Reviews with content warning for Gore - Book of Night

Cool concept for the magic system/lore, but the plot was really confusing with too many characters, I don't love a dual timeline, and I didn't like the ending. The author told us the same obvious things loads of times but didn't explain a lot of the connections between characters and events enough for me to feel satisfied when the plot concluded because I didn't really know what I was meant to be waiting for. As other people have said, the main character is meant to be 28 but reads like an 18 year old.

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bcope84's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.5

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thehobbitbarbie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.0

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falling_through_the_pages's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A

4.25

No spoiler review!

I think some authors have a hard time transitioning from young adult or youth books when they are so well-known and so good at writing them. But Holly Black managed to pull it off. It still has the same feel as her young adult books with a dark, grown up twist to this unique world in Book of Night.

Charlie Hall lives in a world of shadows and the magic to wield them. Even though she won't dabble in it herself, she had no qualms doing criminal jobs for those who do. She's good at it. And while she might be trying to turn her life around now, she's drawn to danger and the wrong choices like a moth to flame.

This book took a while to hook me. At least the first 50% of the book was good enough to keep reading, but nothing that special. The world building and magic we're certainly fascinating and unique, and that was what kept me going. Halfway through the book, I'd say the plot finally picked up. But the whole book is worth it for the last 20%, especially with this book being relatively short. The major plot twist was fantastic, and I felt like I should have seen it coming, but didn't.

No happy endings for this book, but one of the best bittersweet last minute twists I've read in a while. I could see this going either way with a second book or a standalone. I would definitely read the next.

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taythegreat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I really enjoyed this book! Holly Black is the best when it comes to morally gray FMC. I loved that our heroine had flaws that but not in the "not like other girls" kind of way, Charlie was a lot of fun and I loved following her even when she made dumb decisions. She stayed on brand for sure.

This was a very slow book at first, I knew little to nothing about it when I started reading so I wasn't expecting it to be twisty-turny, pleasantly surprised for sure! I had some parts of the ending figured out early on and thought I had it all figured puy. I was pretty smug about it ngl, but the unexpected hit and was so satisfying.

The one thing I don't love is I went into this book thinking it was a stand alone, probably my fault for not researching it first, so the cliff hanger was a doozy.

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starlesscircus's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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jg34's review against another edition

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mysterious tense slow-paced

4.75

Thrillers or mystery books stress me out but I still really liked this! I think it would be 5 stars if it wasn’t for all the anxiety this book gave me 😩 love Vince and f everyone else. Also was anyone else getting incest vibes with Adeline I mean she was about to get naked with her NEPHEW what the hell

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claudiashelf's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

❝ The universe belongs to the curious. ❞

*take a deep breath* I expected lots of fortes when I took the yields of this book just because I enjoyed Holly Black’s previous books. Plus, the concept of this book sounds promising, not going to lie. —Where shadows can work magic, but only for those who have the ability to awaken, or hasten, their shadows— But, since this book is about Holly Black’s first adult debut, I can tell the worldbuilding was a bit difficult to follow. I mean, some aspects sound pretty much disconnected. Not in the usual romantic sense, but rather in a darker, more gothic one, which is what I found more enjoyable, this book was also more romantic than I had anticipated. All things considered, a fantastic read with fantasy, romance, and mystery components.

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