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A review by emmirosereads
We Rule the Night by Claire Eliza Bartlett
3.0
We Rule the Night is a solid, unique and just overall bad-ass World War II inspired fantasy. I loved the girl power throughout this entire novel. It was at times heartbreaking with what they have to go through, but equally awing and inspiring. The hardships of girls forcing their way into a man's world our very evident. Because of these girl power themes throughout I think a lot of people potentially might write off this book for the pretty present "not like other girls" trope Linné has and the girl hate present but I think there's a huge reason that Claire Eliza Bartlett writes her as such and I think she goes through a lot of character development throughout this novel. I really appreciated seeing that and thought her character ARC was just interesting overall. I just love imperfect characters and seeing their development. I also really liked Revna as a character. She was reserved but fiery and passionate when she wants and needs to be. Her story and ARC were really interesting and I just loved reading from her perspectives. We also get some disability rep with Revna being an amputee. We really see her struggle with that, especially in dealing with people's presumptions of her and their pity. I didn't see anything glaringly wrong with the rep and from my stand point it seemed really good but of course take that with a grain of salt since I don't have the experience to say for sure.
Along with good characters that had interesting backgrounds and ARCS the world building also hooked me. The presence of Weave magic and that it's used to fly what is essentially airplanes. Along with seeing the different parts of the world, etc. It was all really fascinating and very unique. I don't think I've ever read a fantasy quite like this before. I'm also a huge lover of historical fiction and just history in general so I really loved the WWII inspiration and atmosphere of the world.
While this book was enjoyable to read and in no way a terrible book I did have some issues with it. I think my biggest gripe was the general feeling of it being underdeveloped. It's a really great premise, world, and there's some great characters but it all felt pretty surface level. We kind of get an info dump towards the beginning of the book that kind of explains what's going on but at the same time not really. We don't really know why these two countries are at war, even really how long they've been at war or much about who their fighting besides they've got serious power and are pretty much winning. We don't really get the magic explained too in depth either. It's just kind of there and we get some explanation on how it's used. It was even hard for me to really wrap my head around the Strekoza, skyhorses, and other "vehicles" presented in this world, and how living metal really works, etc. And even though I loved the characters I feel like there definitely could have been more development and more things to really set them all apart. Especially the relationships could use more development. I do think the main relationship between our two main characters is done well but just between them and other characters. In general I wanted to know more and see more. I think that's why I didn't fully feel connected or invested in this as much as other books. I also feel like the writing style itself could have factored into that. It seemed pretty cut and dry and while not necessarily bad not the writing I really love. My next issue was the pacing. It's definitely pretty slow paced throughout and we don't get many scenery changes so to speak. The real action doesn't even happen till the last 100 pages or so. I did really love the last little chunk though! It made me happy while breaking my heart at the same time. I do feel things are left unresolved in the end and I'm not sure if there's a sequel planned or not.
Overall We Rule the Night is an enjoyable book! While it wasn't my absolute favorite thing ever and I had some issues with it, there's a lot I did enjoy. I would more then recommend it to you if you're interested in the synopsis. It's a solid debut for sure and I can't wait to see what else Claire Eliza Bartlett writes.
Along with good characters that had interesting backgrounds and ARCS the world building also hooked me. The presence of Weave magic and that it's used to fly what is essentially airplanes. Along with seeing the different parts of the world, etc. It was all really fascinating and very unique. I don't think I've ever read a fantasy quite like this before. I'm also a huge lover of historical fiction and just history in general so I really loved the WWII inspiration and atmosphere of the world.
While this book was enjoyable to read and in no way a terrible book I did have some issues with it. I think my biggest gripe was the general feeling of it being underdeveloped. It's a really great premise, world, and there's some great characters but it all felt pretty surface level. We kind of get an info dump towards the beginning of the book that kind of explains what's going on but at the same time not really. We don't really know why these two countries are at war, even really how long they've been at war or much about who their fighting besides they've got serious power and are pretty much winning. We don't really get the magic explained too in depth either. It's just kind of there and we get some explanation on how it's used. It was even hard for me to really wrap my head around the Strekoza, skyhorses, and other "vehicles" presented in this world, and how living metal really works, etc. And even though I loved the characters I feel like there definitely could have been more development and more things to really set them all apart. Especially the relationships could use more development. I do think the main relationship between our two main characters is done well but just between them and other characters. In general I wanted to know more and see more. I think that's why I didn't fully feel connected or invested in this as much as other books. I also feel like the writing style itself could have factored into that. It seemed pretty cut and dry and while not necessarily bad not the writing I really love. My next issue was the pacing. It's definitely pretty slow paced throughout and we don't get many scenery changes so to speak. The real action doesn't even happen till the last 100 pages or so. I did really love the last little chunk though! It made me happy while breaking my heart at the same time. I do feel things are left unresolved in the end and I'm not sure if there's a sequel planned or not.
Overall We Rule the Night is an enjoyable book! While it wasn't my absolute favorite thing ever and I had some issues with it, there's a lot I did enjoy. I would more then recommend it to you if you're interested in the synopsis. It's a solid debut for sure and I can't wait to see what else Claire Eliza Bartlett writes.