I’ve enjoyed the historical fiction novels by Michelle Diener and decided to give this a go. It was okay, but it didn’t even come close to blowing me away.
For one, the beginning was very abrupt, so much so that I checked whether it was indeed the first page of the first chapter and once that was done, then I checked to make sure that I was reading the first book (should have probably done that first though) So yes, the beginning was strange, it picked up right in the middle of an escape. It was jarring because as far as introductions though, it’s a bumpy method. Throughout the book, there was also never a sense of true danger, I was never worried about the two main characters which lowered the stakes considerably.
Rose McKenzie was okay as a character. There were things about her that were done well, for instance, I liked that she was cautious even with her rescuers. She didn’t automatically trust them. She was also inventive and proactive and didn’t sit around waiting for stuff to happen.
Dav Jallan wasn’t bad either. He was drawn to Rose from the beginning but also knew that she was keeping things from him. And yet, he never pressured her to tell him. He was calm and reasonable when she finally told him everything. He was even understanding as to why she kept things from him. He was genuinely protective of her without being overbearing.
Sazo was probably my favourite character in the book though. I liked that we saw him grow and develop a sense of self.
Dark Horse wasn’t a bad book per se, it’s just it can feel quite underwhelming and while the characters aren’t bad, they weren’t particularly interesting either.
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