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A review by fifteenthjessica
Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Between his father's rivalry with the current leader of the vampire hunters and the rumors that his mother was turned by a vampire lover while pregnant with him, Remington Pendergast is not the most well-liked Reaper, even if he is now one of the most effective. Soon a job only he was willing to take brings him into the sights of Zidan Malekh and Xiaodon Song, the leader of the Third Court of vampires and the heiress of the Fourth Court, who are hoping to form an alliance between their courts and the human kingdom of Aluria that Remy hails from. And Aluria will need all the help it can get when a strange plague is turning its citizens into a horrifying variation of vampires. Will Remy's trip East with the alluring vampire couple stop this plague, reveal the truth about his mother, and help Remy get over his belief that he is unworthy of love?
Rin Chupeco definitely knows how to craft an intriguing fantasy novel with complex characters that mix in the most interesting ways, but I'm still not sold on her skill at describing what is going on. Like the huas in The Bone Witch, the Breaker, Remy's main weapon, is hard for me to picture. It's called a scythe often, so I assume it has a more polearm like handle, but the way he's described as moving with it makes it hard for me to picture him doing it with a long handle. A picture on a variant cover suggests it is in fact a short handle and heavily inspired by real world weapons like Kusarigama, but it's never outright stated, probably because pre-modern Japanese weaponry is an obscure area of knowledge for most Western readers. Also, like when I read the Bone Witch, I found myself sitting there wondering "Wait, how'd that happen?" as a main character is described as having a serious injury.
Fair warning to anyone looking into book who are younger fans of Chupeco's YA novels, things get steamy. Most is completely consensual, but an important subplot is about Remy's affair with an older woman (possibly multiple) that is less due to any attraction Remy's feels for her and more because it's the only way to get information about vampire movement in Aluria that everyone admits should be given to him because he's a vampire hunter, but the woman's husband is a giant asshole. Nothing graphic, but characters definitely bang, and I know I would not have enjoyed that type of content when I was in my young teens.
Rin Chupeco definitely knows how to craft an intriguing fantasy novel with complex characters that mix in the most interesting ways, but I'm still not sold on her skill at describing what is going on. Like the huas in The Bone Witch, the Breaker, Remy's main weapon, is hard for me to picture. It's called a scythe often, so I assume it has a more polearm like handle, but the way he's described as moving with it makes it hard for me to picture him doing it with a long handle. A picture on a variant cover suggests it is in fact a short handle and heavily inspired by real world weapons like Kusarigama, but it's never outright stated, probably because pre-modern Japanese weaponry is an obscure area of knowledge for most Western readers. Also, like when I read the Bone Witch, I found myself sitting there wondering "Wait, how'd that happen?" as a main character is described as having a serious injury.
Fair warning to anyone looking into book who are younger fans of Chupeco's YA novels, things get steamy. Most is completely consensual, but an important subplot is about Remy's affair with an older woman (possibly multiple) that is less due to any attraction Remy's feels for her and more because it's the only way to get information about vampire movement in Aluria that everyone admits should be given to him because he's a vampire hunter, but the woman's husband is a giant asshole. Nothing graphic, but characters definitely bang, and I know I would not have enjoyed that type of content when I was in my young teens.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Alcohol, and Classism