I would like to extend my sincere appreciation to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for granting me the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was an enjoyable and well-crafted fantasy, especially coming from someone who typically does not engage with the genre. To begin this review, I want to clarify that while I usually read young adult literature, fantasy is not my usual choice, which made me apprehensive about whether I would connect with this narrative. However, my concerns were unfounded. Additionally, I must commend the cover illustrations, which are truly beautiful and perfectly represent my vision of the characters. That said, I do wish the characters had a bit more distinction from the background colors. Regarding the narrative, I genuinely appreciated the world-building and character development throughout the story. However, I felt that some sections could have benefited from more depth, while others might have been more effective if they were more concise. Overall, I was impressed by the author's ability to create a richly developed world that readers can vividly imagine. Excellent work!

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I admit that the cover is what originally drew me to this book, but the writing made me stay. I loved the world-building, the light romance was solid (even though it's a case of insta-love), but it was just solid and enjoyable. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads for release.

Imgur link goes to Instagram graphic scheduled for Feb 15th
Blog link goes live March 7th
Amazon and B&N reviews will be up after release
Will be covered in upcoming Youtube wrapup


**TL;DR**: This has some great ideas but not-so-great execution.
**Source**: NetGalley, thank you to the publisher!

**Plot**: Elia is desperate to take care of her family, and ends up doing a favor to a prince that has huge ramifications.
**Characters**: I wasn’t a huge fan of anyone here to be honest. I felt for the Prince most of all.
**Setting**: The only place I felt grounded in the story was at Elia’s home but we didn’t spend much time there.
**Fantasy/Romance:** The fantasy parts of this were great. If this had been expanded to a longer series that would have been great. I didn’t buy this romance at all though.

**Thoughts**:

Unlock the Dark is an incredibly fast paced story about a young woman with a niche and handy power trying to take care of her family. Through some unfortunate decisions Elia ends up in a bad spot. Caught between bills piling up and the Death God’s temple she needs to make some money to save her family. So she makes an incredibly unwise decision to help a foolish prince and unleashes a beast.

There is a LOT packed into this book. And a lot of it can be traced back to our main character’s bad decisions. From her ‘history’ with the country she needs to take her prince too, to her use of her poor father as fuel for her lifestyle. That lead me as the reader to be very frustrated with her and consequently the whole book. This gal unleashed a horrible plague once by breaking and entering somewhere she should not. So what does she do? She does it again, TWICE.

I also really didn’t like the ‘take the glasses off and the girl is hot’ vibe I got from the prince. Elia has nothing but scorn for him till she sees him dressed up and all the sudden now he’s hot? I’ll pass. In fact the Prince, the more I think on it, bothers me as he has little to no personality besides his desire to stop a war. He felt very two dimensional which is likely why the romance fell flat as a rug for me.

This one was not my favorite. There was a lot of potential in the world and the ideas but the execution didn’t do anything for me. I can see this working for some readers, I just wasn’t that reader.

Unlock the Dark is a debut with a brilliant concept, but not so great execution. The bits that were good, were really good but some areas were quite lacking. Let’s get the negatives out of the way first.

I was expecting this book to be a much quicker read than it was. I’m now learning to not trust the number of pages on the NetGalley reader (which I don’t actually read with, I use it just to get an idea of how long a book is) as it claimed Unlock the Dark was less than 300 pages long–it was not. Unfortunately, the fact that it took me way longer than expected to finish Unlock the Dark did affect my feelings towards the book. The start of the book took way too long to get going, the ‘deadly commission’ Elia accepted from Trys is over too quickly and the ending also dragged quite a bit.

This brings me to my next point. I actually think Unlock the Dark would have worked better as duology. That way, there would have been more time to learn about the magic of this world, which seemed quite interesting, and relationships would have had more time to develop. (Slight spoiler ahead) I do think there is a spark between Elia and Trys but they confessed their love to each other way too quickly–technically this happens near the end of the book but I think it was too soon.

The quest they go on to find the scroll, which is the ‘deadly commission’ mentioned above, takes place over just a small chunk of chapters. The world building for Serratura is the best in the entire book, but you don’t get to spend a lot of time there. It’s an isolated island in the sky that has great advancements in technology and an interesting culture. I would have loved to spend more time there instead of the ‘the scroll is in the library, let’s go get it, we’ve got it’ plot we did get.

Ok, that’s enough of the negatives. Here are the parts of the story I actually did enjoy.

Elia was a wonderfully stubborn main character. It’s refreshing to not get a ‘I’m not like the other girls’ character in a romantasy (using that genre name very lightly). She has a fierce love for her family and will do literally anything to keep them safe, including defying the orders of a god of death. She definitely had her flaws and she made a few stupid decisions but her determination and love for her family more than made up for them.

Speaking of Elia’s family, I loved them. They all had different types of ‘magic’, which I would love to see explored more in future books. I’m particularly interested in Orin’s threadlore magic where he creates tales of action, love and adventure in garments. I think each sibling has enough potential to have a book of their own, exploring the different types of magic in this world.

Which is probably the best part of this book for me. The lore of this world is fascinating. I want to know more about the different types of magic and how they play a part in the everyday lives of the characters (one of them is a baker that uses magic to make the best confections in the city, so cool!). The different Gods were also really interesting. Sadly, you don’t get to learn a lot about them.

Overall, I would recommend Unlock the Dark despite the areas I think it is lacking in. The world building you do get is really well done and the plot is unique and interesting–the execution was lacking just a little bit in my opinion.

4.5/5
Very different from main stream fantasy. Elia is the care taker of 4 younger siblings and it's a book where the main character isn't violent. This book was a breath of fresh air. The world building was pretty solid and I could follow the what was going on enough for what I needed to know for the story. The magic is where I took off points because it's not really explained you are just kind of thrown terms and are expected to just go along with it (in the arc there isn't anything to help with it not sure if the printed book will have something). Also the gods are just named randomly I'm not sure what kind of polytheistic world this is but I just went with it because I absolutely loved the story line. It's low violence just a street smart girl trying to make it for her family. The relationship between Elia and her her siblings is strong and I absolutely loved the connection that they had. Elia and the MMC was a little quick as for how the timeline went. But their little quirky jabs and angst was such fun to read. I am so happy I went into this book blind it was such a fun read! And I can't wait for more from the author!

Thank you NetGalley and Storytide for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

I do think this could have been developed a little more, maybe even written to have another book or two.

The world building was perfect for me, not too much but not too little.

I don’t like the insta-love aspect, but they are great together. I just wish there was more of a buildup.

I was a little disappointed with the ending, but I think that’s just because I wanted a little more.

Thank you to both netgalley and the publisher for access to the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I gave this 3.75 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

I first fell in love with the cover and was pleasantly surprised by how much i liked the story inside! A very fascinating world with a super unique magic system with interesting rituals. i was heavily invested in the main characters, the family dynamic of the female main character, as well as the relationship between her and the prince. A compelling driving reason that made the plot believable, and i wish i could have spent more time in this world. Actually the fact that it’s a standalone is a big contributor to the rating because this would’ve excelled as a duology. At just one book I felt like it’s full potential wasn’t quite realized.

Good, but this either could have been longer or extended into a duology.

The worldbuilding in this was surprisingly really very in-depth for a book a little over 300 pages. There's multiple gods, witches, nations, it's whole world that really felt so alive despite how little was shown/told t us through the narrative. Serratura, a nation of floating islands was my favorite place in the book that I wish got more page-time than it does. I also wish there was, one, a map of this world, and two, more time dedicated to Elia and Trys traveling around so we could see more of it first hand.

Speaking of which, I did like Elia and Trys' banter a lot. Their romance was definitely paced way too quick, but there was some genuine good chemistry. Again, there should have been more to than the journey than just 'go here and get the scroll,' because the traveling would have given the duo more time to bond organically. I just feel the potential was too good to make it go by so fast.

All in all, a fine read that I believe could have been more. This does make me interested to see if Hawk will do anything else; I'll definitely will be keeping an eye out just in case.

DNF at 47%

The premise of this book was super interesting but the execution just wasn't it for me. The characters were bland, the story boring, and the conflict is the only thing holding it partially together.

I couldn't tell you the characters names right now because I haven't even wanted to pick this up for two weeks. FMC is underprivileged poor girl with hardship, ala Katniss. MMC is hidden royalty and she starts to like him romantically very quickly.

The reason for her exile was....the dumbest thing I've ever read. The unleashing was cool but the plague of forgetting was so unbelievably stupid. I honestly don't care if they get the scroll or whatever. She deserves the God of death getting his revenge.

The world building in Unlock the Dark is fabulous. We are given information as it becomes relevant in the story so its not an info dump, which makes it so much more enjoyable to me. The magic in this world is so unique and cool! I will say I do wish maybe there was more time for the characters to develop both individually and together. I would like to have had more details in the second half of the book and maybe it would have felt more complete if it were a duology.

This YA novel is pitched as a fantasy romance, but I’d say it leans much more toward fantasy than romance. The focus of the love in the beginning is primarily familial—Elias, the eldest sibling, is deeply devoted to her family. As a Conjurista, she has the ability to unlock doors and craft keys, skills she uses to earn money while keeping her ailing father alive long enough for her to become an adult and legally care for her younger siblings. When a prince named Trys offers her a wild bargain to get him through a door to a magical floating library, she takes the risk in order to save herself, her brother, and her whole family really. They set off on an adventure filled with magic, danger, and duty.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its depiction of family. The dynamics feel authentic—the love, the obligation, and the banter all hit home, especially for someone from a larger family like me. The pacing starts off strong, drawing me in with its worldbuilding and magic system, but the second half felt rushed, leaving me wanting more depth, particularly when it came to the magic, growth of the characters, and building romance.

The romance didn’t quite work for me, mostly because it leaned into insta-love, and Trys as a character felt underdeveloped. While Elias undergoes some growth, Trys remains largely static, making their relationship feel flat. Also, I have to mention Cuddles—the creature was fantastic, and I was incredibly disappointed with how his story wrapped up. You will see, I think he deserved better after all they had been through. It felt like a large build up to be cast aside.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read, especially for those who love rich family dynamics and inventive magic. I just wish the second half had been fleshed out more, the romance had been given more development, and, most importantly, that we learned more about Cuddles and how he is living in the end.

3.75 stars
Thank you HarperCollins and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Firstly, I just adored our two main characters. The world and magic system was so whimsical and refreshing. This is a true young adult, and I would feel comfortable letting my tweens (if I had any) read it. That being said, because of that, I can see why certain details were glazed over. However, after the halfway mark, my attention kept wandering. It seemed like a lot of excessive details were added into Elia’s quest. On the other hand, solutions and other details seemed to pop into the storyline too easily?

Trys was hands down my favorite character, and it was such a bummer that he went “missing” for a good chunk of the book. Regardless, I absolutely LOVED the flirtatious banter between him and Elia during their expedition to Serratura. I wanted more of that because it seemed like they went from zero to “I love you” way too quickly by the end of the book, without much relationship development.

Overall it was fun and an appropriate read for a beginner fantasy reader!

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Unlock the Dark by Sasa Hawk is a third person-POV YA romantic fantasy. Elia has been siphoning off her father’s magic in order to keep her and her siblings together until she finally comes of age. When one of the gods demands that she finally let her father go and takes her youngest brother, Elia agrees to help Prince Trys and retrieve a scroll to end their kingdom’s ongoing war. But the scroll isn’t what they thought it was.

I love magic systems that have a variety of ways in which magic manifests in different people. Elia is a Conjurista, which means she can create keys and break wards by licking them. There’s also magic related to baking, making fabric, mathematics, studying, and more. Most people have magic and there are witch covens that operate independent of most of the other magic users. Of all of the systems, the one relating to fabric and threading stories into that fabric is the one I am the most interested in and would love a book exploring it more.

Elia and Trys have more of a sweet romance, in part because they are separated for a decent part of the novel, but also because they haven’t had a lot of time together before they were separated. They become engaged almost immediately but that’s more Trys trying to sweeten the pot to convince her to help him rather than out of romantic interest (though he is indeed attracted to her by that point). The romance is a fast burn in terms of pacing and overall page time that the pair spend together, but it does take the whole book for them to get together properly.

I can honestly say that the story didn’t go the direction I thought it was going to go at several different turns. I thought the romance arc was going to go in a very different direction but it did not. The main thing that I was not expecting was the halfway point and where Elia went after that. It’s interesting because she had a whole adventure before meeting Trys and an adventure after meeting him, so he’s not really her adventure but he is tied to it in a lot of ways. And I think that’s why I landed on this being a romantic fantasy rather than a fantasy romance: the story can go without Trys, but he does get the ball rolling.

I would recommend this to fans of YA romantic fantasies in third person POV, readers looking for a fantasy with a varied magic system, and those looking for a magic system relating to keys

It was actually, very good and entertaining! I loved the fast pace and I love reading standalone books so this book was perfect in regards to that! The worldbuilding was also pretty incredible for a standalone book! I'm a little disappointed though because the fast pace of this book meant sacrificing the build up of the relationship and some other details.

This magical fantasy explores what you would really do for love and family with our main characters Elia and Trys going on an adventure to seek a magical scroll and save Elia's family. This stand-alone is the perfect read for Stephanie Garber fans!

I'm a huge fantasy reader, so you can often find me with my nose in a fantasy book. I am also a teacher, so I tend to look for books that would fit the interests of high school readers. This is a book that I will consider bringing up to the school library. Sasa created a very fun/unique magical system. On top of that, the world building was fantastic and each character felt like there was much potential for their own story. This book ended in a good spot to be a "one and done," but also has the potential for a continued series, or a series of standalones following the side characters. Genuinely enjoyed this, and was very impressed that it's a debut novel! I will keep my eye out for future releases from Sasa!

The world-building and magic system in the early chapters were really intriguing and had a lot of potential, but as the story progressed, it felt like they weren’t explained enough. The pacing was also very off. It felt way too rushed for a standalone. I think it would’ve been much better if it had been slower, maybe even turned into a duology.

One of my biggest disappointments was the romance between Elia and Trys. It felt like insta-love with no real buildup or convincing development. The chemistry between them at the start had promise, but then suddenly, they were all about each other. They needed more time to build a genuine connection for it to feel real. Their characters also felt a bit immature at times, lacking the depth I was hoping for. And Elia’s decision to leave Trys for weeks to protect her family didn’t really make sense to me.

Overall, I enjoyed the first half of the book, but the second half left me wanting more and felt like it could’ve been done better.

I came across UNLOCK THE DARK by chance and I am so glad I did. This story has one of those voices that will keep you reading well past bedtime.

Working through my backlog here, I want to take a quick moment to say thank you to NetGalley and HwrperCollins for the opportunity to read and review this debut!

“They had been burdened with secrets, loss, and launch too young, and now they saw it as a normal fact of life. Well, she would change that.”

Our girl Elia is trying to keep her dying father alive, keep the family shop running, and keep debtors away from her long enough she can lie, or commission the next few until she can set up her four younger siblings into a better life. No matter the cost. When a Prince of her country comes to her with a proposition, in order to save her youngest brother she has to confront her past in order to seek her future.

This is very YA, but it’s also multilayered. The love is a bit instant, but this is a standalone. It also moves at a breakneck pace, and with all the lore pieces(multiple magics, countries, witches and creatures) this book probably could have been broken up into a duology. Just to give us some more depth to the elements introduced and smoothed out some of the plot conveniences and made it feel more whole.

I enjoyed it, but I really wanted more depth. Especially with all the magical elements.
3.75 stars

This one was fun! I adored the magic and the world-building. The creatures, witches, gods, various types of magic-imaginative and unique. I was hooked! This story follows some familiar paths of an older sister as caretaker trying to hold her family together. Elia will go to any lengths to protect her siblings. She forms an alliance with Trys, a scholar and prince, in order to pay off her family’s debts and ensure their future. When things go awry, she must draw upon her own strengths to survive. I want more of this world- a prequel? Maybe a sequel? Either way, here’s hoping the author pens another novel in this universe. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.