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Book: “Daughter of the Dark” by R.J. Vallderperas
Publishing Info: Bramble, September 2026
Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!
Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound
Book Description: For Solana, survival has always meant staying sharp—and staying alone. With a blood-forged dagger as her only inheritance, she’s made herself Supay’s fiercest demon slayer, hunting muki—monsters born from human death—through the kingdom’s streets.
But the work comes with a curse of its every body she leaves behind swells the muki’s ranks. The city that raised her has been her cage for so long she’s stopped believing freedom is real.
Then a twist of fate drags her into the palace and crowns her Royal Demon Slayer, a title wrapped in silk and sharpened like a blade. The magic is dazzling. The secrets are darker. And whatever is poisoning Supay didn’t start in the alleys. It started behind gilded doors.
Worst of all is Reyes, the king’s right-hand man, a captain of the Masters, and her personal torturer turned mentor who’s dangerously hard to resist. Wanting him is a mistake. Trusting him could be fatal. Because if Solana walks away, the kingdom falls. And if she stays, she may have to become the monster Supay needs.
Review: I don’t typically look at other reviews before writing up my own so as to preserve a more uninfluenced opinion, but this book had me stumped for a bit. There was something about it that was both familiar and not particularly to my taste, and when I went to the reviews, someone had the perfect comparison: this book’s heroine is almost an exact replica of Celaena from “Throne of Glass!” And suddenly my feelings were clear. I wasn’t loving this, but some part of me was also recognizing that I was likely going to be the outlier. After all, “Throne of Glass” is incredibly popular, and I’m definitely an outlier for my dislike of it and of Celaena.
So yes, our main character was one of my main struggles with this book. She’s your typical badass assassin with oh, so many secrets. But, of course, we don’t really see much of this and instead are repeatedly simply told that she’s the best at what she does. Similarly, the love interest feels like some jumble of all the love interests from the “Throne of Glass” series combined. He wasn’t terrible or anything on his own, but he was also so familiar as a type that I was immediately bored by him.
I think that was my main problem with this book. It’s competently written, the characters are all the sort that often appeal to romantasy fans, and the pacing was fast-moving. And I’m sure there are a bunch of readers out there who will gobble this one up. But I’m getting so tired of reading the same characters and love interests time after time. And the style of writing that is popular now, which relies heavily on simply telling readers traits about the main characters, is so dull that I’m getting to the point where it’s a struggle to finish books where this pops up in the first few chapters. Which I hate. Because there have definitely been examples of books that didn’t immediately enthrall me, but then, after a few chapters, successfully drew me in.
I will say that I think the world-building here was its strongest aspect. The exploration of the underworld and the demon-like creatures was fascinating. I also really liked the overall Peruvian culture that carried through in some of the descriptions of food and architecture. That said, I could have used even more of this. I especially thought that the magic system was a bit underdeveloped and didn’t take full advantage of its interesting origins.
Overall, this was a bit of a disappointment. The cover is fantastic, and I know there are a lot of readers who will enjoy this. If you like “Throne of Glass,” for example, and that heroine in particular, this will definitely be up your alley! So subjectively, as I didn’t like that book or its lead, this wasn’t my favorite and would probably be a “6” for me personally. But I’m bumping it up a notch since that’s such a “me thing” problem.
Rating 7: The Peruvian influences were the most interesting part. And from there, it may come down to how much you’d like to re-read “Throne of Glass.” Which…not so much for me.
Reader’s Advisory:
“Daughter of the Dark” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Sci-Fi/Fantasy of 2026.
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