Dark as in disturbing—not, like, ‘everything sucks and life is meaningless’. Kind of in the vein of Eric LaRocca but ***more*** and also high fantasy. Anything that feels like it should come with about ten trigger warning would be welcomed.
Queer themes of all sorts preferred, the more questions raised about gender and sexuality the better as far as I’m concerned. I read The Winter Prince by Elizabeth Wein a while ago and was like “that was great, wish it wasn’t a kid’s book so she could’ve gone really ham with the violent incest” if that helps narrow down the kind of stories I’m looking for at all lmao.
I’m not such a fan of big existential threats—I prefer conflicts to be intimate character-driven stuff. That said, this is the least important thing on my checklist so feel free to ignore it.
Preferably no YA unless it’s really pushing the adult boundary.
I want to suffer. I want to feel sad and horrified and anguished. If you can think of anything that might scratch this itch then please help me out, cheers lads!
by melinoya
7 Comments
Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
[Berserk](https://digital.darkhorse.com/pages/156/berserk)
[**The Traitor Baru Cormorant** by Seth Dicksinson](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23444482-the-traitor-baru-cormorant?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_14)
this is book #1 in the [**The Masquerade Series**](https://www.goodreads.com/series/199001-the-masquerade)
[**Prince of Thorns** by Mark Lawrence](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9579634-prince-of-thorns?ref=nav_sb_ss_3_12)
this is book #1 in **The Broken Empire** trilogy
The Kingdom of Little Wounds. It’s ……Well, the author describes it as “a fairytale about syphilis”.…… Which is accurate.
My main takeaways from it were “why the hell did I just read that?”; sexual violence and madness; and “Why on earth was the most sexually explicit book I’ve read that was not marketed as smut, and the most sexually violent book I’ve read, period, shelved in the YA section?”
The fact that it was marketed as YA is almost as horrifying as the book itself; as is illustrated by nearly every GoodReads review of it emphatically emphasizing that it is *not* YA.
No queer themes, though. I wouldn’t rule it out for that reason – it is what you’re asking for, and I wouldn’t even really know where to start with the trigger warnings.
(Comment heavily edited)
Haven’t read LaRocca but try “How to steal a demon’s heart and get away with it”
Demon hunter meets two shady women during a job, job gets a little too weird for him. He gets involved in a few things, that are a too close to his personal past for comfort and turn his life upside down.
Vampires, demons, gripping plot, and worldbuilding, more of a low, urban Fantasy kind of deal. Loved the fucked up characters, everyone is broken in some way and found ways to deal with it. No teenie romance, pretty dark and reads more like a thriller with a hint of dark humour.
Lynn Flewelling’s Tamir Triad might work for you… definitely themes of gender and sexuality, plus dark magic, and it’s very character-driven. It’s not as horrifying and dark as you seem to be looking for, but it definitely has elements of that!
For a story filled with intrigue and high seas drama, ‘Treasure Island’ by Robert Louis Stevenson is my go-to recommendation. It’s the quintessential pirate adventure, complete with treasure maps, swashbuckling action, and unforgettable characters like Long John Silver.