In the Ravenous Dark

An interestingly dark take on YA. In this world there are two main types of magic, blood magic and death magic. Both obviously focused on the grim and the macabre. It helps give a gritty veneer of darkness to this YA tale. Add in to that an oppressive city state, a tyrannical ruler and a mysterious secret and you get an entertaining tale - I do appreciate YA when the darkness is upped.

In this city, spirits (‘Guardians') are used to control the users of Blood Magic. Our heroine, Rovan, has managed to hide her magic and avoided being bonded with one of these spirits, but when she is eventually captured and forced to bond, she begins to uncover the secrets of these spirits and the regime which uses them to control the city.

The basic story with its underlying darker themes I can definitely fully appreciate. This being YA though the author has levered in some awkward teenage love story. It kind of works ok, but is my least favourite part of the story. This is definitely some of the better YA I have read though, and if you appreciate a touch of the macabre to your fantasy this is definitely worth a read.