Dark Heir (Dark Rise, 2) Paperback – December 24, 2024

Dark Heir by C.S. Pacat shattered me in the best way possible. That ending—devastating, heartbreaking, and so utterly Pacat—left me reeling. From the beginning of this series, I have rooted for Will, hoping against hope that he will find happiness, that he will be loved for who he is now, not just for the echoes of his past life.Will’s character development in this book is phenomenal. He cares. He loves. He wants. And yet, he holds himself back, putting his mission first, knowing the power of the Dark King is a threat he must vanquish before he can even consider claiming the life he longs for. His struggle between duty and desire, and between past and present, is masterfully written, making every moment feel deeply personal and painfully real.We’ve all heard that book two often struggles to live up to book one—but Dark Heir defies that expectation completely. It is even more captivating, more intense, more seductive. I was utterly enthralled, devouring every word in just three days.Now, I wait—impatiently, desperately—for book three (Dark King, perhaps?) and for the moment when Will gathers the broken pieces of himself and somehow, impossibly, finds a way forward. C.S. Pacat has crafted something truly special, and I cannot recommend this book enough.

“In his world there wouldn’t be four thrones. There would only be one.”firstly, the book starts off w a surprise, then picks back up right where dark rise left off. each character only grows stronger as the dynamics evolve between them. where captive prince was a low fantasy with no magic, pacat fully embraces a vividly imaginative fantasy in DH as we learn more about the shadows, light, and magical bloodlines.it's easy to assume pacat would write characters that directly correlate to captive prince, and i can see the parallels, but he's successfully deviated from her debut series to create a whole new, vibrant cast. each character brings much to the table and i find myself rooting for nearly each one the more we get to know them (phillip and visander anyone?). and of course, i'd have to mention the various but ever present queer identities in a pacat story. it's truly so exciting and rewarding to see pacat write the fantasy she's talked about wishing to see and read himself growing up as a fantasy fan.“There must be a way to destroy it. When this is over. We’ll find a way.” He let the words sink in, James’s blue eyes wide. “If you still want me to order you around after that, I can.”for the story itself, pacat once again brilliantly pulls off what he discusses as "writing two books" - the book you read itself, and the book that eventually reveals itself. i JUST read and i'm already planning my reread, plotting out where i need to look for clues and highlights. writing like this makes a series a timeless classic to be discussed and analyzed for years.He wanted to tell her again how glad he was to see her, that she was his star in the night.That he’d never really had friends growing up, and he was so glad she was his first."You think the war was the hard part? The war was nothing"“He won’t kill you just for lying down next to me,” said James.“Who won’t?”“You know who,” said James. “My jealous master.”“I think he might very well kill someone for that.” The words just came out.i could be really feral and go off on how obsessed i am with sarcean (me and the rest of the kingdoms), will and james' magnetic relationship, will and violet's beautiful friendship, cyprian's tragedy of lost identity and cult trauma, elizabeth as the precocious genius, the brief but emotional appearance of Ettore, james and cyprian as brothers, visander the vegan icon, devon as louis from beastar, the hypocrisy of the stewards and sun kingdom regarding shadows, the undeniable horse girl vibes, etc... but i don't think i have the character space.“But what is death,” said Kettering, “to one who can return?”it can be said though that i think the dark rise series will be pacat's best work yet and i will spend the next (year? two years?) agonizing over theories and possibilities until we get what i'm assuming to be a mindblowing conclusion to this epic fantasy.

Plot twists, multi pov chapters, character developments, romantic moments (kudos to author for restraining herself in YA genre, because some moments I wanted to scream mooooaaarr!!) and hidden truths. Pacat easily convinces you to root or be angry towards the characters despite everything. The writing was engaging, my emotions were all over the place and I'm hungry for more of this world. Will and James are everything. Anharion and Sacrean are everything. We still don't know all the details and happening in the past, so I'm very eager to see what is in store for us in the next installment.I wanted to talk about Will. His mother was probably abusive, punishing him for what he might become. Without considering his past life, he's just a child, yet he's already treated with hate. As he grows up, he tries hard to be good and improve, but no one gives him a chance, which makes his loneliness so tragic.He kept his identity hidden, afraid of rejection, and sadly, he was right—everyone turned against him except James. People only see his past, not who he is now. Though he wants to fight the darkness, their rejection ironically drives him closer to it.My hope for the next book is that he embraces his darkness and all his memories are fully back. Let him be the villain they oh so desperately see. Turn up the angst, danger, romance and friendship! We readers are ready :)

Unlike the first book, this part takes place at various places, following the heros torn apart from each other, like in the LOTR. The story unwinds in a way you wish to be able to read faster and find out what is coming next. Like pieces of a puzzle, glimpses of the past start to make up the full picture. I wast intrigued and left wanting more. I hope there will be a third book.

I confess I didn't like the first book that much and had only read it once when I purchased the second. Most out of curiosity, because I felt conflicted about the first volume and its ending, as well as some of the author's choices.I enjoyed this second volume so much more, I had to read the first again because the beginning caught me unprepared.This volume made me love the first one and got me hooked, I want the third (last?) part asap!Some parts made me so nervous and some even made me laugh! It's so hard to make me laugh these times I think the author did a wonderful job.I could connect with James' and Will's struggles, and even some minor characters are now dear to me, she made them believable. I understood some choices made in book 1 and it made me hungry for the rest of the story.