What Feasts at Night from Macmillan Audio

Alex Easton returns!

The absolute stand out option of this novella is the way it directly, compassionately , and thoughtfully addresses Easton’s ptsd from the war. It is a masterful balance between using horror to explore and explain the way Easton’s “Soldier’s Heart” manifests the war as a place that follows them and stays with them in a way that more benign memories cannot. The war is a place that you go, a place that is only one wrong turn away from taking you back. You can get lost in a place.

The tail end of the story really sells the atmospheric creepiness of a haunted rural hunting lodge.

I also appreciate the return of the really interesting and prominent use of neopronouns in this series, not just for the protagonist, but for various supporting characters in a way that interacts compellingly with class and social structure in this world.

Avi Roque returns as the audiobook narrator and delivers a solid performance. I read what Moves the Dead as an ebook, rather than audio, but I was familiar with Roque from their narration of Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas. In both instances I was initially a little thrown because their voice is not quite what you’d expect for someone narrating a grumpy and sarcastic main character-with a very light and pleasant delivery in some scenes where I would have expected something sharper-but they grew on me both times.

I really enjoyed this one! A solid sequel to WMTD. I love Kingfisher’s writing, and the world that she’s has created. I love learning about the Gallacian language (with its many nuanced personal pronouns!) and traditions. I really like Easton and Ms Potter and Angus and Hobb the horse, so it was nice to return to that world and see what they’re up to.

I suppose that I was hoping for more suspense, more creepy gothic vibes. It felt like right when things got interesting and really scary, I was 90% done the book.

Thank you NetGalley for an advance listener copy for review.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an audio-arc in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the first book in this series, I thought we had hit a new level of horror I hadn't expected. I was wrong. Because this book? I made the mistake of listening with the light off, and let me tell you, don't do that.

We see our MC Alex Easten return to a home country that is just backward enough that when confronted by the idea of a breath-stealing monster, it is both unbelievable and also taken quite seriously. I enjoyed watching the story unfold as things just get more and more terrifying until the ultimate climax of the book where it just goes off the deep end.

I loved this. And now I'm kind of hoping we get another book in the series because a) I love these characters so much and b) T. Kingfisher's has a way with horror that gets underneath your skin in all the best ways.

Highly recommend this one. And I definitely recommend the audiobook. The narrator does a great job bringing both the story and Alex Easten alive.

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars

Excellent writing, atmospheric and cozy! Kingfishers weaves the horror of monsters with the isolation of the rustic hunting lodge. Perfect pace, length and prose.

T Kingfisher did it again with this chilling gothic vibes novella. It was fun to be back with characters from the previous book. At this point, I think I’ll be picking anything T Kingfisher writes. Even when it’s outside my comfort genres it still always hits! I also really enjoyed the deliver the audiobook narrator gave to this story. It was a perfect fit!

Alex Easton returns in this follow up to What Moves the Dead, the retelling of the Fall of the House of Usher. Heading to his Hunting Lodge he encounters strange deaths and a rumor of demon that steals your breath while you sleep. His housekeeper fears her grandson is afflicted, and is planting talismans to ward off evil through the house, and Alex is having strange dreams himself.

Entertaining and unique these short novella's are entertaining and creepy. I hope that Kingfisher continues to give us tales of Alex Easton. The narration by Avi Roque is excellent and captures the youth and naivety Alex has around certain things while also experiencing the weariness of a battle worn soldier.

What Feasts at Night is another brilliant novella by T. Kingfisher. #2 in the Sworn Soldier Series, the story picks up a few short months after the events of What Moves the Dead, Alex returns to an old family lodge only to find the house gone to decay and his caretaker dead. The best part about the story is the voice of our skeptical and rational narrator Alex. The whit and charm that comes through in the telling gives the story a light humorous feel in the midst of also building tension. Is the lodge truly haunted or is something else going on? But as Alex tells us, the scariest stories do not tie up nice and neat, but leave much unexplained. While not as creative and intense as Book 1 in this series, Kingfisher's writing is always a joy to experience and "What Feasts at Night" makes a great follow up.

I listened to the audio book and Avi Roque give a phenomenal reading. You will be laughing one minute and super tense the next as they place us at the heart of Alex's experience, from their cynical interior banter to their utter terror at the very real possibility of death and having the breath sucked out of their lungs. What is real and what isn't? Well that is for each of us to decided. This is an excellent audiobook.

Thanks to Macmillan audio and Netgalley for granting me access to this advanced listening copy for this honest review.

* 4.5 stars *
Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.
What Feast at Night is the awaited sequel to What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher. A continuation of the soldier and the mushroom lover fighting another creepy and grotesque entity. I loved the first book of this series and was very excited to get my hands on this one.
I love the way T. Kingfisher writes horror. It is not all at once in your face but a subtle shift that makes you uncomfortable and grows to a level of pure horror. It hits you at your core and lets just say after reading this one it will be hard to sleep tonight.
The characters have such complex connected emotions and it makes you feel with them through all of the horrific events. They all have pasts that come to haunt them and make the current events even harder. Ms. Potter is by far my favorite. I love her excitement and her attitude. The hilarious phrase book while she is trying to learn the language just made this novel that much better!
I would recommend this book and this author to anyone who likes some good horror, especially fantasy horror. It's another winner from this amazing author and another reason they are one of my favorites! I can not wait what to see what T. Kingfisher comes up with next!

Welcome back to the world of Alex Easton and their series of horrific adventures! I was so excited to read this audiobook and get back into the spooky world of Gallacia.

In this installment of the Sworn Soldier series, Easton is headed to their family hunting lodge after the events of What Moves the Dead. Once they get there, they find their caretaker dead and the homestead eerily silent no matter what they do. Now they have to uncover the many mysteries of their home while interacting with a whole new cast of characters.

I am not going to lie, I was a little nervous when I started this book. What Moves the Dead was incredible and I had huge expectations when it came to What Feasts at Night, but let me tell you this lived up to the hype. In fact, it was better than What Moves the Dead!

The atmosphere of the hunting lodge and dreamscape that Alex explores throughout the book is perfect. You will feel chills and frights and you won't be able to sleep after reading this book. Gallacia was certainly frightening and I loved getting immersed in this world again.

Now can we talk about the found family in this? Of course, you have the comeback of Agnus and Miss Potter, but you also have the addition of their new caretaker Widow Botezatu, and her son Bors. These new additions add so much to this small novel! One of the only issues that I had with the previous book was I didn't feel connected to a lot of the characters, but that is not an issue here. Bors has my whole heart and every time Widow Botezatu walked into a scene I knew I was going to get a good laugh!

All in all this new book was incredible and I hope T. Kingfisher will continue enthralling us with Easton's unfortunate tales.

Thank you so much to T. Kingfisher and Netgalley for giving me access to this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love a lot of T. Kingfisher's work, but I think their horror is not for me (it's not usually my preferred genre anyway). This is a novella but it takes so long to build up into something interesting. If you like slow, atmospheric gothic horror, I'm sure you would love this. Craft-wise, it's great. I think I'll stick to their romantasy stories from now on.

Alex Easton is back handling another mysterious haunting-of-sorts. Instead of Poe, we have a folklore-based tale. It doesn't make itself more than it is--sometimes a short, somewhat unexplained experience is most effective. As the book says, a too-neat story is obviously untrue. I'll be thrilled to learn if Kingfisher publishes another in this grouping.
The narrator for this audiobook was exactly what I expected for Easton, and they did an incredible job building out the rest of the characters' voices. An excellent format for these spooky novellas.

I had a really really hard time continuing this story. As much as I love kingfishers writing, these characters just weren’t connecting for me! Overall I’m glad I read it but can’t see myself continuing this series.

I was provided both a print and audio ARC of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.

Easton has returned home to Gallacia for some rest and relaxation after their time as a soldier and the terrifying ordeal with the Ushers. Upon arrival at their lodge, they find it in disrepair and the caretaker missing. Easton and his attendant Angus quickly come to find that the caretaker has passed and a superstition surrounds the lodge. Easton isn't much for superstitions, but when they being experiencing strange dreams and symptoms there might be some validity to the lore.

I loved this. The gothic creepy vibe where excellent! If you loved What Moves the Dead you will loved this! Kingfisher does a great job with the worldbuilding and atmosphere. I loved the folklore aspect to the book and the heed the townsfolk give to all of their superstitions. It really enhanced the creep factor especially when Easton started having super vivid dreams. The dream sequences were exceptionally spooky and the descriptions make it really easy to visualize what was going on. You feel as disoriented as Alex does, and you aren't really sure what is happening.

While this is the second book in series, I think you can read it as a standalone. There are references to things that occurred in What Moves the Dead, and I highly recommend reading that first, but the main plot of this doesn't rely on you knowing the outcome of that book for you to follow this one. This reads more as a companion novel than a direct sequel. I do feel as if you will get a richer reading experience if you read them in publication order though.

This is a wonderfully strange novella and perfect for fans of gothic horror.

Alex Easton returns to his families lodge following the events that occurred in What Moves the Dead. Hoping for relaxation and some rest he and Angus find that the caretaker of the lodge is dead. Not only did the caretaker die from mysterious circumstances but the entire village believes that the death was caused by an entity embedded in local folklore.

Let me begin by saying that I really enjoyed the first book with its literal nod to Poe’s classic, The Fall of the House of Usher?” This fell a little short compared to the first of the series. This still had some great atmospheric parts but I found it dragging throughout most of the story, and this is a short story!

The narrator was ok, but lacked emotion that I feel would have moved the story along.

2.5 ⭐️

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I did the audiobook for this one. This was an interesting, clever take on a dream eating monster. I loved the story and the descriptive writing. It was very immersive and you really feel like you’re there with the characters as they are experiencing oddities in this spooky, gothic tale.
The only thing I didn’t like was the narration itself. I felt that the narrator did not fit the internal voice I had for Alex Easton from book 1, What Moves The Dead.
I think that if you liked the first book, you will enjoy this one as well.

I enjoyed this much more than what moves the dead ✨

Amazing gothic vibes✨

Soldiers heart=PTSD explained well in this story ✨

I would die for Mr.potter and Angus✨

Such a great ending! Will here be a book 3?

Somehow this is better than the first! a dark folktale for the ages, Kingfisher has woven legend and horror together in a way that is truly unmatched. I didn't think this could possibly live up to What Moves the Dead, but this met and surpassed is predecessor with ease unmatched in fiction.
#indigoemployee

A nice supernatural followup to the more creepy biology-based first novella.

Alex Easton is back alongside friends Angus and Miss Potter, plus a few quirky new faces. The housekeeper is easily the most interesting of the bunch and my new favorite character!

The story explains Alex's pronouns (ka/kan) very simply and clearly, so I'm honestly puzzled by the book summary's use of they/them and other reviewers' choice of pronoun roulette. As with the first book, I think the creation of several specific pronoun sets is an intriguing choice and adds depth to the world building.

It's no secret that Avi Roque's narration style doesn't click for me, but for those that enjoy them this book should be a fun listen.

Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan audio and tor nightfire for letting me listen to this. I've been excited for months because I loved the first book in this series, which had shades of Poe and other Gothic influences. I read a print version of the first and listened to this one, and the narrator was great.
Our main character comes home in this story, only to become involved in creepy circumstances again. Is there really a ghost or creature that blocks your air while you sleep by putting pressure on your chest?
This one didn't have as much of a sense of dread but it was a fun follow up and I'm looking forward to the next one. Hurry!

Initial Thoughts
This was excellent! I loved What Moves the Dead, so I was very eager to read this story which follows our favorite sworn soldier, Alex Easton. Alex and their groom, Angus, travel to the lodge owned by Alex's family only to find it in disrepair after the caretaker's death. They will soon learn that there is more going on than they first thought. I listened to the audiobook and thought that the narrator did a fantastic job of bringing this story to life.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Full review to be posted soon.