Review: The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

So this has been hanging around on my kindle a while now, and I thought I'd finally get round to it on holiday.

I love it when historical fiction and fantasy is mixed, but I don't see it very often, and this book mixed it beautifully.

Here it is:

Jane Austen's high society and Cassandra Clare's supernatural underworld collide in the first book in the Lady Helen trilogy, perfect for fans of historical fiction and fantasy. 

London, April 1812. Lady Helen Wrexhall is set to make her curtsy to Queen Charlotte and step into polite Regency Society. Unbeknownst to Helen, that step will also take her from the glittering ballroom of Almacks and the bright lights of Vauxhall Gardens into a shadowy world of demonic creatures, missing housemaids and deadly power.
Standing between those two worlds is Lord Carlston, a man of dubious reputation and infuriating manners. He believes Helen is destined to protect humanity, but all he can offer is danger, savagery and the possibility of madness. Not the kind of destiny suitable for a young lady in her first London Season. This delightfully dangerous adventure of self-discovery and difficult choices has all the unnerving dark magic of Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and the swashbuckling action of The Scarlet Pimpernel.

I definitely wasn't disappointed in this book, as I've said earlier I love it when historical fiction and fantasy are mixed, and this mixed perfectly. I loved the idea of Deceiver's, the name of the demonic creatures who look like humans, and I especially loved the intrigue of Helen being the first direct inheritor of the Reclaimer powers (the Reclaimer's are those who stop the Deceivers who step out of line) - I mean, who doesn't like a bit of mysterious powers in a book like this? It still wasn't totally answered in this book as to what Helen will turn out like, so I definitely can't wait to see where Alison will take it in the next few books.

And, guys, there was a small romance in this book. In fact, to my eyes, there's a small love triangle, and you know how much I love my love triangles!

Though, even more surprisingly, I don't have much of an opinion as to who I want Helen to be with in the book - the nice Duke, or Carlston (though I do tend to go for the dark, mysterious man in a book, so it's likely to shift to the opinion that I want Helen to end up with Carlston despite the difficulties there).

Talking of Carlston, I adore how his character was written - dark and mysterious, but you learn through the book that he, as a Reclaimer, is in a constant battle to not let his darker side take over once he uses his Reclaimer powers. Definitely an amazing character, who I'm definitely hoping we'll learn more about!

One of my hopes though is that Helen will become more powerful, and also more respected in the next book, as it left off at quite a precarious point - yet again I can't wait to see where Alison will go with that. It will definitely be good to see if Helen will go on to prove the point that women can be more useful than the Dark Days Club seem to think they are - especially one with directly inherited powers.

But, I don't have much more to say other than the blend of fantasy and historical fiction in this book is beautifully done, and this is definitely a book I will recommend to those with a love for mixed genres!

I give this book: 5 Cats!

Have you read this book? What coupling are you hoping to see in the next book? Comment below!