Dwellers of Darkness

Darkness Series, Book 3

By: Stacey Marie Brown

Narrated by: Michelle Sparks

Some days feel like years, but in Ember Brycin's case just the opposite is true. Em would be 22 now - if she were human. She's not. She is a Dae - part Demon and part Fay - with a little Dark Dweller thrown in to make her more of a freak.

Life has become more complicated for Ember since returning from the Otherworld. Besides being continuously hunted by the Seelie Queen, Ember is at the top of the Unseelie King's list, after breaking her oath with him. No one breaks a vow with the Unseelie King without extreme consequences.

Adding to Ember's problems is a certain Dark Dweller whose mood has become violent and cruel. As much as she'd like to deny it, there is an undeniable connection between them. Eli is sexy, gorgeous, and frustrating as hell. She also knows he is holding something back, something that could change their relationship forever.

But her problems go way past him. As the tension for war mounts between the Seelie and Unseelie (Light and Dark), the tension at the Dark Dweller's compound escalates even more as they prepare to obtain the Sword of Light - the only weapon able to kill the Queen.

But is Ember the answer to the location of the sword? Is she the one to fulfill the prophecy? As usual, nothing is ever what it seems.

©2014 Stacey Marie Brown (P)2016 Stacey Marie Brown

was not my favorite installment

Dwellers of Darkness is the third book in the young adult/new adult paranormal fantasy series by Stacey Marie Brown. They really should be read in order. It is the story of Ember Brycin who has discovered that she is part fay and part demon and has unwillingly become embroiled in a battle between Light, the Seelie, and Dark, the Unseelie.

In this installment, Ember has returned from the Otherworld with her Mum Lily, who I found to be a rather unlikeable character for a mother, and with her best friend Kennedy, who is starting to play a significant role. Ember is back with the Dark Dwellers and moody, badass Eli who is marginally annoyed with her for having vanished for three years because time moves at a different pace on earth. I have to admit the repetitive arguing - sex - arguing - sex between Ember and Eli became a tad maddening at times. But Cal and Simmon, the two pixies, added some lovely humor to the story and have become my favorite characters alongside Eli, of course. For a while, there did not seem to be much happening plot-wise, but then the pace picked up and the plot moved forward and so, thankfully, did Ember and Eli's relationship. Ember is determined to rescue her Dad and captive friends from the Seelie Queen. Together with a diverse group of friends, family, and foe, she sets off to find a sword that can kill the Queen. Due to the obvious foreshadowing, the developments at the end of the book were not as surprising as I would have liked. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed listening to this, but it was not my favorite installment of the series. The story continues in "Blood Beyond Darkness", which is the final part of this series, and I will definitely pick it up in the future.

Michelle Sparks continues her excellent performance of this series. She really brings these characters to life and gets all the emotion across in a wonderful manner. Her pacing is superb and she is a great fit for Ember. Excellent narration. There were no issues with the production quality.

Audiobook was provided for review by the author.

Please find this complete review and many others at my review blog

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Laughed and loved this whole series!!

Where is book 4?? I need it now!! Dying...... I need to know what happens. I'm a big team Eli fan and can't wait to listen to book #4.

Twists and Turns

Where does the heart, soul, loyalties, and duty lay? One resolve turns to another demise. Can't wait for the next book.

Dae, Fae, Dark Dwellers and Some Funny Pixies!

What I love about Book 3 of this series is that we finally get some answers. Probably not all of them, but just enough to give us the "Aha" moment. We get some extra special Ember/ Eli time #Chapter5 and it is smoking hot.

Thanks to Michelle Sparks who continues to do a spectacular job bringing my favorite characters to life. She provides such enthusiasm and passion that you can't help but sit and listen in awe.

Now I shall count down until the final book releases. That saddens me, but I can't wait to hear the delivery to the ending of this epic tale!

Frustrating

I was hoping the story would get better as we went but this book was even more frustrating than before.
The parts I love about the story is of course Ember and Eli‘s relationship, yes there is rocky moments, fighting, but they also have their wonderful banter that we’ve come to love. The other part I really like is seeing Kennedy grow and change and become stronger and stronger and I love her and Jared they’re super cute but I don’t know if they’re forever. I do like Lars, I don’t know why he’s sneaking around and not just confronting her in front of everyone? Of course I love the pixies Cal and Simmons, I can’t get enough of the adorable outfits they wear and how they want to defend Ember against Eli. I knew right away something wasn’t right with someone in their circle and I kept thinking is there no one noticing this?
I got frustrated with Lorcan being able to pop up constantly and always one step ahead of them. The main reason I gave this story 4 stars and was debating giving even less is because none of these Fay, dark dwellers, or the Unseelie King seem to have any powers that they can ever use, I mean what is the point. Here you have Ember who is supposed to be so scary and so powerful but every time she needs to use her powers iron is just too much for her to fight through and then one minute she can throw someone across the room but the next minute she’s carted away and can’t do anything about it. I have never been so frustrated and so annoyed by how many times she is caught or in trouble and can’t defend herself or others. And the last thing that is so annoying is there are so many secrets that keep trickling out here and there but there is so many more yet but instead of telling her and letting her be a grown-up they keep hiding it from her. It feels like it’s a ploy to just keep dragging it out and I hate that.
At this point I have no idea what’s going to happen next, I am afraid it’s just going to be more of the same thing, I hope not.
I would like some more action, more magic usage, and not just sex, arguing, sex, being caught, friends being taken away, Ember being put in iron shackles, and being helpless. We will see.

Putting the chess pieces into place.

This book, the third in the Darkness series, was more about relationship development, and putting chess pieces into place, than about action…at least until the end! I think all this setup will be worth it for the final installment.

Not going to say much to avoid spoilers, but I will provide some bullet points:

What this book is giving:
✅ Romantic Development
✅ Comedic Pixies
✅ Extending family
✅ A sword of destiny
✅ Maps hidden in plain sight
✅ A journey with 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘵 vibes
✅ Betrayal
✅ An MMC afraid of flying

Amazing!

I work outside and listening to music was always my go-to. Lately, that hasn't been the case because I cannot get enough of this series! All the creatures, "Fae", are so interesting to hear about. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys fantasy books!

Narrator has improved since 1st book...

The narrator has improved greatly since the first book in the serious and I find myself captivated and immersed in the story. I love Stacey Marie Brown and I'm glad I continued despite what many people said in their reviews for the 1st in the series. I'm sad that I'm headed into the final book and there's nothing more to listen to. West isn't on Audible yet so maybe I'll start listening to this series again or restart the Collector series (which is amazing!)

A bit too much on thought thinking.

Oh my gosh, can they (Eli and Ember) just stop screaming and fighting all the time?!?! I got so tired of that and secret after secret one right after another was tiring as well. Once they finally got to the point of not fighting I did love the little things that they said to each other that was just plain hot!! One thing that was upsetting was the fact that she sure did nothing when in fighting after all the training she got at Lars house. All the sudden she didnt do anything but think and think and think....... Yeah, that was irritating. Love the cute romance between Jarred and Kennedy. Soooo adorable.

the saga continues!

I love this story . The narrator distinguishes each character superbly. On to book four od Darkness.