Dark Hygge

by Sarah J Maas, Reviewed by Lauren Kay

Oh gosh, the book that woke up a part of my brain that’s been dormant since reading Twilight in the fourth grade… As I’m sure is the case for so many other people, this book got me back into reading and it has been a very joyful hobby for me ever since.

I’m not sure what it was that hit me just right about this book. Maybe that I hadn’t remembered what it was like to get immersed in a fantasy world where there’s excitement and cool powers and themed places to explore (we love our themed places i.e. hogwarts houses, demigod cabins, and the like). More than anything it reminded my synapses what it was like to have a crush and get butterflies. As someone who at the time was stuck being obsessed with work and then dissociating with social media, this was a re-birth moment for me. Yes, it’s a silly little fantasy romance book, but at least for me it did what stories are supposed to do and it made me feel things.

My first impression of the book was that I was surprised how…approachable the writing was? I know for a lot of people that makes them hate it, but I was expecting a tougher read given that it was a fantasy. I had tried and failed the previous year to read Game of Thrones. But I was flyinggg through it. The theater of the mind was in 4K. I loved and felt for Feyre who was out in the woods like a little feral, doing a noble thing trying to feed her family. It was a gritty look into what her day to day was like, and a stark introduction to this world.

As the story takes off, I was kind of happy to let myself fall into the fantasticalness of it. Ok, your punishment is to go live on the other side of the wall with the High Fae? We get to experience the newness of the world together with her and I think that makes such a difference for world-building. A small element of this story is almost like a thriller? There is something not-quite-right in her new home. This is happening alongside an expected love story with Tamlin that still makes you excited and feel butterflies. There are mysterious and compelling side-characters that just open up whole new fascinating pockets of this world at what feels like the perfect pace.

A hilarious and random character quirk from Feyre is that she can’t read. I know to a degree this is to show how lacking her upbringing was, but it honestly comes across as fairly comical.

She’s thrown into a very dangerous situation that brings together all of these characters and also lets us delve into a little bit of dark fantasy. To me, this is what separated this book from the YA fantasies of my pre-pubescent days. Yeah the romance was definitely more mature in the first half of the book, but brutality of Under the Mountain put it into a different ballpark for me. I was so locked in. Rhysand was a dark horse supporting character that enhanced the story by 1000%. His role in the story gave the reader something to ponder and debate without presenting the argument outright. I think that element is why this series has the stardom that it does.

Anyways, can’t say enough good things about this book, my first love (in adulthood). 5 stars from me always.