Reviews with content warning for Death - Down Comes the Night

Who cares? like literally there is not enough world building or character development for me to give a crap about this story. All the secondary characters are barely mentioned let alone given any actual substance. The MC Wren is bi, ok, but we don't get enough detail of her prior relationship with Una (sp? idk audiobook) for it to actually mean much? I guess in the end it's more like enemies to lovers/close proximity once she arrives at the estate to take care of Hal. I wasn't even really into their romance either. The main mystery is like 'solved' almost too early, and then the end of the story drags on. It's just a lot of like gore and medical horror strung together into kind of a fantasy (really more court politics) lackluster romance.

The ending is super unbelievable, like all of a sudden at the last second Wren is able to convince the Queen to just stop siding with Lowry?? just like that? even though she tried before...

2.5/5 🌶️

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cursed_sapphire's review against another edition

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4.5

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karelidz's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

4.8⭐ just because i found the MC's best friend very annoying, but other than that, i absolutely LOVED IT. It had everything i was in the mood for: mystery with some romance and a bit of fantasy sprinkled in there.
I don't usually reread a lot of books, but I'd definitely reread this one. 100 percent.

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lyserature's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

[EDIT] : I think about the vibes of this book a lot,,

It was fine. I have to say though it felt unedited enough like there was more stuff to be done before publishing. It was entertaining but I also wanted to just be done with it.

It was hard to buy into Hal and Wren's relationship at first...

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girlonbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

🌨️🌨️🌨️🌨️ Four Stars (as rated in the snow clouds in this splendidly wintery read)

Niece to the queen herself, Wren Southerland might as well be a nobody. Sequestered in the Abbey from a very young age, Wren fought to establish her worth with her exceptional (and magical) healing abilities. Having worked her way up to Lieutenant in the Queen’s army, all Wren wants in the whole world is to be recognized for her value; to be told she matters. But when one moment of misplaced compassion leaves her at the mercy of an enemy spy – compromising her entire mission – Wren risks losing everything she’s spent years worked for. Getting back in the Queen’s good graces will require a bigger gamble than she’s ever taken before, and necessitate allying herself with the very enemy she’s sworn to defeat.

“Maybe the only difference between a monster and a hero was the colour of a soldier’s uniform”

This book really grew on me. I loved the narration from the start (Kathleen McInerney deserves her own genre of the word talented) but I took a minute to connect with the story. Once things get going, though, and the mystery “intensifies,” so to speak, I was officially in it for the long haul. Just something to keep in mind if you’re on the fence about DNFing within the first 50 pages.

✨ Read this book because: you want a cozy winter read with some mystery, the tiniest bit of sexual tension and a lot of politically motivated backstabbing.

✨ Content warnings for this book: descriptive medical stuff, graphic medical trauma, gore, blood, death, death of a parent, murder, poisoning, body horror, war, violence

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sallenreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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leah_j's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

things i liked:
- the characters (wren, hal, una, lowry)
- the magic system
- the writing style
- the overall concept was interesting and it could have been even better had the novel perhaps been an adult novel rather than YA

things i didn’t like:
- the lack of unresolved conflict, every time something went wrong there seemed to be a somewhat immediate resolve
- on the note of conflict, i didn’t particularly like the ending, it felt rushed
- i expected it to be a lot more like a gothic novel, it seems only the setting was of that ilk

overall, it was an interesting book and it was enjoyable to read, especially as the characters were either loveable or interesting. i particularly liked how empathetic and compassionate wren was, as it’s rare for a strong female character to embrace those traits. i wouldnt say not to read this book either as i did really enjoy it, but the reason for the lack of four or five stars is for the reasons i listed above.

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