DNF at 20%. I thought the premise of this book sounded so intriguing (YA Gothic fantasy romance between enemies in a snowbound mansion) but unfortunately the writing style didn't work for me; it was very heavy on similes and scenery description to a point where it was distracting. I also found myself frustrated by the main character's decisions, which were consistently illogical, and had a hard time rooting for her because of it. The plot stagnated for me even early on, with the characters' actions quickly becoming repetitive before the meat of the plot began.

Loved the cover! It's what originally grabbed my attention. I was hooked by the characters quickly. I think the beginning could have had a bit more during the opening scene. I felt that Una was mad for deeper reasons then I as the reader could grasp. Wrens character development was great! I enjoyed the slow burn of enemy to lover. The twists toward the end completely surprised me. The ending left me hoping for a second book.

Spoiler Warning!

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft is a paranormal fantasy about Wren Southerland, a girl in limbo.
Saft begins to weave a tale around Wren as the orphan niece to a cold, unfeeling Queen who rules with an iron fist. The Queen despises Wren and wants nothing to do with her, so she sends her to an abbey to let Nuns raise her for most of her childhood. Wren has magical abilities and can heal people, which makes her useful to the cause of the great war that the Queen is preparing for, but unfortunately for Wren, her heart is too big, and she cares too much. This kindness is her greatest downfall and gets her in trouble too many times.
The Queen becomes angry with Wren’s weakness for their enemies’ pain and banishes her back to the Abbey, exiled away from her friends that she holds dear. While in exile, an unexpected opportunity represents itself. It allows Wren to prove herself to the Queen and hopefully avoid the war to destroy her kingdom and the people she loves. Wren jumps feet first into this new adventure and finds that she may have found sinister layers that she is only starting to uncover. Can she uncover the malevolent plot before her world crashes down around her?
Overall, I enjoyed this novel once we got into the gothic adventure portion of the story. It was eerie and kept me guessing throughout, wondering what would happen next. It had the creep effect with the sounds and darkness that made me feel on edge, wondering if it was a haunting or if someone was tortured nearby. I understood why Wren was having trouble sleeping. I don’t know anyone who could get a good night’s sleep with that going on around them. I also appreciated Wren’s inner conflict with the person she was trying to heal since he was not the most pleasant patient, and they both had their reasons for disliking each other. There were many hurdles for Wren to overcome to do her job and function daily in the environment Wren was put in all so she could get back in the good graces of the Queen.
Now I must be frank about what bothered me about this story--this novel felt like two separate books were slammed together. They don’t fit completely to be a cohesive and fluid story. The first part of this novel is a paranormal fantasy with war and magic, blood and fighting. Then suddenly, we move to a gothic horror novel located in a dark, gloomy mansion without action, blood, or conflict. The magic is still there since Wren uses the magic to help her heal the injured man, but she ends up uses actual medicine from plants to help more than her magic in the end. It just doesn’t flow from one genre to the other well; it feels disjointed and messy. However, the gothic horror portion of the book deserves praise. It wasn’t easy to put down.
Down Comes the Night turns into a delicious dark gothic horror that makes you wonder what it is that is making those sounds that go bump in the night.

Great story with an interesting world and idea of the magic. The magic aspect was fascinating, I liked discovering the different ways it manifested but also knowing more about how Wren's healing worked. It starts a little slow, but I did enjoy finding out about the wars and the grudges and the missing people.

Her time in the mansion also had a slow spot or two, but it evens out with the fast pace of the last 10% or so. It's a bit predictable but I still enjoyed how it all played out. Great read. I liked it.

Down Comes the Night is a book I desperately wanted to love. I featured it in my Most Anticipated Releases of 2021 list. I joined the official street team, The Queen’s Guard, for it. Unfortunately – as seems to be a common theme this year for me – it was not meant to be. I really liked this book, but I didn’t love it. This isn’t to say there’s anything particularly wrong with this book, because there isn’t. I just think, in this case, my expectations were a little too high.

I’ll start with what I liked the most: the writing style. Saft’s writing style is flowery, creating such vivid scenery with a cinematic quality. She masterfully delivers on her promise of a Gothic-inspired tale, and there were times I felt like, had I been at Colwick Hall, I would have been genuinely afraid. It was creepy, but in the best way. The pacing of Down Comes the Night can, overall, be described as fast, although I did feel it dipped slightly in the middle.

I found Wren to be quite an endearing protagonist. She’s easily likeable as a healer – a profession not often featured in the YA Fantasy space – who’s more emotional than you’ll find most other leading ladies to be. Wren is a bit of a ‘bleeding heart’, and is shown throughout the book to be very caring and compassionate, even when she tries not to be, to match other’s expectations of her. Saft develops Wren’s character nicely over the course of the book, and if she were to ever continue Wren’s adventures in a spin-off or sequel (although a standalone, I believe the ending of the book is open enough that a sequel could be written), I would happily read from her perspective again.

I liked Wren’s love interest Hal enough. Early on in the book, the author makes sure to hammer into readers just how evil and deadly Hal Cavendish is, that by the time Wren meets him, I was borderline not interested in their potential romance. Despite this, Hal manages to come back from the brink of hatred, and, over the course of the plot, I found myself warming up to him. He’s by no means my favourite love interest ever written, as far as enemies-to-lovers goes, but he wasn’t awful. Speaking of enemies-to-lovers, this book also contains another one of my favourite tropes: “Oh no! There’s only one bed!”. Much like Hal isn’t a favourite love interest of mine, neither was Wren and Hal’s relationship, as I found their romantic chemistry to be lacking at times (though it did improve slightly towards the end of the book).

I really enjoyed Lord Alistair Lowry as a villain. He was charming and duplicitous, and though his motivations were easily discernable, he was no less delightful as an antagonistic presence in the story. Scenes with Lowry were among my favourite in the book, and he was certainly useful in helping Saft deliver a plot twist or two – even those I did see coming.

TLDR; Down Comes the Night is a stunningly-written, well-paced fantasy romance perfect for any lover of gothic tales or a reader in the mood for a creepy, winter read to curl up by the fire with. Featuring a loveable healer protagonist and her deadly love interest, fans of the classic ‘enemies to lovers’ trope will be delighted in what this standalone has to offer.

This one sounded so good, and the cover is great, but for whatever reason this just didn’t ever click for me. I never seemed to connect to the characters or to the story. At times I would even say I was bored and totally underwhelmed by the whole thing. But, it could have been me. I have seen some glowing reviews, which makes me think that this is a it’s not you but me situation. But I have also seen some where the reviewer had many of the same issues as I did. So I am not sure what to think.

Wren is the sole narrator, and she was an ok character. She makes a lot of mistakes, and some of them are potentially deadly. But she seems to always muddle through and survive. She was a bit whiny as well, especially when it came to how her sister treated her. I could get behind her healing skills and her compassion though. She always made the right decisions in those cases, even when she whined about how she was dangerously draining her own magic.

I liked Hal a bit better, and would have loved to hear part of this story from his perspective. He was much more complicated and made better decisions than Wren, but he also went along with some of her poor decisions, which he should have known better not to. Never felt the love connection between them, although I did appreciate that it wasn’t instant love, at least on his part.

The world building I think is what bothered me the most in this story. I don’t mind when there are a lot of different genres mashed together, but the mashing needs to make sense and needs to be clear. This one was a constant muddled mess, that seemed to change from one chapter to the next. Part of that I think was the writing style, which also didn’t work for me. I did find the magical system interesting though, and would have liked a little bit more about it worked into the narrative.

The plot was also a bit of a mess, and slow and I found myself putting it down in the middle of a chapter, which I rarely do. I also didn’t like that I had the mystery figured out about 25% into the story. Lord Lowry wasn’t the evil, nasty bastard that he could have been. We just didn’t see enough of him to really get to know him and his motives. This story had some potential though and there were glimmers that had me hoping that things were going to click, but they never did. The ending was kind of a hot mess and totally improbable in my mind.

As I have said before, it is sometimes hard to review an ARC, because you know that there is the potential that it is still a work in progress. I certainly hope so in this case. I think the bare bones of this story was quite good, I can certainly see the potential here. And like I said, there are plenty of people out there who really liked this story. You might be one of them, so at least give some of those reviews a look and decided for yourself. Please don’t judge this book on this review alone.

Down Comes the Night is truly an atmospheric and dark tale full of nods to some classic horror tropes like the mad scientist, haunted/abandoned mansion, romanticism versus enlightenment, body horror, and more. It’s haunting without being too scary for teen audiences or for someone who isn’t a fan of horror. The horror elements were perfectly blended with the romantic elements; a balance every great Gothic story must have.

I really loved the way that Saft blended science and magic in her world building. Both in the contrasts between Danu, Vesria, and Cernos, the three neighbouring countries the story takes place in, and in the way that Wren experiences her magic use and the impacts and effects of using magic. It was a really cool take on magic use and what it means to be a magic user in Saft’s world.

Saft has built a world full of hope, love, and redemption against a backdrop of war, betrayal, and unrest. Danu, Vesria, and Cernos felt so real; even though the story is only set in two of the countries, there is a very realistic sense of their conflict, struggle, and how this centuries long war has impacted and shaped every person in all three countries.

From the very moment we are introduced to Wren, the illegitimate niece of the Danubian Queen, she bares her heart to the reader: choosing to show an enemy kindness when it would be much easier to follow orders and ignore his pain. Consistently throughout the st, Wren follows her instincts, and chooses kindness, love, and compassion. She’s a character I couldn’t help but love with all of my heart; a chaotic bisexual darling with a heart of gold. She is unendingly kind, despite everything that she has seen and experienced.

As much as I love Wren, Hal is definitely my favourite. A boy torn between duty to his family and country, and his beliefs. Saft could not have introduced him more perfectly, burdened not only by a terrible and mysterious illness, but the weight of his sins. Hal is a character that undergoes so much personal growth over the course of the book. I just want to wrap him in a blanket. I love characters that remind us that no matter where you are coming from and what you have done, there is still hope and there is always a chance to find redemption.

Down Comes the Night has definitely earned a spot in my heart and is my newest Staff Pick at work. Ultimately, Saft shows that it takes more courage and strength to be kind than to be hard in a cruel world, and I think that is a message that everyone needs to hear sometimes. This is a book for people who like to curl up on dark nights and watch classic horror flicks, lovers of tropey fantasy romance, anyone who has ever felt torn between their duty and their heart, and for anyone who has ever been told that they are too soft or that they aren’t good enough. I hope that you love it just as much as I do.

Content warnings: blood, death, murder

Gosh, this book has so many things I love in a story. A slow-burn romance between two sworn enemies, rich world-building, and just enough mystery to keep you guessing. I absolutely adored this book, and knew I was going to rate it highly when I was just a few chapters in. Our main character, Wren, has felt unwanted and a bit unloved her entire life. After the dismissal from the Queen’s Guard, she’s swept away to an eerie manor in the neighboring country of Cernos. There, she realized the patient she’s been asked to heal is enemy of her country. Wren wrestles with this discovery for a bit. She has a lot of internal struggle, something I really liked here, because while she wants to be herself, her brain is too filled with what other people want of her. Finally away from Una and the Queen’s Guard, she’s able to think for herself and only for herself. I definitely think this is what lends her to be so dedicated in finding what’s wrong with Hal despite knowing who he actually is.

I really enjoyed the intertwining of religion, science, medicine, and magic here as well. As soon as Wren arrives to Colwick Hall, not all is as it seems right away. I got some Jane Eyre vibes, too, and it was so atmospheric as well! All the winter vibes worked so well for me, and I guess it helped that a foot of snow dropped over the weekend and it’s been absolutely frigid since last week, lol! I enjoyed Wren as a main character, too, because she knows her stuff. She’s methodical, sometimes logical, and wants to prove herself. Some of that hard exterior she’s built crumbles the more she gets to know Hal. To be honest, I would have absolutely loved Hal’s POV. Wren humanizes him in her own way, and the two come to a general understanding that they’ve been lied to their entire life regarding each other’s country’s citizens. And considering how close the two have to be, there’s just something about the way they learn more about each other that’s so…soft. Hal is a soft boy, full of regret, and someone who wants to right the continuing wrongs meted by his country. This softness is something that takes Wren by surprise, endearing them more to each other. But Hall will protect those he cares for and we see that the closer he and Wren become.

Now I will say that this book is also a murder mystery. I won’t speak too much into this, and some of y’all might guess things way before I ever can (seriously, I should have saw it coming earlier). It was the extension of this mystery that really made me wonder how Wren and her family can be reconciled. I really hope this particular aspect isn’t a game because I do feel like the ending is a bit open and can definitely see a sequel. (Please, can I get a sequel?!)

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It’s about becoming who you want to be, not what anyone else expects of you, and to make yourself and your life happy because you’re in control of it.

I couldn't wait to start reading Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft, and this book surely did not disappoint! Telling the story of Wren, a soldier relieved of her duties by her aunt who happens to be queen, and Hal, her country's sworn enemy, it combines elements of gothic literature and modern fantasy flawlessly.

When Wren accepts a job to travel to Colwick Hall to heal one of the servents, she has no idea that it will be Hal Cavendish, the Reaper of Vesria. But as she gets to know Hal, she realizes that he, much like herself, has been forced to be something that he's not. Together, they work to solve the mystery of Colwick Hall and its peculiar owner.

Saft creates characters that are achingly realistic and a romance that I won't forget for some time. Truly a wonderful book, and I'm excited to see more from this author!

Thank you, NetGalley for the arc

I am struggling with my rating for this one. The beginning drew me in right away. We have two soldiers investigating strange disappearances, a complicated romance, and a girl who feels too much and we know how bad that can be in books like this. Unfortunately, by the time Wren gets to Colvick House to help with a bizarre illness, my attention dropped. I was expecting a gothic mystery, but the beginning of the book made it sound like any YA fantasy out there so I was a bit confused on how to feel. I believe the marketing of this book is to blame for my confusion.

Another issue I had (which I don't think I will be able to put into words) is how...disconnected I felt with the story. I knew the details, but not all of them were presented so it all felt very far away, if that makes sense? I felt like I was watching these things unfold through a telescope and only being able to see what was in front of me, but not around, and no amount of dialogue could change it.

Wren, as a protagonist, was childish and hasty. Despite being a healer in the guard, it felt as though she had next to no training and was merely a newb. her way of thinking was all over the place, immature, and rash. One thing I look for right away is the feeling of connecting to a character. I didn't connect to Wren. I didn't connect to anybody.

The romance wasn't believable to me. I love me a good enemy to lovers but this one missed the mark. Wren hated this man for so long, and in such a short amount of time, she started to care for him? The realist in me wants to say that something like that would take time, BUT, as I stated earlier, Wren does have a soft spot for people so perhaps that is what the author was going for. At the same time, she was kind of mean to him, so here comes confused Celia again. ugh

The pacing was all right but slowed to a crawl once Wren arrived at the manor. Overall, I think the book was just a tad too long for the material. Overall, this was a well-written novel, with a great idea that did not execute well for me personally. I hope others enjoy it.

I absolutely adored Down Comes the Night. Allison Saft built a wonderful and unique magic system. This story has everything! It has magic, horror, mystery, political intrigue, romance, and bi-representation. The cold, creepy setting was a perfect for a gothic horror, but the fantasy and magic system added some extra spice. This books deals with the struggles of right and wrong and black and white in the midst of a war between two countries. Our main character, Wren, is at war with her own beliefs and those of her queen, country, and love of her life. When she finds herself in a position to save her people, she accepts an opportunity that could be the only way to make those she hold dear accept her. I love these types of internal battles that really pit the character against themselves and everyone they know and love.

DO YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE SAFT DID?!? She combined the two best tropes in all of history! Enemies-to-lovers and an inn with only one bed. Needless, to say this book has started my 2021 off with a bang! I can see this being a book that I will re-read over and over again when its chilly outside and the slow-burning romance will keep me warm

This book is unique in its genre-blending, but it would be perfect for lovers of Wicked Saints and Mexican Gothic. It has the essence of a Bluebeard retelling, which is absolutely terrifying and amazing!

Overall I was unfortunately a little underwhelmed. Down Comes the Night had true potential to be a 2021 favorite, the premise made me think of Crimson Peak and was so spooky and atmospheric and involved magic? Sign me up. Sadly the execution just.. wasn't there. The plot felt sorely underdeveloped, things were told to us versus shown and it really took away from the overall story. The magic system also felt lacking? I never truly felt like I understood how it worked or where it came from, it just kind of existed with no preamble. It never felt like the stakes were very high because of it, there were some tense scenes sure but I was never worried about what would happen.

Down Comes the Night is a YA magical, gothic romance in the context of enemies at war or at least that's what I was expecting.

The story stars off with Wren, a magical healer and soldier letting her emotions get the best of her as she gets bested by a child and it only gets muddled from there. From that first page I couldn't stand Wren, she is immature, childish, whiney, and self-depreciating. When you don't like or even care for the main character it's difficult to enjoy the rest of the story.

Unfortunately, I didn't connect nor care about any of the characters in this story and it felt like they didn't really care about each other. The romance is forced and random, after hearing about her undying love (over and over again) for someone else, it was difficult to believe she could love her enemy. Even he seems confused by her.

The story, in my opinion, is not at all gothic. I don't feel like just because part of the story takes place in a cold, dark, wind-swept castle you can label it gothic; and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to read this.

The writing was great, the author made the world come alive to a point and I really enjoyed the ideas in the story, they just didn't come together enough for me to say I enjoyed the entire story. I am disappointed but having read many other reviews I might be one of the odd ones out so I still suggest any reader give this a try if they are interested. I received an ARC via NetGalley and the publisher and I am leaving an honest review.

Wren, a soft-hearted and highly skilled healer with the Queen’s Guard is dismissed for reckless behavior and separated from the girl she loves. Her country, Danu, is teetering on the edge of war with Vesria and soldiers from both sides have gone missing without a trace at the borders. When Wren receives a letter from Lord Alistair Lowry of Cernos, asking her to heal one of his staff, she accepts because he has promised to ally himself with Danu if she’s successful. When she arrives at Colwick Hall, she finds her new patient isn’t a servant at all but instead the most feared enemy in Vesria, Hal Cavendish. Wren will have to work out just what’s wrong with Hal and if it’s worth the crime of treason to heal him and if there are other nefarious things at work in the creepy Colwick Hall?

The atmosphere of Down Comes the Night is perfectly eerie and mysterious; the creepy gothic setting of Colwick Hall combined with a unique magic system, mystery and fantastic characters made for an incredible story. I enjoyed the banter between the characters, the slow burn forbidden romance and the found family trope.

Down Comes the Night is a great romantic mystery with a magical theme and gothic setting that I’d recommend to any fan of the genre.

"What truly drives us, are the things we would die for."

Special thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, the premise of this book basically have all the ingredients of everything I love. The romance of course is my favorite part of the entire book and I wasn't disappointed, as well as the part fantasy and part gothic horror genre the book has going on. I especially love the direction Wren's character, I love that Wren feel too much and sometimes let those feelings drive her and have Saft say that it's okay to feel and to feel things instead casting them away. I love my characters where they have trouble expressing themself and where they bury their feelings away deep but I love Wren for being the complete opposite and how that her feelings and being kind is what make her strong not the opposite and her growth in realizing that.

This book is a standalone which is nice because you're not stuck in compromising to more books from the series but that's also gave it a slight disadvantage as well. Some things feel a bit unexplored and some events felt too convenient for me at how they played out so I wanted more from certain scenes and certain character arcs. Nonetheless a truly enjoyable debut book from Saft and I look forward to more of her works in the future.

Sadly I had to DNF this.
I just can’t stand the MC's sheer stupidity here. Your superior tells you that if you fuck up again you’re going to get punished. You do exactly what she told you not to do, and then go on whining that she’s giving you the exact same punishment you were TOLD you’re going to get. And you have the audacity to complain about how much of a bitch that person is?

Also this character is completely unbelievable. Am I really supposed to believe that this person who can't get a command without whining about it is actually a part of military? seriously?
I'm sorry but I can suspend my disbelief enough to continue with this story.

Too stupid to live is one of my most hated tropes. But something that I hate even more than that is the combination of TSTL and Super Special Snowflake. Basically the MC is whining because she assumed she’ll get especial treatment.

I hate to break it to you honey, but you’re not kind. You’re just stupid 🤷🏻‍♀️

I had no idea what to expect from this book, but the description sounded intriguing and I liked the cover so I thought "why not?". The first 20% or so was a little slow but it soon picked up and I found myself really enjoying the story. This turned out to be more of a mystery rather than a gothic thriller but I still had fun with it. I do wish that the magic was a little better explained (especially Hal's), but that didn't detract. What I was really happy to see was how all of the characters praised Wren for her kindness and compassion, even to the point of saying that her compassion is what saved the day. That will make all of the Hufflepuff's proud to see one of their own being the hero.

While this felt like a fairly typical YA fantasy, I did find myself wanting to constantly pick it back up and keep reading so I take that as a good sign. This was a good debut. If the premise sounds interesting to you then I would recommend you pick it up.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First, thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall this was good and I liked it. It’s got a bit of everything: political intrigue, murder mystery, a creepy gothic house, enemies to lovers, a race to prevent war and provide justice, and magic. I’d say the first 20% is a little slow and I had to push through it. I also wish the magic was a little better explained. This was definitely an in-the-moment book, and I’m not sure it will really stick with me, but that doesn’t take away from any of the enjoyment I got while reading it.

3.5 stars

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft centers around Wren Southerland, a healer in the Queen's Guard whose reckless use of magic and disregard for rules has left her in disgrace. She is invited by the mysterious Lord Lowry to his home at Colwick Hall to determine why his servants keep falling ill and dying. She takes him up on the offer, hoping to get back into the Queen’s good graces (and the Queen just happens to be her aunt).

From the very beginning of the book, I was hooked by Saft's adept world building. When bringing readers into a fantasy world, it is incredibly important to establish the "rules." I immediately understood much about Wren's world, the Queendom of Danu. Saft immediately establishes who Wren and the Queen’s Guard view as their enemies, including Hal Cavendish, the Reaper of Vesria. The first pages of the book also ground the reader in Wren’s brand of healing magic.

Saft's vivid imagery paints pictures of everything through the novel, really making it come to life. This begins even on the first page: "Shadows hung heavy as fog in the copse, and what little sunlight leaked through the alders turned sallow, gleaming cold on the shard of bone. It jutted from his wrist like a splinter waiting to be pulled loose." These vivid descriptions engaged me immediately and really brought me into Wren's world.</p>

The characters' moral ambiguity in Down Comes the Night is incredibly compelling. Upon first meeting, Hal Cavendish might be Wren's sworn enemy who has murdered many with his magical eyes. As the story progresses, the reader learns that Hal struggles with that violent past and sees him show compassion. Even Wren, who begins the book by taking pity on an injured enemy, has moments where she feels the lure of ruthlessness. These shades of grey made the characters more interesting.

Wren's relationship with her best friend (and the woman she loves), Una, also intrigued me throughout the novel. They complement each other so well: Wren always leads with her emotions while Una is a stalwart rule follower. It broke my heart when Una tried to prevent Wren from leaving to answer Lord Lowry's summons, and it is so clear that there are so many romantic feelings left unaddressed. I was invested in whether or not Una and Wren would meet again later in the book and how that would turn out.

Going back and rereading pieces of Down Comes the Night,I noticed several pieces of foreshadowing. Saft has expertly crafted this book, and I certainly will need to read it again to catch all of its nuance.

Sadly, this book just didn't do it for me. I had high hopes based on the description (I love YA horror/thrillers), but I found the writing hard to get immersed in, and the level of detail put me off a bit. The plot was somewhat intriguing, once it really got going, but it still didn't grab the way I hoped it would.