Review by Kayleigh
Series Name: Sorrowsong University #2
Daybreak is a satisfying, if slightly sweet, ending to a sumptuous duology.
Favourite Quote:
I don’t understand how I’ve managed to be stalked twice in one year. I’m the kind of person who has to hype myself up in a mirror to tell the barista I got the wrong drink. I cry at kids’ movies. How is it me who ends up with the stalkers?
Book Synopsis:
Alex’s Corbeau-Green’s world is burning down around him, and Ophelia Winters is desperate to prove she didn’t light the fire.
When Ophelia first accepted a scholarship from Sorrowsong, an elite university in the Scottish Highlands, she wanted nothing more than to destroy Alex and his family at any cost. But that was before she knew him, before they became each other’s everything. Now, after an unthinkable betrayal and the disappearance of his father, Alex is forced to return to New York, desperate to forget what they had, and salvage the damage done to his family. In Scotland, Ophelia is left reeling, alone . . . and watched.
With a new anonymous tormentor threatening to release evidence that Ophelia and Alex committed a murder on campus, it’s clear that they’re going to need each other once again. But can they find a way to trust each other, and repair the love that they had? And even if they can—will it be enough this time to keep them alive?
Review:
Daybreak begins two months after NightShade ends. It catapults us right back into the drama. You’ll need to read book 1 to understand what’s happening. Alex is back home in New York after his father’s betrayal, and true evil is displayed for the world. Alex is the sudden CEO of the billion-dollar airline dynasty, dealing with his very ill mother and trying to take care of his six younger sisters. He’s only 25. He’s also been severely depressed for the last few years and is trying to figure out why he should remain alive. (Like in the first book, there are some content warnings at the beginning of Daybreak, and you should read them to determine if this book is for you.) Like the first book, Daybreak is a dual POV from Ophelia and Alex, but in this book I feel like we get to spend more time with Alex and get to know him better. The focus is not on Shadowsong and classes. It’s about love, family, betrayal and survival. Alex is GOING THROUGH IT, and no matter how hard he tries to push his friends and family away, they show up for him.
Ophelia, who’s been heartbroken since Alex walked out of her life two months ago, is still in Scotland dealing with heartbreak, having everyone hate her because they think she’s a terrible person (social media is used very well in this narrative) and is getting threats on her life. At first she doesn’t really care because she’s like ‘go ahead and kill me and end my suffering, but then the stalker threatens Alex and his family, and she’s like ‘no way. I will destroy you if you touch them. Alex, still desperately in love with her even after everything they went through, makes some grand, romantic gestures and makes a good case for why they should be together. Alex is probably the most caring and lovable book boyfriend I’ve read in a while. He loves and respects women. Works hard. Tries to be a good person. And is aware of the privilege he has thanks to being a wealthy man. I’ll take one to go, please.
Ophelia feels like she is not good enough to be with Alex. And when his life is threatened, she thinks it’s the perfect reason to push him away, but of course the heart wants what the heart wants. Or, in this case, the stalker wants what the stalker wants. Ophelia realizes she needs to deal with this situation instead of just waiting for life to happen. Fast forward through some more life-changing trauma, and she suddenly has to face her very valid fear of flying (her parents die in a helicopter crash) and get across the Atlantic Ocean to Alex when his family suffers a trauma. The rest of the story takes place outside of Sorrowsong for the most part, and what does happen there happens off-page, so we are totally focused on Alex and Ophelia and them fighting for their lives and their happiness.
Spoiler alert: there’s a happy ending here. Did I want them to suffer a bit more to get there? Yes. Did I want to learn more about the school? Yes. I have so many unanswered questions and would happily go back to Sorrowsong and watch more wealthy students go through life there. Did I still dreamily sigh at the end of this book? Yes.
If you like your dark academia, dark romance with a strong male lead (no morally gray villain here), then you will swoon for Daybreak.
Thank you to Slowburn for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
