A review by booksalacarte
Dark Hope by Christine Feehan

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

2⭐️3🌶️

Paranormal Romance
Fated mates
Vampires and Demons
Suspense
Found family
Good vs evil


I read a lot of Christine Feehan’s books back in college—about 20 years ago. From the Dark series to the Seahaven Sisters and Leopard novels, I couldn’t get enough. She’s one of the authors who really helped shape the paranormal and magical realism romance genres, so when I saw Dark Hope on NetGalley, I was excited to dive back in.

I haven’t read all 34 books in the Dark series—only the first 12—so it was interesting to return to the Carpathian world with fresh characters and a new adventure. Thankfully, the books are mostly standalone, so jumping back in wasn’t a huge issue.

The first chapter does a decent job recapping where the series has been, though it’s not the clearest summary. Still, it gave me enough to catch up on how things have evolved in the more recent books.

The biggest issue for me was the repetitive dialogue and the constant telekinetic bond talk. It felt like the plot would start to pick up, and then—bam—we’d hit a wall of “lifemate” discussions and emotional intensity. I get the point, but let’s move on already.

Also, some of the dialogue and wording felt outdated, almost like a translation. It wasn’t just the Carpathian characters (who are meant to be ancient), but even the modern ones sounded stiff at times.

All in all, it was a bit of a nostalgic read for me, but it’s not quite my thing anymore. I don’t think I’ll be revisiting the series.


Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for an eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.