The Dark Days Club (Lady Helen#1) By Alison Goodman [Review]

RELEASE DATE:  January 26, 2016 
AUTHOR: Alison Goodman
GENRE:  Young-Adult, Historical, Paranormal, Fantasy, Romance.
PUBLISHER: Viking Books for Young Readers
SUMMARY: London, April 1812. Eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall is on the eve of her debut presentation to the Queen. Her life should be about gowns and dancing, and securing a suitable marriage. Instead, when one of her family’s housemaids goes missing, Lady Helen is drawn to the shadows of Regency London.

There, she finds William, the Earl of Carlston. He has noticed the disappearance, too, and is one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of powerful demons that has infiltrated every level of society. But Lady Helen’s curiosity is the last thing Carlston wants—especially when he sees the searching intelligence behind her fluttering fan. Should Helen trust a man whose reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her headstrong sense of justice lead them both into a death trap?

MY REVIEW: 

Look at that intriguing blurb and wonderful cover doesn’t it sound like something awesome. And that’s what intrigued me to pick this up but now I’m feeling quite sad that I didn’t enjoyed it as much as I thought. Honestly, it was really an amazing book and I can clearly see all the hard work and research done by the author in writing this novel especially the setting but the slow pacing of the plot totally ruined my enjoyablity.  It was my first novel from the author and I’ve heard so many great things about her other book called Eon but I never got around to read it so I thought this book going to be great read because it says kickass demon hunting in regency era. This book is full of mystery and intrigue but highly lacks on the ass kicking action.

Eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall is on the eve of her debut presentation to the Queen and since her parents death, she lives with her aunt and Uncle. Her life revolves  around gowns, dancing, and securing a suitable marriage but things take a surprising turn in her life when one of her house maid goes missing and no one is bothered with it. The search for her missing house maid leads her to William, the earl of Carlston. Due to his dark past, everyone avoids him like a plague but Helen was pretty much sure that he knows something about the missing maid and she won’t stop until she finds out the truth. But what she finds out  totally turns her world upside down and she was introduced to a whole new world that she wasn’t aware of. Finally, she was left with a hard choice to make that might change her life forever.

I really liked Helen! She is quite strong-headed, clever, independent and curious person. Despite the lack of freedom, she cleverly handled every step she took without tarnishing her reputation otherwise she had to face her uncle’s wrath. She is quite different from other regency heroines I’ve met who are impulsive and rebellious. William is dark and mysterious character who was hard to connect with but he is a guy with lots of secrets and his mysterious personality definitely makes him more attractive. There is a slow burning romance between Helen and Will but sadly there isn’t much romance in it which is quite disappointing. As for the supporting characters, I really liked Darby, Helen’s personal maid. She is very fun and cute person who would do anything to protect Helen. I really enjoyed their relationship and how they trust each other despite the difference in their status.

The plot was interesting and mysterious but too slow for my taste,  If it wasn’t for it’s slow pacing, I would’ve loved it. The author did great in creating a realistic setting of regency era with a paranormal twist. The demons in this book may look like human but they do have this creepy invisible tentacles that sucks life force out of humans. The author’s writing was pretty much fantastic, everything was very detailed and vivid that you can clearly imagine the world she built. All the characters are well-written but it seems Helen is the only one I was able to connect.

Overall, It was good to read but I’m not sure whether I would continue with the series because slow paced books really aren’t for me. You need a lot of patience to read this book but I think it’s definitely worth a read. The plot, setting and the characters are really great, and I think it’s great a start for a new series.

Even though It didn’t worked out for me, I highly recommend this book to everyone because apart from the pacing, I couldn’t find any issues in this book and I’ve seen so many people loving this book. So, do give this a try, maybe you’ll like it more than me.

MY RATING:  [3/5 Stars]

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