Reviews

King Nyx by Kirsten Bakis

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blacksphinx's review

emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Discovering this entire novel was a wild fantasy about real life people was kind of a punch to the gut. I don't think I would have read the book actually if I knew that; I hate fanfiction about actual human beings. (There is also no speculative element if you're looking for something supernatural in your gothic.)

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paperpages's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

5.0

shinie's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

sandreline's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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? No

3.0

"Remember you are safe. Your response is out of proportion to the facts. There is no danger except in your mind."

After the introduction, we meet Anna as a middle-aged woman. You quickly parse she is someone who has spent her life supporting the dreams of her husband, and man who, while perhaps good-intentioned, has a bumbling paternalism for his wife.

In Anna's point of view you hear all the excuses she makes for him. She is filled with a lifetime of guilt, shame, and inferiority, and that colors all her interactions with him.

This is where King Nyx excels. Exposing and subtly picking apart the relationships between it's characters. And that is the primary focus for the first half of the book.

After that is when it starts to fall apart. We fall into a mystery set up quite well in the beginning, but tied together a bit too cleanly at the end. Those meaty character interactions fall to the wayside for some gothic-mystery shenanigans.

The most disappointing aspect for me was that we didn't really get to see all that much growth from Anna. She is, ultimately, the same character we meet at the beginning.

Very strong start, but I wish this story had leaned more into its strengths instead of getting lost in its own mysteries.

ARC provided by NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company.

Content Warnings