A review by dorothysbookshelf
A Dark Inheritance by H.F. Askwith

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

a page-turning yet ultimately forgettable novel, ‘a dark inheritance’ served its purpose as a young adult thriller in delivering a degree of entertainment and a steady level of unsettlement. 

my main issues with this text, aside from its forgettable characters, was that it was too high-concept for its own good. i felt at times that this novel was attempting to fall between too many genres at once; some moments horror, some moments fantasy, some moments action, some moments romance, some moments coming-of-age, some moments science-fiction. the longer the book went on the more it lost its horror dark academia qualities which drew me in, and the more it went down a magical, ‘destroy an organisation’, science-fiction path (which may be some people’s cup of tea! just not what i expected from this text’s first sections)

additionally, many different interweaving plot points and what should have been pivotal were established and introduced but never developed upon. for example, the cursed deaths of felix’s siblings should have been explored more, as they served to establish the foundation of the plot. attempts to humanise hugo leery fell flat for me. i truly could not sympathise with a man attempting to manipulate death by means of murder, necromancy and experimentation. without giving too much away, the reasoning for the third-act time jump felt very forced, ineffective and predictable. because of all of these issues i felt very disconnected to the characters and their experiences.

the text also attempted to delve into lots of heavy topics (such as anxiety, grief, the horrors of war, ethical questions on death, utilitarianism, etc.) yet only managed to make surface-level observations, despite clear good intentions on the part of the author. 

what let me down the most was the ending. within a few pages everything had miraculously been resolved, all the endings had been tied up so to speak (more like covered over with masking tape).

i have used the word ‘attempt’ a lot during this review, as i felt this book was just that. an attempt: one with good intentions and solid literary understanding, just poor execution and surface-level analysis of larger themes.