The Fractured Dark (Devoured Worlds #2)[August 29, 2025]

[Yanique, Thread Master]

Second attempt

[Yanique, Thread Master]

This is a Buddy Read for The Fractured Dark by Megan E. O'Keefe starting on August 29, 2025.

[Nirkatze]

Thank you!


Series Schedule
1. The Blighted Stars (July 29) [Link]
2. The Fractured Dark (Sept 29)
3. The Bound Worlds (Oct 29) [Link]

Availability?

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Started reading this at work last night, and almost done already (90%+)...

Haven't had much coherent to say about it...

There's alot going on, and it's more in-space than I expected after book 1... simultaneously, it's been giving me alot of Parasitology vibes, as it explores the alien cognizance more and more... also seeing parallels to AI & Robotics (view spoiler)[as Tarquin's dad plays with fiddling with imprints to the point that instincts are carrying over into secondary hosts without causing splintering or whatever it's called... and now he's editing out memories... and now Canus seems to be developing host bodies with no human imprint to get in the way, really... THAT'S when I started thinking AI/Robotics... (hide spoiler)]

My biggest question, is how they're going to end the trilogy and definitively win... it seems so easy for some remnant of Canus out there to finagle it's way back in (view spoiler)[if it's infecting Shroud now... and eyesight pathways... it's so good at infiltration... (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

And finished... (view spoiler)[by the end, it started to give me Dollhouse vibes, with mixed imprints and Nyra staying sane with multiple instances alive... and finding a Lockheart imprint... (hide spoiler)]

[Ann-Marie]

I read this a bit ago and I enjoyed it but it was clear it is the middle book in a trilogy. Looking forward to finishing this up, I think I need the ENDING ending to be able to judge how I Liked it overall.

(that makes sense to me lol)

[Nirkatze]

Eye-reading this this week. About 1/4 in and enjoying it, though not much to say... the romance still feels off but I'm starting to get used to it, maybe. I don't really feel it. The ex is wonkers though. That's both wonky and bonkers together.

[Nirkatze]

So, finished this a couple weeks ago, and enjoyed it--I agree with Ann-Marie though, it felt very middle... though I actually got the same vibes here as with the first book, where it took so many twists about 3/4 of the way through to the end that I started getting some following-fatigue--and that was eye-reading! (view spoiler)[When Naira was double-printed... oooh, that hurt!!! Thinking she was essentially doomed... but then she sort of turned it into her superpower, being able to stay sane while cracked...

And all the stuff with Fletch... was so frustrating!! It felt like she was on a leash--almost getting away only to get yanked back, him being a step ahead most of the time. I both love and hate those types of characters--especially ones who believe so deeply that they KNOW what the other person wants/needs/thinks and can't be convinced they're wrong. Personal knee-jerk point, there. But it also makes it that much more satisfying when he's finally taken out--and by Naira's mom with an IV stand of all things!! HAH!

But then it started going twisted... the thing with the Cavendish, Jonsun, Tarquin's dad, heads of MERIT and Canus infecting Shroud... so many threads blowing up all at once into the end--got a bit tiring. (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Double imprinting reminded me of season 2 Dollhouse, as I think I mentioned above... real superpower for that one actress in the show...

[Nirkatze]

Yeah--I really enjoyed that series, for all it's creepy premise...

There's another book we read recently that it was making me think of too... but I can't put my finger on it...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Dollhouse was a cool show concept that didn't age well... especially in light of allegations against Whedon that have cropped up in the past decade or so...

[Nirkatze]

Yeah--the concept was creepy, Whedon is a horrible disappointment, but the actors did a great job... I especially wish that Eliza Dushku had more work out there... been meaning to watch Tru Calling some day...

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

I was definitely an Eliza Dushku fan in the 2000s... Buffy, True Calling, Dollhouse... she's the reason I tried those post-Buffy shows... even the cheerleading movie Bring It On...

I heard she quit Bull (the Michael Weatherly show after he left NCIS) over sexual misconduct allegations and got a $5m payout... not sure she acts much these days... I think she's an activist now?... doing a google shows she recently got her masters in behavioral therapy and is a full time therapist now...

[Nirkatze]

Good for her! As much as I am also a fan of her acting, I feel like I see more and more stories of actors' lives getting f'd up... so it's good to hear of people who find meaningful paths for themselves too...

[Paula]

Started, until chapter 37 (view spoiler)[ Nothing much to say except its getting crazier. Acaelus printing his family and erasing memories was very surprising. I liked seeing the crazy ex (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

we had... mixed feelings... about the finale...

[Paula]

Well, that doesn't bode well

[Nirkatze]

It was entertaining... but a little rushed and a little to tidy. Just don't squint too hard.

[Paula]

To tidy? Where I am at is a mess, a lot of plot lines like (view spoiler)[ the mother being alive now, Naira being a print from the beginning, fletcher alive again (this annoyed me, it was mainly to add drama and naira fighting with her friends. I don't like when the same antagonist is put down and resurfaces again), the not Canden planning something against Acaeus when he tells his weapon....There is a lot of stuff going on (hide spoiler)]

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Alot of the stuff in books 1-2 barely matters to book 3... and then the problems that do exist are resolved in like 5 minutes on audio, and then there's a bit of a denouement...

Nirkatze called it decision paralysis, on the author's part... lots of cool ideas in books 1-2-3, but then the end came and the story had to end, one way or another...

Felt a bit Doctor Who... cue the theme song, bit of science-y mumbo jumbo, and Bippity Boppity Boo, Happily Ever After...

[Paula]

Maybe the author wanted more books but got axed and she had to cut everything. I agree there is cool stuff but it's a shame it resolved so quickly

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Not sure if it was an intended trilogy or not...

[Nirkatze]

Paula wrote: "To tidy? Where I am at is a mess, a lot of plot lines like [spoilers removed]"

Yeah, agree on the chaotic mess. By tidy, maybe I should have said "too easy." Last few chapters and poof! stuff solved. Yay.

[Paula]

Canus magically had a heart attack 😂

[Nirkatze]

LOL. But wait, there's more! They discover that heart-attack'd Canus is the cure to everything and everyone waltzes into the sunset.

[Paula]

Hards to imagine it. Canus is pretty much invincible at this point thanks to Fletcher

[Timelord Iain, Tech Support]

Stop Thinking, and Be the Ball (view spoiler)[the ball is Canus... (view spoiler)[and really, that feels like essentially what Naira did in the third book... beat Canus at it's own game by becoming a hivemind of 1000 imprints/clones...

I was hoping to find a gif of that fight sequence at the opening of Resident Evil: Afterlife, where all the Alice Clones storm the Umbrella Facility in Japan to kill all the remaining employees/managers and Wesker, but there doesn't seem to be one...

It includes a bunch of clones with katanas and machine guns slicing up mercenaries and rappelling down elevator shafts...

Closest I could find:

(hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

I vaguely remember that--awesome scene.
I don't get the quote reference though.

[Paula]

Finished! (view spoiler)[ I agree with Nirkatze that in the end there were too many threads. And then Naira knowing where the other ship was, exact coordinates and everything, just because her other body was in it... (hide spoiler)]

[Nirkatze]

Yeah... just a little too easy.