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A review by inkandmyths
Night Shine by Tessa Gratton
4.0
4.50/5.00
Night Shine is a beautifully written and imagined book, both familiar and utterly unique, and it had me so easily enchanted from the start: the Howl's Moving Castle inspired and overall Ghibli-esque world full of sorcerers and spirits, demons and witches; how the world was so incredibly vivid and atmospheric, full of gorgeous palaces and mountains as houses, rain forests and mirror lakes.
Nothing, the protagonist, won my heart over easily, too. She’s stubborn and persistent, she’s kind, she doesn’t always know herself, she’s curious and brave and loyal. The other characters, especially Sky, Kirin and the Sorceress Who Eats Girls, were also brilliantly written, all with their own hopes and fears, their selfish desires and lionhearted love. The dynamic between them made this story so special, the love Nothing, Kirin and Sky have for each other.
Tessa Gratton’s beautifully lyrical prose cannot be forgotten, either: it flowed so easily, made whole worlds appear in front of my eyes, made me want to step into this story and never come back out. The names she chose for her characters alone (The Day the Sky Opened, The Sorceress Who Eats Girls, A Dance of Stars, just to name a few) made this world feel like such a beautiful, wondrous thing, and I truly think that I could read a hundred more books set in this world and never get bored of it.
And, of course, the way queer characters lived and loved in this story, filling every single page; I so desperately wish that every story could be like this, could so easily make me believe that there’s nothing more normal than loving who you love, despite their gender, and that gender can (but not must) be a flowing, changing and always beautiful thing.
Overall, I adored Tessa Gratton's Strange Grace, back when I read it upon its release in 2018, so I'm not surprised that her newest book, Night Shine, has become a new favourite book of mine, too. It was just so, so perfectly made for me, with the The Howl’s Moving Castle inspired world and a twist that only Tessa Gratton could manage. I was mesmerised by all of it, the lyrical prose and atmospheric writing, the world filled with wonder and magic, both beautiful and violent, the characters with their own hopes and desires; it would’ve been impossible not to love this book.
Night Shine is a beautifully written and imagined book, both familiar and utterly unique, and it had me so easily enchanted from the start: the Howl's Moving Castle inspired and overall Ghibli-esque world full of sorcerers and spirits, demons and witches; how the world was so incredibly vivid and atmospheric, full of gorgeous palaces and mountains as houses, rain forests and mirror lakes.
Nothing, the protagonist, won my heart over easily, too. She’s stubborn and persistent, she’s kind, she doesn’t always know herself, she’s curious and brave and loyal. The other characters, especially Sky, Kirin and the Sorceress Who Eats Girls, were also brilliantly written, all with their own hopes and fears, their selfish desires and lionhearted love. The dynamic between them made this story so special, the love Nothing, Kirin and Sky have for each other.
Tessa Gratton’s beautifully lyrical prose cannot be forgotten, either: it flowed so easily, made whole worlds appear in front of my eyes, made me want to step into this story and never come back out. The names she chose for her characters alone (The Day the Sky Opened, The Sorceress Who Eats Girls, A Dance of Stars, just to name a few) made this world feel like such a beautiful, wondrous thing, and I truly think that I could read a hundred more books set in this world and never get bored of it.
And, of course, the way queer characters lived and loved in this story, filling every single page; I so desperately wish that every story could be like this, could so easily make me believe that there’s nothing more normal than loving who you love, despite their gender, and that gender can (but not must) be a flowing, changing and always beautiful thing.
Overall, I adored Tessa Gratton's Strange Grace, back when I read it upon its release in 2018, so I'm not surprised that her newest book, Night Shine, has become a new favourite book of mine, too. It was just so, so perfectly made for me, with the The Howl’s Moving Castle inspired world and a twist that only Tessa Gratton could manage. I was mesmerised by all of it, the lyrical prose and atmospheric writing, the world filled with wonder and magic, both beautiful and violent, the characters with their own hopes and desires; it would’ve been impossible not to love this book.