X and Zoe are in the brink of darkness.
The two of them live worlds apart. That is not an exaggeration. X is a prisoner of the Lowlands, and will be so for the rest of his existence. Zoe lives a normal life in Montana. But neither of them is happy as long as they aren’t together. This time, X has a plan. And it is not a very solid one.
X was born in the equivalent of what we call hell to a dead mother and a living father. A prisoner for life, he must find a way out of there and into Zoe’s arms. There is only one way to do that: he must find where his mother has been imprisoned since the day he was born. But there are entities in the Lowlands that are firmly set against it; evil, bitter beings that will not let him succeed that easily.
But he is not alone. Friends can be found, even in such a dreadful place, and Zoe has also set her mind on helping her loved one escape. The pair of them will have to fight, argue and plan their way out of hell in order to be together. Can X’s plan really work?
Thrilling, adventurous, heart-breaking
The Brink of Darkness is a thrilling fantasy plot, walking hand in hand with an exciting love story. One can only feel interested by the graphic and clever depiction of the Lowlands, the equivalent of what we nowadays call Hell.
There is a variety of in-depth characters: some are cunning, some are compassionate and some plain cruel. But Jeff Giles has managed to create solid reasons for each one’s character and way of acting; and that is plainly brilliant. The reader can actually find quite a few very lovable and simply relatable people in the story.
The Brink of Darkness has lots of hard scenes, but that should be expected; after all, it is a book involving… hell. However, there are also a lot of pleasant, heart-melting moments that will make you sigh in relief. And, thankfully, there is also quite a lot of humor involved!
Love, hand-in-hand with loss
Jeff Giles has managed to also touch some sensitive subjects in a really gentle way: the pain of losing or growing up without a parent, anxiety and loss of loved ones. It never gets awkward. On the contrary, the reader feels that the story is gently handling these matters.
The Brink of Darkness is a sequel to The Edge of Everything, and I strongly suggest reading that as well. However, the book can stand perfectly well on its own, and you can definitely give it a go! Strongly recommended for fans of the fantasy genre, this is a book that you will certainly enjoy!
