This Dark Descent by Kalyn Josephson (review)

Reviewed by: This Dark Descent by Kalyn Josephson Sarah Sahn Josephson, Kalyn This Dark Descent. Roaring Brook, 2023 [400p] Trade ed. ISBN 9781250812360 $20.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781250812377 $11.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 8-12 Mikira Rusel might be from the most celebrated family of enchanted horse breeders and racers in Veradell, but since her brother died after being conscripted to the Eternal War and her father stopped racing, the Rusel ranch is barely surviving on Mikira's winnings from Veradell's underground racing circuit. When Rezek Kelbra, the brutal lord whose district the Rusels live in, arrests Mikira's father for being an unlicensed enchanter, Mikira is forced into a deal: win the Illinir—a four-stage, once-a-decade race designed to challenge the best riders—on an unenchanted horse, and Kelbra will free her father and forgive the family's debts. She's wary when Damien Adair, a young lord from a rival house, offers to sponsor her, but she nonetheless goes along with his plan to hire Arielle Kadar, a practitioner of forbidden Kinnish magic, to make a horse golem for Mikira to ride. Ari's just trying to survive after having to flee her village when a spell went wrong and killed her grandfather, and Damian offers her protection, power, access to knowledge, and a connection to her roots—though assimilated, his family shares her Kinnish heritage. The uneasy partnership among Damien, Mikira, Ari, and Damien's friend and aide Reid is at the center of this absorbing fantasy rooted in Jewish tradition. Chapters alternate between Ari and Mikira's points of view, providing insight into their growing friendship and motivations, while the Illinir provides plenty of action and a tight plot structure for the politics and intrigue that swirl around it. A final twist brings together threads that even very attentive readers might miss, setting up a second volume to eagerly await. [End Page 60] Copyright © 2023 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois