Well built world with a great twist

I really enjoyed this book, I don't normally read urban fantasy but loved the storyline and characters so much. I particularly liked that the characters weren't perfect and had enough emotional baggage to feel real. The narration was excellent, distinct character voices made the story come alive while being read. A fun read with plenty of mystery, twists and turns, and dark enough to fit alongside other urban fantasy series.

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Book of night

Great narration and interesting premise. really enjoyed it. The story is a little juvenile from time to time but redeemed itself by the end

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A great beginning

Raw and radiant. Holly never disappoints ! Started a little slow but gathered momentum to a cliff hanger finale. Love how the author grabs you by delving into damaged, hanging by a thread characters that have so much in common with the struggles of life, feelings and living ordered lives. Absolutely love the rawness of Charlie as well as her insecurities as she tries to recognise her true self. I cried and laughed for her - A perfectly engaging work!

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Great plot and narration

Holly Black has done it again, a great start to hopefully a long series. The narration was excellent and well paced.

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'Book of Night' is a dream come true.

“Okay kid," she told it. "The universe belongs to the curious.”

I finished listening to 'Book of Night' by Holly Black on 11 May and I still cannot stop thinking about it!

'Book of Night' is a dream come true. I’ve always loved the concept of shadows manifesting into corporal beings that can move and act independently, ever since Peter Pan first flew into my life!

The world concept and the plot itself are both terrifyingly believable, only taking that tiny step beyond reality into frequent imaginings. I have always found something magical and mysterious about shadows. After all, even when I'm alone, my shadow is almost always there to haunt me, guard me, and accompany me. So Holly Black breathing life into shadows is truly thrilling and strangely familiar, it felt right. This is how it is supposed to be, how shadows were made to function.

The writing is phenomenal, and the plot is well-paced. It contains just the right amount of everything. A wonderfully glorious balance of tragedy, love, joy, mystery and horror, prose and dialogue, past and present. And the ending is so perfect, I think I might have died, my heart did funny things, things it's not supposed to do. Although, I would definitely never say no to more if it became a series. 'Book of Night' has the potential to be one after all.

The characters!! They were all so amazing and honest and raw. I wish I had the right words, but I don't think I could do any of them justice. I will say this though, Charlie Hall is a very realistic character, she is good at what she does, but she is not overpowered, not insanely perfect. She is riddled with imperfections that make her wonderful and moody and loving, and thoroughly enjoyable. I feel so emotionally attached to her and I do not wish to let go.

My favourite conversation:

"Do you think that stars
have shadows?"
"I guess if there's some brighter star...
Like the kind that's about to become a black hole.
Don't they flare first?"
"Quasars. They flare as they're dying.
I guess that would give any other
star nearby a shadow.”

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Enter a dark fantasy world of shadow magic

If you’ve ever pondered what it would be like to have your shadow come alive, then Book of Night explores the notion for you.

I became quite taken with this world of magical shadows - with their capacity to become sentient beings, that can communicate and perform activities. Gloamists - those who can command the shadow magic are revered and feared.

BoN diverts away from the YA work we know from this author. It’s dark adult fantasy which feels at times like a fog blanketing any hope or light within the story. Many of the characters are unlikeable, but that is the purpose to demonstrate the ruthlessness of this setting, I got definite Gotham vibes reading this story.

As the layers are peeled away with scenes of past and present the reader begins to understand the disconnect between characters, and the dangers for them. Vince’s character really hooked me, whilst Charlie- our FMC who has always been viewed as somewhat of a bad egg by others, evolves into her own. I do feel we’ve more potential yet to come from her yet.

I enjoyed how the author lulls the reader with the climax providing a sense of well-being, before that twist at the ending.

My only critique was I listened to the audiobook and the narration felt very monotone in parts. There were a few mispronunciations which irked me. But that’s just my particular preference.

I hear there will be a second book - I hope so -it felt very unfinished, I would love some resolution to the story.

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Totally enjoyed this story

This is a cool concept for a story with a great twist to the take .

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Book of the year

I enjoyed this book so much. I have not been this enthralled in a long, long time.

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Enjoyed it, interesting ideas

Slow to get into events but the building information at the start was good value.

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Good, closer to YA but easy read

Very slow start, things actually start happening around chapter 13 (tho they’re not long chapters) and I felt like a lot of the early details were unnecessary & the same info could’ve been conveyed with fewer words. Good narration but it felt a bit stiff and didn’t flow super smoothly. Also, I’d say it veers closer to YA from the way it’s written (very short and simple sentences, repetition of personality traits – we get it, Charlie’s a train wreck, no need to spell it out constantly when her actions speak for themselves!) and the story is only slightly more intense than YA content, even though I’ve read supposedly YA books that are darker than this. 3.75 stars, but it is an easy read.

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