Burn the Night by J. Drake

JDrake-Burn the NightSince starting the Dark Days series, I’ve had nothing but good things to say.  It has, without a doubt, been one of my favorite series that I’ve had the pleasure of reading, and Mira is equally one of my favorite heroines.  So it’s bitter sweet for me when I say that Burn the Night by Jocelynn Drake is the final book in the series.

The Great Awakening approaches…

After eons in exile, the naturi have broken their chains and now roam the Earth bent on revenge. It is the sworn duty of Mira, the Fire Starter, to protect the Nightwalker race—though even she may be powerless to withstand the horrific onslaught. As Mira and her brave lover, the vampire slayer Danaus, stand ready to do battle, thousands of winged shapeshifters darken the skies. The war of ultimate extermination has begun, and the battleground is Mira’s home turf.

The humans don’t yet recognize the doom descending upon them. And the Nightwalkers will surely perish unless they unite with outcast naturi who claim to want peace. But these unexpected “allies” are the same demons who have long worked for Mira’s destruction—and in these darkest of days the lines between friend and foe will blur treacherously before the bloody end of all things.

Bitter because obviously I would have loved nothing more than for this series to never end, but sweet because with it being the final book there wasn’t too much held back. It’s like when your favorite T.V. show decides to wrap up. You know that the end is coming, but that doesn’t make it any easier. The only thing that you can do is hope that it’s given a suitable ending. *cough*Lost*cough* Only in this case I was a whole lot happier with how things were left off.

First of all, the relationship between Danaus and Mira is stronger than ever. While Mira presents a cocky and self assured persona to the outside world, she has no problem showing her true colors (I couldn’t resist) to Danaus. That really highlights how close they’ve become since Nightwalker where Danaus was constantly trying to kill Mira. I can without a doubt say that throughout the course of six books that they’ve developed one of the stronger loves that I’ve ever read in an urban fantasy.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t problems though. With half of the naturi, other vampires, the daylight coalition, and a god as enemies, or potential enemies, it’s easy to understand that Mira might be a tad protective of Danaus. And as anybody who’s made it to book six would guess, Danaus doesn’t exactly go along with the coddling. Every time Mira attempts to protect him in some way he rebuffs her, but I don’t think that creates too much tension so much as frustration on his part.

Especially since the lines between enemy and ally blur a bit in Burn the Night. Aurora is getting bolder in her attacks, regardless if that means exposing weres, vampires, and the naturi to the whole of humanity. It’s no secret that she holds no great love for humans, and she’s willing to kill all that stand between her and taking down her sister Cinna. So, its up to Mira to work with individuals that she would love nothing more than to kill. I honestly think she shows a remarkable amount of restraint. I mean Mira has every right to be pissed at the naturi for what happened to her at Machu Pichu, and this being Mira, well let’s just say that I’m shocked that more people didn’t get burned.

It’s no secret that fire has always followed Mira in her wake, and it’s becoming apparent that that’s not all. Her powers are growing, and as a result she’s able to fight bigger baddies. So it isn’t a stretch when I say that the action is pretty strong. Really, the action is something that I’ve come to expect with this series, and with everything that comes Mira’s way there tons of opportunities to show what she can do.

Overall, what can I say that would show my enthusiasm for Burn the Night by Jocelynn Drake, and entice others to read this fantastic book? Oh! I know! Strip Sparring! (The possibilities!) If you’d like to know more you should definitely read Burn the Night. If that doesn’t entice you than nothing will. In all seriousness though, I’m sad to see this series go. There’s a bit of an open ended feeling with all that’s happening in the Dark Days series, what with the pending Great Awakening and all. So I wouldn’t be surprised if there was maybe a spin-off (please let there be a spin off). However, if Burn the Night were the last book to have been written in the series than I could most certainly be happy with that.

Read Order:
Nightwalker
Dayhunter
Dawnbreaker
Pray for Dawn
Wait for Dusk
Burn the Night

1 Comment

Comments are closed.