Book Review :: A Poison Dark and Drowning, by Jessica Cluess

A Poison Dark and Drowning by Jessica Cluess
Series: Kingdom on Fire #2
Also in this series: A Shadow Bright and Burning
Published by Random House Books for Young Readers
on September 19th 2017
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 432
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The magicians want her to lead. The sorcerers want her to lie. The demons want her blood. Henrietta wants to save the one she loves. But will his dark magic be her undoing?

Henrietta doesn’t need a prophecy to know that she’s in danger. She came to London to be named the chosen one, the first female sorcerer in centuries, the one who would defeat the bloodthirsty Ancients. Instead, she discovered a city ruled by secrets. And the biggest secret of all: Henrietta is not the chosen one.

Still, she must play the role in order to keep herself and Rook, her best friend and childhood love, safe. But can she truly save him? The poison in Rook’s system is transforming him into something monstrous as he begins to master dark powers of his own.

So when Henrietta finds a clue to the Ancients’ past that could turn the tide of the war, she persuades Blackwood, the mysterious Earl of Sorrow-Fell, to travel up the coast to seek out strange new weapons. And Magnus, the brave, reckless flirt who wants to win back her favor, is assigned to their mission. Together, they will face monsters, meet powerful new allies, and uncover the most devastating weapon of all: the truth.

Last updated on 14 October 2023

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My thoughts on A Poison Dark and Drowning

Much like A Shadow Bright and Burning, this sequel, A Poison Dark and Drowning, was excellent. We continue with Henrietta’s story and the battle with the Ancients, huge horrible creatures with varying degrees of terror and horrific abilities. Henrietta and her squad of boys from their training days have gone their separate ways, and I really missed the banter and the whole squad feel from the first book. But as the story rocks along, they come back together and it got a lot better.

“People do what they think is right, but that does not make it good.”

The characters were just as good as the first story; Henrietta is definitely a leading lady who I actually like, however she did tend to weaken her so-called love of Rook when the other two male suitors (Lord George Blackwell and Magnus) were around, which was a little annoying at times. She is totally rocking her fire powers though, and can explode in quite excellent form now. As for the men folk, Rook is always brilliant, George is the main leading man in this novel really, and I really did miss Magnus’ character. He appears now and then, and more at the end but he was one of my favourites, despite his many flaws. There are new characters in this book too, including the lovely (and kick-ass) Maria.

The plot line was definitely intriguing and page-turning-good, and other than a few ‘called it!’ moments, for the most part it kept me on my toes. I love the idea behind the magic in this series, the different types of magic-wielding people: sorcerers, magicians and witches. Like I mentioned in my review of A Shadow Bright and Burning, I loved that it was based in Victorian England too. Reminds me of the Infernal Devices series.

The third instalment in the Kingdom on Fire series comes out in October, and is titled A Sorrow Fierce and Falling.

If you’re after a magical Young Adult, Fantasy novel series set in Victorian England, this is for you!

Have you already begun this series? What do you think of it?