Reviews with content warning for Incest - Book of Night

I love Holly Black to death and I think that her biggest strengths are focusing her books around a great heroine. Anyone reading this book (or any of her books) for romance will not get what they are looking for.
I am excited to see where she takes this character in future novels. I was genuinely shocked by the twist at the end. Another one of Holly’s strong suits is giving her readers little truths so that they think they have it all figured out, but at the right moment… she pulls the rug out and you are left speechless.
The new world Holly created in this book was hard to get used to at first. After a while I got used to it. This book got a 3.5 from me because I felt as though it was missing so much. Her relationship with her sister felt underdeveloped along with several other things i cannot place.

Content Warnings

thoughtsontomes's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I wasn't a huge fan of TCP, so I didn't go into this with any expectations but was hoping to like this more than her other work. I find that Holly Black's writing style doesn't really work for me. She has some cool worlds and magic systems, but under-develops them. Her writing style is lacking and leaves me wanting more. Side characters don't feel very fleshed out. And Charlie as a main character felt a little heavy handed with the morally grey thief thing which has become a little overdone these days. I did really enjoy Vince as a character though and would have almost preferred more from his POV. Some of the mystery elements were also compelling, even if I figured a few of them out beforehand. I'm also a bit annoyed that the ending makes this obvious that it's at least going to be a duology but was not marketed as such - which is kind of annoying when it's a cliffhanger ending.

Content Warnings

shadesofkate26's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious slow-paced

4.25

Content Warnings

karapillar's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

looseleafellie's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

Holly Black’s adult fantasy debut follows Charlie Hall, an ex con artist trying to stay out of trouble. But when she witnesses a murder committed by a shadow, she’s thrown back into a world of magic and mayhem. If she can’t find the mysterious Book of Night in time, everyone she loves will be in danger …

This book started off a bit slow for me. Charlie’s backstory was fun to read, but the scenes in the present dragged at first. However, the second half of the book picked up, and the ending was a full-on rollercoaster!

The magic system was cool, even though I didn’t quite understand it. The idea of people being able to do magic using their shadows was really interesting. The story is also set in the area where I go to college, so it was cool seeing familiar places!

Overall, while this story didn’t grip me as much as I hoped, the twists at the end were awesome enough that I’m excited for the sequel! I’m hoping that with the setup done, a second book will be more fast-paced.

Thanks to Tor Books for the advance review copy!

CWs: blood/gore, body horror, self-harm for magic purposes, depression, panic attacks, captivity, child abuse, gun violence, drug use, loss of autonomy, and mentions of incest and cancer.

Content Warnings

sauvageloup's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

SO GOOD! Wish i hadn't tried to rush quite so much because of the event and savored it a bit more but still loved it

pros:
- the magic!!! i haven't read a book (that i remember) with shadow magic in it and i loved the whole thing. the alterationists, quickened shadows, the way the magic became known to the general public through the internet, etc. all of it :D
- Charlie. She's such a mess but she never really means badly by it and I loved how there's the reveal at the end how's she's been holding herself back because she's been afraid of what happens when she really tries. Her nickname of the Charlatan, her past with Rand, her really grey morality but still being loyal and good at heart, as well as her proud sexuality and her relationship with Vince - she doesn't realise how much she likes him and they've kept so many secrets, and yet they're both totally dedicated to the other and i loved that :)
- all the other characters!! Vince was amazing

and I didn't guess at all that he was Edmund's shadow, which i should've really, but i'm so glad Charlie wasn't that fussed about it

and i loved Posey, with her determination to be a gloamist. she was a mess too and making some questionable decisions, but she comes through for Charlie and i liked that she got some healing at the end too.

- the ending was bittersweet but in kind of a perfect way. I liked the possibility of Vince/Red getting his memory back and that Charlie wasn't gonna quit on him.

- Salt was such a good villain too, and Charlie's horror story past of meeting him first was so well done and creepy, because she was so young and relatively defenseless then, but still managed to keep her wits. she's such a survivor :)
- i definitely felt the similarity between BoN and Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. There's no dark academia, but the main characters are both 'not on their first mistake, but maybe their last' (as Black put it), a bit older, survivors and smart but jaded and making bad mistakes. there were strong resonances in the magic too, even though it's entirely different, there's the same wild danger of it and not quite knowing how it actually works or how the magic arises/the shadow is quickened. And there was a similar complex, mystery-based plot where both had too many names and was a bit confusing. but i loved both books all the same, and that type of tired-but-fierce female MC who is holding onto life with her teeth is the best :))

cons:
- there's a lot of names. i definitely got lost. Malik and Mahir i muddled up, i forgot who Paul Ecco and Adam and a bunch of the others, as well as small clues like the magnet Charlie found. i did rush through a bit, but it was still pretty complicated
- i did also find that Charlie's chaos kind of spilled into the plot? so i got lost a bit about how much time this was all taking, and the clues/plots/twists and turns felt very haphazard, according to just when the thought showed up in Charlie's mind. it definitely felt organic, but maybe a bit too much so

- also i'm not quite sure what was hinted at with Vince and Adelaine? did she have a relationship with Red? or Vince? or did she hurt Red when Vince wasn't there? idk

But overall, adored it and can't wait for book 2 :D

Content Warnings

More...