The Plentiful Darkness
by Heather KassnerPublished by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) on August 3, 2021
Genres: Fantasy, Middle Grade, Horror
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover
Source: Publisher
In Heather Kassner's spine-chilling fantasy novel, reminiscent of Serafina and the Black Cloak, an orphaned girl chases a thieving boy into a magician's land of starless, moonless gloom where other children have gone missing before her.Though the darkness is indeed plentiful, this book gleams with an eerie magic, its characters burning bright and fierce. A visual treat of a tale. --Stefan Bachmann, international bestselling author of Cinders and Sparrows
In order to survive on her own, twelve-year-old Rooney de Barra collects precious moonlight, which she draws from the evening sky with her (very rare and most magical) lunar mirror. All the while she tries to avoid the rival roughhouse boys, and yet another, more terrifying danger: the dreaded thing that's been disappearing children in the night.
When Trick Aidan, the worst of the roughhouse boys, steals her lunar mirror, Rooney will do whatever it takes to get it back. Even if it means leaping into a pool of darkness after it swallows Trick and her mirror. Or braving the Plentiful Darkness, a bewitching world devoid of sky and stars. Or begrudgingly teaming up with Trick to confront the magician and unravel the magic that has trapped Warybone's children.
Content Tags:
Perfect for readers who want:
- A dark, creepy story along the lines of mid-grade Gothic
- Found family and friendship bonds
- An adorable rat sidekick called Monty
- A story that will creep you out but also punch you right in the feels
- Lots of little unexpected twists and turns
Many thanks to Henry Holt and Co. and Rockstar Book Tours for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.
Everything about this book just screamed READ ME as far as I’m concerned. That cover? Yes. I get almost Coraline-like vibes from it. That blurb on the back? *chef’s kiss* I was so excited to pick this one up.
The Plentiful Darkness is a horror book wrapped in feels, a coming of age story with found family. It’ll give you goosebumps as well as the warm fuzzies with its beautiful prose and dark, creepy atmosphere.
I would consider this book what I call Gothic Lite, if you will, or Gothic Jr. It’s the mid-grade equivalent of gothic literature, which means it’s very atmospheric, with lovely descriptions that’ll pull you in and plenty of darkness. But, you know, the age-appropriate kind. I will admit that the beginning was kind of slow. It took about halfway through the book to really grab me and pull me into the plot. Once it did, though, I was along for the ride!
Heather Kassner (author of The Bone Garden and The Forest of Stars) is back with yet another satisfyingly creepy (without being outright scary) book filled with absolutely gorgeous prose.
Kassner’s writing is basically a ninja hiding in a dark alley, waiting for just the right time to strike. It sneaks up on you when you’re least suspecting it and blindsides you with the most gorgeous lines that just force you to re-read them. I absolutely love the subtlety of it. The prose is very accessible to kids (which is good since, you know, it’s middle grade), but doesn’t talk down to them and has plenty for readers of all ages to mull over.
I was constantly struck, over and over again, by some of these really beautiful lines! It’s such a quotable book with sentences that just stick in your brain.
We gathered the stars for you, Rooney.
The Plentiful Darkness is filled with a spooky atmosphere that I like to call Gothic Lite.
In other words, it has all the charms of adult Gothic literature but reined in just a bit to better suit a middle grade audience. It’s got that lovely blend of dark, stunning prose but with creepy stuff lurking in the darkness, which is always fun. This makes it great for readers who want something a little spooky but not quite scary. It gives the horror vibe without actually being horrific. So for all you people out there who are big chickens like me, this is a good one for you!
Come out, my foes
If you’re here
No one else knows
Try if you want
To gather moonlight
But it’s gone for good
In this ever-dark night
It’s death you’ve found
And we must confess
There’s no escaping
The plentiful darkness
The main character, Rooney, is a little hard to tolerate in this to start with, but it’s all part of her character arc, which is a wonderful one.
It’s easy to feel bad for Rooney, even when you feel like reaching out and slapping her for being a brat. She lost her parents at a young age and has since lived alone with no one but the Montys (the name she gave to the rats living in the alleys) for company. It’s not a great existence. I’d be just a tad bit bitter and angry, too.
Rooney’s character arc, though, is just *chef’s kiss*. Because she isn’t a bad person. She’s just a kid that bad things happened to. She struggles a lot, but she’s trying to do the right thing, even if she’s not quite sure what that is. I loved seeing her grow into herself and her situation and realizing how she’s maybe got room to do better.
“But how?” A tear glimmered on Devin’s eyelashes.
“Maybe your parents tore the sky apart looking for you.” Somehow, it was both the kindest and the cruelest thing Trick could have said.
If only it were true.
There’s an element of found family and friendship bonds here that is so poignant, it’ll take your breath away.
This one hit me in the feels so freaking hard. Probably because I’m an adult with a kid of my own and know that no kid should have to be alone. But oof, it’s such a punch to the feels and it hurt. Found family is one of my favorite tropes to start with, but knowing that most of the characters in this book are orphans just made it all the more emotional. This book will give you a nasty case of the feels and once they were there, it was hard to shake them. It carried all the way through to the ending, which was one massive feel-fest, and I loved it!
“Because you still don’t trust me,” Sorka said.
“Because no one should be alone.”
The Plentiful Darkness is filled with a lot of big themes, like forgiveness, and it leaves the reader with a lot to think about even after they close the book.
I think readers of all ages can appreciate this. The villain in this is nuanced and relatable, so even as I closed the book, I wasn’t convinced there really was any right or wrong side to this. I just felt for everyone involved. It’s such a bittersweet book, and I think that’s sometimes the best kind. I could easily see everyone’s perspective and understand where they’re coming from, even if I didn’t necessarily agree with their actions.
Forgiveness is a really big theme here, and it’s hard to deny the importance of that concept. The way Kassner approaches it isn’t in-your-face but still gets the point across. Rooney, especially, is a good character for it, because she’s harboring so much anger and resentment in general (and understandably so, given how her life has gone thus far). She isn’t the only one, though. Forgiveness and healing are two big things that usually give me warm, fuzzy feelings when I’m reading, and both were really strong with this book!
About Heather Kassner
Heather Kassner loves thunderstorms, hummingbirds, and books. She lives with her husband in Arizona, waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the rain, photographing hummingbirds, and reading and writing strange little stories. She is also the author The Forest of Stars and The Bone Garden.
3 winners will receive a finished copy of THE PLENTIFUL DARKNESS, US ONLY.
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[…] of Luck, by Ginger Johnson, at Cracking the Cover The Plentiful Darkness, by Heather Kassner, at The Bookwyrm’s Den and Eli to the nth Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, by Payal Doshi, at A Dance With […]
[…] of Luck, by Ginger Johnson, at Cracking the Cover The Plentiful Darkness, by Heather Kassner, at The Bookwyrm’s Den and Eli to the nth Rea and the Blood of the Nectar, by Payal Doshi, at A Dance With […]