The Keep Within by J.L. Worrad || A Dark World Filled With Schemes and Plots

The Keep Within

When Sir Harrance ‘Harry’ Larksdale, bastard brother of the king, falls for a mysterious lad from the mountains, he is unwillingly caught up in a chaotic world of court intrigue and murderous folk tales. Meanwhile Queen Carmotta Il’Lunadella, First-Queen of the Brintland, needs to save her life and her unborn child. With the Third-Queen plotting against her, and rumours of coups rocking the court, Carmotta can rely only on her devious mind and venomous wit.

But deep within the walls of Becken Keep squats the keep-within – patient, timeless, and evil. To speak of the keep-within outside the walls of Becken Keep guarantees your bizarre and agonising demise within nine days. All the while, people fearfully whisper the name Red Marie: a bloodied demon with rusted nails for teeth and swinging scythes who preys on the innocent.

Harry and Carmotta are clinging to their dreams, their lives, by threads. And, beneath all, the keep-within awaits.

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Perfect for readers who want:

• Dark fantasy worlds that are not for the faint of heart
• Gray characters with questionable morals
• Scheming and plot twists that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat
• Characters that all have secrets . . . some darker than others!
• Badass women with all different sorts of strengths
• Dark, sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek humor

Many thanks to the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

When I first found out that J. L. Worrad was writing a book in the same world as Pennyblade, I was excited to give it a chance! I’m that weird sort of reader who absolutely loves dark worlds. The darker the better. Give me worlds that pull no punches, that offer no happily ever after, and where characters are just doing what they need to in order to survive its brutality. *chef’s kiss* I definitely went into this book expecting just that.

The Keep Within is a return to the dark, scheming world from Pennyblade, filled with danger, secrets, dark plots, and all the gray characters you could ever want.

As far as dark worlds go, The Keep Within doesn’t disappoint. It takes an already dark world and layers a bit more complexity on it. I loved the characters . . . as much as one can love a group of despicable gray characters that would rather stab someone than consider their own insecurities and shortcomings. Which, you know, is a lot of love, given the sort of characters I prefer. The only real downside I found in this book is that the big, overall plot ends on mostly a technicality (a brilliant one, but still) and a world where the magic is a little too soft, where I didn’t understand much of it.

The Keep Within features a dark world with gray characters where everyone has a secret, and they’ll do almost anything to save them from coming to light.

You know, the deadly sort of secrets. Every character seems to be walking this thin line between life and death, and at any moment, with any little slip, they could be thrust on the wrong side of that line. Which, as one might imagine, makes the story rather thrilling to read, because gosh, what a precarious balance to try to maintain!

Let me say this right upfront: this world is not for the faint of heart. Obviously, this book won’t be for everyone. The world is dark and unforgiving, including mild gore and graphic sex, so be aware of that when you go into it. For those who, like me, enjoy dark fantasy, though, this book definitely delivers on that. Let us count the ways, shall we?

There’s a king (because of course there is) but nearly everyone around him is scheming against him, including his wives (because, you know, one angry woman isn’t enough because men *sigh*). There’s a giant magical fortress that seems to be made of pure evil that kills anyone who talks about it (you know, like you do). Also, there’s a ban-hag, who has the power to compel people to obey just with her voice. Oh, and just when you think the world can’t get any darker, there’s a psychopathic serial killer wandering the keep having a little too much fun stabbing people. All of this culminates into an action-packed story told from multiple perspectives, each with their own goals and secrets, but all pulled (sometimes unwittingly) toward one common location: the keep within.

Despite the world itself being rather dark, Worrad manages to infuse the story with a good bit of tongue-in-cheek sarcastic humor.

Now, don’t get me wrong, this is not a humorous book, so don’t go in expecting that. However, the darkness of the world is certainly offset rather nicely by the dark humor exhibited by characters. It’s no secret by now just how much I absolutely adore sarcastic characters. It’s also probably no surprise that a sinister world like this lends itself to sarcasm. Perfect combination, really.

This humor is really crucial in so many ways. It keeps the reader from getting bogged down in an incredibly dark, horrific plot by adding something lighter (and sometimes slightly absurd) that definitely made me snort out loud on occasion. Worrad sneaks these scenes in at opportune points where they sometimes catch a reader off guard and deliver the perfect impact, without destroying the building tension.

The Keep Within is a book that doesn’t take itself too seriously, and neither should you. (Which I don’t mean, at all, to be a bad thing.)

First, Larksdale is a theater type, which I feel right there should lend itself to drama and . . . well, theatrics. Duh. In that regard, this book doesn’t disappoint. Larksdale and his troupe are every bit as dramatic as one would expect, and it’s hilarious.

Even as far as the other characters are concerned, though, they tend not to take themselves too seriously (except, of course, for some of the royals, which is to be expected). Most characters understand their lot in life and the fact that their existence balances on the edge of a knife . . . sometimes literally. Which lends itself to some really interesting (and desperate) characters.

The female side characters in The Keep Within really stole the show for me. They’re strong, resilient, and definitely characters, but it was hard not to be immediately endeared to them.

Take Larksdale’s mother, for instance, who had the misfortune of falling pregnant with the previous king’s bastard son and now is confined to the castle. All she wants, though, is what is best for her son . . . which, she’s decided, is definitely the throne. Whether Larksdale wants this for himself or not. While her scheming and plotting could definitely use some work, she’s no intention of sitting idly by and manages to gather a small group of women to her cause. Honestly, I’m pretty sure she’s the real hero of this story.

It isn’t just mothers, though. Another prominent character is the first queen Carmotta, who has received a crap deal from men all her life and is struggling to make her way in a world that has no real love for women. Plus, there’s Fwych herself, the ban-hag who loses her tongue (and thus her magic) but refuses to give up.

While the main plot certainly revolves, in some ways, around the male characters, it’s really the female characters that are the most memorable!

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