
Title: The Dark Griffin
Author: K.J. Taylor
Series: The Fallen Moon
Sexual Content: Minimal
Objectional Content: Violence, Racism
Synopsis (from Goodreads): Being chosen as a griffin’s companion has allowed Arren Cardockson to gain a place of status within the land of Cymria. But Arren can never escape the prejudice that comes with his Northerner slave origins. For chained within the Arena where rogue griffins battle to entertain the crowds, there lies another soul crying out to be freed-a kindred spirit that will allow Arren to fulfill his destiny and release the darkness in his heart.
My Review
For some reason I can’t quite fathom, I’ve been avoiding writing this review. Even now, I feel like I’m forcing myself to type. I honestly don’t know why this is, but I am annoyed by it because now it’s been over a month since I finished the book and the details are no longer fresh in my mind. Therefore, I will try to do my best here.
Arren, our main character, is a Northerner. At least, his parents are from the North, which automatically makes him one of them despite that fact that he was born in the South and has never been to the North. The people of the North are considered savages, inherently aggressive, and after the South conquered their country, the people of the North became slaves. The only reason Arren has any status or respect in society is because he was chosen by a griffin.
After Arren is tricked into going on a dangerous mission on his own, betrayed by someone he trusted, his griffin tragically dies. No longer considered to be a Griffiner, he’s now just seen as a Northern and the ingrained prejudice becomes apparent. If he becomes angry about the injustice he’s suffered, that’s his Northern aggression coming out. The amount of societal discrimination ingrained in this book is rampant and made me so angry on Arren’s behalf. Even the people close to him who say they don’t care about his heritage, on some level, feel some sort of prejudice against him.
I feel like this review isn’t doing this book justice, and I just don’t know how to get my feelings about it into words. So please know that I really loved this book. I thought it was fantastic. The world is rich and the characters are relatable. There aren’t a lot of fantasy books involving griffins, so I also really like how prominent they are here.
My rating for The Dark Griffin is 5 out of 5 stars and I highly recommend it to all lovers of fantasy, and even people who don’t necessarily love fantasy.
Thanks for reading and if you’ve read The Dark Griffin, I’d love to know your thoughts.








