Review of “A Dance Between Light and Darkness” by M.C. Ryder

Score: 90/100 (9.0 out of 10)

A Dance Between Light and Darkness is the magical, spellbinding sequel to M.C. Ryder's previous romantic fantasy novel, The Darkest Side of the Moon!

A Dance Between Light and Darkness picks up right where the previous book left off, benefiting from characters and plot-threads that were already well-established.

Although the author may disagree, we don't feel that this is a pick-up-and-go, standalone book. You HAVE to read the previous book. We highly recommend it. Otherwise, you're probably going to find yourself lost, wondering who is who and what is what.

This book is actually more complex, complicated, and convoluted than the last one, which can actually be to its detriment and its benefit. As far as this being a positive thing, the last book, quite frankly, was rather cliché and predictable as a Twilight-inspired werewolf-vampire romance novel. Like we said in the review of that book, if you've read one, you've pretty much read them all. This book on the other hand builds on the events of the last book, especially its violent, tragic, and chaotic ending.

​Characters like Vince, Camille, Lamont, Cameron, Leo the cat, Kumal, and Max/Maximilian are thrown at you again, and if you don't know who they are or what their deal is, you're going to be lost. People like Nadine, Vladimir, and Marc who are sidelined (in a matter of speaking) are also frequently mentioned and still have a impact on the characters and the plot.

You need to be caught up and up to speed on the lore, especially as it pertains to Maximilian, one of the central antagonists and villains of the novel (and series). If you don't know who he is or why he's a big deal, you're going to be wondering why it's such a big deal for them to find the other half of the wand and stop him.

If you must know, Maximilian (or “Max” as he's frequently called in this book) is pretty much the Sephiroth or Ganondorf of the lore. It was because of him and the problems that he created that witches were forced to come to an agreement that split them being light magic and dark magic, attempting to ensure that no one could become so powerful and disrupt the delicate balance of magic again. Of course, you had guys like Vladimir and Immilla's dad who took that agreement and pretty much wiped their fannies with it, but for the most part that separation was respected.

Through a very complicated (perhaps overly so) set of circumstances, wolves and vampires became at odds with one another, likely due to the blood feud between Vladimir and Gabriel, the first vampire and the first wolf/werewolf. Or something like that... it's a lot to take in, ok? Even the characters admit that. Anyway, the ending of the last book...

[INSERT SPOILER WARNING HERE]

Saw vampires and werewolves set aside their differences and unite behind the prophesied one, Nadine/Nadia, to stop Vladimir. Let's just say that a lot of people died on both sides, kinda leveling the playing field and restoring balance in a sense.

And it's pretty much here that we start this second book. Well, sorta. This book starts off with the turning and introduction of a new protagonist: Melia.

A lot of how you feel about this book is going to depend on how you connect with and view Melia. We hate to admit this, but she's a notable step down from Nadine/Nadia in terms of being a protagonist. Yes, Nadine/Nadia got on our nerves from time to time. She made dumb decisions like making Lamont forgive Caden and being rude and dismissive of Vince, but Nadine was still THE MAN. Ok, well, she was technically “THE WOMAN.” She was a strong, powerful, capable, bad ass female who stood up for the weak and vulnerable. She was essentially a female power fantasy akin to Alice from the Resident Evil movies or Beatrix from Kill Bill.

Melia, on the other hand, is just not that. She's more like a blank slate, perhaps allowing the reader to put themselves in the character's shoes to explore what it must be like to be a newly-turned vampire, being scared, confused, vulnerable, trying to maintain a semblance of humanity while being a monster dependent on blood.

Here's what we mean in comparing the two characters... There are passages like:

“She was powerless”

“She looked so small. So fragile. So vulnerable. The complete opposite of Nadine.”

“If Nadine was here, she would face fire head on. Walk through it even. She was fearless. Melia was fearful.”

This actually isn't 100% a bad thing. You don't want a Mary Sue. You don't want a perfect character who can't be hurt, can't be killed, can't be outsmarted, and can do no wrong. Ideally, you want a character you can relate to. You want a character with flaws and weaknesses. You want a character who can fail. Why? Well, because it creates more tension. What's the point of following a character's journey if you know their journey is always going to be easy, effortless, and that they're going to get everything they want in the end? No one wants to see someone be given something they haven't earned. We want to see the hero/heroine have ups and downs. We want to see them struggle. We want to see them overcome the odds. That's why characters like Rocky are so beloved.

Now, there was a time when Nadine was this kind of character. In the first third of The Darkest Side of the Moon, Nadine was just a normal human, bullied and vulnerable. She worked at the bank. She went to school. She wasn't extraordinary. However, things really changed when she became Nadia.

On the other hand, Melia remains this kind of character for the most part: vulnerable, unsure of herself, confused, fearful, and mostly average. In fact, even as a vampire, she seems to be a mostly-average vampire. There's not really much extraordinary about her, and that can be a good thing for the reasons described above.

Thankfully, Vince is back to balance things out. Vince is still strong, capable, fast, but a bit of a goofball. Best of all, he is familiar to us. Vince was (and is) a favorite character of many readers, and his presence helps to add continuity to this series while we're having characters like Niles, Tommy, and Cecilia popping up out of the woodwork to make this already-complicated book even more complicated than it needs to be.

Now, going back to Melia for a minute... Melia does have some wrinkles to her character that make her interesting. Firstly, her parents are fanatically hyper-religious. So, her vampirism and magic put her at increased and perpetual risk of ostracism, being kicked out, and even being persecuted. She can't even wear the clothes she wants to wear or braid her hair a certain way. This helps to make her relatable. Everyone knows what it's like to feel controlled—to feel the desire to rebel and break free.

If there's one thing that substantially sets this book apart from the last one, it's that this book is far superior in terms of writing quality. It's a noticeable and HUGE improvement.

You can really tell that Ryder's writing skills improved over time, and we're hoping that's reflected in book three as well.

First of all, the author thankfully and mercifully got away from the second-person perspective that plagued the previous book. Hallelujah! This book is written in third-person, which is so much easier and more pleasant to read. Rather than the reader feeling like they're forced to feel, see, or act a certain way (while in the direct shoes of the character), the reader can now make their own interpretations and choices.

There are also far less errors, showing that either the author improved as a writer and/or did additional proofreading, editing, and/or rewriting. That doesn't mean that there are no errors. Here are a few:

“He watched, memorized” should probably be “He watched, mesmerized.”

“She stared at herself in a trans-like state“ is probably supposed to be “She stared at herself in a trance-like state.”

“He stared at her with conflict” should probably be “He stared at her, conflicted.”

(By the way, there are far too many mentions of people staring at other people or themselves)

“He had that same feeling with Kumal when he smelled the overpower aroma of fish” should be “He had that same feeling with Kumal when he smelled the overpowering aroma of fish.”

“...out of jealously” should probably be “out of jealousy.”

“To be taught one thing that wasn’t necessary right” should be “To be taught one thing that wasn’t necessarily right.”

“His blue eyes studied her. She tore hers away with self-conscious” should be “His blue eyes studied her. She tore hers away with self-consciousness” or "His blue eyes studied her. Self-conscious, she tore hers away” or “His blue eyes studied her. She tore hers away, self-conscious.”

Ok, this is probably half as many errors as the previous book. Also, to be honest, it's kinda funny. It actually added to the entertainment factor of the book, believe it or not. We know the author is still growing, developing, and improving. We commend them for that.

So, while the writing in the previous book was maybe at the level of a high school junior, this book is about at the level of a freshman or sophomore in college. We've read a lot worse.

One last thing that needs to be noted is that this book is still a romance, and Vince (a character we all loved from the last book) finally gets to have someone who can fill the huge hole and void that was unfairly and tragically left in his heart.

However, this came with its own set of problems. For example, there's a line that states: “His love for Melia was much stronger than his love for Nadine. He realized it when Melia talked about destiny. He had wanted a future with Nadine, but it was not their fate.” This really bothered us, and it will probably bother shippers of Vince and Nadine because it kinda cheapens their relationship in the previous book. It would have been far better if the author had said that Vince loved Nadine, but in a different way. To say that he outright loves Melia more is almost sacrilegious if you're big on the Vince-Nadine pairing.

That would be like if Cloud told Tifa one day “I never really loved Aerith, I only ever loved you” or if Bella told Edward “Jacob is no one now, he means nothing to me.” That's like a dagger to the back and hearts of fans of these pairings, don't you think?

There's also a quote about Marc having been Nadine's “soul mate.” And, yes, there is a big reveal about Nadine and Vince that puts the final nail in the coffin as far as that shipping goes. The case against the Nadine-Vince pairing just piles on and on.

Anyway, this book is ultimately a much-improved sequel.

Check it out on Amazon!