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A review by caidyn
Night Shine by Tessa Gratton
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
4.5
I received an ARC from an ARC fairy and this is my honest review!
CW: some casual transphobia/lack of understanding about trans identities (challenged and the new way is learned), kidnapping, action scenes, mentions of kidnapped and killed children, and internalized self-doubt
Ever since I read Gratton's Strange Grace, I've been a fan of her work and have been eagerly awaiting her next YA book. And I'm so glad that it's this one. I will say, it took me a while to sink into. I actually had to restart it once because it wasn't what I expected in some ways. It's like a fairytale and I really loved the language of it. Rather than it being written in our vernacular with our sort of things, it honestly felt like I was reading a classic fairytale. That took me a second to get used to (hence the restart) and I'm glad that I did that rather than pushing on.
The general plot of the book follows Nothing, an orphaned girl who doesn't know much of her past. She's bound to the heir to the throne, Kirin, and kills him. But it isn't him. It's an imposter. Nothing sets off with Kirin's bodyguard (and perhaps something more than that), Sky, to capture him from the sorceress that took him. Except the sorceress is well-known by her name, the Sorceress Who Eats Girls. This sorceress only captures girls and eats their hearts, so why would she take Kirin?
One of the things I loved in this book is the importance of names. For one, I loved it because the naming system really brought me back to the names monarchs were given. Examples of that are Aethelred the Unready or William the Conquerer or Edward the Confessor. I know these are Ango-centric, but it was all across different courts. And what I really loved about this book was how the names changed, how important they were to the characters, yet how they were malleable as they learned about themselves and grew as characters. It was beautifully done.
Now, it's well-known that this book has a genderfluid character and I've already hinted at it. Kirin is that character. The book referred to Kirin basically with only male pronouns -- although, it's mentioned that in the past Kirin lived as a woman/wife with someone for a short span of time and was seen as that -- so I'm going to also use male pronouns for him. But, I loved it. There's been a lot of talk recently about ownvoices, but I also believe that cis authors should write trans side characters. And this was a GREAT example of that. I absolutely adored Kirin and he's definitely one of my favorite characters I've read this year. He was so sweet in it.
Another thing I loved in this were the relationships, both platonic and romantic. Like, how soft the friendships were and were very close (nearly queer platonic, if you ask me). Sky and Nothing were great, as were Kirin and Nothing. Then the romances. I really loved Sky and Kirin together, as well as the dark sapphic relationship that crops up between Nothing and another character. There was such a great build to it all and it was all so wonderfully queer.
Overall, check this book out. It's the queer, dark fairytale I definitely needed. There's also a preorder campaign going on with stickers for the book! I'm definitely going to have to get my copy because I need this on my shelf next to Strange Grace.
CW: some casual transphobia/lack of understanding about trans identities (challenged and the new way is learned), kidnapping, action scenes, mentions of kidnapped and killed children, and internalized self-doubt
Ever since I read Gratton's Strange Grace, I've been a fan of her work and have been eagerly awaiting her next YA book. And I'm so glad that it's this one. I will say, it took me a while to sink into. I actually had to restart it once because it wasn't what I expected in some ways. It's like a fairytale and I really loved the language of it. Rather than it being written in our vernacular with our sort of things, it honestly felt like I was reading a classic fairytale. That took me a second to get used to (hence the restart) and I'm glad that I did that rather than pushing on.
The general plot of the book follows Nothing, an orphaned girl who doesn't know much of her past. She's bound to the heir to the throne, Kirin, and kills him. But it isn't him. It's an imposter. Nothing sets off with Kirin's bodyguard (and perhaps something more than that), Sky, to capture him from the sorceress that took him. Except the sorceress is well-known by her name, the Sorceress Who Eats Girls. This sorceress only captures girls and eats their hearts, so why would she take Kirin?
One of the things I loved in this book is the importance of names. For one, I loved it because the naming system really brought me back to the names monarchs were given. Examples of that are Aethelred the Unready or William the Conquerer or Edward the Confessor. I know these are Ango-centric, but it was all across different courts. And what I really loved about this book was how the names changed, how important they were to the characters, yet how they were malleable as they learned about themselves and grew as characters. It was beautifully done.
Now, it's well-known that this book has a genderfluid character and I've already hinted at it. Kirin is that character. The book referred to Kirin basically with only male pronouns -- although, it's mentioned that in the past Kirin lived as a woman/wife with someone for a short span of time and was seen as that -- so I'm going to also use male pronouns for him. But, I loved it. There's been a lot of talk recently about ownvoices, but I also believe that cis authors should write trans side characters. And this was a GREAT example of that. I absolutely adored Kirin and he's definitely one of my favorite characters I've read this year. He was so sweet in it.
Another thing I loved in this were the relationships, both platonic and romantic. Like, how soft the friendships were and were very close (nearly queer platonic, if you ask me). Sky and Nothing were great, as were Kirin and Nothing. Then the romances. I really loved Sky and Kirin together, as well as the dark sapphic relationship that crops up between Nothing and another character. There was such a great build to it all and it was all so wonderfully queer.
Overall, check this book out. It's the queer, dark fairytale I definitely needed. There's also a preorder campaign going on with stickers for the book! I'm definitely going to have to get my copy because I need this on my shelf next to Strange Grace.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Transphobia, Death, Blood, and Murder