Scan barcode
quechaya'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
I remember reaching a part in this book where I thought "oh no, this is where the bad things start happening to them" and realizing in that moment how expertly the author made me care for these characters. I haven't connected so strongly with book characters in a very long time. Every time the POV changed, I was left wanting more, but the next POV would instantly pull me in. I will remember these characters for a very long time.
I have two critiques. The first is that
The second is:
Moderate: Animal death, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Violence, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, War, and Death
saucy_bookdragon'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? It's complicated
4.5
A Day of Fallen Night is more complex than Priory of the Orange Tree. Following more characters and taking place over more lands, it’s mostly them reacting to wyrms fucking shit up and being like “how the FUCK do we get rid of these wyrms?”
I wish it was a little more interconnected, though pretty much all of the main characters do interact at some point, this felt more like three interconnected stories than one. The protagonists of these stories being Tunuva, Glorian, and Dumai. Wulf is the secret fourth protagonist that crosses over the most between these main plots.
Tunuva’s plot could have been better paced, but I loved her as a character and her relationship to Esbar. The fact she’s a queer middle aged mother and the protagonist of a fantasy novel was so refreshing and I loved how her arc dealt with motherhood. Love to add this to my list of other fantasy novels with mothers who are also protagonists along with The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi and The Fifth Season. I also loved how through her we get a deeper look at the culture of the Priory.
Glorian’s plotline was my favorite. She’s the teenage princess of Inys and is dealing with the responsibility of procuring an heir. She’s dealing with the cruelty of the monarchy at the literal worst time (reminder there are WYRMS). Her arc opens a dialog on reproductive rights, mainly in how having children is so heavily expected and even forced on a lot of women, which is made even more interesting in how she’s implied to be asexual and how ace people are often pressured to have sex. She also has such a great and tender friendship with Wulf. Her arc is at once tragic and powerful.
Dumai’s storyline is perhaps the most important to the plotline. She’s dealing the most with “how the FUCK do we get rid of the wyrms?” Hers took me the longest to get into, though I liked her arc and absolutely ADORED her slowburn enemies-to-lovers relationship. Overall, all of the romantic subplots absolutely devoured, managing to both be tender and angsty without melodrama.
Wulf is a poor little meow meow and a sweet boy. He helped add some much needed connections to the characters and is in many ways the glue of the story. There’s some interesting mystery around his character and as previously mentioned he has SUCH a great connection to Glorian, being so ride and die for her.
This book is gayer than the first one. Tunuva and Dumai are both sapphic and have relationships with other women, Wulf is queer (probs bisexual), and Glorian is likely ace. There’s also other queer side characters and identities seamlessly integrated into the world building, including trans and nonbinary ones. Though there’s an emphasis on bloodlines, it mostly decouples this from heteronormativity (with the exception of the Berethnets who manage to be the only people who must marry men and is a point of conflict in both books, Galian Berethnet when you catch these hands). Also having so much emphasis on bloodlines is of course still a problem (and a major source of conflict) but hey at least they aren’t homophobic about it.
I liked how this deepened the world building of Priory, though I wish we had gotten some more new information. We get a lot of expansion on the history of this world, but I wish we had some more on the magic system and mythology.
The pacing also could have been better. Though the climax is significantly less rushed than Priory’s, the first half was kind of a slog to get through. Though it was all good content, it took too long to feel like the story had actually gotten into motion. But once it did it was a roaring ride.
Overall, A Day of Fallen Night mostly sticks the landing as a prequel. Though it has some pacing issues and could have expanded more on the world, it has strong characters and a tragic, wild plot.
Graphic: War
Moderate: Pregnancy and Grief
just_one_more_paige'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
Graphic: War, Death, Violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Sexual content and Animal death
nesquik05'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
4.5
Graphic: Pregnancy, War, Death of parent, Grief, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual content
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
yikeslou'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: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Pregnancy, Blood, Animal death, Child death, and Death of parent
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
bootrat's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Religious bigotry and Grief
itsbexx's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pandemic/Epidemic, and War
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