Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Marisha Pessl is back with another YA thriller. Darkly follows Arcadia “Dia” Gannon, a teenager unexpectedly chosen for a coveted internship from the company of her idol game designer, Louisiana Veda. After Veda’s death, the company basically went dormant, with its games popping up at auction for millions of dollars. As Dia and her fellow interns dig into the game, they find hidden symbols, buried clues, and a web of intrigue. Who are these other people? Why were any of them really chosen for this internship, and what’s next for them when it ends?

I have been hooked on Pessl’s writing since Night Film, and though I haven’t loved any as much as that one, I still enjoy subsequent books by her, including this one. It’s dark and twisty. I love books where there’s another world alongside our world, and stories where characters are playing some large game ticks that box for me. I had no expectations and formed no theories, just followed Dia on her journey and discovered things as she did. It was a wild ride, for sure!

Unfortunately, Darkly joins the ranks of Books I Wish I Loved. I'd never read a Marisha Pessl novel, but this one really jumped out at me. Darkly presents a very interesting and unique premise that stands out compared to a lot of the young adult books on the market right now, and I was so excited for a fresh story. I was drawn to the premise of this novel because it sounded straight out of a movie, and a bit like The Inheritance Games, if it were its eccentric, quirky sibling. In a way, Darkly is exactly that, but it didn't give off the same charm as The Inheritance Games, even though I thought it could have.

Dia is a game designer, and I really loved how gaming was woven in throughout the story. It was very clever, and I don't think we see enough of this in young adult books. I also loved the multimedia elements and they were so fun to read about. Ever since reading the A Good Girls Guide to Murder series, I've found myself wishing for more books with exciting little visuals, so this was very exciting.

There were moments I found excellent throughout Darkly, but I found it overall to be underwhelming. The premise, the concepts, and the vibes were there, but the actual execution was poor.

Pessl's book Night Film literally blew me away, so I was excited to read Darkly, her YA offering. Like Night Film, the premise of this -- and much of the plotting -- is wildly imaginative, playful, dark and creative, which I really enjoyed. Unlike Night Film, the characters in this latest book seemed to fall flat for me, and I would have appreciated each of them having more specificity and depth. If you are a fan of stories that lean heavily into plotting (and less heavily into character), you will likely love this read.

Dia, a teen from Missouri, finds herself one of seven interns working for her favorite board game designer's company. The games are elaborate and intense, leaving a mysterious legacy of the designer, Louisiana Vega. When the seven teens get to England, they learn they are supposed to find out who stole the previously unknown lost game of the designer - and the way they are supposed to do that is to play the game themselves.

This was an interesting read. I think it started a little slowly, but once Dia got to England, it definitely picked up. I enjoyed the intrigue between interns and how those secrets unfolded (especially at the end with a slight twist). There were some elements that I don't think were as successful though. I am still not clear exactly what was happening in Valkyrie (although to be fair, I'm not sure Dia completely did either at the end). I think the lore behind it could have been given more time - like I got the basic gist, but there were elements I guess maybe I missed or weren't explained (like what all the settings were/meant). I also do think it ended on a kind of meh note. Like I get the symbolism behind the ending (like last two pages ending), but it still felt out of character or wrong somehow? I'm not sure. I just know I closed it being like huh. Overall, a decent read, but it didn't give me the same magic I got from Night Film.

I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Pessl poured so much love and effort into the legend of Louisiana Veda and Darkly that she had little left for our present-day characters. Dia and the other interns fall flat by comparison, which makes the parts of the story not immediately immersed in Veda’s history jarring to read. Overall I liked it and would read again. A Darkly is addictive, after all.

**3.5-stars rounded up**

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In Darkly, Marisha Pessl introduces the Reader to the interestingly-mad world of an eccentric and infamous game designer, Louisiana Veda. If you've read Pessl's novel Night Film, you're already aware of how well she can create an aura around a mysterious character. I'm looking at you, Cordova.

Our MC is a teenage girl, Dia Gannon, who submits an application for a coveted-internship with Veda's gaming company, Darkly. Her application feels like a failure, so Dia is shocked when she discovers she's been selected for one of the highly-competitive 7-positions.

Darkly, well-known for it's darkly ((pun intended)) ingenious game designs, has laid dormant since its founder's, Louisiana's, bizarre death. The Darkly games that remain are so prized, they can go for millions at auction. As the teens start their internships, more questions are revealed than answered. What even are these internships about, and why were these specific candidates selected?

The entire narrative turns into a puzzle, with Dia struggling to piece everything together. The stakes feel high, the atmosphere ripe with danger, but why? It's all part of the mystery of Darkly.

I enjoyed my time with Darkly. It's a story I would consider reading again. I feel if my brain hadn't been so fried by the holidays, I could've even enjoyed it even more. There's no denying Pessl's insane-levels of creativity and I did enjoy the overall mysterious tone of this book. While I feel like my brain may have missed some of the finer details, I can still appreciate the level of attention that must of been required in Pessl's execution of this story. It's not my favorite of her work, but a solid read nonetheless.

If you enjoy puzzle-driven stories, I feel you could love this. The characters are smart, driven and interesting. I loved the action, setting and the intrigue of Louisiana Veda definitely kept me turning the pages.

Thank you to the publisher, Delacorte Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I look forward to seeing what other Readers think of Darkly and anticipate whatever Pessl writes next!

Thank you to netgalley for providing an e-galley for review. For readers of Inheritance Games, Darkly follows Dia and her felllow interns as they tryr to solve the games of the empire of Veda. But why was Dia chosen, she isn't famous, or rich, or related to anyone famous or rich? There are clues and symbols enough to keep the intrigue going in this twisty novel.

You know how sometimes you have an author whose first work you encountered was so life-altering that you're down for whatever they write after, no matter the quality of the subsequent output? Marisha Pessl is one of those authors for me.

I fell in love hard with Special Topics In Calamity Physics, which was a brilliant look at a young girl leading a peripatetic life in the wake of her mercurial professor father, trying to fit in at a new high school during senior year and stumbling into a murder investigation in the process. Ms Pessl's next two books, Night Film and Neverworld Wake, were both fine. Night Film was very self-consciously adult (and commensurately ponderous) and Neverworld Wake felt like a capitulation to the marketing schisms that demanded that any novel with a teenage protagonist had to be classified as Young Adult. Darkly, at least, feels more comfortable as a YA novel, tho perhaps I have just adjusted my expectations downwards in regard to this author.

Gosh, this review isn't meant to be bitchy, I just want eccentric, brilliant books closer to STiCP than to your average YA mystery, and I'm starting to get a little impatient!

Anyway, Darkly tells the tale of Dia Gannon, a teenage outcast who essentially runs the antique store ostensibly staffed by her flighty mother and the elderly assistants who might as well be related to her by blood. When she learns that the estate of legendary game-maker Louisiana Veda is holding a worldwide search for interns, she's desperate to go but also scared of leaving her little family behind.

Like millions of others worldwide, Dia has played several of the immersive and haunting board/mystery games Louisiana published via her company, Darkly Games. Beautiful, secretive Louisiana reportedly perished herself years ago. Now, seven teenagers are being invited to visit Darkly Games for the first time. Dia doesn't expect to be selected, but nothing will stop her from going once she is.

The internship is nothing like she expects, tho. As she and her fellow interns unravel the mystery of why they've been brought there, they find themselves playing in a terrifying and all-too-realistic game. Could this be Louisiana's final masterpiece? Dia might be able to find out, so long as she survives the ordeal.

I loved the foundational conceit of this novel, even if I as a game-maker and puzzle-enthusiast have to reluctantly admit that Louisiana's rags-to-riches story is very much a conceit. I WISH that it were possible for creators of intricate physical (and even immersive real-life) games to rake in the big bucks like Louisiana did, but I'm happy enough to go along with the idea that she earned enough to buy an estate and a mysterious factory and to be able to hand out largesse essentially at whim.

What I did really love were the game descriptions! I'm still not 100% sure why the person who set Valkyrie in motion did so since it was clearly counterproductive to their aims, but I really enjoyed reading about the game play and puzzling my way through it with Dia. Motive aside, the setup for Valkyrie made sense, as did the many secrets of Louisiana's life. Dia and her family were also winsome, and while some of her fellow teens felt barely fleshed out, it was nice to have a diverse cast rocketing around the world, solving mysteries.

This book really made me want to go play some of the bazillion escape/puzzle games I already own. After all, I can't buy more if I haven't played the ones I already have! (or so I tell myself, lol) And I'd love to help make some of these wonderfully creative -- tho hopefully less tortured than Louisiana -- game designers I admire that much richer, if only so I can have more of their delightful creations to play. It's a virtuous cycle, rather like the one depicted in these pages.

Darkly by Marisha Pessl was published November 26 2024 by Delacorte Press and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9780593706558">Bookshop!</a>

I made it about 40% of the way through this, and I was just not feeling it at all. What I did read wasn’t bad, but it also didn’t make me want to keep reading. Ultimately I decided to DNF this one, but given the amount that I did read, I would still give it 2 stars. I’m sure it’s people are out there, I just wasn’t one of them.

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

Dia has always been interested in the Darkly games and the game designer behind them, Louisiana Veda. When the opportunity arises to intern for the Darkly company, Dia is shocked to find that her application is one of the seven to be chosen. However, the internship is not what it appears to be. The seven has been chosen to find one of Louisiana's stolen games, never made known to the public and is currently related to a missing teenage boy. Dia and the other interns will need to find their way into the game and find out who is responsible.

This book was a lot of fun and surrounded in mystery. Not only are you trying to find out who is responsible for stealing the Darkly game and how it relates to the missing boy, but you are also thrown into the mystery of who Louisiana was and the secrets that surround the Darkly company. I was captivated with Dia and her investigation. It seemed like every chapter there was a new twist making you question who could be trusted. Overall, this was a fantastic read, and I would love to read more work by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for the opportunity to review Darkly. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I found this to be a really fun read. I was just along for the ride to slowly uncover who Louisiana was and this took quite a few turns I honestly never suspected. The writing itself was great and so atmospheric. I will absolutely be reading another book from this author.

Darkly is a fantastic YA thriller that I couldn’t put down. The book follows Arcadia “Dia” Gannon as she heads off to London for a summer internship at Darkly. Darkly is a company created by the mysterious Louisiana Veda, and they specialize in dark and horrific games. Dia has been a fan of Louisiana Veda since she was a child, and she is eager to see what this internship will entail.

Dia, along with six other students from around the world, are tasked with finding a stolen Darkly game called Valkyrie. Teenagers have been playing Valkyrie, and like any other Darkly game, things have become dangerous. People have gone missing, and the foundation in charge of the internship need the interns to infiltrate the game to find out who is behind Valkyrie so they can shut it down.

This was such a fun and quick read. With lots of twists and turns, it’ll keep you guessing until the end. I think Darkly would be perfect for fans of The Inheritance Games.

What an engrossing read - I could not put this down! It reminds me of Ready Player One, but with board games instead of video games. Marisha Pessl’s writing just pulls you in from page one. A stunning YA read.

Marisha Pessl is lauded on social media for her book Night Film, and I knew I wanted to get my hands on this book. I will definitely be going to her backlist to read Night Film. Darkly was a great read and I highly recommend it.

This book is both dark and fun. It has Ready Player One vibes with the mysterious game, but instead of winning a company if you win the game a Valkyrie comes for you. I loved the twisty ending! The game descriptions in this book are cool and I think this would make a great show. This is my first book by Pessl and I look forward to reading more by her.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of this book for review.

Marisha Pessl never does *quite* what you expect and she did it fabulously in Darkly.

Dia Gannon is a kirky 17 year old living in Missouri and working at her family's failing antique store. When she receives an offer to do an internship with the famous Louisana Vaeda Foundation, what is left of the famous game inventor's company, she is drawn into the world of Darkly, uncovering the true store of its founding and founder.

This was a quick paced and atmospheric read. There is a cast of characters but none of them feel as flushed out as Dia. I loved the way Pessl managed the end, keeping the reader in suspense until the very last sentence.

I love a good thriller. As a gamer, when you add the thriller in with gaming, you've got me hooked!

The world building and intricacies of the games had me from the start. As the reader, I felt like I was immersed, fighting to solve whatever game or puzzle was presented.

I wasn't drawn to all six characters and would have enjoyed a little more development for them, however, I found Dia to be very well written. With thr pacing and intrigue, this was a very delightful read that I had a hard time putting down.

Hours later and I am still thinking of this book. Not sure how to describe it and how much I loved it. It starts very much like a black noir. What is real and what is true? Very interesting mystery. Great reveal at the end.

I wanted to read this book mostly because of the cover, it is gorgeous. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I ended up enjoying it a lot!

I really liked concept of the book, the story of this mysterious game creator, of these dark games, the remote island setting, the atmosphere. I liked Dia as a main character. I liked the mystery. Who stole the game, who is who, what is really going on? I found some pets underdeveloped a little bit and I maybe wanted more, especially from the side characters. I was also not a fan of the romance subplot but it was minor. Overall this was entertaining and I enjoyed it.