Daughter Darkness

The Myrk Maiden trilogy, Book One

Young Adult - Fantasy - General
464 Pages
Reviewed on 11/29/2021
Buy on Amazon

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    Book Review

Reviewed by JC Minnaar for Readers' Favorite

Daughter Darkness by Alyssa Charpentier, the first book of the Myrk Maiden trilogy is a captivating story that consistently teeters on the edges of light and darkness. Twilight, a fifteen-year-old girl and glorified laborer for her hateful mother and uncaring father, leads a mostly normal life. Some strange events happen occasionally like lights flickering when Twilight loses her patience and a voice urging Twilight to follow her darker feelings whenever she sleeps. Her life changes forever when her father drives her away from their home with a startling revelation: Twilight is the Aaquaena, queen of the Sharavak – shadow humans gifted with sinister powers by Aadyalbaine, the god they worship. So begins Twilight’s struggle of keeping her humanity or succumbing to her beastly desires of devouring humans and their souls.

Daughter Darkness was an easy pick for me the moment I read the synopsis. Charpentier perfectly writes a believable inner war for Twilight between staying with the light, giving into the dark, and how different characters react and approach Twilight after these changes. Reading Twilight’s slow descent into becoming a true Aaquaena of her people kept me engrossed throughout, enjoying her development. Daughter Darkness wastes no time in expanding the world beyond simple religion and gifts from a god to full-blown massacres and bloodline hierarchies that breathe life and authenticity to the Shavarak way of life. Daughter Darkness is a perfect first entry into Alyssa’s Charpentier’s Myrk Maiden trilogy that excited and invested me in Twilight’s story going forward. I fully recommend it to anyone craving a beautiful, dark epic fantasy.

Samantha Gregory

The Myrk Maiden: Daughter Darkness by Alyssa Charpentier is the story of a fifteen-year-old girl called Twilight who discovers that it is her destiny to end the world. A group of sorcerors thinks she can finally snuff out the light, but Twilight isn't so sure. She has had to deal with a family who doesn't seem to care about her, preventing her from doing the things her siblings are allowed to do - like owning a pet. When she finds out the truth about who and what she is, Twilight doesn't know what to do. Does she follow her alleged destiny or make her own choices? Whether she likes it or not, she will have to choose but it could end badly for her and everyone around her.

Alyssa Charpentier has written an interesting and entertaining book with The Myrk Maiden: Daughter Darkness. It is refreshing to read a YA book where the lead character isn't some destined hero, but actually the opposite. Twilight is supposed to be a villain of sorts and she struggles with the moral dilemma of right and wrong, as she tries to decide what to do. I think this would be a great read for teens who love YA supernatural-style books. It moves at a decent pace and grabs you from the first page. Twilight's voice comes across as angsty and a little emotional, but exactly like you would imagine a girl in her position would sound like. I would definitely recommend this book.

Keith Mbuya

A loathsome and condescending father, a contemptuous mother, two loafing and vituperative sisters, and one loving brother were all that fifteen-year-old Twilight had for a family, living on Mt. Amber. Twilight could hardly think of any reason why she deserved all that hate. Was there a reason anyway? On some occasions, lights would flicker when Twilight was angry. She also had strange dreams which she could not comprehend. Is there something Twilight doesn’t know about herself? Or precisely, her nature? There definitely is because when Damion Mavericc drives her away from home and abandons her in the Caligin valley on Mt. Amber, he mentions to Twilight something about her mother. What happens to Twilight when her father leaves her all by herself in the Caligin valley? Alyssa Charpentier reveals all about Twilight in her book Daughter Darkness.

Daughter Darkness is a slow-paced, character-driven read, packed with adventure, secrets, agony, deceit, and more. If you savor reading epic young adult fantasy stories with a touch of supernatural beings and more than a handful of characters, Daughter Darkness will be a good choice for you. Alyssa Charpentier has quite a good style of writing. She perfectly balances her long and twisted sentences with the expressions she loads on them. She puts a lot of emphasis on depictions of her characters, their actions, and thoughts. This made it easy for me to connect with the characters. Being the first installment of The Myrk Maiden, Daughter Darkness has a perceivable plot, offsetting the protagonist’s internal conflicts between her human nature and her true nature as the main idea of the plot. Twilight’s human nature is good while her true divine nature is evil. Will Twilight give in to her evil true self or does she choose the good side? Get yourself Alyssa Charpentier’s Daughter Darkness and find out more about Twilight’s interesting story.

Rabia Tanveer

Daughter Darkness is the first book in The Myrk Maiden trilogy by Alyssa Charpentier. A coming of age, young adult novel, Daughter Darkness follows the story of Twilight as she navigates her monotonous life with an uncaring father and uninterested mother. Her life should be like any other 15-year-old, but it isn’t. Things become strange whenever Twilight is impatient, and her emotions get the better of her. She hears voices that call to her and ask her to join the darkness. Everything becomes clearer when an event makes Twilight realize she is the Aaquaena, the queen of Sharavak. She and other shadow humans like her have strange and dangerous powers bequeathed to them by their god. Before she knows it, Twilight struggles to keep her humanity intact while also savoring her powers. The thrill she gets from consuming souls is great, but so is her humanity. Can Twilight hold on to her sanity, her humanity, and her humility, or will she give it all for the power that runs through her veins?

Sinister and very entertaining, Daughter Darkness has everything you wish for in a thrilling, coming-of-age story of a powerful protagonist. I absolutely love Twilight’s constant battle within herself to consume and destroy. Her crisis is real and very poignant. You can feel her panic and the adrenaline she feels whenever she gives in to her powers. It really doesn’t help her when other shadow people encourage this sinister behavior. But her humanity stays intact as she continues to struggle with doing the right thing, resisting her powers, and becoming a better person. Alyssa Charpentier has done a fantastic job of keeping a balance between folklore, the supernatural, and fiction where our heroine is very much human. I love this book. Daughter Darkness is the perfect start to a series that I know will be successful. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Mark Justice

"Charpentier offers readers a chance to bask in a world that is full of mysticism, folklore, prophecy, and monsters... and experience Twilight's painful transformation through very relatable inner monologue and her raw, tortured feelings about both the mantle thrust upon her as well as the changes that take place within her, which manifest themselves in terrifying ways. The Myrk Maiden is no lite fare, and Charpentier writes with a potency that is thrilling and smacks of a seasoned, accomplished author." - Mark Justice, author of Gauge Black: Hell's Revenge and Death's Head: The Eye of Samedi

Donny Winter

“Charpentier infuses her refreshingly ambitious novel with a combination of magical realism and pseudo-religious storytelling, resulting in an empowering epic unearthing the premise that individuals should never be defined by one thing.”

— Donny Winter, author of Carbon Footprint and Feats of Alchemy