“Lady Beck says your poor friend was found covered in blood.”
Compared to a book I recently finished, Truthwitch, this was much better developed in the fantasy sense. It was rich with detail and the paranormal aspect was carefully constructed. If you like your magic to make sense, then you’ll probably love this.
But it was much more boring than Truthwitch. The plot was a slow-moving, thick molasses. While the author took the time to explain everything about the historical and fantasy elements, it created a tedious density.
It takes 200 pages before Helen finds out she is a Reclaimer, meant to fight soul-sucking creatures called Deceivers. This is the main focus of the plot. So for 200 pages, I had to read about Helen going to balls, living with her aunt and uncle, and worrying about her inheritance of forty thousand pounds (roughly 1.3 million dollars today).
I did like the characters—Helen, Darby, Lord Carlston, and Lady Margaret. They all had an “1800s” feel to them. I think that’s something Goodman exceeds at—capturing time eras. Whether it’s the ancient Japanese culture in Eon or the Regency era in this book, her extensive research shows in her writing.
However, there is such a thing as too much detail. I think the perfect amount is somewhere between adding enough historical fact so as to create a realistic atmosphere, but not so much that it distracts from the story.
With The Dark Days Club, I felt like I was reading a historical textbook part of the time.
As far as the paranormal plot went, this was a solid read, but I really wish the pacing had been quicker. Sometimes I don’t mind slower, denser books that take the time to develop worlds and characters . . . but I think this one paid too much attention to unimportant details.
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