Long Grows the Dark: An Original Fantasy Romance

Long Grows the Dark by Catherine Labadie
Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 439
Goodreads

BeforeGlenna, court sorceress in service to Princess Jael, struggles to hide her feelings for her best friend’s betrothed. Yet even as the realm approaches its golden age, an unforeseen enemy rises to corrupt the princess and take the land for himself. Fate may lead them down a path too painful to contemplate, but are Glenna’s choices enough to dispel the inevitable darkness set to veil their future?

NowGwendoline Hallewell, a Starford University student in a world where magic is commonplace, has always been unusual. When her casting book summons a man from the past to interfere with her dangerous new present, she has no choice but to trust him. As she and her friends Colt and Everleigh reconcile what happened before with what must happen in the present, Gwendoline must decide what it means to make her own choices, suffer her own consequences, and if free will is really within her grasp.

*Note: I was requested to review this book by the author. I did not receive a copy from the author, although offered, since it was available in my Kindle Unlimited subscription.

This one is actually kind of difficult for me to review because it depends on what genre this falls under. According to Goodreads, it’s fantasy, but I would argue that it’s more of a Fantasy Romance / Paranormal Romance. As a regular fantasy, there are some things that left me wanting, but as a romance, it makes sense. 

First of all, I think the plot is totally original. It takes place in two different times (which eventually come together) with characters that span those two different times. It’s actually quite difficult to explain without spoiling things! Regardless, I found the entire concept original and refreshing! It kind of gave me Harry Potter or The Order (the Netflix show) vibes. College students, magic, ancient beings set on controlling everything. 

The book relies on big reveals. You’re kind of left in the dark and confused about things (like character motivations) but then reveals happen throughout the entire book and things start piecing together. Where I think there could have been more initial set up is world-building and the magic system. I get that there are two different timelines happening, but I never had a clear image of what the world was like or how their magic actually worked. 

Mainly, I think this book is more of a romance. If you set aside fantasy book expectations, it’s a pretty solid romance too. Maybe even with a touch of contemporary romance (considering it focuses on college students with normal college student emotions). There IS a love quartet. So, if love triangles aren’t your thing, you may not like it between four people either. However, the plot plays a major role in why the quartet happens and how it plays out – which makes it unique to a normal love triangle.

As for the characters, they won’t all be your cup of tea. Especially once you consider which timeline you’re in. Some I liked, some I didn’t. Sometimes they were petty or argued about things that didn’t matter, but I did enjoy the group together. They all had different personalities and those personalities clashed like a normal group of friends would every now and then. Things get complicated later in the book, but again, spoilers!

Overall, I think this was a solid book. It would have benefited from a little more time to flesh out the world and the magic system, but, again, I really think this book should be categorized as a fantasy-romance. I think the bulk of the story and where you’ll invest most of your emotions while reading will be in the romance between the characters, not in the bad-guy plot (although, that was good too!).

Side note, I would 100% read a prequel of this that focuses on Fate and the “bad guy”. 

Rating Report
Plot
Characters
Writing
Romance
Overall:	3 / 5