Everything I was hoping for! I really loved the first book and found this one to live up to expectations. Compelling, nuanced characters and an ever-expanding world. The romance was *chef's kiss* as expected. An enjoyable sci-fi series and I can't wait to read the final book!

I’ve unfortunately sat on this book for longer than I should have. The Fractured Dark—the second book in Megan O’Keefe’s Bound Worlds trilogy—is an excellent follow up that sets the stakes for the final installment, raising new questions and creating new fears. Spoilers for The Blighted Stars follow.

Naira and Tarquin are struggling to reconnect since Naira’s sacrifice on the Einkorn. She was unable to upload her memories before her valiant death, so the time she spent romancing with Tarquin is gone. Acaelus, father of Tarquin and head of the Mercator family, has spirited away with the remainder of the relkatite—the precious mineral required for printing the bodies people inhabit. There aren’t many people who know the true nature of canus, the shroud and relkatite, but Naira and Tarquin plan to change that. With Acaelus gone, Tarquin sees an opportunity to step in as head of Mercator and warn the families of MERIT that something awful behind the scenes is going on. And Naira spirits away to find out just where the hell Acaelus and the rest of the Mercator family has gone, so she can find out their plans once and for all.

As this is a sequel, and as it is the second in a trilogy, I’ve had to take some time to think about how to approach this review. Ultimately, I liked The Fractured Dark, but it feels a lot more like a stepping stone to the final book than I would have liked. O’Keefe still shows that she is a master at writing relationship struggles, and how individuals perceive their place within them. She also keeps her hands firmly on the controls when it comes to the themes, exploring them more vividly and deeply than before while keeping them open for the final installment. Where this book sort of lost me a little bit was in its plotting. O’Keefe loves to accelerate towards oblivion and The Fractured Dark has certainly forgotten the meaning of the word “brake,” but I sometimes found myself a little at loss for what was going on.

Let’s deal with some of the good stuff first. Tarquin and Naira are a pair that feels specifically designed for my taste. A soft boy and a hard woman. Their interactions are as delightful as they are heart-rending at times. Sometimes their reluctance is a little repetitive I will admit, but generally I enjoyed their dance the second time around. A lot of the issues revolve around the climax of the first book, and expand from there, making the tension in their relationship palpable. Where O’Keefe succeeds for me is that the anticipation still existed even though as a reader we’ve been through it before. I still waited with a bated breath on whether Tarquin and Naira would keep it going. Their flirting was tantalizing, partly because Tarquin wanted to be thrown around like a sack of potatoes, but also because O’Keefe knows how to highlight their anxiety and tension with each other that they have to find ways to break through. The addition of someone from Naira’s past, trying to force themselves into a love triangle only strengthened the dynamics of the duo. While I can see why some find it unnecessary, I do think that O’Keefe is playing a longer game with it that I want to see to its end.

The plot however, left me a little confused this time around. I think O’Keefe’s penchant for acceleration back weighted the sequel pretty heavily leading to a lot of weird questions that go unanswered. I also feel that even a few weeks after reading the book I am confused on what exactly happened in some of those moments. I will say the parts that could have been the most confusing though, were deftly handled by O’Keefe’s writing ability. I think I just got lost in the pure density of events, not the handling of them. For the most part, the book is pretty even, with escalations that feel appropriate for the trajectory of the story. Choices have to be made by characters who are slowly losing control of their own ability to make said choices. Priorities begin to shift as the characters try to salvage what they can from the decaying system in order to fight the Canus fungi that is infecting everyone. O’Keefe sells questionable decisions, and while she could have leaned overly heavily on plot reasons, it didn’t feel heavy handed to me. And that’s where the themes come in baby.

When I initially read The Blighted Stars, I liked the direction that O’Keefe was headed in but had a few reservations about the canus infection. I felt it could have easily fallen into “collective hive mind vs individual” territory even if it didn’t necessarily go there. When I reread the last ten chapters of the book as a refresher, I immediately recognized Canus as something else. That’s right folks, it’s everyone’s favorite bad guy… Capitalism. And with this in mind I dove into The Fractured Dark, commie senses tingling. And at the end of it, I think that still holds. Canus is unrelenting in its pursuit of spreading itself and maintaining a hold on those under it’s thrall. It can’t be seen, felt or heard, yet it permeates every decision made by the characters. Extraction, environmental degradation, personal relations, the structure of society and the relations of the people within it are all tainted by this unseen force. Much like how the need to make more money is an outsized force in our decision making, canus directs the attention of the characters to stabilize things for its continued growth. Where O’Keefe plays with it a little more is in how people are unable to make the “right” decisions because something is influencing them, whether or not they are “infected.”

Since this is only the second book, there is still time for this to spin out of control, but I am curious as all hell to see where O’Keefe takes the reader. I know that the third book will feel like an unrelenting rain of terrible revelations and tightening tension, but I have faith given her history with the Protectorate trilogy. The Fractured Dark is a solid book even if I felt a bit more harried and confused by it than I would have liked. I imagine this series will be best read straight through, but until I read the final book, we’ll just have to hold out and hope Naira and Tarquin can make it work.

Rating: The Fractured Dark – A Choppy But Promising Stepping Stone to the Finale.
-Alex

An ARC of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The thoughts on this book are my own.

Continues the story of Naira and Tarq while also continuing to build out the world and system in which they live! A great second installment.

The Blighted Stars is BY FAR one of my favourite books of 2023. It is tied for first place with The Will of the Many by James Islington. Both books are just such tour de forces, that I can't choose between the two. The Blighted Stars absolutely blew my mind, and I have constantly been recommending it since.
The Fractures Dark was an incredibly successful sequel to The Blighted Stars. The stakes in this book became so huge and existential that I was stressed throughout the whole book. It felt very tense and scary, and like there was nobody you could trust. On top of simply not know if the body you're interacting with is really inhabited by the mind you think it is, you also have to worry about Canus and its influence on all people in this world. Perhaps abandoning flesh and relying on 3D printed bodies was a mistake.
I'm not at all a fan of romance in my books. The only romance I have ever really liked has been in Kushiel's Legacy by Jacqueline Carey. However, Naira and Tarquin's relationship in this book really blossoms in a beautiful way that I really enjoyed reading. With Naira's memories of book one completely gone, Tarquin has to rekindle a relationship with the woman who's mind he sealed away with is testimony. She is an enemy of his father and the system he represents, yet she begins to fall for him all over again.
This book is fun and action-packed, and nobody does pacing as well as O'Keefe.
The Fractured Dark is an incredible sequel and well worth reading.
I highly recommend picking up the first book in this series. Especially if you're a fan of Dead Space.
Please read this!
I cannot wait for the final book in the trilogy.

This was a great sequel. It sets up the continuation of the story perfectly. The world is beautifully fleshed out and the characters and their interactions are spot on. I would recommend this book

I enjoyed the first book in the series, but the sequel fell a little flat for me. I just couldn't get into it. Naira losing her memory undid a lot of what happened in the first book and it was frustrating that the couple essentially had to have to start from zero. The plot was interesting, but not enough to keep me engaged.

The Fractured Dark was a PERFECT follow up to the series. It built on everything (characters, relationships, politics, science/world) in a way that was seamless, yet complex. I love how this story looks at issues surrounding climate, technology, and autonomy. I find it particularly impressive how Megan E. O'Keefe manages to make it easy to follow the story despite jumping dealing with people constantly switching locations, messing with timelines, and even being in different bodies. This book continues to have romance as a main part of the plot. However, I actually love it because it doesn't take over the plot (thank god)! I cannot wait for the final installment in this trilogy!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-ARC! I am very grateful and happy to explore everything this author will write in the future as well!

Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Megan E. O'Keefe

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

This sequel is full of character development, slow burn romance, and such well explained science behind the premise of neural mapping and mind/body controlling species of fungus that is doesn't seem that unrealistic at times. I definitely feel like it was dragging a bit in the middle, but picked up at the end and left me itching to get my hands on the next one! 4.5/5 stars.

It was going to be really hard to top the exquisitely crafted experience that was The Blighted Stars, and while I didn’t quite enjoy The Fractured Dark as much, I am still totally invested in this series. Despite some issues I had with the plot and pacing of the second entry in the trilogy, the worldbuilding continued to expand in delightful and surprising ways, and the characters only continue to grow and gain complexity in ways that feel three-dimensional and realistic. Tarquin and Naira are compelling protagonists and I am eager to follow their journey into the last book of the trilogy.

If you’re a fan of space operas in queernorm worlds with high stakes and compelling characters, you would benefit from checking out The Devoured Worlds trilogy posthaste.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.

This was a great read! Follows closely on the heels of book one in terms of hype and plot, I liked the extra background on some of the characters and the amount of action. This is a great choice series for space opera with a dash of romance

There is a comfort in returning to a familiar fictional world. Hopping back into the wild ride of Tarquin and Naira felt good. I do feel this installment to be a slight notch down from the strong start with The Blighted Stars. Trilogies can feel this way as the middle book lays the groundwork for what's to come. Loved the narrator, once again, he offered new accents for new characters that really stood out in this story.
Something mesmerizing about O'keefe's storytelling is where she shines in scenes with many characters talking and interacting. It's visual and easy to picture.
The subtle queer-rep in The Fractured Dark was done so well. Having character beyond the binary genders was also very welcomed, and Cass is my new fav.

Looking very forward to continue with this series!
Much gratitude to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the advanced ebook in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Canus sure is a wily opponent! I think it is even more insidious and scary in this book, than it was in The Blighted Stars with the many misprints it controlled because it seems like no one can be trusted and some people are in league with canus, and not just being influenced. How can you work if you can't even trust your own family or even your own mind? But somehow Tarquin and Naira and their friends keep on trying. There is so much going on in this book from finding missing ships and discovering a path that doesn't depend on relk (so they can finally be free of canus) and even while trying to save humanity, those two deserve the love that is blooming between them. That part is so sweet and heartbreaking!

And yes this is the second book, with one more to go before the end so I will be waiting very impatiently for the last book! I do like that while it does end on a bit of cliffhanger, there is also a bit of happiness for Tarquin and Naira, despite everything.

The Fractured Dark by Megan E. O'Keefe


Oooof. I soooo wanted to love this book like the first one. I had never read anything by Megan E. O’Keefe before the Blighted Stars, but I had heard good things about Velocity Weapon (and I found it on my virtual TBR pile, purchased when it was on sale ages ago).

Everything I enjoyed about the first book seemed to be missing or muted here. No robots, very little spaceship excitement, mostly it was people talking in rooms boringly. The romance, which had a good long slow burn last time, had hit the reset button and slogged for the first half? third? of this volume.

This book was sooooooo long. I felt like hundreds of pages could’ve been cut and not impacted the overall story, which barely progressed the plot of the semi intelligent fungus taking over everything. Furthermore, the antagonist Fletch was just too creepy and unpleasant that he didn’t really fit in this kind of book. We didn’t need a domestic violence stalker to team up with the fungus.

Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m going to read the third book when it comes out - I don’t know if I care enough about these characters or this world to slog through another doorstop of a novel.

Thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

This series is so much fun and smart and interesting. I didn't enjoy this one nearly as much as I enjoyed the first. I think I felt like it was a little too much exposition and not enough actual action. And I wanted a little more out of certain character dynamics. Megan E. O'Keefe will continue to get my loyalty as a reader and my money for her books, but I just wanted to enjoy this one a little more than I did.

I'm looking forward to seeing what is coming with the finale of this series!

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

I’m so glad I got to read this book as soon as it became available because after the conclusion of the first one, I NEEDED more. And now I feel the exact same way again. PLEASE let us have the next one already!

I love love loved this book! Middle books tend to be the ones I struggle with the most in trilogies but Megan made sure I would love this one! The political twists and turns were amazing and I loved seeing the varying relationships between characters develop. Her reveals blew my mind more and more with each one. I don’t know how she keeps doing it.

I felt really disoriented at the start of the book and was beginning to get irritated with it until I realized what was going on and MAN, that is genius! I don’t think another author has ever done something like that to me in such a good way.

I’m so ready to continue with this series. It’s one of my all time favorites.

The Fractured Dark is the second book in the Devoured Worlds trilogy (following The Blighted Stars) and picks up a few months after the end of the first book. Tarquin Mercator, one of the heirs to the most powerful family in the galaxy, is with Naira Sharp and her team of rebels who are trying to stop a fungus that can infect humans and control their thoughts and actions from spreading.

There is a lot going on in this book as Tarquin's dad disappears with a huge supply of relkatite which is critical for "reprinting" people--putting someone's neural map into a new body to basically be reborn. Tarquin has to step up to lead the family business and work with the other families to keep the fungus and rebellions at bay.

This book has quite a few twists and turns. I found the pacing to be a little uneven compared to the first book, especially with the sometimes awkward Tarquin/Naira romance sections. On the other hand, huge kudos to the author for not falling into the "second book in a trilogy" trap--this book moves the story forward and is not just a long setup for book 3. The stakes are high for humanity..and for Tarquin and Naira's budding relationship. The ending felt a little rushed but it is a small complaint. It is a good space opera with some romance sprinkled in (a bit more heavily sprinkled in book 2). I look forward to seeing how this series wraps up.

Didn't really like this followup much, but to be fair, I didn't love the first one either. This one felt really bloated and all the characters kept making really dumb decisions. At a certain point, I stopped caring about anything or anybody.