Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Book of Night by Holly Black

109 reviews

kat_184's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It took me about 100 pages into the book before I was really hooked, but once I was into it I could hardly put it down. Liked the original story, twists and turns I couldn't always keep up with (although I had the satisfaction of guessing one plot twist). 

I loved that the main character, Charlie, is in her late-twenties. It's believable that she could have the knowledge she possesses for the crimes she commits -  but I was expecting some more greatness to her skill than what we got to see (and never understood why she had to use ariel-silks to train since they never came up again). 

The fantasy story in modern-day setting was  a little jarring to me at first, but I settled into it eventually. 

I've recently become a fan of Holly Black. I love her writing style and find she has a fascinating way of describing the most horrific scenes. In terms of romance, her slow-burn in The Folk of The Air series is more satisfying than what was in this Adult fiction - I don't particularly care, but some readers might come from the YA to this adult debut expecting more, so just cap your expectations. 
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eleanorrae's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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casuallygle's review against another edition

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

4.0

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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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jesshart8's review against another edition

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

4.0

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francestea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Enjoyable and unique. I found the first 1/4 of the book not as compelling as I would have wished but the second half is paced quite a bit quicker. I totally love the all shadow magic, maybe wish there had been more exposition about the workings of this system but that’s a personal preference. Overall i wonder if this book could have been fine tuned just a little more but I f the premise sounds interesting to you it’s worth a try. 
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dragnfary's review

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adventurous challenging dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.75

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pvbobrien's review against another edition

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dark mysterious slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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em_aune's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such a good read! Complex characters, a super unique system of magic, and a bit of a mystery. Loved it and can’t wait for more. 
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lizgriffinwords's review

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tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

Overall, a little better than I expected (my expectations were really low).

Barely anything happens until the 45% mark. Several critical emotional beats are sabotaged by being “revealed” after the fact instead of experienced by the MC. And the overall emotional shallowness makes the MC come across as a sociopath, though I don’t believe that was the intention.

And the worldbuilding/lore is nothing but squandered potential. Is it open world or isn’t it? How recently? Nothing was explained, which watered down any supposed “cool” or “unique” behavior of certain shadows.

Also, the audio narration was somewhat… bland? No distinguishing between most voices aside from the Hierophant and Salt.

So… pretty much what I expected. Not sure this cliffhanger ending will be enough to entice me to read more.
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