When Darksome Falls by M.C. Ryder has a unique cover image that shows a horse running at night. At first this confused me until I began to get to know Melia as a character and understand that she was like a wild horse when she was a vampire with her ability to run like the wind. I found the book to be well written, though it did take me some time to really get into it as I has not read the Dark Series, so I was unfamiliar with the characters and their backstories. However, the author did a good job of adding in little important details of the characters’ pasts as Melia came into contact with them. For example, at the beginning when Zoe was first mentioned a brief history was given: “Tough as nails. Was never a vampire. Always human. A saint to us all as we learned how to cope in being human again...married to Jensen, who was a vampire.” This brief description helped me to understand Zoe and her history with Melia without taking away from the current events in this book.  

 As I continued to read the book, I began to get a better picture of the events that led to Melia becoming human again, and the more I understood the past of the characters, the more I came to enjoy the book. The book has a fast pace to it with how it starts by introducing some of the characters only to quickly go to Melia attempting a stealthy run-away from them out of a need to leave in order to start a new life for herself. It was a bit of a twist as at first it seemed like she was just going to her job at the Waffle House, only for a text message to send her bolting to a car and ordering Levi to “go”. It was a change of pace and a suspense-filled scene because it made me think something bad was going to happen for her to be fleeing so suddenly, only to then learn it was a plot twist of her wanting to start a new life away from everyone and everything.

I enjoyed following Melia’s character development in how she adapted to her new circumstances as a human. For a while it seemed she was drowning in her weakness as a human like she could just not get over the loss of all she used to be as a vampire. This was highlighted in how she almost broke down after her first practice shot with a bow due to the human weakness of not making the shot and the physical shaking from not having enough stamina. However, it was also a scene that showed her resilience as even with her hate of her own weakness, she still picked herself back up and went to look for feathers and arrowheads with Levi instead of just wallowing in her own despair. 

I found the story to be completely original as I have never come across a book that followed a character who transitioned from vampire to human and was unhappy with that change. I really liked the unique take this offered in regard to vampire fantasy as is made it so very different from most vampire books. I have to say I was glad when Melia encountered Danielson Cain, even if he might not have been the best for her. He was perhaps what she needed to truly start living her life again and not just surviving, for it is with peril that she truly seemed to find herself again and come alive. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this book though I would recommend reading The Dark Series first to fully enjoy it. In fact, I plan to check out the series myself in the future!