'Untethering Dark' is a story of self-actualization, wrapped in an arresting monster romance
Review of 'Untethering Dark' by Desirée M. Niccoli
When the icy fingers of winter chill tap at your window, there is no greater escape than to lose oneself in a fairytale. Childhood stories warn of spirits poised to punish our wrongdoings — and it’s entirely possible that our adult selves would welcome a late-night visit from the strange and unusual. We are all indulging in the fantasy of monster romance, after all.
Untethering Dark by Desirée M. Niccoli is a moody, folkloric affair that evokes the same chill and thrill as an ice cube being dropped down the back of a reader’s sweater. What I’m talking about is the best kind of shivers.
Author Desirée M. Niccoli may be a new face in traditional publishing, but is an established force within the world of fantasy romance. She boasts an impressive catalogue of short stories and novels and is perhaps most notable for her Haven Cove series of merfolk/siren romances. Untethering Dark is her latest work.
The bloody and bewitching Yuletide fairytale marks the first monster romance ever to be published by Harlequin; an exciting omen for lovers of non-traditional romantic subgenres and a promising indicator for a long-overdue shakeup in traditional publishing.
Before we unpack Untethering Dark, in full, let’s set the stage with the synopsis:
In the shadows of the forest, he waits…
A winter hag in training, Astrid spends her days in the Black Forest sharpening her spell craft and flinging axes at tourists, and her nights leaving offerings to the ancient eldritch monster that guards the woods. She’s one sex ritual away from leaving the last trace of her unwanted humanity behind and stepping into her full power.
It’s the perfect life. Until a group of unruly humans brings that same deadly monster to her doorstep. Now, her only hope for survival is a plate of poisoned cookies.
Gudarīks has roamed the Black Forest since it sprouted its first trees, consuming any who violate his beloved land. Lured to the witch’s gate, he is amused at her attempt to poison him with sweets…but spending time with her awakens millennia of repressed desire. Astrid doesn’t shy away from the gentle caress of his claws or his most ravenous attentions.
As witch and monster find long-buried heat in the wintery landscape they call home, signs of a dark, lost magic begin to appear in the forest. When a rising supernatural threat has them questioning not only their ability to protect the forest, but Gudarīks’s own immortality, their only solution may be to share their strength and create a union beyond mortal comprehension.
Let’s get down to brass tax. This is a romance. More pointedly, the romance of a winter witch and a monstrous forest deity.
I am happy to report that Astrid and Gudarīks are a pairing for the ages and will be difficult to dethrone as my favorite couple of 2025.
Strength, vulnerability, and the nature of love as an act of reaching through darkness to grasp the hand of the one who we know will be there — that is what defines Astrid and Gudarīks. Both are deeply compelling halves to one swoonworthy whole. In their courtship, Niccoli strikes a perfect balance between humor and sweetness, with a much deeper meditation on trust, mutual respect, and how healing is so often found in intimacy.
And the sex is inferno HOT. We’ll get into that later.
Fortunately for us readers, Untethering Dark offers a multi-layered narrative that goes far beyond the simple pleasure of a good love story. With its Germanic, Black Forest backdrop, Untethering Dark instantly evokes a weightiness of folklore and mythology. Reading Niccoli’s bewitching prose of a shadowy, ancient wood and the legends lurking within feels like thumbing through an artifact.
But where Untethering Dark truly excels is in its exquisite blending of fairytale and modernity — taking advantage of the very best of bygone legend and a modern-day setting. As far as immersive world-building, the reader feels firmly rooted on the border of the normal everyday and the magic that (quite convincingly) exists in the periphery.
Untethering Dark is an incredibly accessible title; as strong an entry point for newcomers to the genre as it is a welcome installment for seasoned monster lovers. The wilder side of monster romance is definitely present — the story is thickly infused with heart-pounding sexual escapades and truly terrifying horror elements — but all of the aforementioned are masterfully crafted and ushered in on softer sections of tenderness.
Niccoli seamlessly weaves queer representation, intentional consent, and lines drawn between good and evil into Untethering Dark. The effect is a soft landing for the conscious reader and an established environment of safety in which both author and the imagination of the reader can play.
All of that being said, the strongest takeaway from Untethering Dark is not just a smoking hot monster-romance. Nor is it the spell cast by beautiful descriptions and carefully crafted beats. Untethering Dark is most compelling as a story of self-actualization. Through the perspective of hag-in-training Astrid, readers find a perfect guide through Untethering Dark’s moral questions and a strong foundation of ambition and connection to personal power.
The romance with Gudarīks is the cherry on top of Astrid’s empowering narrative of ambition and ascending to one’s chosen purpose.
Spice, Triggers, and Tropes [Warning: This section will contain spoilers]
In keeping with any self-respecting monster romance, readers of Untethering Dark can expect (and delight) in unique anatomy, primal sexual dynamics, and all the fangs, claws, and antlers one could want. The spicy scenes in Untethering Dark have a simmering effect of starting on more decadent and sensual depictions, revving up to genre favorites like predator/prey play, breeding kink, and a truly untethered (I had to) reading experience.
Beloved tropes that readers will find within include found family, an extreme age gap (as fitting for an immortal and ancient forest god), and a healthy dose of “supporting women’s wrongs” through the introduction of both a female villain and our very own morally-grey winter hag, Astrid.
Readers should be advised of the following content warnings:
Explicit sexual content
Child abuse and neglect
Graphic descriptions of blood and body horror
Violence and intense bodily harm, including on-page human death and off-page animal death
Ritual sacrifice
Fear not. Untethering Dark does end in “happily ever after…”
Final Thoughts:
Untethering Dark is an enchanting winter escape. A frigid fairytale with a molten heart. Thoroughly delivers on all readers could want out of a “dark Yule vibes” monster romance; tempering genuine darkness and horror with the central romance. For veterans to the genre and newcomers alike, Untethering Dark has more than earned a cherished place on the romance reader’s shelf.