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thaliareads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- 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
3.0
I have to start by saying that I really like Holly Black, and I really liked the ending of this book.
However, I had an incredibly hard time with the first half of the book. I was confused about the magic system, and I couldn't keep track of the characters. I think part of the issue is that with working while I listened to the audiobook I didn't always catch the transitions between the current and past event chapters. To be honest it didn't hook me either in the beginning, so if I hadn't listened to the audiobook so fast I might have missed out on the second half that I really enjoyed because based on the beginning I would have DNF'd it.
However, I had an incredibly hard time with the first half of the book. I was confused about the magic system, and I couldn't keep track of the characters. I think part of the issue is that with working while I listened to the audiobook I didn't always catch the transitions between the current and past event chapters. To be honest it didn't hook me either in the beginning, so if I hadn't listened to the audiobook so fast I might have missed out on the second half that I really enjoyed because based on the beginning I would have DNF'd it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and Death
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Gun violence, and Child death
This was a dark urban fantasy, so guns, violence, death, and gore are all very present.shapesandcolours's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Murder, Alcoholism, and Violence
lexinator's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.25
First half is a bit slow but it picks up super fast in the end. The ending made me mad in a good way
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
caitsmythers's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It took me awhile to get into this book. I think around the halfway mark is when things really picked up for me and I got into it!
The first major twist I guessed very early in but the second twist by god did that get me!
Charlie’s thievery skills are honestly very envious, I’m half tempted now to go and learn to pick locks and nick a few odd bits from people just to see what it takes… but also I’m too much of shitebag for that
This book is supernatural, magical, and a good ol’ mystery/thriller with some of the classic ‘who dunnit’ism thrown in.
The first major twist I guessed very early in but the second twist by god did that get me!
Charlie’s thievery skills are honestly very envious, I’m half tempted now to go and learn to pick locks and nick a few odd bits from people just to see what it takes… but also I’m too much of shitebag for that
This book is supernatural, magical, and a good ol’ mystery/thriller with some of the classic ‘who dunnit’ism thrown in.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Gore, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
Moderate: Gun violence
ell_n's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- 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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, and Violence
sapphicbookdragon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content
Minor: Vomit, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, and Self harm
rinku's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Book of Night is actually the first book by Black that I’ve read – besides reading the Spiderwick Chronicles as a child but I don’t remember anything about them. I wasn’t blown away by this novel, but it was a nice read, mainly because of the dark atmosphere and the interesting world.
In this book, we follow Charlie as she navigates a world in which shadows can be manipulated and are used for many shady things. Charlie soon finds herself in the centre of those because she goes on a mission to find a mysterious book. Her past helps her greatly with this task since she was once a thief and a criminal herself. The thief stuff and the few action scenes were honestly my favorite thing about this novel since they’re just so cool. Much of Charlie’s backstory is interesting as well, but it was a bit boring that much of it was told, just like the backstories of other characters. Furthermore, I always find a bit funny when YA authors write adult books because what makes books “adult” in their opinion is mentioning abuse, drugs, and sex often. This was here a bit over-the-top, and I’m sure there are other ways to make a book more adult. Some things were also quite predictable since the plot is a bit average, but I generally liked it.
I don’t know what I think about the ending though. What I did like about it was how Charlie’s tricking Salt but many other things about it were not so understandable. With all the plot twists and revelations, like Vince being Remy’s shadow and not Remy or the hierophant being the murderer, apparently , I was more irritated than shocked by them. Especially the second thing came a bit out of the blue for me. I also don’t like the last chapter and have the feeling it was only added to have the possibility for writing a second book.
Like I’ve mentioned at the beginning, the dark atmosphere created throughout the novel was so great. I imagined many scenes taking place in the dark or at least when it’s dusk/dawn, even when this wasn’t the case. The general world was interesting as well since I always love to read about urban fantasy novels where magic just exists, and we see how it’s dealt with in the modern world. Nevertheless, the world building was sometimes a bit irritating, and I struggled with imagining some things, like how a shadow is able to attack a person.
I don’t have strong opinions on the characters, I think they were all okay. Charlie seemed a bit try-hard edgy to me at the beginning but after the half, I started to warm up with her. I honestly found her past life and how she was back then more interesting, and I would love to read a whole book about it. Vince was a fascinating character from the beginning, but I didn’t care for Remy’s POV at all and don’t think that it was necessary. What I find a bit sad though is that mostly only men are part of the conspiracy and hence play a bigger role.
I’m not sure why we need a sequel to Book of Night since the story is nicely wrapped up at the end, even though it’s a bit open. Still, I wouldn’t mind reading more about Charlie since I started to like her quite a lot but I’m not the biggest fan of the situation she was put in at the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Death, Gore, Murder, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, and Panic attacks/disorders
justkarlah's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This is one of those books that took me a long time to get to, but once I actually started reading it, I actually enjoyed. It's different from the usual Holly Black books we're all used to (especially if you only read her fae books). Still, the idea of magic existing through our shadows was interesting and felt pretty unique.
The pace picked up pretty quickly for me, only took a couple chapters of explanations and backstory to get the plot going. I did find that some of the flashbacks got a little boring later on in the book, but I get that they were included to give us more context on people's decisions. There are things that definitely could have been explained by weaving them into the story instead of going back and forth between the past and the present though.
Some of the twists were predictable, but it was still a surprise to read about them.The little hints throughout the beginning that hinted at Vince being "different"? Loved it.
I love the morally gray characters that Holly Black comes up with. Sometimes I want to read about a person who's not always doing the right thing, a person who does things for themselves and wouldn't be considered a hero most of their lives. Makes them feel more realistic.
With that being said, Charlie was not as interesting as a character as Vince was.I'm hoping Vince gets more of a main spotlight in the sequel. From what we got at the end of the book, his personality reversed to a different version of himself once he was tied to Charlie, so I hope we get to see his personality grow as he gets to know her again.
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would! It's definitely different, and there are things that I wish would have been expanded on more/had more written about them, but all in all, it was a good read. I'm looking forward to the sequel!
The pace picked up pretty quickly for me, only took a couple chapters of explanations and backstory to get the plot going. I did find that some of the flashbacks got a little boring later on in the book, but I get that they were included to give us more context on people's decisions. There are things that definitely could have been explained by weaving them into the story instead of going back and forth between the past and the present though.
Some of the twists were predictable, but it was still a surprise to read about them.
I love the morally gray characters that Holly Black comes up with. Sometimes I want to read about a person who's not always doing the right thing, a person who does things for themselves and wouldn't be considered a hero most of their lives. Makes them feel more realistic.
With that being said, Charlie was not as interesting as a character as Vince was.
I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would! It's definitely different, and there are things that I wish would have been expanded on more/had more written about them, but all in all, it was a good read. I'm looking forward to the sequel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, and Gore
Minor: Addiction and Stalking
iloponis's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- 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
3.5
holly black, how can you name drop so many western mass landmarks and not refer to the umass library as web du bois library
i kind of didnt really understand a lot of this plot and i did predict parts of the ending but i ended up rly enjoying this. loooved vince.
i kind of didnt really understand a lot of this plot and i did predict parts of the ending but i ended up rly enjoying this. loooved vince.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, and Murder
bezarue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I actually liked this a lot more than I thought I was going to. The world was well set up, and the mystery kept me gripped to see how it was all going to play out. I worked out that Vince was Red long before it was revealed but I don't think that rly ruined it for me. I didn't love any of the characters but they didn't irritate me either so. Yup, solid
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Kidnapping, Murder, and Violence