Reviews with content warning for Gore - Silver Under Nightfall

i really needed a three way romance actually. didn't even know I had
the world was easy to fall into, the characters and relationships make you squirm inside in a good way, and even tho I found the plot lacking, I'm not a plot person anyway.
Im gonna come back to the series and we better get a lot more Zidan/Remy content. or else

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freya's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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snaileton's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

When the author mentioned in the acknowledgments that they used to write fanfiction I was not surprised in the slightest (affectionate).

This book is an absolute joy to read - Remy is a fun and incredibly endearing MC to follow on this crazy ride. The humans and the vampires have been at odds for centuries, and when an uneasy alliance finally begins to form, a vampire mutation causes the newly turned undead to become near-unkillable zombies and threatens the agreement. Remy must work with Lord Malekh and Lady Song - engaged vampire royals - to find the origin of the mutation, and resist falling into their bed in the process.

Loved the concept, very quick read despite the page count because I couldn't put it down, truly such a gem. I could nitpick story elements, but I had so much fun that it was easy to breeze past and just enjoy the ride. Poly couple where the vampires find this himbo vampire hunter and decide that he belongs to them now. Our pure of heart, dumb of ass Remy is living the dream.

There are two elements that I would offer as points to consider before reading. For one, this story's setting is at odds with its language and technology. The environment, weaponry, and everyday items make it feel like it is early 1800s at the ABSOLUTE latest, but the colloquial language and medical tech give it a more modern feel. You're telling me you have to use carrier pigeons for messaging and horse-drawn carriages for travel, but have ABO +/- blood typing and a blood-processing machine that provides the identity of whoever you take a sample from? I guess a society with vampires would prioritize tech involving blood, but you'd think they'd have phones as well at that rate. I'm not a stickler for time-appropriate details, especially since this isn't set in our world, so it didn't really bother me, but I know this can be a dealbreaker for others.

The other issue I had was the passage of time. Maybe I read the book too quickly and missed some key words, but I felt like we were jumping around at light speed. A ball is held in one of the first chapters and is initially described as being in a few days time, but then we are immediately at the ball. No page break, no acknowledgment that the days had passed, we are just at the ball. It made the reading experience a bit jarring and made the ability to estimate how much time had passed between plot points difficult. The events of this story take place over a month or two (?) and two weeks of that is a time jump. You could have told me it was five days, you could have told me five months, I would have believed either one.

Neither of these points detracted too much from the story personally, but felt important to mention for potential readers. Overall, the most fun I've had with a book in a hot minute and am eagerly anticipating the sequel!

(Side note: it feels like a crime to have Malekh call Remy "my pet" in the very first chapter and then literally never use it again like what the fuck you literally bring him in to be the sub in ur hot vampire relationship KEEP CALLING HIM YOUR PET)

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atlastheninth's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I very much enjoyed reading that. Nothing really outstanding though.

It was funny in parts, brutal and emotional and heart-breaking in others. I don't really have much more to say about it. (Maybe I'll think of something later)

"Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps you are worth saving? That you are worth the time to be kind to?"

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queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

5 ⭐ CW: Violence, blood, gore, self-harm, death, sexual content, abuse, sexual abuse

Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco is book one of the Reapers series. I have loved everything I've read by this author, and this book is no different. This one is more romance than Chupeco's other books, plus this one is adult, so plenty of spicy bits 🌶️🌶️.

We follow Remy, a Reaper (vampire slayer) in the kingdom of Aluria. He's not well liked by the other Reapers, because of rumors he's half vampire (a cambion), and his father is abusive. At a party, Remy runs into Lady Song Xiaodan and her fiancé Lord Zidan Malekh and builds a flirtatious rapport with them both. When people who have gone missing keep showing up being turned into vampires with something called The Rot, Remy, Xiaodan, and Zidan must work together to help protect Aluria, and figure out where the Rot is coming from to stop it.

Chupeco is a master of writing romances that start out with the characters hating each other, and ending them each of them willing to burn the world in order to save them. That is Remy and Zidan. Remy's relationship with Xiaodan is much easier, but he fights to understand his feelings for Zidan. I love this polycule! So much communication! I love that we get to see how Remy's relationship evolves with each of them. Remy is a poor abused boy that needs to learn he is deserving of love and kindness. Not to mention plenty of fantastic threesome scenes.

I thought the plot and world-building were great. They were a bit slower than their other books, but that usually means we are going to get a lot of amazing things to chew on. There are so many great discussions on consent, and Chupeco does a great job of tackling a situation where a man is being sexually abused and carrying trauma. Elke is the best, and I'm still rooting for her and Alegra.

I'm excited to read book 2!

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wilybooklover's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

This is not a perfect book by any means — the first third is a bit slow, a few words are misused, some of the twists were predictable and easy to guess, the ending was a little weak and rushed — but it was the perfect book for *me* and my reading mood when I picked it up. Violent, sexy, and a whole lot of fun, it felt like the perfect blend of fantasy and romance with both horror and historical elements. The take on vampires is refreshing without straying too far from tradition, and there's enough mystery, political intrigue, and suitably creepy monsters to keep things interesting. Remy could be a frustratingly oblivious protagonist at times, but he's such a dramatic disaster bi. I really loved reading the dynamics of this bisexual throuple; the romance is surprisingly soft and warm (maybe a bit instalove-y, but I don't even care).

I am in DIRE need of the sequel though after that ending!! Also I wish we had the US cover in the UK, it's so much prettier.

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shelbbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

this book feels more like a first or second draft than a polished piece. the concept and tropes are top tier, but i didn’t feel like the story was executed in a cohesive way. pacing was all over the place and i was left with questions that i felt could have been answered. some characters were intensely dislikable and irredeemable in a cartoon villain type of way that made them fall flat for me.
some of the interactions between the main characters also felt clunky, awkward, and staged.

i want to clarify that a lot of the tropes and lore are phenomenal to me and i love the ideas presented here.

this one simply needed a hell of a lot more revision to make it make sense.

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