A review by dragonwriter
To Shatter the Night by Katherine Quinn

adventurous dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Mood: 🌘🥰🔪👹🌞

Jude had to leave Kiara in the woods, knowing that she would use the Godslayer on herself to unite the pieces of Reina’s powers within him. Rather than let her sacrifice herself for his sake, Jude goes to his mother for help, hoping Reina’s own daughter knows how to release the remaining pieces without killing Kiara. Unfortunately, his mother refuses to see him, and Jude gets captured by the Red Guard. Kiara is furious that Jude abandoned her, though she understands his reasoning. She and Jake follow his tracks into the city, just in time to see Jude get taken away. Kiara, too, turns to his mother, Emelia, and the woman finally agrees to help, plotting a course to the Moon God’s temple to search for an artifact that would restore the Sun Goddess’s powers and bring back the sun. But first, they need to rescue Jude.

I really liked the equal dynamic that Jude and Kiara have in their relationship. Even though Jude is technically Kiara’s commander, them both being deserters makes that a non-issue. Jude loves how violent and vicious Kiara is, and when she starts to lose control with her darkness, he’s right there to help calm her down and refocus her. Meanwhile, Kiara gets to do the “Who hurt you?” rage bit, and I absolutely loved watching a powerful woman go beserk because someone hurt her man. Liam’s arrival and inclusion in the group was very welcomed; his and Jack’s relationship is played down, but it’s still very cute, since they’re both protect of and love (platonically) Kiara. The loose ends that were left in book 1 were tidily resolved, though I would have preferred a more clear ending to Harlow’s character. The imagery in the Moon God’s temple was absolutely beautiful; one of my favorite scenes was of Jude and Kiara together on the sky-sea beach. The ending was very fun, and I was quite happy with the conclusion of the story.