Cover Image: Court of Twilight

Court of Twilight

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Member Reviews

What a fascinating book. I was impressed by the storyline and the characters were all well written and complex. Where there are complex storylines combined with intriguing characters the reader experience is magnified tremendously. To have a book that is well written as well as entertaining is a delight. Reading is about escaping your world and entering another one. The word building was phenomenal in this book. Here I forgot about my own life and was immersed in the world created by the author. I would recommend this book.

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Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. Unfortunately, while the blurb really interested me, I have been unable to get into the book.

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With thanks to Netgalley and Parvus press.

Court of Twilight is a magical tour of Dublin featuring all sorts of magical creatures, a fun book to read.

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Eye-catching cover. Intriguing premise.

Enjoyed the writing. Connected from page 1. Effortless to read.

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It was an ok book, nothing stellar. I wasn't really 'hooked' at the start although I did find it interesting enough to keep reading. Some of it moves very slowly and I had to push through. A lot of potential though.

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I loved the characters, the dialogue, the mixture of laughter, sass and intrigue all rolled into one. I liked it

- - Received copy through NetGalley - -
L

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I was extremely disappointed with this book. Perhaps my expectations were too high. The cover is absolutely beautiful. The title is alluring. The premise is interesting. I simply cannot force myself to finish this book. I kept trying but I finally gave up around 68%. It is slow, overly-descriptive and quite literally repetitive. Sadly, I believe this book could have been much better had it had better editing.

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<i> Thank you NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this eARC </i>

<b>3/5 stars </b>
Let me star by saying I really enjoyed this book. The setting, Dublin, and feeling of the magic from Ireland's folklore is a breath of fresh air. Coincidentally I have recently read several stories on this subject, increasing m excitement whilst reading this book.

The plot is certainly original and entertaining. Differs very much from other "Court of.." books which is very much welcomed. There is an element of mystery and Sci-fi in the story which was surprising, but didn't discord with the book itself. The characters seemed realistic, and their decisions relatable.

The main problem I found with the book is in the excecution. The writing at times was confusing, long descriptive passages that didn't provide very much to the story. The main character's inner thoughts and reasoning processes were too repetitive, several times the same argument was presented and refuted in her inner dialogue, which was tiresome.

I also wish the elements of sci-fi were further developed and more background and history on the Court was added.

I think this book has a lot of potential, and could be great if some of the things I mentioned were polished and bettered.

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This book was an interesting read and I might be convinced to read a sequel if there ever is one, but it also had quite a few plot holes and way too many unanswered questions. I liked how the author handled the faerie mythology and put a unique spin on it. There's so many urban fantasy books with faeries these days so it's hard to find something unique, but this book definitely had some interesting takes on things like glamours and faerie fruit and even how the faeries ended up in Ireland. Most of the time it was an interesting read, although honestly I think some things could have been cut out.

SPOILERS AHEAD IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH

However I think the characters were kind of lacking. I didn't actually like any of them and I also really don't understand why Ivy was so set on rescuing Demi in the first place. I mean she went through a lot of trouble for a girl she had known for only 6 months and wasn't even really that close to from what we were shown. Also at one point Demi literally turns Ivy into a horse without her permission and has another character ride her to safety which leaves Ivy with a LOT of injuries and Ivy is just like 'oh yeah this is fine'. Like ... ??? That is 500% the moment I would have been like 'well you can honestly die for all I care', and that's assuming that I ever even tried to save her in the first place. I also found the ending to be fairly unsatisfying. They didn't really solve anything, just had another character introduced 2/3rds of the way through the book to die as a rather lazy deus ex machina and then they're like 'oh well we've got a whole year to procrastinate til the next person is going to die' ...like, yeah okay.

There were definitely interesting bits and like I said, I was impressed with the twists the author put on some of the faerie mythology, but if there's a sequel I would expect the characters to more well rounded and believable and also for some actual progress to be made on the overall plot.

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Thank you Parvus Press for providing me with a digital copy of Court of Twilight by Mareth Griffith via NetGalley.

Court of Twilight takes place in modern day Dublin and follows the story of Ivy, an ordinary young woman who's just lost her unfulfilling job at a call center and her rather eccentric, plant-loving roommate Demi. When strange people start to show up at their flat with dire warnings and Demi suddenly disappears leaving only a cryptic note and extensive care instructions for the plants Ivy begins to investigate and discovers that her roommate's eccentricities are more than just eccentricities...

I didn't realize that this was going to be a series so I felt a little gypped at the end because there isn't really any resolution to the problem facing the characters, just a stall tactic. That being said, I think it will work well as a series. In this introductory book, Griffith gives you just enough to make you maddeningly curious about the Trows, their world, their culture, their history, but not enough to really answer any questions. There are elements of this book that remind me of Alex Bledsoe's Tufa series though perhaps more juvenile in nature.

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A good urban fantasy that mixes contemporary Dublin with ancient myths. The characters are likeable and the plot really entertaining.
A good fantasy book for people who likes fantasy in contemporary setting.
Many thanks to Netgalley and Parvus Press

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I’ve just finished “Court Of Twilight” by Mareth Griffith, which was okay. It’s quite a simple story that takes a slight twist on fairy lore.

3 Stars!

NetGalley granted me a review e-arc of “Court Of Twilight”, so it’s thanks to them that I was able to read it. I actually only requested it because of the dazzling cover, so I’m glad I enjoyed it. Court Of Twilight released on 17th October 2017, so it’s available to purchase now...

“Court Of Twilight” is set in Ireland, and we follow a character called Ivy who finds things that don’t add up with her best friend. Ivy happens across a guy we learn is called Hunzu. He, along with another couple of characters lead Ivy into a fantasy world...

Spoilers below...

The story starts with Ivy who’s living with her best friend, Demi. Demi is a plant extremist and keeps a lot of them at their house,

“The most annoying thing about Demi has to be the houseplants”. It goes into explain just how many houseplants Demi actually owns!

Ivy just thinks this is normal behaviour for Demi to begin with. It’s not until Ivy sees Hunzu outside their house that she starts to question things. Hunzu and Ivy have an interesting relationship. I could tell this from their first interaction.

“Hunzu”, he repeated, louder and slower. “Didn’t I say that already?”
“You did” said Ivy. “But I don’t know what it means”
“It doesn’t mean anything” said the man with a snort. It’s a name. My name to be precise. Most of the time Hunzu means me”

These interactions between Ivy and Hunzu continue throughout “Court Of Twilight”. I can see a really good dynamic developing between the two characters in the future books, that I’m all here for.

After the introductions Ivy learns that Hunzu is in fact a Trow (a faerie like creature). I enjoyed learning about the Trows and how they were different to humans. When Ivy learns that Demi is too, a trow, suddenly things start making sense, why there are so many plants in the flat where they live, and why Demi doesn’t answer the door, as well. Ivy also learns that Demi is the “King” of the Trows. This perturbed me a bit, because a female should be a Queen not a King. The King of the Trows has always died because an evil force known as the Enemy has shown up. All Ivy wants to do is save Demi...does she though, you’ll have to read to find out!

What did I like about “Court Of Twilight”?

I liked the fae element. It brought something interesting to the story.

I’ve seen other reviewers complain about how the fantasy elements are mixed with non fantasy elements. This didn’t bother me at all. When you think about it, other much popular authors do this as well.

I liked the characters and their interactions with each other. I actually thought “Court Of Twilight” would be a plot based story based on the title, but for me it was more so, a character lead story.

I liked how it was set in Ireland, which we don’t really see much of in YA books. It brought something different to the table. I always like to see authors trying new things in their writing. This, I feel was that.

What didn’t I like about “Court Of Twilight”?

I didn’t like how much unnecessary prose there was. I found myself skipping over quite a bit of the writing and I found I could still follow the story, fine, meaning “Court Of Twilight” could have been a much shorter story.

I didn’t like how the term “King” was used for female royalty. “King” is quite often mentioned, as well so this annoyed me slightly.

Will I be reading the sequel? I think so...

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Love the characters and how they fell in love. Really good story!!

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Ok, this was definitely a bit of a mixed feeling novel for me. The characters in this book are complex and infuriating and charming. There are twists I didn't expect, and moments that just crushed my heart. It's well done and I enjoyed it but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if the pace was a little faster and there was a little more action. In conclusion, although I'm normally a little weary of fairytale based books, 'Court of Twilight' delivered in most aspects. If you're looking for a novel with interesting Dublin setting and want to get lost in a fairytale world , then this one is for you.

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I liked this book. Liking this though was a surprise to me because 1.) I didn't like the cover (lol), I requested it from Netgalley because of the blurb, 2.) The author is new to me but definitely looking forward to her future works.

Were those enough to show how good I found this book is? NO? Okay.

I love the characters. Ivy (the protagonist) is a real person who has problems with money, with finding job, with a roommate and every other mundane problems. So it isn't hard to relate to her and care for her. I find her really sympathetic.
I liked the way the author give enough time and space in the story for the other characters making them as real as the main protagonist. With that in consideration, the whole world in this world became more real because we are given real people living in it.

And that is a good thing because I got a little problem with the world itself. It's in Dublin. I love Dublin, like it's one of the reason why I requested this book BUT I haven't been there so naturally I want the story to get me there. But sadly, I didn't feel like in Dublin though the author have made so many little descriptions here and there. I felt more like in some American village. Ahm, of course with that admission, clearly I'm no expert on Dublin stuffs and how it really looks like, but still I was hoping that the book made me feel like I'm in Dublin.

Anyway, back to what I like, I love the folklore. Wow, lately I've been falling deeper and deeper in love with fairies and all fantasy creatures and so this book totally won my heart. I think the author did a pretty good job by not introducing the fantasy world right away instead give bits and bits of it along the way until we are truly introduced. Needless to say, the world-building was fantastic.

Ooops, I just stated two contrast review on the world building. Here's the clearer one: I just got a little problem with the Dublin-feeling thing but overall with the fantasy added to it was great and awesome.

The plot, IN GENERAL, is amazing. It's unpredictable and kept me guessing right through the end which is a great thing for me because I'm tired of guessing and being right (yep, I'm so full of myself...Hahahaha.) Anyway, why did I have to say IN GENERAL, because the beginning part of the whole story isn't really that appealing. In fact it's boring. I almost stop reading and setting it aside but I kept going and BAM!!!!! when the story really starts, it went on and on, pulling me completely into it's world. Though it would've been better if the story started right away.

I mean, whatever, just read the book guys and don't stop though you might find it a little boring at first.

I have nothing to say anymore except that SEQUEL PLEASE. I really liked this book so please...I'm excited to see what's more in store.

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Although the plot seemed interesting, I was not drawn into this story. The flow of the storyline was not consistent and the characters were quite one dimensional.

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I really wanted to love this book. It has a fantastic cover. The title sounds intriguing. But the court of twilight never fully developed. First, there is no twilight area in the book, no official court. There is woman who has been living with a strange girl, that loves plants. The author talks about the plants a lot and they have nothing to do with the story. I found it odd that the author would focus so much on the different type of plants with them not being involved in the plot or adding any substance to the story line. The story takes awhile to get into because the author really gets off track with the main character and her thinking. After finally getting to the plot line of with the book, which is about half way through, there is no big reveal. There is no suspense. The book talks about an enemy that we find nothing about even at the end of the book. I didn't find myself wanting to finish the book once I started it. Then once I did finish it, I didn't want to read the 2nd book.

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I couldn't get into this book. The plot and the main character's actions just made no sense to me, and it took too long to get to the actual meat of the story.

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Blending contemporary life with ancient mythology, Court of Twilight is an inventive fantasy novel set in modern-day Dublin. The book follows 20-year-old Ivy, newly unemployed, as she searches for her flatmate. Along the way she relearns everything she thought she knew about fairytales. 
The success of Court of Twilight hinges on the characterisation of Ivy. Thankfully, she is convincing and extremely relatable. She is doggedly determined, and takes everyday and otherworldly challenges in her stride.
Everything about this felt new and imaginative—the concept of the novel as a whole, the kind of threats faced by the characters, the concept of the fantastical elements. I never knew where it was going and I'm desperate for the sequel so that my questions can be answered.

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She's found a great place to rent. She has a roommate who loves plants and never goes out if she can help it. It's in a good area of town, she doesn't mind doing her shopping and the rent is cheap. So Demi is a bit weird. Most people are.

Parvus Press and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It is being published today.

It's when Demi goes missing and she finds an odd man in the flower box that Ivy realizes Demi might be more than a little weird. The police don't care she's missing. If anyone is going to find her, it will need to be Ivy. Where could she have gone? She decides to check out her computer and cellphone and see what she can find out...

What she finds is that she can see people other people can't. It's not that they are ghosts; it's that they are other worldly. They are almost like the fae. You can't eat their food, you can't touch them or you'll disappear, too, and they have some strange habits. Each year, someone is chosen as King. After their year of holding the position ends, someone from the ancient past comes forward and kills the King. Only one person has ever avoided that responsibility and he won't tell how it happened. I don't think he even knows how it happened.

Ivy is trying to save Demi. Everyone says she can't. Almost by accident, she does. But at best, all that does is give them another year to try to find a way to keep Demi alive...

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