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brynalexa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
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? No
5.0
I didn’t know a book SO long could be SO fast-paced. I was in love with the characters from the start and got my heart broken and put back together countless times. I love the depth of the history in names of people/places and how the author demonstrates changes in people, places, culture, and languages over time. I love a book with gay characters in which the trauma has nothing to do with their sexuality. The interview at the end of the audiobook was definitely with the listen.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Minor: Infertility and Cannibalism
aileron's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Abandonment, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic
Moderate: Animal death, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death, Suicide, and Cannibalism
quinnyquinnquinn's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Sexual content, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Animal death, Suicide, and Kidnapping
aas's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
boba_nbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I wish I could stay in this world forever. To say I loved this book is an understatement. It’s definitely going to be in my top 5 of the year and maybe of all time.
Shannon pulls you right into this world and keeps you engrossed in it to the bitter end. I loved learning more about the history of this world and the predecessors of the MCs in The Priory of the Orange Tree. This standalone prequel is definitely more gay and has more dragons, and that just made this book even better. Now I want to reread Priory knowing all of the history from A Day of Fallen Night.
All this being said—read this book. If you love high fantasy, dragons, court politics, strong female MCs, and opposing religious beliefs, this is the book and world for you. Samantha Shannon, I sincerely hope you write about this world again.
Shannon pulls you right into this world and keeps you engrossed in it to the bitter end. I loved learning more about the history of this world and the predecessors of the MCs in The Priory of the Orange Tree. This standalone prequel is definitely more gay and has more dragons, and that just made this book even better. Now I want to reread Priory knowing all of the history from A Day of Fallen Night.
All this being said—read this book. If you love high fantasy, dragons, court politics, strong female MCs, and opposing religious beliefs, this is the book and world for you. Samantha Shannon, I sincerely hope you write about this world again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and War
Moderate: Sexual content and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicide
alexalily's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Cancer, Chronic illness, Infidelity, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, and Alcohol
bashsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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? It's complicated
5.0
This book is soooo long and the space & energy for writing a review is so short, yet I shall forge on. A Day of Fallen Night is just as incredible as The Priory of the Orange Tree - if not moreso. Although I read Priory over a year ago now, slipping into this prequel was much easier than getting into the first book. The worldbuilding and the lore came back to me quickly, prodded along by the fact that this is meant to be readable as a standalone. Sometimes that quality can be repetative when you read multiple books in the same universe, but here it was just a boon.
A short list of things I liked about this book:
A short list of things I liked about this book:
- Always amuses me that Shannon not only made Fantasy Catholicism but also made it canonically false.
- Addition of nonbinary rep - including nonbinary titles! I love the terms Mastress and Lade.
- Addition of other trans rep - there are at least two trans men & just like the gay relationships, no one bats an eye at them.
- Thrit, I am emotionally invested in this secondary character, he is the best.
- Gay-on-gay-on-gay violence at one of the climaxes
where all the narrators run into each other.
No complaints, 100% recommend, I can't wait for the next book in this universe.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Cursing, Infidelity, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Colonisation
Minor: Mental illness, Suicide, and Cannibalism
unboxedjack's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and War
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Kidnapping
starrysteph's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
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
5.0
A Day of Fallen Night was everything I ever wanted and more. (Yes, I think it surpasses Priory in every way.)
The story follows 4 main narrators (Tunuva in the South, Glorian in the West, Wulf in the North, and Dumai in the East), each grappling with similar themes of leadership and loyalty and love. Their world is tested with the eruption of the Dreadmount, releasing terrifying creatures and sending the continents into an age of darkness and sorrow. Each storyteller must fight for themselves and find strength for their people.
I wept and I screeched and I was thoroughly engaged.
The writing was SO lush and beautiful. The story flowed perfectly, with explosive & cinematic action scenes alongside simmering romance and gripping political maneuvers.
A consistent theme was motherhood, and each major character reflects on their relationship to their mother, considers children of their own, and grapples with the weight of lineage. There are beautiful parallels between characters who have no control over their own bodies and characters with the freedom to explore their identities.
There’s also some seriously beautiful work around grief and loss. Characters mourn and sink into depression and learn how to keep moving forward with the weight of the world on their shoulders.
There’s darkness, but also so much compassion. While there are death and war and monsters, human brutality is not a pivotal part of this world. Characters are open with each other. Lovers forgive each other. Even potential political villains are - for the most part - willing to listen and have certain moral boundaries.
The dragons … oh, the dragons. You understand just enough about them and the origins of their power, their ambitions, and their wrath. But they are ancient & terrifying & godlike in the best possible way.
The history is creative, brilliant, and so thought out. We don’t get every single detail, but it’s clear to me that Shannon has built this world with work and care. And the queerness of this world is so rich. We get to see all sorts of relationships - and I won’t say more to keep this spoiler-free, but each romantic arc is delightful and diverse.
I think this story was a level up from The Priory of the Orange Tree. If you have not yet read Priory, I would actually recommend starting with A Day of Fallen Night. I think it sets up the events & world quite nicely - and you’ll enter the world with zero anticipation or spoilers from the Priory plot.
Each page felt essential and moved the plot forward – yes, much of the book is slower-paced, but the chapters were generally short and punchy. There were some plot points I didn’t care for as much as others, but I was never bored. In fact, it was usually quite the opposite: I’d feel a loss at the end of a chapter (wanting to continue with a POV), but then find myself enchanted once more a page into the next perspective. I didn’t think there was a weak narrator.
I was SO invested; it was hard but worthwhile to savor this book and not devour it. There are hints sprinkled throughout and carefully curated threads with brilliant payoffs. I thought Glorian’s arc in particular was absolutely masterful.
Don’t laugh at me - I think the book could have been longer. Because of the time skips, certain moments were so fast. And I think I can confidently say Shannon doesn’t enjoy writing battle scenes (honestly, I don’t enjoy reading long battle scenes, but I can see other epic fantasy readers feel disappointed by the lack of longer action).
Overall, this book was beautiful. The world, the characters, the poetic language … It was everything I dreamed of in an epic fantasy journey.
CW: death (incl. death of parents and child death), war, murder, animal death, pregnancy, adult/minor relationship (political), grief, religious bigotry, fire, terminal illness, suicide, misogyny, sexual content
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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, War, and Injury/Injury detail
careinthelibrary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Complex and epic, stretching across so much geography and individual experiences, this is a worthy follow-up to <i>The Priory of the Orange Tree</i>. It manages to feel familiar to fans of the series without feeling like it's relying on the success of the first one to succeed itself. It stands on its own feet and feels independent but welcoming to returning fans.
This is more politically intricate than the previous tome from Samantha Shannon. I didn't personally prefer this much politics in my fantasy, but I know lots of people who enjoy political machinations and intrigue in their high fantasy so I'm sure it'll be popular for that reason. There's a lot more time spent discussing various kingdoms' relationships with one another and marriage features a lot more in this (at least to my memory of what <i>Priory</i> was like). But don't fret, there's also plenty of action and darkness.
The dragon content doesn't disappoint. It feels like it's scraped from the depths of a volcano with how intimidating and ancient they feel. We get lots of conflict with dragons in this which is satisfying because <i>Priory</i> never felt like quite enough. Samantha Shannon is generous with the drama in this book.
Women and women's love are at the core of this novel. Romantic love, parental love, sisterly love. This puts a spotlight on these kinds of relationships and over the course of the novel, they grow and change. They betray one another, they uplift one another, they love each other, they defend each other. It's great. There were some characters I felt more attached to and whose plotlines entertained me more while others were lesser favoured. Glorian was my favourite but I liked aspects of all them.
All in all, I don't think this will disappoint fans. Depending on your personal preferences, you may like this a little more or a little less than the previous, but most importantly, it's its own story with a fresh take on the world. It doesn't live in the shadow of the predecessor but right alongside that legend.
This is more politically intricate than the previous tome from Samantha Shannon. I didn't personally prefer this much politics in my fantasy, but I know lots of people who enjoy political machinations and intrigue in their high fantasy so I'm sure it'll be popular for that reason. There's a lot more time spent discussing various kingdoms' relationships with one another and marriage features a lot more in this (at least to my memory of what <i>Priory</i> was like). But don't fret, there's also plenty of action and darkness.
The dragon content doesn't disappoint. It feels like it's scraped from the depths of a volcano with how intimidating and ancient they feel. We get lots of conflict with dragons in this which is satisfying because <i>Priory</i> never felt like quite enough. Samantha Shannon is generous with the drama in this book.
Women and women's love are at the core of this novel. Romantic love, parental love, sisterly love. This puts a spotlight on these kinds of relationships and over the course of the novel, they grow and change. They betray one another, they uplift one another, they love each other, they defend each other. It's great. There were some characters I felt more attached to and whose plotlines entertained me more while others were lesser favoured. Glorian was my favourite but I liked aspects of all them.
All in all, I don't think this will disappoint fans. Depending on your personal preferences, you may like this a little more or a little less than the previous, but most importantly, it's its own story with a fresh take on the world. It doesn't live in the shadow of the predecessor but right alongside that legend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Infidelity, and Suicide
Minor: Alcohol
Forced pregnancy, young pregnancy