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lexi17d's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Received an ARC from NetGalley in return for an honest review:
I went into this book expecting a dark fantasy about evil shadows, and I got an oddly paced mystery about a girl who makes a ton of obvious mistakes and serves at a bar for a solid portion of the book.
Book of Night by Holly Black is a dark fantasy mystery that takes place in our world, where shadows can come to life and be controlled by feeding them your own blood. This book follows our main character, Charlie, who is a con artist tasked with the responsibility of finding stolen secrets about shadow magic. I was so excited for this book whenI heard it was being released, especially a book about dark shadow magic from the author that wrote The Cruel Prince. However, this did not live up to my expectations like I hoped it would.
This book would be a good book for fans of mystery that want to get more into fantasy, but as someone who has read my fair share of mystery novels, this felt a lot like many others that I have read in the past. I felt like I was still waiting for it to really pick up 80% into the book. The pacing was off and the writing was flat. I also used to work in the food industry for about 10 years, so reading about a main character who works at a bar for about 50 pages of the book isn’t what I would consider something I want to read about. Charlie is a con artist, so you’d think she’d make smart decisions, but she is constantly messing up dramatically and overlooking obvious clues intentionally. I didn’t feel much of a connection to any of the characters, and I felt they were all very underdeveloped. Maybe I wasn’t enjoying this book as much as I was hoping I would because I wasn’t expecting a mystery, but I still didn’t feel the suspense and tension most other mysteries give.
Although I was not entirely blown away for the majority of this book, the ending was better than I was expecting and somewhat redeemed this book for me. It left me interested in seeing how the rest of the series will play out, but at the same time, I don’t necessarily feel excited to continue it. I was curious about how it would end throughout—enough so that I was still drawn into continuing the book. I thought the magic and setting of this book was unique and interesting, but even still, it wasn’t done as well as I hoped.
I went into this book expecting a dark fantasy about evil shadows, and I got an oddly paced mystery about a girl who makes a ton of obvious mistakes and serves at a bar for a solid portion of the book.
Book of Night by Holly Black is a dark fantasy mystery that takes place in our world, where shadows can come to life and be controlled by feeding them your own blood. This book follows our main character, Charlie, who is a con artist tasked with the responsibility of finding stolen secrets about shadow magic. I was so excited for this book whenI heard it was being released, especially a book about dark shadow magic from the author that wrote The Cruel Prince. However, this did not live up to my expectations like I hoped it would.
This book would be a good book for fans of mystery that want to get more into fantasy, but as someone who has read my fair share of mystery novels, this felt a lot like many others that I have read in the past. I felt like I was still waiting for it to really pick up 80% into the book. The pacing was off and the writing was flat. I also used to work in the food industry for about 10 years, so reading about a main character who works at a bar for about 50 pages of the book isn’t what I would consider something I want to read about. Charlie is a con artist, so you’d think she’d make smart decisions, but she is constantly messing up dramatically and overlooking obvious clues intentionally. I didn’t feel much of a connection to any of the characters, and I felt they were all very underdeveloped. Maybe I wasn’t enjoying this book as much as I was hoping I would because I wasn’t expecting a mystery, but I still didn’t feel the suspense and tension most other mysteries give.
Although I was not entirely blown away for the majority of this book, the ending was better than I was expecting and somewhat redeemed this book for me. It left me interested in seeing how the rest of the series will play out, but at the same time, I don’t necessarily feel excited to continue it. I was curious about how it would end throughout—enough so that I was still drawn into continuing the book. I thought the magic and setting of this book was unique and interesting, but even still, it wasn’t done as well as I hoped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Gore
Moderate: Self harm
deannareadsandsleeps's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Self harm, Blood, Gore, and Drug abuse
melaniereadsbooks's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Thank you to Netgalley and Tor Books for an arc of this book.
Charlie Hall has lived her life making cons, but she's trying to ride the straight and narrow. When she sees a shadow tear another man apart, she gets dragged into her old life of gloamists and danger and stealing.
This was so highly anticipated for me because I absolutely love Holly Black! This was a great debut into adult writing and if you've read any reviews of this yet, you'll know everyone is wondering if there will be a sequel. If not--that was a bold ending!
The writing is really good and I seriously love Charlie. She is such a compelling main character and her motivations are so interesting to read about. I also really enjoyed Vince, though I wish he was in it a bit more--I feel like his character could have been developed better.
I think knowing if this is going to have a sequel or not would really affect my rating. Right now, I'm basing this assuming it is a standalone, and it left a little to be desired in the end. Hopefully there will be more Charlie to come!
Charlie Hall has lived her life making cons, but she's trying to ride the straight and narrow. When she sees a shadow tear another man apart, she gets dragged into her old life of gloamists and danger and stealing.
This was so highly anticipated for me because I absolutely love Holly Black! This was a great debut into adult writing and if you've read any reviews of this yet, you'll know everyone is wondering if there will be a sequel. If not--that was a bold ending!
The writing is really good and I seriously love Charlie. She is such a compelling main character and her motivations are so interesting to read about. I also really enjoyed Vince, though I wish he was in it a bit more--I feel like his character could have been developed better.
I think knowing if this is going to have a sequel or not would really affect my rating. Right now, I'm basing this assuming it is a standalone, and it left a little to be desired in the end. Hopefully there will be more Charlie to come!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Gore, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Minor: Drug abuse, Child abuse, and Self harm
notteson's review
adventurous
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Another excellent story by Holly Black! I really loved this book. The worldbuilding was wonderfully done, and the shadow-based magic is a refreshing twist on the fantasy genre, as I feel not many authors are not using this type as the basis of their magic.
For all of Charlie flaws (of which there are MANY), I couldn't help but like her. She made a lot of poor, impulsive decisions, but they were absolutely all in line with her character. The decision at the end being certainly one of them, and it was definitely one I did not see coming. It was unexpected and surprising, yet oddly satisfying because it's so different from the endings that we typically get from fantasy stories like this. It firmly concludes the story, but it leaves a small window of opportunity open for Black to potentially revisit this world, should she decide to write any sequels.
Another excellent story by Holly Black! I really loved this book. The worldbuilding was wonderfully done, and the shadow-based magic is a refreshing twist on the fantasy genre, as I feel not many authors are not using this type as the basis of their magic.
For all of Charlie flaws (of which there are MANY), I couldn't help but like her. She made a lot of poor, impulsive decisions, but they were absolutely all in line with her character. The decision at the end being certainly one of them, and it was definitely one I did not see coming. It was unexpected and surprising, yet oddly satisfying because it's so different from the endings that we typically get from fantasy stories like this. It firmly concludes the story, but it leaves a small window of opportunity open for Black to potentially revisit this world, should she decide to write any sequels.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol and Blood
Moderate: Gore, Self harm, and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction and Drug use
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