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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Unfortunately, I was not a big fan of this one. I think the biggest issue I had with it was that it didn’t add anything important to the greater story of the series. While this book had a much more romantic undertone, especially at the beginning, the relationship between Vince and Charlie felt very surface level. The premise of the book implies that they will have a loving relationship but I was not convinced by the end of the book.
The holes that existed in the first book, such as the details of how shadow magic works, were not well explained in the second book and seemed a bit silly at times. And while it is a magical world with magic shadows and you have to suspend belief for that, I was not a fan of Charlie being able to detach a gloamist’s shadow with fire. Just seems a convenient way for her to escape instead of a well thought out understanding of shadow magic in the world. I like to know how the magic and world works in the fantasy novels I read, so I would have liked to know more about shadow magic in general.
Another aspect I did not enjoy as much was that there were a lot of side characters that ultimately did not serve much of a purpose to the story and took up valuable real estate in the novel that could have been used to strengthen the plot or the main relationship. While the first book was carried a lot by the ending, the ending for this one was a lot less satisfying for me. I still really enjoyed Holly Black’s unique writing style but just needed more from this book to really enjoy it. The book is really short so if you are dying to know how things work out for Charlie it might be worth the read for you but this one would be a skip for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the digital ARC.
The holes that existed in the first book, such as the details of how shadow magic works, were not well explained in the second book and seemed a bit silly at times. And while it is a magical world with magic shadows and you have to suspend belief for that, I was not a fan of Charlie being able to detach a gloamist’s shadow with fire. Just seems a convenient way for her to escape instead of a well thought out understanding of shadow magic in the world. I like to know how the magic and world works in the fantasy novels I read, so I would have liked to know more about shadow magic in general.
Another aspect I did not enjoy as much was that there were a lot of side characters that ultimately did not serve much of a purpose to the story and took up valuable real estate in the novel that could have been used to strengthen the plot or the main relationship. While the first book was carried a lot by the ending, the ending for this one was a lot less satisfying for me. I still really enjoyed Holly Black’s unique writing style but just needed more from this book to really enjoy it. The book is really short so if you are dying to know how things work out for Charlie it might be worth the read for you but this one would be a skip for me.
Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the digital ARC.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This one was a looong awaited sequel for me. Book of Night ended in SUCH a heart breaking and painful way, and I even reread it in anticipation of this eARC. Charlie and Vince had a grip on my heart quickly. They were messy, they were adults, they had some serious flaws, and they were mysterious as all heck. The gut punch at the end was ROUGH. I even remember murmuring, heart broken, "Oh, no... no. No no."
Thief of Night started solid. Charlie is still messy, still self destructive, and Red is a spooky shadow with some questionable motivations. Romance and murder mystery-wise, the book was fantastic! There was a constant "if not them, then who?" whodunnit...
(Dear reader, I feel like you can perhaps feel my 'but' on the horizon.)
But.
Around the 55-60% mark, the pacing got choppy, the writing got messy, and I'm not sure if it was because of the quality of the eARC, but sections started feeling broken up or rushed in such a way that I thought parts were deleted. I wasn't terribly feeling the urgency. A lot of what was going on really felt like it could have received its own extended moment in the spotlight, but because there were so many reveals, the impact of said reveals felt less grand and more like saying "and that happened, moving on". Bits and bobs here and there felt like an idea that just had to be included and so it was tossed in for half a page. Those pieces were fun by themselves, but were far too short and felt odd for their placement and pacing.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I finished it quite fast, and the ending tied things up fairly well, even if it felt a little confusing and rushed, especially those last few pages. It did unfortunately veer around the 60% mark into feeling a bit like your typical New Adult romantasy fair, and while that didn't work for me, I know it does for a lot of folks.
A big thank you to NetGalley and Tor books for this eARC in exchange for my review!
Thief of Night started solid. Charlie is still messy, still self destructive, and Red is a spooky shadow with some questionable motivations. Romance and murder mystery-wise, the book was fantastic! There was a constant "if not them, then who?" whodunnit...
(Dear reader, I feel like you can perhaps feel my 'but' on the horizon.)
But.
Around the 55-60% mark, the pacing got choppy, the writing got messy, and I'm not sure if it was because of the quality of the eARC, but sections started feeling broken up or rushed in such a way that I thought parts were deleted. I wasn't terribly feeling the urgency. A lot of what was going on really felt like it could have received its own extended moment in the spotlight, but because there were so many reveals, the impact of said reveals felt less grand and more like saying "and that happened, moving on". Bits and bobs here and there felt like an idea that just had to be included and so it was tossed in for half a page. Those pieces were fun by themselves, but were far too short and felt odd for their placement and pacing.
Overall, it was an enjoyable read. I finished it quite fast, and the ending tied things up fairly well, even if it felt a little confusing and rushed, especially those last few pages. It did unfortunately veer around the 60% mark into feeling a bit like your typical New Adult romantasy fair, and while that didn't work for me, I know it does for a lot of folks.
A big thank you to NetGalley and Tor books for this eARC in exchange for my review!
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Thief of Night was a fantastic read. The characters shone and the mystery was intriguing. It was a fantastic sequel, maybe even better than the first book!
I loved the character development of Charlie and Red. Their forced proximity relationship and how it evolved was very believable and I was whole heartedly invested in seeing where it went. Charlie got to evolve a bit as a character, while still keeping true to her nature. I enjoyed that it followed up with the side characters from book 1 and included some of them more in the main plot.
The mystery unfolded as Charlie figured it out or got tangled up in it and it worked well for the pacing. Charlie was in the center of the mess and I think we got to see her criminal skills shine again, even a bit more than before.
I very much enjoyed this book and highly recommend it if you even remotely liked the first book in the series. It was a fantastic read and kept me hooked from beginning to end.
I loved the character development of Charlie and Red. Their forced proximity relationship and how it evolved was very believable and I was whole heartedly invested in seeing where it went. Charlie got to evolve a bit as a character, while still keeping true to her nature. I enjoyed that it followed up with the side characters from book 1 and included some of them more in the main plot.
The mystery unfolded as Charlie figured it out or got tangled up in it and it worked well for the pacing. Charlie was in the center of the mess and I think we got to see her criminal skills shine again, even a bit more than before.
I very much enjoyed this book and highly recommend it if you even remotely liked the first book in the series. It was a fantastic read and kept me hooked from beginning to end.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I read Book of Night when it first came out and really loved it. It was interesting, urban, and nitty gritty in all the best ways.
Picking this one up, I expected the same, and I wasn’t disappointed. The wait between books is always difficult for me, and I couldn’t find a good summary of Book of Night online, so I went into this a bit more blind than I would’ve liked. I’ve read literally hundreds of books since that one, so things get lost in my head easily.
Anyway.
This is just as nitty gritty as I remember the first one. I remember being angry about the cliffhanger in Book, and I quickly remembered why once I picked this one up. The plot is action packed and mysterious, with lots of death and shadows of course. There’s only a few respites from full on action here, but that’s to be expected considering Charlie is being used as an investigator in this book. I had pegged a few things ahead of time, but several were a surprise. There are plenty of twists and turns, and all the while Charlie just wants Red to have his life back, to the point of self destruction. This girl escapes death so much, and never worries about herself. She is a tragic hero, just without the dying part 😂. There is a little spice, but it is mostly closed door. There’s one scene that is spicy and steamy, but I wouldn’t even give this book a full chili pepper on the spice scale. Just lots of tension, which I’m here for.
The characters are the same from the previous book, and I loved relearning Red. Charlie is sassy and grungy as ever, but Posey has some major developments. We meet some new characters, some that are trash (not written badly, just terrible people) and some that are interesting. My favorite part of this book is 100% Red’s development, especially his relationship with Charlie.
The writing is easy to follow, and the tone is very dark, which is to be expected. It definitely sets the mood for the book. My one complaint is some of these names are honestly hilarious and remind me of Dirty Dan and Pinhead Larry, but nothing that drew me far out of the book.
All in all, this was a solid read and that ending is just diabolically perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I hope she continues in the adult genre.
I read Book of Night when it first came out and really loved it. It was interesting, urban, and nitty gritty in all the best ways.
Picking this one up, I expected the same, and I wasn’t disappointed. The wait between books is always difficult for me, and I couldn’t find a good summary of Book of Night online, so I went into this a bit more blind than I would’ve liked. I’ve read literally hundreds of books since that one, so things get lost in my head easily.
Anyway.
This is just as nitty gritty as I remember the first one. I remember being angry about the cliffhanger in Book, and I quickly remembered why once I picked this one up. The plot is action packed and mysterious, with lots of death and shadows of course. There’s only a few respites from full on action here, but that’s to be expected considering Charlie is being used as an investigator in this book. I had pegged a few things ahead of time, but several were a surprise. There are plenty of twists and turns, and all the while Charlie just wants Red to have his life back, to the point of self destruction. This girl escapes death so much, and never worries about herself. She is a tragic hero, just without the dying part 😂. There is a little spice, but it is mostly closed door. There’s one scene that is spicy and steamy, but I wouldn’t even give this book a full chili pepper on the spice scale. Just lots of tension, which I’m here for.
The characters are the same from the previous book, and I loved relearning Red. Charlie is sassy and grungy as ever, but Posey has some major developments. We meet some new characters, some that are trash (not written badly, just terrible people) and some that are interesting. My favorite part of this book is 100% Red’s development, especially his relationship with Charlie.
The writing is easy to follow, and the tone is very dark, which is to be expected. It definitely sets the mood for the book. My one complaint is some of these names are honestly hilarious and remind me of Dirty Dan and Pinhead Larry, but nothing that drew me far out of the book.
All in all, this was a solid read and that ending is just diabolically perfect. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I hope she continues in the adult genre.
medium-paced