[Dark of the West] Joanna Hathaway

Recommended for readers who love historical fiction, fantasy, and the star-crossed lovers trope.

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Aurelia “Ali” Isendare and Athan Dakar come from two very different worlds. Athan is the youngest son of a general who wants more power and has set his sights high. Athan is training to be a fighter pilot, though he longs to fly far away from the war that is inevitably coming for him. Ali is a princess in the North, watching as her brother prepares to take the throne and longing to be valued as more than someone her mother can just marry off. When their worlds inevitably collide through tragedy, both Ali and Athan realize that everything is not as black and white as they’ve been taught. As they begin to fall for each other, both have to decide where their loyalties lie. With courtly politics, betrayals, and a history that entwines their two families, Dark of the West questions if love is enough to stop a war.

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Dark of the West is a book that really surprised me. It’s been sitting on my bookshelves for a good year and I’m so glad I finally got to it! The story introduces our two protagonists after a short prologue, both of them living in two very different worlds: one more military based and one monarchy based. Both Ali and Athan’s point of views were so engaging. They were were well-written and incredibly detailed.

I enjoyed that this novel spent time in both Ali and Athan’s heads. I think that had the book only been set in one point of view it wouldn’t have been as engaging. It makes you sympathetic to both of them and how they’re trapped in their respective worlds in different ways.  I also loved that Joanna Hathaway included love letters! I’m a sucker for details like that, and it made Ali and Athan even more real. I honestly just enjoyed their point of views so much and appreciated both of them equally.

I absolutely loved the world that Joanna Hathaway created in Dark of the West. It has a WWII inspired roots, but is entirely its own thing. This book has the feel of a historical novel but is set in a fictional world. Because of that, the story toed the line between reality and fiction, which made me feel like Ali and Athan were real people that existed somewhere in the past.

Like most novels that are full of great world building, it did take me a bit to fully immerse myself into the world, but once I did I did not want to leave. I’m disappointed that I have to wait until the next book––so thank goodness it comes out really soon! There’s a beautiful depth to the two countries and their differences, as well as the details of the two cultures that inevitably begin to clash. By having Ali from a world where power is inherited and Athan from a world where power is taken, there’s another layer of realism to this novel.

There’s a lot more I could say about this book but so much of it delves into spoiler territory. However, I will say this: if you like courtly politics, you’ll enjoy this. If you like historical fiction or are a WWII buff, you’ll enjoy this. The world is entirely fictional, but there’s a familiarity that makes you believe that this could have been the story of how WWII erupted in a parallel universe. And if you like torturing yourself with beautifully written, slow burn, potentially tragic romances, this one will be for you.

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Have you read Dark of the West? Recommend me some historical reads if you haven’t!