A review by kailey_luminouslibro
The Book of Night with Moon by Diane Duane, Kathryn Parise
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
In this spin-off from the Young Wizards series, we follow a group of cat wizards in the same world, meeting some of the same characters from "So You Want to Be a Wizard". This book includes spoilers for Book 4 of the Young Wizards series, "High Wizardry".
This book has much more adult content than the Young Wizards series. There were a lot of mentions about cats being in heat and tomcats competing for sexual favor. The cats overhear mice in the walls having sex, and at one point the cats stop outside a window like disgusting proverbial peeping toms and watch humans having sex.
There is also a lot more graphic violence in this book than in the Young Wizards series. There were disembowelments, drownings, and guts and blood and cannibalism. All very descriptively described.
I do not know what was going on with this book. It is not at all what I expected from this author.
The plot was slow. The writing was needlessly convoluted and overly mysterious about nothing. The ending left several unanswered questions that felt like plot holes. There is some deus ex machina with ridiculously convenient coincidences. This plot could have been condensed. It's just not at all the type of tightly-woven plot I expect from this author.
I was interested to learn about the cat culture. They have their own history, religion, social relationships, and language. The world-building was good, but I didn't connect with any of the cat characters.
There are a lot of cat language words that are used throughout the book, and I gave up trying to remember what all of them meant. Thankfully there is a glossary of cat words in the back of the book.
I probably will not continue reading this series. I love the Young Wizards series, but this spin-off is not my cup of tea.
This book has much more adult content than the Young Wizards series. There were a lot of mentions about cats being in heat and tomcats competing for sexual favor. The cats overhear mice in the walls having sex, and at one point the cats stop outside a window like disgusting proverbial peeping toms and watch humans having sex.
There is also a lot more graphic violence in this book than in the Young Wizards series. There were disembowelments, drownings, and guts and blood and cannibalism. All very descriptively described.
I do not know what was going on with this book. It is not at all what I expected from this author.
The plot was slow. The writing was needlessly convoluted and overly mysterious about nothing. The ending left several unanswered questions that felt like plot holes. There is some deus ex machina with ridiculously convenient coincidences. This plot could have been condensed. It's just not at all the type of tightly-woven plot I expect from this author.
I was interested to learn about the cat culture. They have their own history, religion, social relationships, and language. The world-building was good, but I didn't connect with any of the cat characters.
There are a lot of cat language words that are used throughout the book, and I gave up trying to remember what all of them meant. Thankfully there is a glossary of cat words in the back of the book.
I probably will not continue reading this series. I love the Young Wizards series, but this spin-off is not my cup of tea.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Torture, Slavery, Sexual content, Animal death, Blood, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, Gore, Grief, and Murder