REVIEW Dark Memory (Dark #33) by Christine Feehan

Dark Memory (Dark Series #33) by Christine Feehan
Rating: 5 Stars
Release Date: October 3, 2023
Format: eBook + Audiobook (Borrowed from Library)
Publisher: Berkley 

Dark Memory is the latest installment in Christine Feehan’s Dark series, and I’m really loving the series arc featuring the tarot card users and the ancients of the monastery. I was happy to dive into Petru and Safia’s very unique love story, as this is another action packed book filled with suspense, romance, and great worldbuilding.  

Similar to all of the other books in the series and specifically the other books featuring ancients of the monastery, Petru has been searching for his lifemate for thousands of years. Unlike the other male leads, however, Petru actually found an incarnation of his life mate long ago. When faced with an impossible choice (that I don’t want to spoil) he found himself unable to save her and forced to wait until she was born into a new body to find her again. Once he does find her in Safia, he’s surprised to see that she’s a fierce warrior and protector of her people. I really appreciated seeing how he embraced all of her wholeheartedly and was so determined to give her what he could (i.e. a marriage in the ways of her people, more time with her family) since he could not afford to wait to claim her once they met. The more modern partnerships where each life mate balances each other have been my favorite parts of the recent Dark series books, and I hope that trend continues in the future. 

With the last couple of books in the series (starting with Dark Tarot), Ms. Feehan has been building a major storyline with ‘the Beast’, the four gateways and those who guard them. Compared to some of the other storylines (i.e. the mages, the lycans) I have been really engaged with devouring every detail about what’s going on with Justice. There’s another major detail revealed about the importance of tarot cards in this book, so I’m excited to see the eventual climax where Justice makes his play to escape. I really hope it happens soon, and that we get to see cameos from all of the gatekeepers and keepers of the tarot card decks when it does. 

Overall, another great book from Christine Feehan. Jim Frangione did a great job bringing Safia and Petru’s perspectives to life with his performance in the audiobook. I look forward to the next installment featuring the final gate guardian and tarot card user, and getting to see Benedek (and hopefully Nicu’s) lifemate. Any adult readers who are fans of the paranormal romance genre and love great worldbuilding and the fated mate trope would likely enjoy this series. For the best reading experience, I would recommend reading the books of the Dark series in order. However, each book is written such that it largely stands on its own (you do miss some minor context details) and you could start wherever you’d like if one book appeals to you more than others.