Visions of Darkness

Darkness, Book 1

De: A.L. Jackson

Narrado por: Victoria Mei, Teddy Hamilton

Destined to be together, forbidden to love, two lost souls fight evil in an everyday world that belongs to the night. A dark romantasy by a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author.

Aria Rialta is a girl of two realities. One she was born to. The other she was chosen for. Both are a threat.

Every night when Aria falls asleep, she enters the nightmare world of Faydor to fight a war. It’s her calling to help destroy the Kruen, who feed sin and chaos to our everyday world of vulnerable humans. It would be a lonely realm in which to do battle if not for Pax, Aria’s dangerously irresistible soulmate whose mere touch can kill. It’s also a realm that’s getting harder to escape.

Aria’s hallucinations are seeping into her waking world. And the Kruen are coming for her. To help Aria, Pax must do what no one in Faydor has dared to do before—join his soulmate in the light of day. Giving in to their forbidden attraction could be the death of them, but they might not be able to stop themselves as they embark on a cross-country journey to fight the evils hunting them.

As their desire grows, so do Aria’s untapped powers, and a menacing new force far darker than the Kruen.

©2025 by A.L. Jackson Books Inc. (P)2025 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Swoony romantasy.”—Booklist

Epic Journey

Visions of Darkness is an enthralling romantasy novel that pulls you in right from the start. It's about Aria and Pax, soulmates who team up against evil in the nightmare realm of Faydor, though they've never actually met in real life. By day, they're just regular people dealing with their own issues, but by night, they become fierce warriors. Aria is the tough, empathetic type, and Pax is your classic morally grey hero who'll break any rule to keep her safe when their dream world dangers start leaking into reality.

The book is packed with action, a tantalizing forbidden romance, and sky-high stakes that kept me turning the pages. The world-building is rich and immersive, setting up a deep, complicated, and downright risky romance between Aria and Pax. Their connection is magnetic, and as they fight off dark forces, resisting their growing attraction gets tougher. If you love stories about fated mates and epic adventures, this book won't disappoint you. The cliffhanger ending will leave you eager to grab the next book and discover what happens. Overall, I enjoyed this read. I have some lingering questions, but I hope they will be answered in future books.

Narration:
Victoria Mei and Teddy Hamilton delivered amazing performances. They transported me right into Aria and Pax's world and really brought the characters to life. Their performances allowed me to feel the passion, tension, and emotions elicited by Aria and Pax's epic journey. I highly recommend reading and listening in tandem.

Wow!

Omg this book is amazing! When I found out there was an audiobook version, I had to listen to it. It added so much depth to the struggle and torrent of emotions that Aria and Pax were going through as they tried to figure out why she was a target for the Kruen. Victoria Mei and Teddy Hamilton are wonderful as they read this tale of an alternative explanation to why humans experience sadness, anguish, anger and despair. While it touches on topics like mental health, it is fiction that gives the "voices" an actual evil presence within us. A world that exists when we sleep where others fight to keep us safe. This has become one of my fave books for 2025 and I recommend you give it a try. The book is on KU and the Audible comes paired with it.

Unique Plot

This story has a very interesting premise. I liked the plot and thought the way it was executed was well thought out. I will say, I still had a hard time with this book because it felt drawn out to me at some points, but the ending was a shocking twist. I had all the emotions while reading. I like the fated mate situation going on, but I know they aren't supposed to be together IRL so that is very confusing as well. It just felt weird to me that these people are supposed to live two separate lives and be ok with it and have families like they aren't with someone else at night saving the world. The one thing I will say is the narrators felt a lot older than the two, so it threw me off a lot.

Wow!

AL Jackson does it again! I absolutely loved this story! So different yet so perfect. Aria each night fades away to fight the Kruen by her side has always been Pax. When her family doesn’t understood she has to get away. Pax and Aria know their connection is strong and forbidden but they will do anything for each other. I truly hope there is more to come!!

Great story line

Love this book, and it was hard to put down. Great job A.L. Jackson, so glad you wrote this. Love the characters , action and flow.

Nice fantasy story

So I liked the story and the performance was excellent but I just don’t see how this story can continue? Like i understand there’s more but I just done feel compelled to continue I just feel like I wasn’t given enough unknowns that I’m beginning for answers for. But I will say this is a very good beginning story! I wish it gave a better set up of the world. I was pretty confused at the beginning. Also if the MMC and FFC were each other’s “noles” then wouldn’t it make more sense that they were the same age. Because Aria said she remembers Pax from the first time she went to the other world. So was Pax just alone with out his other half in the other world while everyone was pared up. Idk seems kinda sad for a kid that was already alone in the normal world.

Read it in one day!

I loved this book. I was not expecting this from A.L. Jackson but girl keep doing it. I couldn’t put the book down and I might have gotten behind at work. Sooo worth it! I can’t wait for the second one

Wow what a book

I’ve been listening to A.J. Jackson books for over 10 years and loved them all. I had no idea what to expect from this book but I knew she wrote it. Fantastic narration to I’m looking forward to the next book 😊

Visions of Darkness

Visions of Darkness is the first book in the Darkness series. This book is about Pax and Aria and is told from both of their points of view.

Aria and Pax are both part of the Faydor where when they fall asleep they go to this other world and they are soul mates in this world. However, in during the day they should not be together or the Kruen who go after the them will attack them.

When something happens to threaten one of them, the other one decides they will do anything to save their soulmate. There were so many twists and turns I didn't see coming, and I loved every minute of it.

I can't wait to see what happens next in this series.

Unique romantasy!

When Pax and Aria fall asleep they enter the magical world of Faydor where they are bound together to protect each other and fight against the evil Kruen. Pax and Aria are strictly forbidden to be together in the waking world. But when Aria finds herself in danger Pax doesn’t hesitate to break the rules and protect what’s his.

A.L. Jackson did not disappoint with her first fantasy romance! This story was creative and interesting. It’s dangerous and suspenseful with lots of action. It’s also super angsty and definitely a slowww burn. And as someone who gets easily lost with complicated world building, I found this to be fairly easy to follow and not too overwhelming. Just fyi, this does end on a cliffhanger. I am anxiously awaiting to see what happens as this story continues!!

🎧 I really enjoyed the audio of this. Victoria Mei and Teddy Hamilton were amazing!!