scholarmuj's review against another edition
5.0
Overall, the series was sooooooooooo good. I couldn’t put it down since the first book, was hooked every single chapter. Super surprised that it's not more well known as it's easily in my top 3 series of all time. Signing off for at least 3 weeks just to process the emotional journey this series caused me lmaoo. 1000/10 would recommend, don’t miss out >:).
tannithreece's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lifewithbooks's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
lordnikon's review against another edition
2.0
Oh man, this is a heartbreaker to write. And it looks like I'll be the odd man out as everyone else is gushing about this book. Sorry Will.
I loved this series. Books 1-4 offered me lots to enjoy, with great characters, world-building, energy, and pacey plot. I loved the slow build to Zero Hour, and the urgency of that.
The thing is, Zero Hour was up at the end of Book 4...which brings us to my first issue with DARKEST NIGHT. As the book starts the time counter (which in previous books had been counting down to Zero Hour) starts counting past Zero Hour (Example: Zero Hour plus 91 days). Not only that, but that counter makes it to around the 200ish days past Zero Hour mark...which is just over of 6 months. So Zero Hour, the hour of Dracula being back to full strength and has threatened humanity with its doom and their subservience passes, and nothing. So not only does Dracula not attack, he waits SIX MONTHS. Narratively this gives Blacklight and the similar world organizations the time to do all the things they need to do to prepare. That's a big plothole to me. The attack should have come far sooner. 6 months is a LONG ass time to be twiddling ones thumbs if one is a dark evil monster with doom on his mind. So basically you can say that I read the first few hundred pages in disbelief that nothing was happening on that front. I'm not asking Hill to rush the confrontation...but then Zero Hour should not have been weighed on so heavily and so EXPLICITLY held up as the "final hour" in the previous books if it was going to be the final hour + Six Months.
Which kind of brings me to another thing I disliked. The leads, moreover Jaime himself. In most YA series, if a character ages over the course of the books, especially a teen one going through traumatic occurrences and being forced to grow up, they do so. The Harry Potter leads go from moderately spoilt young teens to angsty, hormonal, angry older teens, and finally to young adults who've been through hell and have grown up as a result. They make adult decisions, and under stand why other older adults make harder decisions. Jaime does none of this. Jaime is the same arrogant, angry, Woe-is-me, teenager he was in book 1 in book 5. This should not be. Let alone the stuff he's been through, but the time that has passed should have honed him into something better. Someone more responsible. Someone not prone to lashing out at everyone in his vicinity to advance the plot. I hated Jaime in this book...he makes piss poor decisions, lashes out, apologizes, rinse and repeat. There is literally NO growth to his character. I mean his father disappeared and faked his own death to protect his family from the forces he KNEW would go after them...and Jaime's response is to lose his shit and not forgive his father. He treats a heroic man who saved his life with the contempt reserved for men who leave their families willingly. Julian never did that, but Jaime treats him like he did. The angst present in Jaime at his age should not be. He should have grown out of that, not especially because of what he went through.
Do we need the Night Stalker stuff? Not really. Why should I care about Kate and Matt's fathers getting the wrong end of the stick like a sitcom and proceeding to work against the cause? What about Matt and Natalia? Hamfisted romance, if you ask me. It's not organic and doesn't feel that way. And Matt's discovery of the cure is a bit too trite. It happens fast and then is the catalyst for the Blacklight to be even in a position to fight Dracula. Which felt shoehorned.
Basically there is a lot of filler before we get to the meat of the ending with the fight against Dracula proper in France. When we get there, things are good. There is a big battle, and even though the stakes (Heyo!) have been lowered, by the fact that everyone is a Vampire and can basically heal if they are not destroyed utterly...it still feels urgent and good.
Does Hill stick the landing in his 5-book epic Vampire monster series?
Eh, yes and no. Dracula has been built up as Mr. Powerful. He's been shown to be IMMENSELY strong. So much so that even one of his earliest turned lieutenant's (Valentin) can be thrown around like a ragdoll. So I WAS expecting that the only way to beat him would have been something out of left field. Something no one was expecting, least of all Dracula. Something that would not just feel like the good guys triumphing over him. A trick (like Neville taking out Nagini, removing the last of Voldemort's horcruxes and allowing him to die traditionally)...but thatw as not to be. This really does come down to Jaime and Drac...and after Drac has pretty much mopped the floor with him, he's bested by a wooden cross rammed into his throat (and then a sword to the heart while he's lying there). So I'm meant to believe this guy who is faster than anyone else in the room...who is walking up to his defeated enemy lying prone on the ground...is not fast enough to see the cross being shoved towards him? I...I don't get it. I seriously don't. I'm not saying I could come up with something better, but beating a guy who has been professed to be SO overpowered for 4 books with something so conventional was a huge letdown. It's only redeemed slightly in the fact that the darkness that made him (back in Book 2, I think) is the thing that grabs him back down.
Larissa and Jaime don't end up together. I heard this was the case before finishing the novel...and you know what? I'm glad. Larissa can do MUCH better than Jaime. He's a bit more grown up at the end, but there is still something SO childish about how he acts around even his friends at the end. Again, no growth.
The best thing about this novel...is that Valentin lives. If there was ONE thing I wanted from this series from the moment he turncoated to Blacklight's side...it was that Valentin would get to live. He's probably the best and most realized character in the whole series, and a boon to Hill's talent at writing...he's nuanced, and interesting, and easily on par with someone like Sirius Black for fan enjoyment level.
So, I'm sorry Mr. Hill. I loved most of the books in this series...but this one fell more flat than I wanted it to. Somewhere in these 700+ pages was a great last book, but it's buried amongst a lot of filler, a few plot holes and the angst of one young man who hasn't grown up.
I loved this series. Books 1-4 offered me lots to enjoy, with great characters, world-building, energy, and pacey plot. I loved the slow build to Zero Hour, and the urgency of that.
The thing is, Zero Hour was up at the end of Book 4...which brings us to my first issue with DARKEST NIGHT. As the book starts the time counter (which in previous books had been counting down to Zero Hour) starts counting past Zero Hour (Example: Zero Hour plus 91 days). Not only that, but that counter makes it to around the 200ish days past Zero Hour mark...which is just over of 6 months. So Zero Hour, the hour of Dracula being back to full strength and has threatened humanity with its doom and their subservience passes, and nothing. So not only does Dracula not attack, he waits SIX MONTHS. Narratively this gives Blacklight and the similar world organizations the time to do all the things they need to do to prepare. That's a big plothole to me. The attack should have come far sooner. 6 months is a LONG ass time to be twiddling ones thumbs if one is a dark evil monster with doom on his mind. So basically you can say that I read the first few hundred pages in disbelief that nothing was happening on that front. I'm not asking Hill to rush the confrontation...but then Zero Hour should not have been weighed on so heavily and so EXPLICITLY held up as the "final hour" in the previous books if it was going to be the final hour + Six Months.
Which kind of brings me to another thing I disliked. The leads, moreover Jaime himself. In most YA series, if a character ages over the course of the books, especially a teen one going through traumatic occurrences and being forced to grow up, they do so. The Harry Potter leads go from moderately spoilt young teens to angsty, hormonal, angry older teens, and finally to young adults who've been through hell and have grown up as a result. They make adult decisions, and under stand why other older adults make harder decisions. Jaime does none of this. Jaime is the same arrogant, angry, Woe-is-me, teenager he was in book 1 in book 5. This should not be. Let alone the stuff he's been through, but the time that has passed should have honed him into something better. Someone more responsible. Someone not prone to lashing out at everyone in his vicinity to advance the plot. I hated Jaime in this book...he makes piss poor decisions, lashes out, apologizes, rinse and repeat. There is literally NO growth to his character. I mean his father disappeared and faked his own death to protect his family from the forces he KNEW would go after them...and Jaime's response is to lose his shit and not forgive his father. He treats a heroic man who saved his life with the contempt reserved for men who leave their families willingly. Julian never did that, but Jaime treats him like he did. The angst present in Jaime at his age should not be. He should have grown out of that, not especially because of what he went through.
Do we need the Night Stalker stuff? Not really. Why should I care about Kate and Matt's fathers getting the wrong end of the stick like a sitcom and proceeding to work against the cause? What about Matt and Natalia? Hamfisted romance, if you ask me. It's not organic and doesn't feel that way. And Matt's discovery of the cure is a bit too trite. It happens fast and then is the catalyst for the Blacklight to be even in a position to fight Dracula. Which felt shoehorned.
Basically there is a lot of filler before we get to the meat of the ending with the fight against Dracula proper in France. When we get there, things are good. There is a big battle, and even though the stakes (Heyo!) have been lowered, by the fact that everyone is a Vampire and can basically heal if they are not destroyed utterly...it still feels urgent and good.
Does Hill stick the landing in his 5-book epic Vampire monster series?
Eh, yes and no. Dracula has been built up as Mr. Powerful. He's been shown to be IMMENSELY strong. So much so that even one of his earliest turned lieutenant's (Valentin) can be thrown around like a ragdoll. So I WAS expecting that the only way to beat him would have been something out of left field. Something no one was expecting, least of all Dracula. Something that would not just feel like the good guys triumphing over him. A trick (like Neville taking out Nagini, removing the last of Voldemort's horcruxes and allowing him to die traditionally)...but thatw as not to be. This really does come down to Jaime and Drac...and after Drac has pretty much mopped the floor with him, he's bested by a wooden cross rammed into his throat (and then a sword to the heart while he's lying there). So I'm meant to believe this guy who is faster than anyone else in the room...who is walking up to his defeated enemy lying prone on the ground...is not fast enough to see the cross being shoved towards him? I...I don't get it. I seriously don't. I'm not saying I could come up with something better, but beating a guy who has been professed to be SO overpowered for 4 books with something so conventional was a huge letdown. It's only redeemed slightly in the fact that the darkness that made him (back in Book 2, I think) is the thing that grabs him back down.
Larissa and Jaime don't end up together. I heard this was the case before finishing the novel...and you know what? I'm glad. Larissa can do MUCH better than Jaime. He's a bit more grown up at the end, but there is still something SO childish about how he acts around even his friends at the end. Again, no growth.
The best thing about this novel...is that Valentin lives. If there was ONE thing I wanted from this series from the moment he turncoated to Blacklight's side...it was that Valentin would get to live. He's probably the best and most realized character in the whole series, and a boon to Hill's talent at writing...he's nuanced, and interesting, and easily on par with someone like Sirius Black for fan enjoyment level.
So, I'm sorry Mr. Hill. I loved most of the books in this series...but this one fell more flat than I wanted it to. Somewhere in these 700+ pages was a great last book, but it's buried amongst a lot of filler, a few plot holes and the angst of one young man who hasn't grown up.
cori_00's review against another edition
5.0
Much like the third book in the series Darkest Night’s biggest downfall is it’s length. Overall I’d say this was an excellent final book to the Department 19 series.
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