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sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Pandemic/Epidemic, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gore, Death of parent, Animal death, Violence, Pregnancy, War, and Death
Moderate: Child death and Religious bigotry
Minor: Colonisation, Classism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Miscarriage, and Sexual content
shottel's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
This mandate to procreate establishes this book as far more clearly feminist (the idea that women have issues, interests, and stories worth hearing as much as men do) than its sequel. The need for nobility to sustain itself through childbirth is a recurring, central issue of the book, among other issues which concern women more than they do men, which also make frequent appearances.
In some ways, this book feels like it was written to an audience that might be into medieval court drama or epic adventures, but aren't too fond of the biases that pervade those genres. It is a grand epic, fantastically wrote, including women, LGBT+ characters, and people of color as equals to men, cishet, and white characters.
There are only a few places where it falters. The biggest problem I had is that the action scenes are confusing. I found myself frequently struggling to imagine the scene, re-reading portions over and over again. At first I thought it was a me issue, but after a half-dozen or so times, I figured it's probably not a me problem.
Additionally, I flagged two more minor concerns. First, with the presence of so many LGBT+ characters, the lack of transfeminine characters stands out oddly. Perhaps one or both of the nonbinary characters in the book are intended to be transfeminine, but there is no way to know this from the text. I don't make any guesses as to why; it just sits weirdly. Secondly, while *Priory* is a truly self-contained work, *Fallen Night* hints at an intention to write another book set between the two. This is the only change which I find to be a step backwards from *Priory*.
When layered inside an over 800 page grand adventure, these issues are minor, thus my score of 4.75/5. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in grand adventures, feminist fiction, fantasy, or fiction with LGBT+ main characters.
Graphic: Alcohol, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Sexism, Blood, Death, Violence, Grief, War, Terminal illness, Misogyny, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Kidnapping, Child death, Infertility, Body horror, Gore, Emotional abuse, Torture, Miscarriage, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Cannibalism, Abortion, and Animal cruelty
tinybluepixel's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Child death, Pregnancy, Body horror, Grief, Gore, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Infertility and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Suicide
taroroot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: War, Violence, Death, Animal death, Body horror, and Blood
Moderate: Vomit, Murder, and Misogyny
the_reading_wren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, War, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, Death, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Child death and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Gore, Abortion, Excrement, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Suicide, Confinement, Mental illness, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Classism
hailstorm3812's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Xenophobia and War
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Grief, Death of parent, Colonisation, Animal death, and Religious bigotry
zoiejanelle's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
A Day Of Fallen Night built upon the lush and brilliant world of Priory and expanded upon the mythos and magic i fell in love with in Priory. the story was much faster in this book, with multiple viscerally real and flawed storytellers that made me fall in love time and time again. the plot was so deep, so intricately woven, and there was not a single point (past page 100) where i felt comfortable putting the book down for too long.
although the audience somewhat knew the story that the book would tell, the devil is truly in the details. the characters and their arcs truly made this book worth reading and enriched the lore of the world tenfold. getting to know the players in the folklore intimately was just magical… i will never read Priory the same way.
also… the romance in this book was NEXT LEVEL. i did not think Samantha Shannon could top Ead and Sabran, but i was very, very wrong. the two main romances in this story were sapphic, which i loved, and all mentioned partnerships were extremely three-dimensional and believable. i won’t put spoilers here, but the enemies to lovers was SERVING in this book and i wept MULTIPLE TIMES over one particular couple. and over other things as well.
this book simultaneously re-opened and healed some aching wounds inside me—wounds surrounding womanhood, motherhood, family, religion, love, duty, and identity. i was a complete sniveling mess for the last ~150 pages of the book, but i wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Samantha Shannon has done it again. A Day Of Fallen Night is truly a masterpiece.
Graphic: Misogyny, Grief, Body horror, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, Pandemic/Epidemic, Death, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual content, War, Infidelity, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Body horror, Alcohol, Xenophobia, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Child death
Minor: Infertility, Adult/minor relationship, and Abortion
maddiemooney's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Minor: Child abuse, Vomit, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Blood, Murder, Pandemic/Epidemic, Animal death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Violence, Abortion, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Miscarriage, Child death, Sexism, and War
fictionalportal's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Pregnancy, and Death of parent
Moderate: War, Xenophobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Violence, Suicide, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Grief, Animal death, and Child abuse
Minor: Adult/minor relationship
the_bees_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, War, Violence, Religious bigotry, Grief, Misogyny, and Genocide
Moderate: Animal death, Xenophobia, Pregnancy, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Cancer, Vomit, Sexism, and Terminal illness