marie Brown. They really should be read in order. It is the story of Ember Brycin who has discovered that she is part fay and part demon and has unwillingly become embroiled in a battle between Light, the Seelie, and Dark, the Unseelie.

In this installment, Ember has returned from the Otherworld with her Mum Lily, who I found to be a rather unlikeable character for a mother, and with her best friend Kennedy, who is starting to play a significant role. Ember is back with the Dark Dwellers and moody, badass Eli who is marginally annoyed with her for having vanished for three years because time moves at a different pace on earth. I have to admit the repetitive arguing - sex - arguing - sex between Ember and Eli became a tad maddening at times. But Cal and Simmon, the two pixies, added some lovely humor to the story and have become my favorite characters alongside Eli, of course. For a while, there did not seem to be much happening plot-wise, but then the pace picked up and the plot moved forward and so, thankfully, did Ember and Eli's relationship. Ember is determined to rescue her Dad and captive friends from the Seelie Queen. Together with a diverse group of friends, family, and foe, she sets off to find a sword that can kill the Queen. Due to the obvious foreshadowing, the developments at the end of the book were not as surprising as I would have liked. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed listening to this, but it was not my favorite installment of the series. The story continues in "Blood Beyond Darkness", which is the final part of this series, and I will definitely pick it up in the future.

Michelle Sparks continues her excellent performance of this series. She really brings these characters to life and gets all the emotion across in a wonderful manner. Her pacing is superb and she is a great fit for Ember. Excellent narration. There were no issues with the production quality.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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2 people found this helpful

WHEN IS THIS GOING TO STOP

WHEN IS SHE GOING TO STOP MAKING STUPID CHOICES?? THE BACK & FORTH & STUPIDITY IS OK IN THE FIRST BOOK cause we are learning the dynamic of the characters! However AFTER AT LEAST HALF THE SECOND BOOK THEY SHOULD GET SMARTER & STRONGER!!

2 people found this helpful

Putting the chess pieces into place.

This book, the third in the Darkness series, was more about relationship development, and putting chess pieces into place, than about action…at least until the end! I think all this setup will be worth it for the final installment.

Not going to say much to avoid spoilers, but I will provide some bullet points:

What this book is giving:
✅ Romantic Development
✅ Comedic Pixies
✅ Extending family
✅ A sword of destiny
✅ Maps hidden in plain sight
✅ A journey with 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵 vibes
✅ Betrayal
✅ An MMC afraid of flying

Love!

I’m really loving this series! I already read Savage lands, which is one of my favorites!

A pourful Dae was beaten by a human

So much of this story makes no sense. I don't understand why. I changes all the abilities of each creature.

Frustrating

I was hoping the story would get better as we went but this book was even more frustrating than before.
The parts I love about the story is of course Ember and Eli‘s relationship, yes there is rocky moments, fighting, but they also have their wonderful banter that we’ve come to love. The other part I really like is seeing Kennedy grow and change and become stronger and stronger and I love her and Jared they’re super cute but I don’t know if they’re forever. I do like Lars, I don’t know why he’s sneaking around and not just confronting her in front of everyone? Of course I love the pixies Cal and Simmons, I can’t get enough of the adorable outfits they wear and how they want to defend Ember against Eli. I knew right away something wasn’t right with someone in their circle and I kept thinking is there no one noticing this?
I got frustrated with Lorcan being able to pop up constantly and always one step ahead of them. The main reason I gave this story 4 stars and was debating giving even less is because none of these Fay, dark dwellers, or the Unseelie King seem to have any powers that they can ever use, I mean what is the point. Here you have Ember who is supposed to be so scary and so powerful but every time she needs to use her powers iron is just too much for her to fight through and then one minute she can throw someone across the room but the next minute she’s carted away and can’t do anything about it. I have never been so frustrated and so annoyed by how many times she is caught or in trouble and can’t defend herself or others. And the last thing that is so annoying is there are so many secrets that keep trickling out here and there but there is so many more yet but instead of telling her and letting her be a grown-up they keep hiding it from her. It feels like it’s a ploy to just keep dragging it out and I hate that.
At this point I have no idea what’s going to happen next, I am afraid it’s just going to be more of the same thing, I hope not.
I would like some more action, more magic usage, and not just sex, arguing, sex, being caught, friends being taken away, Ember being put in iron shackles, and being helpless. We will see.

So Disappointing

At this point, the only reason I would listen to book 4 is to see if the dumb weak annoying heroine will actually do something that actually proves she has a inkling of strength. I thought this serious was leading up to a promising story. But each book has been more disappointing than the previous. I frequently found myself cursing out loud cause I was so annoyed. Once I finish the next book, whether the story ends or not, I am done with this author. If you haven yet started the series, DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY ONLY TO BE FRUSTRATED!!!!!!

Frustrating

Don’t get me wrong, this was a great book, but ugh it’s so frustrating going around and around and all the damn secrets. Ember is supposed to be crazy powerful and at every damn turn, she doesn’t do crap. She had all this training and for what, a big fat zilch when it matters. I keep waiting for all the damn secrets to come to the service and for her to finally DO something. Hopefully the last book gives me that or else I will mark this series as the worst.

Warning! Annoying Narrator Alert!

This biok is great and the Narrator is okay hut her breathing into the mic and her yelling and over. dramatic carrying on is extremely annoying and it hyrts my damn ears. I get wanting to add some zazz to the telling of the book but yelling while reading a book for audible listeners is not okay or good at all. It Extremely frustrating and annoying how weak and dumb this girl especially being that she is supposed to be this all powerful day but she continues to allow herself to get caught. Unbelievable
She isn't a very smart girl. She bever figures shit out and lets everything waylry her. things that are so ridiculously obvious.
This author isn't very bright. Sorry not sorry but as good as this book is uts also so stupid and naive. Wow just wow!

Gripping

Omg I need more!! This is amazing. I need so much more from Stacey. Wonderful series.