THE DARK CITADEL BY @MJDougherty33 #Fantasy #Bookreview

The Dark Citadel by Jane Dougherty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Dark Citadel is a fantasy and book 1 of a series, it touches on a Dystopia style society left living in a dome surrounded by an inhospitable land full of demons. Inside the Eternal City a harsh system of High Class and Ignorants live where men are superior and women treated like a lesser class. Rules exist about families, only two children are allowed, one boy one girl and the authorities intervene and enforce this by taking children away and “giving” them to others. Food is scarce and there is talk of culling the ignorants to reduce demand.

A young girl called Deborah resists rules and is a trouble maker, unbeknown to her she is a hostage having a rare ability to recall the memories of the people before life in the Dome began. Rumours amongst the lower classes talk of The Green Women, the keeper of memories who will one day return to rescue them. Escaping a correction centre Deborah meets her imprisoned father, another hostage, he urges her to escape the City and find her mother.

There is quite a lot to take in, and the storyline is mixed between myths, legends and real time as the author drip feeds the reader layers of the storyline. I never quite got to grips with the mythical side and ancient beings waking to a calling. Plus there were all the demons and at times I was uncertain who the good guys were and who couldn’t be trusted.

More will be revealed in the next book in the series, this is a good start to a fantasy series.

Find a copy here from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com

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