Book Review: While the Dark Remains by Joanna Ruth Meyer
ARC Review: Thank you to NetGalley & 47North for the ARC in exchange for the honest review!
Published: August 1, 2025
Series: The Winter Dark #1
Genres: Adult // Fantasy, Romance
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice Rating: 🌶️ (Glimpses & kisses only)
Quick Thoughts: While the Dark Remains was is a slow-burn, high-stakes fantasy told in dual timelines. While romance definitely took a backseat to the court politics, I found that I didn’t miss it given the political tension building steadily throughout the book and the constant second guessing of who I can trust.
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Child Abuse
Child Death
Confinement
Trafficking
Death/Violence
Physical Abuse (By Parent)
Trauma/PTSD
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Love Triangle/Multiple Love Interests
Royal Court Politics
Nordic Inspired Settings
Hidden/Secret Identities
Straightforward Magic Systems
ABOUT THIS BOOK
In an icebound palace of magic and menace, a young woman plots to outwit a cruel king in a bracing fantasy about love, found family, and immeasurable revenge.
Brynja spent her childhood as a captive performer in Tenebris, the imposing mountain palace of King Kallias. Every night she risked death for the king’s entertainment until his rebellious son, Prince Ballast, helped her escape. Now twenty, Brynja has never forgotten the brutal king. Or forgiven him. Under the cloak of a three-month-long Winter Dark, Brynja is returning to Tenebris for revenge.
Accompanied by a rival court, including the alluring Prince Vil, Brynja poses as diplomatic royalty to barter peace between nations. No one is better equipped to infiltrate the palace than Brynja―she remembers every hidden passage like a bad dream. But her quest to destroy Kallias is complicated by her feelings for Prince Ballast, whom she isn’t sure she can still trust. And Kallias’s own quest to mine a catastrophic weapon of war buried in the mountain’s heart will threaten them all, and force Brynja to face the darkest parts of herself.
The lives of everyone she loves depend on the choices she must make. So, too, does the fate of the world.
INITIAL REACTION
I first saw While the Dark Remains as an Amazon First Reads pick for the month of July. It was free to read a whole month before the release date. I didn't pick it up at the time, but I so wish I did. I'm a sucker for a book with a well structured dual timeline and this one scratched that itch. I'm definitely going to continue browsing through Amazon First Read picks in the future. While the Dark Remains is also available on Kindle Unlimited, so definitely check it out!
MY REVIEW
I enjoyed While the Dark Remains more than I thought I would. I always gravitate to Nordic-inspired, especially as it starts getting chilly outside, and this book set the perfect mood.
If you're used to fantasy novels that take off with training scenes, magic, and battles, pacing might feel a little slow for you. There is definitely tension building throughout the book but it takes time, especially because the story is told in dual timelines wove together and converged in time for the plot twist.
What filled the action-scene void was the slow puzzling together of clues throughout the book and figuring out who to trust. The plot twist had me thinking about all the clues I missed along the way. I love searching for hidden meanings in everything as I read, so if you're one of those readers, you might like this book!
Plot, Setting & World-building
While the Dark Remains takes place during Winter Dark, a three-month period when the sun doesn't rise. This setting created the most claustrophobic atmosphere (in a good way!). The political tension from the forced proximity between characters and the feeling of time running out was absolutely palpable and believable.
The world is straightforward and easy to follow. The story kind of takes off without much preamble or world-building, particularly with the magic and gods system. The plot doesn't require extensive world-building to make sense, but this could be frustrating if you're the type of reader who likes hearing a lot of backstory about the world, descriptions of the setting, and explanations of how things like the magic system work.
Characters
Brynja's development throughout the story focuses on internal growth, which I really appreciated. A lot of fantasy books have growth arcs for FMCs that center on physical strength, but sometimes the most powerful growth is learning to trust yourself, your decisions, and your beliefs. I can't wait to see where she goes in the next book!
In terms of side characters, I was drawn to the promise of a found family, but I didn't feel like I found that here and was disappointed in the lack of character development. They felt more like a collection of traits and titles than actual people. They served their purposes as plot devices, but that left me feeling disconnected and uninterested in them.
However, there were a lot of emotionally charged interactions between characters that showed the lingering trauma and unresolved blame between them. Some of these scenes hurt to read but they brought up thought-provoking questions about culpability, guilt, and varying levels of victimhood that I haven't stopped thinking about since I finished the book.
Romance
Going in, I expected romance to play a bigger role, but it's actually a relatively small part of the overall story. The love triangle is extremely slow burn and there's no spice, but that does not mean a lack of intensity or tension. The romantic development is emotionally tense because it ties to character growth as everyone learns more about themselves and what they actually want.
"Come back to me when you have done what you need to do. Please come back to me."
The author did a great job at making readers feel the pain and longing the love interests were going through. I, for one, wanted Brynja to cut both interests loose and be done with them for most of the book, but I'm happy with the direction the romance went.
It wrapped up neatly by the end, but I really, really hope we see more in the next book!
Overall
The ending doesn't leave off on some crazy cliffhanger (thank goodness). It felt more like an satisfying but unfinished story. I am definitely looking forward to the sequel!
Definitely pick While the Dark Remains if you’re looking for a tense, high stakes fantasy that will keep you guessing all the way to the end.
Check out this review on Goodreads or Storygraph.
Happy reading!
Kim
WHILE THE DARK REMAINS FAQs
Some of the answers may be spoilers if you haven’t read it already. Proceed with caution!
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No, While the Dark Remains is not a standalone. This is the first book in The Winter Dark duology.
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When the Light Returns, the sequel to While the Dark Remains comes out on May 12, 2026.
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No. While the Dark Remains is one 🌶️ (glimpses & kisses). There are no spice scenes but there are kisses.