✨Im Literary Anxious✨

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲🕒: 3 minutes

𝗔𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗼𝗿: Alexis Patton✍🏻 𝗣𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁: 321 📖

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗗𝗜𝗥𝗧𝗬

𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘀: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
𝗦𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗲: 🫑
𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁: Series (Book 1 of 3)
𝗘𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲: TBC
𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲: Single POV (MFC)

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦

⛓️ Dystopian Romance
⚔️ Prison Romance
⛓️ Enemies to Lovers
⚔️ Broody Guard MMC
⛓️ Slow Burn
⚔️ Revolution
⛓️ Political Corruption
⚔️ Found Family
⛓️ Touch Her and Die
⚔️ Hope Against All Odds

𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪

“𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗲𝗹𝗯𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝗰𝗵?”

“𝘕𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬.”
“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺.”

Us Dark Few follows Khalani, a young woman sentenced to, Braderhelm,  the most notorious prison in Apollo, the post-end-of-the-world city, where people aren’t called by their names—they’re assigned numbers—and survival depends on learning when to keep your head down.

Unfortunately for everyone around her… Khalani is a Gryffindor.

No thoughts. Just stubborn impulsivity.

She isn’t particularly good at keeping her head down—which is exactly why I loved her.

She isn’t fearless.
She isn’t overpowered.
She’s just…  fed up. 

Fed up by injustice.
Fed up by corruption.
Fed up by watching people look away because speaking up is dangerous.

The themes in this book hit surprisingly hard.

Watching Apollo erase books, music, art, and history while conditioning people to ignore suffering felt far more relevant than I’d like to admit.

Takeshi was another highlight.

Broody. Emotionally unavailable. Clearly needs therapy.
Naturally… immediately yes.

I did wish we’d seen a little more of why everyone feared him. The book tells us repeatedly he’s a monster, but outside of protecting Khalani, we don’t see much that backs up that reputation.

Winnie, however…
Winnie must be protected at all costs.
I don’t make the rules.

She embodies everything Apollo is trying to erase: kindness, hope, curiosity, art, and the belief that people are worth saving.

Also… I have questions.

Ma’am.

A whole-ass typewriter?

A gramophone?

Books?

This is supposedly the most secure prison in Apollo. Are you making weekly HomeGoods runs?? HOW, WINNIE? 

That said… Alexis, I’d like to formally request a pre-Braderhelm Winnie novella. 

The quote game in this book?

Ridiculous. My Kindle highlights practically doubled while reading this.

Then…

I genuinely don’t know how to describe the last four pages of this book.
One minute I was fully invested in an emotional dystopian prison romance.

The next…

What in the Sarah Connor, Skynet, Terminator 2 nonsense is happening right now? 

I have questions.
MANY questions.

Up until that point?
I was convinced this was a five-star read. 

It’s still a solid four-star read.

I’m just going to hold off on wholeheartedly recommending the series until I see where book two takes that absolutely unhinged final reveal.

Thought Sprinkles: 

• Kahlani – we love her. She’s real in the darkest way. Just a regular chick who got absolutely fed up and decided to do something about it 
• But also one with very little self control and the stubbornness of a two year old fighting nap time
• I have many questions on the logistics of this prison… Ya’ll living underground. Lights? The elevator to the surface? Running water? EXPLAIN IT TO ME. 
• “But why worry about something that hasn’t happened yet? That’s just putting yourself through it twice.” … I feel personally victimized by this quote. 
• Winnie. Ma’am. A whole ass typewriter? A gramophone? Books? This is supposed to be the most guarded prison ever. No one gets out. But you over here as if you’re shopping at HomeGoods every weekend? How Winnie? HOW?! 
• Brock, our Death-Zoner. Another broody and messy man… I need to know more 😅 I’m thinking he’s going to be the one making Takeshi insanely jealous any time Kahlani so much as breathes in his direction.
• “Then a woman must not have tried yet.” SCREAMING. CLAPPING. THROWING SHIT. LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK. 
• Kahlani’s asswhooping of Dana was a thing of beauty. “I don’t need to finish what I’ve already won.” BITCH. YES.