Review- Dark Things by Sukanya Venkatraghavan

Summary-

Somewhere on Prithvi, a mortal survives a supernatural attack.
In the dark realm of Atala, an evil goddess prepares to do the unspeakable.
And a Yakshi finds herself at the heart of an other-worldly storm.
Ardra has only known life as a Yakshi, designed to seduce and kill men after drawing out their deepest, darkest secrets for her evil mistress Hera, queen of the forsaken realm of Atala. Then, on one strange blood moon night, her chosen victim, Dwai, survives, and her world spins out of control. Now Ardra must escape the wrath of Hera, who is plotting to throw the universe into chaos.
To stop her, Ardra needs to find answers to questions she hasn’t dared to ask before. What power does the blood moon hold? Is the sky city of Aakasha as much a myth as its inhabitants – the ethereal and seductive Gandharvas and Apsaras? Who is Dara, the mysterious monster-slayer, and what makes Dwai impervious to her powers?
A heady concoction of fantasy and romance, Dark Things conjures up a unique world wrought of love and sacrifice, of shadows and secrets, of evil and those who battle it.

Release date: January 2016

Published by: Hachette India

Page numbers: 328

Review-

I was super intrigued when I read the summary of Dark Things by Sukanya Venkatraghavan. I am not always interested in fantasy fiction by Indian authors but Dark Things definitely caught my eye. That is why when I got an opportunity to read and review it I jumped on it. I'll just come out and say this, I genuinely enjoyed Dark Things. It was something different, especially for the Indian market.

So basically Dark Things is the story of Ardra. She is a succubus also known as a Yakshi who are designed to seduce and kill men all the while stealing their secrets. That is what they live for. Ardra was a complex heroine. She considered herself to be a dark thing but we always got the glimpses of humanity and kindness from her. I loved being inside Ardra's head and seeing her thought processes. She was a heroine who definitely had her faults but it made her easy to relate to.

Ardra lives with the other Yakshis in the realm of Atala where Hera is the queen and ruler of them all. As Ardra stumbles upon things she shouldn't she finds herself with more questions than answers. I loved how the author slowly unravelled Ardra's past. We get to be with Ardra while she tries to figure out what's going on. The past is by no means simple and it seems like everyone has a connection and a secret motive behind their actions.

I also really enjoyed Dwai's character. He was a great guy. I loved how he was protective of Ardra. He was always by her side. Then we have Dara who is the master of mixed signals. But we do find the reasons behind his behaviour by the end of the book. The author does a great job of fleshing out each and every single character in the book no matter how small their role, which I really appreciated. No one is one dimensional.

Dark Things takes you into several realms. Sukanya Vankatraghavan describes all the realms and settings with great detail connecting everything back to the characters. I loved all the intricacies and the world building was amazing. Dark Things is a well balanced combination of fantasy and action with a dash of romance. I liked it more than I thought I would so I will definitely be on the look out for more by this author.

*Note: A copy of this book was provided by the author/publisher in exchange for an honest review. We thank them.