The Dark Days Deceit: A Lady Helen Novel

I really enjoyed the first two instalments of this series, yet found myself struggling to get through this final act. As with previous stories, this book aims to merge two very different literary styles - a Regency era Romance with a fast-paced tale of demon slaying. Unfortunately, this time, the balance is totally off.Around 80% of the novel is devoted to planning this time around. Despite the fact that the hunt for the Grand Deceiver should be forefront in everyones' minds, so much of the novel is used to simply plan for Lady Helen's impending wedding to Selburn. Meal planning, becoming acquainted with the Duke's family, selecting fabrics for wedding dresses. If you are legitimately reading this novel for the historical accuracy, perhaps you would get more enjoyment out of this than I did.To make matters worse, Selburn actually goes out of his way in this novel to prevent Helen from doing her duties as a Reclaimer. And, despite the fact that he is now sworn into the Dark Days Club, everyone just seems to go along with this. While I found the (admittedly accurate) attitudes towards women frustrating in earlier instalments, this novel made it worse still. How many times does Helen have to prove herself before the male characters in the novel will trust her to actually do her job?I also found the novel's twist to be a little frustrating. I must admit that I had figured out who the Grand Deceiver was in the previous novel. However, I can't understand why it took the characters in the novel so long to come to the same conclusion. Even in the climax, Helen is surprisingly slow on the uptake even though there is only one character present who actually fits the prophecy. I also felt that everything drew together in the end too neatly. While it's always been obvious who Helen will end up with, the way that the novel allows this to happen without scandal felt a little too convenient.In terms of character, this novel largely shared the same issues that I already had with the previous instalments. Despite her strength, Helen is a frustratingly passive character and prefers to internalise her problems rather than acting on them. While I do still love her relationship with Darby, I wish that Helen would just take responsibility for her own life at times, rather that waiting for others to do it for her.With the exception of Hammond, I also found myself frustrated by every male character in the novel. While Carlston was a bit less frustrating this time around as he has grown to respect Helen, every other male character seemed to exist to remind her of her place. While this was true to the time, this still angried up my blood and made me struggle to get through this story.So, all in all, I was left disappointed by this series. I was really excited to read this final instalment of the trilogy, but found it to be a lot slower than previous instalments. While the climax was exciting, this was too little too late. Unfortunately, it means that this isn't really a novel that I would recommend unless you're looking for a Regency era novel with a bit of a twist.

Really enjoyed this book as I have the previous two in the series. The plot, the setting, the characters and the action all work well together to produce a very effective story and the depth of research that has gone into getting the details of the period correct is impressive and a definite plus. However, I would like someone - anyone - to explain why this is classified YA. How is it so different from , say, Cherie Priest's Clockwork Century stories (tone and themes not actual story obviously) that it requires a label that is bound to put off some potential readers?

Takes a little while to get going but the best of the series

Love love love this author and this book. It’s currently doing the rounds amongst my family and friends