On this second read of Book of Night, I found myself appreciating Holly Black’s dark, gritty world even more. The magic system rooted in shadow manipulation is still one of the most intriguing elements, and Charlie Hall remains a complex, rough-around-the-edges protagonist worth following. Some pacing issues and dense world-building moments still held me back from a full five stars, but overall, it’s a haunting and imaginative story that holds up well on reread. A solid four stars... again.

In a magical world fueled by shadows, Charlie Hall is an old-fashioned magic-fee con artist. She’s sworn she’ll go straight and try to get by tending bar, but she knows it won’t last. When are dark figure from her past returns, she finds herself sucked back into a world of murder, lies, and shadows.
I’m a huge fan of Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House series, and this had a very similar vibe, not to mention the magic system Holly Black created is deeply dark and mysterious. If you enjoy dark fantasy and a good heist/con story, then I recommend you give this book a try.

The only reason this book wasn't a bigger disappointment than it was, is because I've seen all the other reviews of people completely let down by this book. I absolutely adored The Cruel Prince. People had their criticisms of that story, but I think it was an amazing and fantastical series full of incredible world building, interesting characters, and, most importantly, heart. Unfortunately, that is everything that Book of Night lacks.

After finishing the whole book, I still don't think I could explain to someone else what the magic system is. I don't understand the shadows and their powers and how different people can control their shadows in different ways and where that whole system came from. All of the characters are flat and lack any complex personalities. I didn't connect with any of them and did not buy into any of the relationships. The plot was going in circles at times and the dense paragraphs are world building explanations really broke the rhythm when the story finally started getting going.

Yeah I guess the ending was interesting, and I did like where Charlie and Vince's relationship went, but it doesn't make up for the fact that the rest of the book is honestly just boring and I'm not really tempted to pick up the sequel.

I would like to be reinstated as a book detective because I saw that plot twist coming from a mile away.

Book of Night is Holly Black's debut into the adult fantasy world, and it's quite a different vibe (urban fantasy) than The Cruel Prince (YA high fantasy). To be fair, I also wasn't a huge fan of The Cruel Prince, but Netgalley put this book back up to read for free, so I snagged it thinking it would force me to read it and then I could take it off my TBR. In hindsight, it was pretty low on my TBR, and I probably should have left it go because urban fantasy isn't typically my thing, but I took a chance on this book, and it didn't really pay off. I also want to mention that some of my problems with pacing might be because the PDF I received from Netgalley had some formatting/spelling errors that made some sections difficult to read.

One of my biggest issues is that not only does the blurb provide any idea of what the plot might be about, but the first 50% of the story is relatively directionless. We meet Charlie, a young woman who has a not-so-happy past that is consistently dumped on the reader through entire chapters that basically act as flashbacks. She's a bartender who used to do some not-so-savory jobs for not-so-savory people, and now that past is catching up to her. At almost exactly the halfway point, we get introduced to a new job for Charlie, aka stealing the Book of Night. There were parts of the plot that I enjoyed; I thought parts of Charlie's backstory were unique and interesting, I liked the mystery behind Vince's past, and the last 20% or so was definitely way more enticing. I think this book had good ideas, but poor pacing that left it feeling like it was lacking in execution. This felt way longer than 300 pages because the first half was such a slow read, but then there were also some sections that went by so fast I felt like I missed things. I thought the plot twist was interesting, but I called it from one of the early flashback chapters (and not even just parts of the twist, I literally guessed the entire thing). I think the next book has the potential to be interesting, but I just think this one suffered from starting way too early.

I also struggled to get connected to the characters. As much as I thought Charlie had a solid backstory, she didn't intrigue me much as a protagonist. She felt very reluctant to step (back) into the world of magic, which is fine, but she never fully obeyed the call to action, at least in my reading of it. Also, for some reason, I kept picturing her as Vi from Arcane but straight... Vince was probably one of the more interesting characters for me, but he disappeared for a large section of the story. I didn't mind Posey, and I thought her eagerness juxtaposed well with Charlie's hesitance. A lot of the side characters had either really basic or really bizarre names that I struggled to keep track of. It felt a bit difficult to remember who was who, so I didn't really form opinions on the other characters.

I think there is a specific audience for Book of Night (people who love urban fantasy, creative shadow magic, and complex, morally grey female protagonists), but unfortunately, I think it wasn't the book for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-copy!

3.25/5

Hmm, I can’t say this was my favorite Holly Black book that I’ve read. The first half I felt was so back and forth without any true connection between any part of the stories. It took me a long time to really get into things.

However, the second half started to make up for the confusion. Until the very end, when “Vince” didn’t remember Charlie anymore. I thought that was a very strange disconnect in the story.

Plot 3/5 ⭐️
Emotional? Not really. 1/5 ⭐️

Going into this i think I over hyped it because I was expecting a book that was just as amazing as the cruel prince series but adult. This was original and complex but this didn't have the world building or the characters I was expecting. I did enjoy parts of this but was also let down. The characters are fine but there is still a lot of mystery about them and of the events that happen. I'm just not fully invested in the characters or the story. Charlie is about the only one with depth. Vince and Posey are a bit flat and just sort of there. The flashbacks for Vince were interesting. The magic system honestly confused the hell out of me and I found myself rereading parts over to try and figure it out. I kept thinking I missed something but after seeing other people's reviews they also found it confusing so I'm glad I wasnt the only one. I found it really interesting but I wish it made more sense to me.

4⭐ 0.5🌶️

I absolutely love Holly Black's writing. This was very different from the Folk of Air series. A bit on the slower side, there is a lot of world building that I'm sure will pay off on the second book.

Thanks to the author, Tor publishing group, and NetGalley for the ARC. All comments are my own.

I went into this book expecting kind of a spicy grown up Folk of the Air vibe, but was pleasantly surprised. It starts a little slow, and the characters seem flat, but things are definitely much more interesting than they first appear as the story unfolds.

I am such a fan of Holly Black's writing as a whole, and I loved the concept of the cons and the magic and the flashbacks. And Vince and his mysterious past were very intriguing. And the ending - I cannot wait for book 2!

Okay love hate with this book. I loved the premise of it but it was soooo much back and forth of the same stuff happening. First half was super hard to stay into but by the end I was really invested. Enough that I am excited to arc read book 2! Holly Black is a fav author of mine so I think the beginning just felt a little repetitive and hard to stay grasped on but then I got there.

If you are in the mood to be in a mood, this is the book to read! It has a very unique and mystifying world, involving magic with actual shadows. These shadows can be manipulated, fed and can eerily take on a life of their own. In a very interesting way, manipulating the essence of one’s own shadow is explored and even different professions exist to cater to modifying shadows. I also really love the references to Tarot magic as well.

Our FMC, Charlie Hall, is a scrappy, grungy, ex-thief, ex-con artist trying to just make it in her world. We have a sort of MMC, Vince, that has an intriguing personality and really secretive past, but he’s not really there all the time.

We get a lot of character interaction, lots of family interactions and conversations. Not much of it is wholesome or happy, but almost all of it has a very real edge and gravity.

The whole plot is very well thought-out in my opinion. But I often found myself wishing there were pockets of “happy” events interspersed between the overall darkness and heaviness of the mood. It’s a nice change from the ever-happy vibes of other books, though.

At around 80%, I felt the story finally felt like there was some kind of semblance of resolution. The ending was great, and it definitely makes me look forward to book 2.

Rating: 3.5 stars. I would like to thank Tor Publishing and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I also listed to the audiobook through Libby and absolutely loved it!

Well overall I enjoy this book and the world building but it felt really long. I got this book through NetGalley as I had not heard of it so I had no idea that it was an already published book! I’ve also never read this author and I think k I’ll take a stab at another book as I do like her writing style.

Where the book thrives is in its descriptions which paint such a complex picture to the reader. It had a little bit of everything for different readers with magical realism, secret societies, romance and so much more.

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary eARC from Tor Publishing through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I don't typically read urban fantasy, but the magic system drew me in and kept me interested. I loved the slow reveal of things, and who each character was.

Charlie is a very complex personality - which makes it possible that many of us can relate to her on at least one level. personally, that hooked me! I found her instinctive decision-making, her loneliness, and her love-hate relationship with family so realistic that at times, I imagined her stepping right out of the IPad screen and sitting down on the couch next to me, as I read the book. The setting - shadow magic in western/central MA was a bit weird for me (perhaps because it was too close to home), but I got over it. I can't wait for the Charlie's next chapter. I am betting she will triumph in her love story because she is so damn stubborn!

I love Holly Black, so I had high hopes here. And while they weren’t met the book wasn’t bad. I liked the horror inclusions despite the book being fantasy. But I feel like all of the world building fell flat. Which was shocking because in the past it’s what I loved Holly Black’s books for.

3.5 stars
When I read my first Holly Black book, “The Cruel Prince” it took a little while for me to really get hooked by the story. Once I finished the first, I devoured the remaining books in the series. Knowing that series is YA, I expected my first foray into the adult books by this genre to go in a similar fashion. Although this concept is intriguing, I found it challenging to relate to the characters and had some difficulty comprehending the world and following parts of the story.

The FMC Charlie is rough and tough and doesn’t seem concerned with letting people know that. She is close with her sister, whom she lives with along with their cat Lucipurrr and Charlie’s boyfriend Vince. Vince is a mysterious person, Charlie still struggles to feel like she really knows him. Which makes it difficult for the reader to feel like we know him. The story jumped between 2 timelines, one present day told by Charlie. The other is in the past told by Remy. Throughout this story, we are given pieces of information about the magic system and how it affects both characters. As expected, how all these pieces fit together is not fully revealed until the end of the book. Honestly, even after finishing this book, there are areas I am still very unclear about.

This magic system involved shadows. What exactly that entailed felt blurry. It was a bit of a Monet-ish concept; from far away everything appears to come together into a beautiful masterpiece but the closer you get, the more confusion and jumbled the minute details get.

This was a slow book from start to finish. Even with the surprises at the end, I’m not sure if I will flock to the next book at once upon release. This book left me with many questions.

Thank you to Holly Black, Tor Publishing Group | Tor Books, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this eBook.

I went into this one with high expectations, especially since I’ve really enjoyed Holly Black’s writing in the past, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to the hype for me.

It’s definitely not a bad book, there’s nothing glaringly wrong, but it just felt underwhelming. The pacing dragged, especially early on, and I struggled with the world-building, which felt too thin to fully immerse me. The characters didn’t leave much of an impression either, they lacked the spark or complexity I usually look for.

Things did pick up near the end, and those moments had real potential, but for me, it wasn’t quite enough to get excited about continuing the series.

I love Holly Black’s writing but this story didn’t quite land for me unfortunately. I struggled with the pacing and found parts of the plot and worldbuilding a bit underdeveloped. I also didn’t connect well with the characters. Typically an “unlikable” FMC doesn’t really bother me because it can add an interesting element to the story and provide an opportunity for character growth, but for some reason I just couldn’t get behind Charlie enough to want to see it through. Still, Black’s writing is evocative and I enjoyed the atmosphere of this book, so I can see where people could really love. I think this series definitely has room to grow, even if it wasn't quite the right fit for me.

I was really excited to read this in preparation for book 2 coming out, but I just don’t think this series is for me! I really enjoyed the writing and world building in her Cruel Prince series, and this one just didn’t flow the same for me. The magic system had a ton of potential but was developed really awkwardly and felt confusing. There were also just so many characters to keep track of and none were very memorable. Maybe down the road I will try a reread, but I think this was just a miss for me!

I had to DNF this book. I just couldn’t force myself to read any more. It did a poor job of capturing my attention and I didn’t care for the characters. And with a book SO slowly paced, you really need to care. It just felt messy and hard to grasp. And as a huge fan of Holly Black’s previous series (The Folk of Air) this was incredibly disappointing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Tor publishing for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Good but not great. The world of shadow magic was a little confusing at first, but once I got into it, the story flowed fairly smoothly. I really liked the mystery around Vince and his relationship with Charlie. Overall, it kept me engaged. Charlie herself was a highlight: smart, resourceful, and not overly reliant on magic. Solid concept and characters, but it didn’t fully hit the mark for me.