Top 5 Saturday is run by Amanda @ Devouring Books. Every week showcases 5 books that share a common theme. This week’s theme is Dark Reads, so fitting for Halloween weekend.
Once, I liked to think I enjoyed dark reads, but then I started scaring myself, so read them very sparingly until I just…stopped. There were a few that sprang to mind right away, and some I had to look up to see if they were considered dark reads. And then I just had to pick one that scared me.
The Dark Jewels Trilogy by Anne Bishop
This was the first dark fantasy I ever read. When I was a teen, I loved it. As an adult, I now question why my mom thought this was okay for me to read (she also read all the books, but only because she liked the big cat on the cover). I haven’t read this series in years because it now makes me cringe, but I have to remember it as the first dark fantasy books I ever read.
Master of Sorrows by Justin T. Call
Honestly, I don’t remember a ton about this one, but it is about a magically hidden village in a large forest and the main character is a future dark lord. I do recall a dark gray feeling overcome me while I was reading it, so I’m putting it down as a dark read.
All That Will Burn by Judd Mercer
This book was weird. I think it’s about a possible afterlife where there are angels and demons inhabiting the same broad world. There’s something special about the main character that makes it possible for her to have dealings with both and, really, it was just so weird and creepy to me that I had to put it on this list.
Adventus by Andrew Mowere
Can dark fantasy be dark and heartwarming? Because this one was certainly dark and some scenes were quite horrible, but it still managed to be weirdly heartwarming.
Poseidon’s Children by Michael West
I have distinct memories of reading this while waiting for my son when he was in speech therapy. This one is about monsters attacking a seaside town with deadly and bloody results. I’m not one for horror or creepy books, so I’m very glad to have been reading this one in a well lit office surrounded by speech therapists and families!
What dark reads have you enjoyed or are looking forward to?
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The Lily Cafe 
Not really related with your selection, that is a great one, thanks. I have another question. I didn’t know you have speech therapy for children also in USA. Is it a common thing over there? Here I understand, since we have children coming from all types of background, but over there? Can you satisfy my curiosity about?
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Sure! Speech therapy here isn’t really common, but is for those children who haven’t developed enough speech appropriate for their age. My son only said a handful of words at most when he turned 2, so we took him to a Speech Language Pathologist to have him evaluated and she recommended speech therapy to help get him to talk. As far as I know, it’s not something children with a different first language than English go through (we have English learning classes in schools to help them learn the language), but mostly children who just aren’t really speaking enough words by different ages.
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Thanks Kat for the answer off-topic. A lot of kids don’t speak at 2 here, but they are mostly bilingual. And the Speech therapy is to eliminate bad pronunciation due to “foreign effects”… it worked very well in our case, but it was a weird experience (I was somehow going through it also, since I’m not native) ❤️
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That’s interesting! We have English language classes, but nothing to eliminate foreign pronunciations. It certainly sounds strange to me, but I can understand that, outside of the US, it’s probably quite normal.
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I read one Anne Bishop novel and loved it. What an interesting list. Great choices ❤️
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Thank you! Anne Bishop is such a good writer. I haven’t read beyond The Dark Jewels, but the intricacies of the world were so fascinating!
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