Review of Truth in the Dark by Amy Lane

By Amy Lane 

3.5 Stars 

Do you like fairy tales?  Then this spin on Beauty and the Beast is for you!  Amy Lane takes us on riveting fantastical journey through eh pages of Truth in the Dark. 

 Truth in the Dark is a m/m romance story loosely based around Beauty and the Beast, but defining the Beauty and the Beat is what keep this story interesting.  We first meet Naef, or rather Knife as everyone calls him, as a grotesque creature that is tortured by the bullies in his small fishing village.  He lives with his sister and mother, and sees himself as a stone around both of their necks, and the reason that neither of them can live a fulfilled life.  Through his sister’s potential love-interest he meets Aerie-Smith, a cursed man who takes the appearance of a lion and offers him job, with a catch – spend a year on a remote island as his companion.  

We struggled a bit with this story.  There is such great commentary of beauty vs. beast, how do you see yourself, are you defined by what you look like?  And how does your love see you, as a complete person or as the flawed individual you think you are.  There is a spark between Naef and Aerie-Smith, but a flame that never really catches.  We love Amy Lane’s writing style, the descriptions of this fantastical world paints a picture you can see, but it never really fills in the love-story that we have all fallen for in Beauty and the Beast. 

Truth is the Dark is a great read, but we were looking for a little more.  Amy Lane has written such tender, heart aching love stories, and we just wish she has spent more time creating that between Naef  and Aerie-Smith.