Burn the Dark: Malus Domestica #1 by S.A. Hunt

 

Greetings Stack Worms!

I finished Burn the Dark yesterday after much sleeping. I wasn't feeling great (still not) but done it is. 

There's a lot going on in this book and yet, not much going on plotwise. Let's start from the beginning. 

A Youtuber Robin is a witch hunter. She records her hunts and posts them on her channel known as Malus Domestica (apple tree) for revenue. These videos are indeed real, not fake like most people think they are. Her travels take her all over the states and eventually back home. Unfortunately, home has some nasty baggage attached. When she was young her mother was murdered by her possessed father. Then she was thrown into a mental clinic for a few years before she was busted out by her trainer Heinrich Hammer (I see what you did there Miss Hunt). The closer she gets to home the more she sees the aberration the Red Lord. At least it's what she considers the red lord. 

When she is finally back in her hometown she reconnects to an old friend that her mother used to babysit, Joel (pronounced Jo-elle). Her gay brother from another mother. However, just across town in Robin's old childhood home, a new family moves in. Leon and his comic-horror-loving son, Wayne. Leon had moved them down from Chicago due to losing his wife and being a drunk. But we don't really follow Leon. We're focused on Wayne and his adventures in a town with new friends. 

Robin is set up with Kenway by Joel one night. So, when she is "attacked" by the Red Lord she runs to him for some extra protection which brings him into her world of supernatural happenings. While Wayne starts seeing and experiencing some strange things in his new house. After school Wayne walks home with his new friends and winds up getting bit by a Copperhead. However, he's saved by the local witches. The ones that Robin had come home to neutralize. 

Wayne finds out that his mother's ring not only can show him doors that aren't there but also allows him to travel through them. When he wakes up in the hospital from the snake bit he follows a door that winds up leading him to the kidnapped Joel. Yeah, so Joel meets someone for a booty call, gets roofied then kidnapped by a serial killer. Wayne saves Joel. Joel winds up leading them to Kenway and Robin, which is how the three-ish storylines converge. 

Leon thinks his son is lying after telling him about his travels through secret doors and his encounters with Robin's Red Lord. But Robin says she can show him that it's real. She finds out that the thing she calls the Red Lord is a demon! dun Dun DUN!! Like yeah, I called that after it was named. And that's about how it ends with Leon now believing in the supernatural. 

Now I'm going to sound angry and that I didn't like the book. But I do like the book. I just don't love the book. However, I plan on finishing the series. I already have the other two books. So, yeah I'm going to read 'em. 

First off this book feels like it's suffering from middle book syndrome. The problem is that it's the first book. Not much happens besides set up. Them finding that the Red Lord is a demon is literally in the last 50 pages. I think I'm being generous there. 

Second: The romance between Kenway and Robin is way too quick. They know each other for 2.5 days before they're spilling out their dark secrets. This isn't Disney Miss Hunt, it can slow down a little bit. 

Third: Characterizations feel all over the place. Joel often feels like a stereotypical gay guy. Robin is said to be a badass but seems rather cowardly. Not to mention the cliched sentences all over the book. Urf. And sometimes they are so dumb! Joel gets roofied by going to meet a guy for a booty call after meeting him online. Robin doesn't know that the Red Lord is a demon?! How? How does she not know?! 

Fourth: I'm not so sure about the representation of diversity in the book. 

Fifth: RANDOM SERIAL KILLER!! Sure he's going around killing people for blood so that he can feed a Dryad, but it's the first time we meet or hear anything about this. 

But those are the issues I have with it. Here is what I liked about the book: 

First: Wayne is an amazing little kid. Love him to death. His connection to his mother's wedding ring is sad but so sweet. 

Second: Dryads in this world are witches turned into a tree to produce fruit that gives life! They have to be fed with blood. That's creative. 

Third: I like the sibling relationship between Robin and Joel. 

Fourth: The Red Lord is pretty cool, especially what his interest in Robin might be. And I'm pretty sure I know their connection with how the book ended. 

Fifth: The fact that Robin is a YouTuber is kind of neat. A different take on witch-hunting. 

So, the good and bad even each other out. Sort of. I say check it out if you want something witchy. It was pretty good. Just sort of expect a mixed bag. I originally bought this book and its sequels because I wanted to support the trans community.