Reviews

Book of Night by Holly Black

yennib's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

eswinbanks's review against another edition

3.0

I love adult fantasy and I was very excited to read Book of Night by Holly Black. This is her first adult novel and while it didn't quite hit the mark for me, I did enjoy it. The concept of the story is unique, a world in which shadows can be altered, stolen or even take actual form if you feed them blood. Shadow magic is used to gain power and influence, but it also comes with a high price. Charlie, the protagonist of this story, is a con artist, trying to escape her past and stay on the right side of the law while also protecting her sister. But when the past catches up with her, she has no choice but to play the game she knows best. I would have wanted the secondary characters to be more fleshed out, they didn't feel memorable, but I did like how Charlie was portrayed (the likeable anti-hero with a traumatic past), she matched the mood of the book perfectly. The dark atmosphere was very appealing, though the pace was very slow in the beginning and dizzying when the flashback chapters were introduced. Halfway through, the pace picked up and i was interested to see how things would turn out

addieisreading's review against another edition

2.0

What makes you feel safe when you go to sleep at night? Being able to check and see that your secrets are still hidden.

The saddest 2 stars I've ever given.

I mean, this book deserved better, you know? The world building is incredibly rich and the main characters have such a good dynamic together but the reasons that kept me intrigued and thirsty for more reading just disappeared in the transition between the beginning and the middle, resulting in a puzzling beginning, a good ending and a sea of boredom and pointless investigation story in between them both—which I hate to say because I really adored this world and these characters but maybe if written all over again. In a better moment. With a different plot. Maybe different author? Same author but with a different focus on the plot? Because the writing was ok, I can't understand why it didn't work for me. Who knows?

cosborn01's review against another edition

I found the pacing quite slow and the characters hard to root for. The world was unique but confused me. I really like Holly Black, so I may come back and try re-reading it.

tealizard's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

caitie145's review against another edition

3.0

*3.5

clairenewbie1's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

thevillainesswildcard's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

cissa12's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

lyakimov's review against another edition

3.0

this is a lot to unpack…

i was excited to read this book because I love Holly Black but, damn, this book was hard to get through. It was entertaining but still I was mostly confused.

My issues with the book:
- The pacing: THIS WAS SOOOO SLOW!!! I felt like there was big stretches of the story where nothing really relevant happened.
- The characters: Charlie was okay as a main character but I feel like the “I make bad decisions and have terrible taste in men” was dug in a little too deep. Like WE GET IT!!! You don’t have to say it a million times over and over. Honestly I don’t really understand what the point of Posey was because she was just THERE, and Vince was an interesting character but I feel like we needed more stuff in Vince’s point of view so we can see his thoughts and more of his characterization.
- The magic system: Sorry but what is even going on. I’m still so confused about the magic system and what even is a Hierophant, etc. All the magical terminology went right over my head.
- What the fuck: okay, so Adeline is Lionel Salt’s daughter, while Remy is his grandson, which means that Adeline is Remy’s aunt. They are similar ages though. And then we find out that they were…..together? Sorry but WHAT????? Did I just read this wrong? Are they actually related or is Holly pulling a Cassandra Clare and throwing some casual incest into this story???? And it was totally brushed aside!! There was no talk about it so i spent the whole book feeling gaslighted and trying to figure out if they were related or not. The hell????
- The romance: I didn’t really gravitate toward the romance, but I did root for them to stay together. The romance was clearly more of a plot device than anything.


Things I liked:
- The plot was entertaining and interesting near the end. I liked the fact that Vincent was actually Red.
- I liked the writing, it was in great Holly Black fashion but I just wish it was shorter!
- The characters have their faults but I was rooting for Charlie and Vince the entire time!
- I liked the cliffhanger and I am excited to read the second book!

I felt like I was dredging through this book, but overall it was interesting & Holly always is able to deliver with a good plot!