Review: West (Darkness #5) by Stacey Marie Brown

Title: West

Series: Darkness #5
Author: Stacey Marie Brown
Publisher: Twisted Fairy Publishing
Published: October 12, 2016
Pages: 408
Genres: New Adult, Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Paranormal, Romance
Source: Ebook
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Sexy, alluring, ruthless, and oh so complicated.

West Moseley is known as the “charming” Dark Dweller. With his cheeky grin and southern drawl, he can charm anyone, especially women. And does.
But after being held prisoner and tortured by the cruel Seelie Queen, West’s past comes back to haunt him. His memories of a tragic event and the truth of what happened on the Light side goes deeper than anyone realizes. Things he wants no one to know about.

Struggling with his own demons, he battles the very essence of what he is—a Dark Dweller—a terrifying beast from the Otherworld designed to hunt and kill.
When the Unseelie King sends him to Ireland to uncover a dangerous artifact, West’s entire world takes a dangerous turn.

When a treasure lands in his hands, one he never suspected, nor wanted, he learns one crucial thing: you don’t steal from the Demon King . . . not if you want to live.

Goodreads / Amazon

MY REVIEW

DISCLAIMER: This review MAY contain spoilers. 

I really enjoyed this book a lot, but it was quite different from the rest of the Darkness series. I loved getting a better glimpse of West, his past, and his inner turmoils. I always loved his character and it was awesome to see him as the star of the show. That southern accent of his melts my heart. 

The thing about the Darkness series that I always loved was the characters. The characters really bring this series to life more than anything else. At least to me. All of them together have so much incredible chemistry. I think that is the reason why this book, as well as the first book of the series, fell a little bit short while books 2 through 4 were ballpark knockouts. It is the only thing that is different about those two books and the other books in the series. I think that if all of the characters were present throughout the entire book then it would have added more to the book. The chemistry between the characters in this series cannot be overlooked. Once West reconnects with the rest of the Dark Dwellers at the end of this book I felt like I was back in books 2 through 4. The spark was back. 

I felt that the plot was good. It does have a fairly self-contained plot of its own while stemming off of events and themes from the first four books in the series. It definitely had a different feel to it. I like that the plot in this book leads into what will happen going into the Lightness Saga. 

The world building was detailed and easy to comprehend. West travels to Ireland in this book and I loved all the details specific to the different villages and places in Ireland that he and Rez traveled. It was quite atmospheric and very easy to visualize. The descriptions were great. I could feel the freezing ocean water and cold wind that was described in the book. It was easy to see and feel the surroundings described in the book.

The characters are the same from the rest of the Darkness series with a couple more new additions. We have already gotten to know most of these characters. The character development for West and Rez was incredible. We get to dive into the pasts and see the things that have formed their identities. We get to see and experience the demons that haunt them and it really makes you appreciate their character growth. Most of the characters in this series do not have happy pasts by any means, but I felt especially drawn to West and Rez's sad pasts. 

I liked the romance between West and Rez. I liked that it was a forbidden type of romance since she was technically the Unseelie King's mistress. The fact that Rez and Lars didn't love one another really made me feel guiltless about repping the romance. I am not usually into the cheating aspect. I did feel that West talked a little too much about how horny he was over Rez. It was almost a little overpowering. But I liked that their romance was gradual. They got to know each other on their trip and fell in love along the way. I liked that West's beast claimed her. It was kind of perfect. It does make me want to see all of the Dark Dwellers claim their mates as well. 

Overall, this was a great addition to this series. I loved reading about West's story. If you are a fan of this series then I would highly recommend reading this book. It does add a lot to the overall story. Especially if you are going to continue on to the Lightness Saga from here. If you haven't tried this series then I greatly recommend you read it!

Check out my reviews for the other books in this series!

Darkness of Light (Darkness #1)

Find my review here.

Fire in the Darkness (Darkness #2)

Find my review here.

Dwellers of Darkness (Darkness #3)

Find my review here.

Blood Beyond Darkness (Darkness #4)

Find my review here.

This book is a standalone story within the Darkness series. Do you like when authors include standalone stories like this in addition to the core books of a series? Do you tend to stick to the core books or do you enjoy reading novellas and additional short stories along with a series? What books have you recently finished?