Book of Night

Previous to Book of Night I’ve never read anything by Holly Black and by the end I was off to the bookstore to buy every book she’s ever written. This fantasy novel was fast paced with an amazingly hilarious and pessimistic main character. There are so many plot twists that you truly never know what’s coming next. I’m so excited for the sequel to come out!

Was a little confusing at times- maybe because I listened as opposed to my usual - but was still invested just took a little longer than usual for holly

Unfortunately it wasn't as good as I was hoping for it to be... But I have to give it some bonus points for interesting theme and how the author build the world around main leads.

el final salvó a este libro de ser el libro más aburrido y peor planteado que he leído este año.

it’s the way that i genuinely can’t tell if this is a standalone or not

What makes you feel safe when you go to sleep at night? Being able to check and see that your secrets are still hidden. The saddest 2 stars I've ever given. I mean, this book deserved better, you know? The world building is incredibly rich and the main characters have such a good dynamic together but the reasons that kept me intrigued and thirsty for more reading just disappeared in the transition between the beginning and the middle, resulting in a puzzling beginning, a good ending and a sea of boredom and pointless investigation story in between them both—which I hate to say because I really adored this world and these characters but maybe if written all over again. In a better moment. With a different plot. Maybe different author? Same author but with a different focus on the plot? Because the writing was ok, I can't understand why it didn't work for me. Who knows?

When is the sequel coming out? I need to know what happens next! 😩 I knew I could trust Holly Black to write something amazing. This story was very interesting, and different from what I’ve read before, but still full of magic and amazing characters. The begging was slow and there might be a few things I forgot or didn’t understand well, but in the end those things didn’t really matter or change anything. Something about the writing and the vibes and the mystery had me hooked so I kept reading the book and found myself in love with the world and the magic system. After 70 or 80 pages, the action starts. I’m very glad I kept reading and finished it and I can’t wait for the sequel !

This book was very different than I expected. It was more modern, and the pacing went from slow to fast. I felt there was too much world-building and background that wasn't necessarily needed. Overall, I enjoyed the story and the shadow magic aspects of it.

the .5 is for what felt like a jarringly written yet slow start. once i got used to the flow of how it was written and the plot became MORE clear, i honestly loovveeeddddd this book. cannot wait for me.

Just wow.

I would try to give this a 3.75, only because I found that at some points, it was kind of boring, and I was losing my focus with it, because some parrts of this book were kind of irrelevant.

HOWEVER:

I loved this book, as the plot and atmosphere was just top tier. I loved how complex the magic in this system was. Never have I read a book which is solely based on magical shadows, and I find that uniqueness the one defining characteristic of this book.

If a book is unique, to me, it's so much more than just being inventive. It opens a whole new idea in my mind, so for Holly Black to use shadows as the magical system, not physical powers, I find it so charming.

I adore our main character Charlie Hall. She's a wonderful woman who's selfless and all she wants to do is to help the people she loves. She's a girl who "doesn't go looking for trouble, trouble comes looking for her" sorta girl. And it's genuinely true. She definatly tries as hard as possible to live a good and honest life, but thievery just sings to her and to be honest I can't blame her.

Why this book didn't get 5 stars is because it's just so painfully slow and boring at the start. I was worried that I wouldn't like it, especially because I adored Holly Black's YA series'. But now that i've finished it, I can 100% tell you that this book is definatly worth the read. It's also a great introduction to adult fantasy, which I have not read up until now, so if you're looking to take that step into adult fantasy, this book is a great addition to your shelf.

Finally, this ending of this book had me speechless.

I hope that you decide to read this book.

I cannot get over how amazing this story was. So genius, so creative, so thrilling. THAT PLOT TWIST THO! It made the entire book a 5/5 star honestly. The characters development and also lack of development (specifically Charlie’s, who I love so much) was wonderful and just made me so happy in the end. The actual ending brought me a deep sense of hope and excitement, my only wish is there was a sequel out like rn! Would highly recommend for something with mystical inklings in a real world scenario.

It threw me off to start that it was set in modern times but the farther I read the more I liked it!

I was both entertained and bored at the same time. This was unlike any magical/fantasy story I’ve written and maybe because shadows are the main component of magic. Still loved the ending and the twist actually had me go dead-still. Charlie is a gritty, scrappy character and I think the thing I like the most about this book, is that it’s almost like real life and then you’re smacked with the shadow issues going on. Really good read. I’d recommend!

LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS BOOK!!

overall kinda boring

Gorgeous writing as always by Holly Black, I don’t expect anything less from her books. But man, this was hard for me to get through for some reason. The magic system confused me at times and there were points that dragged. The beginning immediately intrigued me and the ending actually made me sad but excited for the next book.

I’m surprised that this book had such a low rating, because I loved it so much. I had to physical stop myself from reading so that I could get some sleep.

I loved Vince for reasons I can’t explain.

I went in with low expectations because of the ratings it has gotten, but it really was a 10/10 read for me.

I find that sometimes books that get 3.5 and lower ratings tend to be my favorite, and I can’t understand that at all.

But anyways, for me, this was a 5 star read, and I eagerly await the sequel!

I did enjoy this book. However, I think a big part of that was because I lowered my expectations after seeing a lot of bad reviews. If you are expecting something as amazing as The Cruel Prince, please lower your expectations before reading this one! ***spoilers below*** I was really frustrated by the romance in this book, and I am not someone who needs a romance plot to enjoy a story. However, at the beginning of the book, there was absolutely nothing to the romance. Our MC didn’t even know if she liked Vince that much. Then, by the end of the book, basically all of her decisions were driven by their relationship as if she was super in love with him??? Where did that come from??? Obviously, as we learned more about who Vince really was, Charlie actually found herself getting more attracted to him. Yet, there just really wasn’t much there and I needed more to get on board with her all of a sudden doing everything for him. It seems like there will be a sequel and that their relationship (well, fixing it) will be an important part of the story. I just don’t feel like I really have much of a relationship to root for. With that said, I will still probably pick up the sequel to see if the story gets better (hopefully there will actually be a sequel or else that ending really sucked!)

possibly a 2.5 this was just boring and confusing and i didn’t really care about what happened. the magic system doesn’t really make sense and nothing in this particularly excited me. the MC is “28” but acts wayyyy younger. i love Holly Black but think she just needs to stick to YA <3 this was like trying to be Ninth House but very much wasn’t . for a 300 page book this read so slow :/ i didn’t hate it (hence my rating) i was just bored

I bounced back and forth over what I thought reading this book. At first I was convinced I loved it. Then a few chapters in as I realised the pace would be slower than I initially thought I was a little wary. I thought maybe it would be a like but not a love. And then I got further still and I realised I was doubting myself for no good reason as I was hooked I just wanted to read and know what happens next. I’m glad this is a duology but it’s disheartening to see there is no firm release date so it will be a long wait for me it seems.

The book centres around Charlie and her thieving con artist past which becomes her thieving con artist present. I am a sucker for a character with a shady background who is a bit of a rogue and it helped she was a little bit of an angry mess. I strongly relate to angry women as I am a big ball of rage myself. I saw other reviewers saying Charlie was unlikable or even that she lacked character but I think those people were reading a very different book to me. Charlie had character and she wasn’t meant to be likeable. I do think some of Holly Blacks other characters may have been more morally grey and unlikeable and that’s why I enjoyed the character of Charlie.

I admit that the magic system was a little confusing with these shadows and all the different terminology but it actually wasn’t too bad. I got to grips with it all in the end and it was definitely unique. I wanted ti explore it more as I came to understand how it worked better but I’m sure there’s more to come.

I was disappointed there wasn’t more romance but it was quiet and very much not the focus. It simmered in the background and had you second guessing instead.

I did find I predicted one plot twist very early on but I think it was alluded to enough through the book that it isn’t surprising I figured it out. It didn’t detract at all for me and I enjoyed the book just as much so I don’t think it was meant to be a shock twist anyway.

I’m glad that the book was good. I’ve enjoyed Holly Blacks YA books in the past so I was optimistic I’d feel the same about her adult book too.

It was booring

*listened to audiobook and read physical illumicrate edition* Honestly I was intrigued by this via the goodreads ads that were posted around. It sounded interested so I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately I was disappointed. I haven't read any of Black's other novels and this was her first dive into adult fiction or adult fantasy. I just wanted captivated and lost the story, too many characters, too muxh going on, too many interested parties to remember what alliance they have, etc. There was one thing I enjoyed which redeemed it a tiny bit for me but that was it. Nothing to push me to read anymore or to give it another chance. This is a definite pass for me. Glad it's over. Sorry if you loved it.

3.5 i think i would've enjoyed this more if i wasn't holding this book to The Cruel Prince level of expectations. despite that i did still think this book was a bit too slow for me in the beginning. The mystery, the mc, everything else was just the Holly Black i knew, sooo good.

debating between 2 or 1 stars. big disappointment :(