The little girl looked down at him, frowning. Her leggings were striped with red, orange, yellow, and green. Drowning had been cold and dark, but every part of her was bright, bright, bright. Her tiny mitten cuffed his wrist. The stitching was lumpy, done by hand. Ivory tower academia, but make it cosmic horror. THE WHISPERING DARK seethes with forbidden romance and truly terrifying shadows' Hannah Whitten, NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of THE WILDERWOOD duology

The dark not only limits vision, but for Delaney, speech as well. She’s Deaf, and though she has CIs (cochlear implants) reading lips is part of conversation for her too. Good lord where do I begin. None of the characters had any depth, the MC especially. She was like a paper cut out of a person, who did absolutely ~nothing~ but dress differently, and yet somehow could effortlessly walk through worlds and became the cHoSeN oNe for some sort of demon/monster thing (was never really clarified what it was.) The kiss was a surprise, immediate and immolating. There was nothing sweet about it. Nothing soft. Only the clash of mouths, the scrap of teeth. They collided the way they always did. Like they were going to war". Colton Price, who had always seemed so cold. Colton Price, who reminded her of something seraphic. Mars, god of war, resplendent and undying. Indomitable, impossible Colton".Colton, on the other hand, is arrogant, cold, and deliberately opaque. He has a connection to Lane, and an instinct to help her, but he’s also tied up in secrets upon secrets and it’s clear nothing with him is how it seems. Where Lane is clearly the hero, Colton is harder to place – yet Kelly Andrew manages to draw a connection to the reader. One action leaves a sour taste and slightly spoils Colton’s character, but overall he’s well written in a morally grey role. She wanted to be defined. Not by the silence between her ears or her fear of the dark, but by the sum of her achievements. Not by what she couldn’t do, but by what she could.

The book follows Delaney Meyers-Petrov, a girl who has been accepted into a prestigious school that teaches its students to walk between worlds. Delaney, or Lane, is deaf, and so her inner struggles are not the same as the ones from fully abled people. This is OwnVoices disability rep, and I am so glad that Andrew is finally able to have a book that represents her, even if that book is her own. I am always so happy when OwnVoices books enter the market, as everyone deserves to see themselves in a character. Overall, this isn’t a book that will work for everyone, but for fans of atmospheric reads, well-crafted romance, and dark academia in all its overwritten glory, this is a recommended read.A beat of quiet passed. Then another. She thought, maybe, he'd fallen asleep. Instead, he spoke, low and drugged. "I dragged myself out of Hell to you.” This book is truly Ninth House meets The Raven Boys, and it might even be what I wanted Ninth House to be. Colton and Darlington are forever going to be my favourites. And Lane is such an amazing character. Her character arc was amazing, going from something fragile to something strong and otherworldly. Colton is the definition of broody morally grey hero and I lived for every moment. Both of their characters were so real and fleshed out. I hung on their every word and I was fully invested in them and their story.