Review: Into the Black

Into the Black by Ava Jae
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was lucky enough to win a signed ARC in a Twitter giveaway from Ava Jae themself, and holy Christ I'm so in love with this book! Though I loved Beyond the Red when I first read it, about a year or so ago, Into the Black, the continuation of Jae's trilogious masterpiece of Star Thrones-slash-Game of Star Wars blows its predecessor out of the water, one of the most six-star-worthy books I've read this year - and bear in mind this has been a banner year for YA as it is, but publishing is really saving one of its best and brightest new books for the eleventh month (I almost said "hour," haha) with Into the Black, and it'll be my mission (which of course I choose to accept) to ensure you're not sleeping on it when the book comes out!

(Sorry, Cassie Clare, but I think you've fallen out of contention for one of the top prizes at the Pinecone Awards.)

The royal intrigue in which Kora and Eros find themselves entangled forms most of the story's backbone, but its real appeal lies in a lot of smaller moments and character developments. Eros' endless affection for Mal, for instance. Also the spot-on incorporation of themes of prejudice and marginalization, even more so than in Beyond the Red, particularly since Eros now provides good intersectional rep. He's bi, and pretty well in the closet throughout most of the book because he's spent his life in environments that aren't at all queer-inclusive, and then he meets the right guy who helps him start coming out of his shell in all the ways. Though I loved the Kora/Eros ship in Book 1, I'm so much more here for Eros and Deimos and their dynamic, easily comparable to Mateo and Rufus from They Both Die At The End. I see way too much of myself in Eros, especially how he feels unsafe coming out (and yet watch me, hiding behind my online alias, being a lot more open about it like Simon chatting with Blue), and for that reason, this #ownvoices bi reader gives Ava Jae all the thumbs up.

As for the main story, getting Eros to really stake his claim to the throne...well, I can't really go into that because spoilers. But what I can tell you is that Jae, using their gift for action when they're not weaponizing their gift for romance, throws down an intense climax combining elements of Beyond Thunderdome, Insurgent, and Taran Matharu's The Novice. You'll read it gasping for breath the whole time, then be sorely disappointed that you'll have to wait at least another year for the trilogy's finale in The Rising Gold.

(And speaking of that book, I'm kinda hoping for the cover to have blue as its dominant color, to complete the bi-pride color scheme we have with the pinkish Beyond the Red and purplish Into the Black covers.)

Ava Jae, you awe and some genius, I salute ye.



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