Scan barcode
mimmixoxo's review
4.25
Graphic: Confinement, Body horror, War, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Death, Violence, Murder, Blood, and Medical content
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Drug use
Minor: Kidnapping, Mental illness, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Deportation, Gore, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
When she arrives, the lord is eccentric and the patient she was summoned to save is Hal, a war criminal and former child soldier. He's an assassin who can kill with his magic gaze, and the lord seems to have no idea, demanding that Wren do all she can for his "servant". Gradually, it becomes clear that Hal's illness is more complicated (as are her growing feelings for him), and Wren will have to choose between turning him in and stopping the war.
I saw a review which characterized Wren's dilemma as a choice between supporting a current war criminal or a former war criminal. That is definitely literally a choice that gets made at several points in the text, and somewhat dampened some of my enjoyment of the story. However, I did appreciate it as a narrative about two people who didn’t have much choice about whether to join their respective nations' militaries, but now are trying to find other paths for themselves and stop those who want a war to continue. When the options are to root for the character who was a child soldier but now is trying to stop the violence, or to support the character actively kidnapping and torturing people for his own personal and political gains... that's not nearly as tricky of a problem for me as this other reviewer found it.
One of my favorite worldbuilding details is the way that the small cluster of three countries (two of which are shown) have very different levels of technology, largely driven by whether or not their citizens have access to magic. Next is the way that this feels like a Beauty and the Beast retelling. It's probably not meant to be one, however, so many of the larger story beats fit neatly into the mold of that narrative, that, at the very least, someone who loves Beauty and the Beast (depending on the reasons) would likely be very interested in this book. It has a snow-covered castle lorded over by a strange man with strict rules about where the heroine may or may not go, an arbitrary timeline to solve a strange problem, a ball, and lots of wound care. The cadence of the plot follows that other one in some interesting ways, but getting into those details would be too many spoilers.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Violence, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death
Moderate: War, Alcohol, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Confinement, and Terminal illness
Minor: Child abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Torture, and Child death
theonlybaillie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: War, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Physical abuse, Torture, Body horror, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
Minor: Abandonment, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
robin_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
A bit forced at times.
This is upper YA or even NA.
Graphic: Confinement, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, Blood, Gaslighting, War, and Sexual content
kalmia31's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, Death, and Gore
Moderate: Grief, Hate crime, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Classism, Physical abuse, Confinement, Gaslighting, and Alcoholism
Minor: War, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Xenophobia
sallenreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and War
Minor: Alcohol
mezzano's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
At times, this plot feels slow and like many fantasy novels, it can be hard to keep track of the intricacies of the world itself. Restricting the story mostly to one central location was a great choice for this story, as it allows the reader to focus on a handful of characters rather than the sociopolitical state of the two warring nations. For fantasy readers who love exposition and battle details, this book won't be for you. For readers who like fantasy elements and want to try their hands at reading more stories with magic systems, this is a great introduction.
The representation in the book is very casual, with the main character being bisexual and another character in the story is a lesbian. These points are only brought up briefly and is not a plot point to the story. This is certainly refreshing in its own way, as many LGBT narratives tend to be about the character's identity. I can appreciate a story which has representation which remains a minor detail to the character.
Overall, this is a great March read and is highly recommended. With spell-bounding writing and passionate characters, Down Comes the Night is a swift read sure to make a rainy evening magical.
Graphic: Medical content, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Murder, Blood, Drug use, and Chronic illness