Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - In Nightfall

July's pick for Amy McCaw's YA Book Club 2023.

The Details:
Narrated by Elena Rey
Unabridged

It took me a long while before finally watching the Lost Boys, but I'm glad I had watched that first as I was able to see the inspirations from the start and felt like I can appreciate In Nightfall more in the long run due to this.

In Nightfall really captured this moody atmosphere, whilst simultaneously having the fresh feel of a summer read.

In the back of my head, it felt like this is what Saintsville by Brittani Louise Taylor wanted to emulate.

I adored learning about the lore of Nightfall and the slow reveal of things that go bump in the night.

The characters of Nightfall were intriguing, alluring and mysterious, and I enjoyed seeing the contrast between the bubbly personalities of Theo and her brother, Marco.

The twists and turns were unexpected for me and the action was entertaining.

This was a lot of fun!

Content Warnings

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.5

Ugh, Marcus and Theo were soo darned annoying! If I'd realized that they didn't get better I would have DNF'd but once I reached 50% I figured I might as well finish it. The ending was okay, I did figure out who the queen was by around 65%. I did enjoy the humor and it wasn't too gorey until near the end. If the MC wasn't so whiny and slow on the pick up I would have enjoyed it more.

Content Warnings

hobbithopeful's review

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mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

A book about vampires should NOT waste the majority of its pages building up to action that doesn't happen till the end. I have two main issues(apart from the overall pacing and plot) with this disappointing read: stupidity of the characters, and racial issues

Let's start with the race stuff first. (It ties in to the other stuff I promise)
I feel like the author completely missed all the racial points that would have made the story so much more, or maybe it just didn't occur to her.
One of the antagonists of the story is Minnow, a black teenager who runs the social aspect of town. I thought it was pretty weird how her whole character was handled.

She was trying to a make power grab to take over the town instead of having the old white vampire queen be in charge, she is promptly taken down. It rubbed me the wrong way how Minnow was put in charge of doing all the dirty work, and coordinating with the police all the time instead of Olivia/Sylvia.

I feel like if the author had touched on how many poc missing person cases there are compared to white ones, and the lack of attention given to those cases it could have better explained how Minnow came to be a vampire in the first place, and why no one seemingly cared. Obviously there is a lot more, but I just looked at the word count on this, I will let y'all do your own critical thinking for the rest.
I guess the main character is "supposed" to be Mexican or at least mixed, but the way it was handled you would never even guess that. (Which should tell you everything you need to know) Just giving vague allusions to the race of a main character doesn't actually make them that race. (It's like you can always tell when a author is writing a race that they aren't, or that they don't research and have readers for) So Theo's grandparents are in Mexico, and its mentioned that her mom runs a Mexican restaurant. But also makes the best nachos? Ah yes we Mexicans are renowned for our delicious nachos. No. Just..no. You know what Mexicans are renowned for? Superstition. There is no way in hell that any POCs would find themselves in the position that Theo and Marco did. That is straight up some white people ish right there let me tell you what. (Ignoring all the obvious signs, going into danger, yada yada yada.) Also, it is cemented in our bones that if your elder offers you some good luck charm or the like, you accept it right away. A lot of culture aspects that weren't included tells you everything you need to know about the lack of author research and beta readers.
This book easily could have been a one chapter or one page if the characters had just talked to each other. If the Dad or even Nonna had told them the truth about what was going on none of this would have even happened in the first place. The Dad knew the entire time what he was letting two clearly willful teens go into, and yet he didn't care. He even pushed for them to be allowed to stay out after dark. (Sir please- do you want your kids to be vampires?)
ALSO it's weird how the main bad guy is white and wants to stop the only bipoc character from getting freedom and taking power. LET THAT SINK IN.
Honestly I spent so much time reading this waiting for exciting action bits to happen. The clues are very obvious, you get so many bread crumbs, I kept waiting for the reveal and cool stuff to happen. I was very let down, it just felt like the hill was climbing higher, and higher, and then instead of a drop to action it was just...flat.
It was also a very disappointing end, there was zero payoff and I never felt like the characters were in any danger. It would have been better if

Marco or Nonna had died. In fact it doesn't make any sense that Marco didn't die. He was drowned and then a reanimated corpse, and then killing the vampire queen just made him alive again? If this was true the whole time I don't know why the vampire teens didn't just gang up on the queen in the first place? Honestly he should have just withered away when the curse was broken, because AGAIN he was drowned as a human.

One more little nitpick I didn't like.
Hey kids if your Mother ditches you for a new family and drops you like a hot potato for the summer, NO you don't have to forgive her. Just because she "loves you" and is your Mother doesn't negate her actions. I despise it when books include the infallible parent card.

Do I recommend this book? I think it was a mildly enjoyable read, though nothing happened for most of it. Give it a try but keep your expectations low, and be ready for a disappointing payoff.

Content Warnings

carolined314's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Oregon town has something going on with missing people, gorgeous girls, and Mexican protagonist unwillingly dragged there really couldn't care less - she just wants to get home to her real life and not worry about sweaters and rain and her brother and her mom's new family all the time.

Content Warnings

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Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

In Nightfall by Suzanne Young

nrogers_1030's review against another edition

knockoffrainbow's review

sonygaystation's review against another edition

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

hobbithopeful's review

carolined314's review