Too many pop culture references in an adult fantasy novel!

The characters were some of the dullest and most unmemorable I've ever come across. To say Charlie is unlikable would be to imply she has some personality for me to dislike. But she doesn't. Her only attributes seem to be that she has righteous anger and she makes bad decisions, but I don't really understand why. There's no insight into her underlying motivations. We are only told constantly of what she is, but never shown.

There were so many side characters, I had trouble keeping them apart. They're all haphazardly introduced without any distinguishing characteristics that would make them unique or memorable. After a while, they all blur together. It feels like anytime something needed to be explained, a new character would be introduced along with a random digression, just to get the point across.

The worldbuilding was so awkward and confusing, I'm still not sure I understood it, even after having read the whole book. I don't think the magical system is that complicated, yet somehow, the explanations provided just didn't work for me. Most of the time, I felt like I was guessing at what everything means. (Shadows give you magical powers... and feelings? Gloamists trade shadows and have power, but why? What is carapace, Cabal, Hierophant?)

The story unfolds via a dual timeline, but the pacing was extremely slow for both. You have the present one, slow and plodding, intercut with the past timeline, which was somehow even more glacial, if you can believe it. So the overall effect is the mother of all slow burns.

This is supposed to be Holly Black's adult debut, yet it doesn't feel any more adult than her previous YA books, other than a few F-words here and there. If anything, it feels less. I remember the sexual tension in The Cruel Prince, and it didn't even have any sex scenes (being YA and all). This book, with a few fade to black ones, was somehow completely devoid of any sizzle or spark.

I’m not much of a Holly Black fan, but BOY did I absolutely love this.

I’ve heard a few people say this is for fans of Ninth House, and it’s absolutely true. I loved Charlie, I loved Vince, I loved the world and the plot and the ENDING. This is definitely an urban fantasy with a magic system that slips through your fingers, hard to grasp like a shadow, but still amazing and unique and overall fun to try and learn about. I’m so excited for the next book.

Definitely a new path for Holly Black, but a successful one. I loved the world-building for this book with the concept of shadow magic and the darkness it brings. I cannot wait for the second book and to find out what happens with Charlie next.

I was compelled but not enthralled, I was intrigued but not indulged. The plot twist(s) shot me right off my rocker (is that the saying?) but the characters fell mostly flat. The shadow magic was super cool but I didn’t really understand half of what was going on, and The Quest seemed a bit too arbitrary? That ending tho????? MS. HOLLY BLACK I NEED ANSWERS. My not-so-sweet Vince deserves better.

3.5⭐️ rounding down

I’d like to preface this review by stating that I love Holly Black and have enjoyed everything I’ve read of hers in the past. With that said, I had to DNF this book. I got maybe 30% in and could not continue. I was not enjoying the the characters or the story. They were boring and just fell flat of my expectations. Sometimes I am a mood reader and maybe I just wasn’t in the right mindset for this right now. I have shelved it and plan on trying again maybe next year. I have purchased several copies for my bookstore as we all have different tastes in reading and who doesn’t love Holly Black.

I have always been a Holly Black fan and this one was no exception. It’s delicious, dark and the writing is phenomenal.

I have not read anything by Holly Black before, but I was looking forward to Book of Night when I first saw it online. I have to admit that I had a really hard time getting into this book and didn't really want to finish it. I guess the storyline just didn't pull me in like I had hoped. I'm sure others will like it though and I might try a book by her again in the future.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Published 3 May 2022.

I love Holly Black. I grew up with her Modern Faerie Tales series and I was so excited when I saw she was publishing for an adult audience. Unfortunately, Book of Night missed the mark completely. Charlie Hall was not particularly interesting or compelling as a character and her relationship with Vince fell flat. Much of the world building, which Black has so excelled at in her YA novels, felt superficial. I felt like I was reading a Holly Black inspired book instead of a book by a master of fantasy craft, herself. Perhaps its because I feel like Holly Black's YA novels already hold so much crossover appeal, that by the end, I was left wondering what the point of changing the audience was.

This wasn't my favorite but I did enjoy the atmosphere. I really liked the characters but I found the world building to be difficult to follow and the magic system was strange,

While I have loved every book Holly Black has written, this one unfortunately fell short for me. It felt too much like it was trying to be Ninth House but only managed to be a sad imitation. The characters and the world-building were never really flushed out, so I never really figured out Charlie. If I couldn't figure out the main character after reading the entire book something is wrong.

I have never read Holly Black before but I absolutely loved this magical, spooky thrilling story. I have heard people compare her writing and this book especially to Leigh Bardugo Ninth House but I would say this was absolutely in a class by itself

I was delighted to see a new title from Holly Black. Last summer I went on a binge of all of her works so I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this title. Black does not disappoint in her transition to new adult from young adult.

Pretty slow to get into but by the end I was recently hooked. Fun idea for the story though maybe was tough to wrap my brain around at times.

The time ran out for me to finish this book. I thought I would be able to download it to finish it but unfortunately i could not. I was enjoying it. WIll buy it in the future to finish it!

I'm a longtime Holly Black fan, and I read Book of Night based solely on my love for the author's other books. That said, it was entirely different than what I was expecting--I'm not usually into urban fantasy--but I found myself completely ensnared in Charlie's story and read it in one sitting (oops!), and am eager to read the next book!
I'd recommend Book of Night to fans of Sarah J. Maas' Crescent City series, those who enjoy JennIfer L Armentrout but don't want a lot of smut, or for those who have recently graduated from the YA section and are looking for fantasy with a side of mystery. Overall, a solid read.

As a long time fan of Holly Black, this foray into adult fiction does not disappoint! With more teeth and a rich complex plot, this book will leave you wanting more.

This was unfortunately not for me. It took a long time to get into things, and I really hoped I would love this - but the pace of the world building was too slow for me and I didn’t feel like I got to know the main character in the first quarter of the book.

I honestly wasn’t a huge fan of Holly Black but the description of this book made me want to give her a try again. It was better for me than her past books but I still found it more slow and I wasn’t as invested as I wanted to be. It’s still a great book that I can see a lot of people really enjoying.

BY: ARCHITA MITTRA
ISSUE: 18 JULY 2022

Book of Night coverLike the legendary Scheherazade of the Arabian Nights, bestselling fantasy writer Holly Black has long enchanted children and young adults with her darkly fantastical tales about the Faerie realm. Now, with the sinister and shadowy Book of Night, she makes her adult debut, weaving an enthralling story about a con artist, ancient grimoires, and silhouettes having a life of their own, set against a seedy urban backdrop that is rife with treachery, blackmail, and crime.

http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/book-of-night-by-holly-black/

I've previously read some of Black's earlier YA books, so was interested in her first foray into adult fiction and it did not disappoint! I've read almost every fantasy book out there and have never encountered a world as unique as this. I am now so obsessed with shadow magic and I have to be honest that I've been hyper-fixed on my own shadow since reading this book. No spoilers, but there is a twist in the last 4 pages of this book that made me audibly GASP, I was so shocked. The sequel cannot come soon enough!!