An interesting paranormal fantasy novel with engaging mystery elements! Holly Black’s Book of Night is a novel caught my attention and left me guessing until the very end.
Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing, I was provided an ePub ARC copy of Book of Night by Holly Black for review. Book of Night, published in 2022, is a paranormal fantasy novel with a twist of mystery, romance, and magical realism, and is Black’s debut adult novel. In the novel, protagonist Charlie Hall is a thief living in a world of shadow magic. Gloamists, shadow magicians with altered shadows, user their magic to wield their influence and grow their power. In this world, Charlie Hall is a low-level thief working who’s recently decided to get out of the game and determined not to get involved in the world of shadow snatching and trading again. However, Charlie comes from a line of unlucky women and through a series of events she find herself pulled into a new murderous conspiracy complete a mysterious boyfriend and vengeful shadow on the loose.
What I Liked
I liked this book from start to finish and felt entertained and engaged by every chapter. I was not expecting the mystery twist and romance elements but was pleasantly surprised by the central mystery that Black layout for the reader and thought that the main romantic element fit well into the majority of the novel. The central mystery kept me guessing from start to finish and was ultimately resolved in a way that I would never have seen coming! The story ends with two MAJOR twists close to the conclusion that open of for story for Black to continue in an upcoming sequel. No spoilers of course so you’ll have to read the book.
All the characters felt right given their role in the story. Charlie Hall, the main protagonist, was relatable and could have passed for someone walking by you on the street. The evil billionaire felt comically evil as expected. To be honest there wasn’t any character in the novel that felt out of place, awkward, or unnecessary. There were several flashback chapters written for main characters that provided the reader with an interesting look in to them and helped pace the story.
I am more often than not a high fantasy or science fiction reader and I totally love discovering the central magical or scientific system that drives those worlds and its mechanics. The shadow magic in this novel was unique and based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tail The Shadow. The mechanics of the shadow magic were interesting and believable unlike some novels with totally unbelievable or outrageous magic systems. In this world, shadows are the embodiment of the human emotions we all feel but would rather push off onto something else (fear, anger, hatred ,etc.) These emotions along with blood and agency feed shadows and eventually a shadow that is fed enough will become a sentient and independent entity called a blight. It was fun to learn more about this magic and think about how it might work in the real world!
What I Disliked
To be honest, there wasn’t much that I did not like about this novel so this will be short, sweet, and to the point.
The story started out a bit slow for my taste. It picked up well before the end but I did have to will myself to read through the opening chapters until the meat of the story began. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing as someone else may appreciate the story’s slow build through the opening. It wasn’t slow enough for me to DNF this book but it was out of ordinary for the type of book I would ready.
I wouldn’t call myself an avid romance reader but I don’t mind stories with some romance elements. Book of Night has a romantic dynamic between Charlie Hall and her mysterious boyfriend, Vince. I thought this added an interesting element to the story but there are a handful of more graphic romance scenes that I felt were a little awkward and didn’t add much to the overall story. But these scenes weren’t long or often enough to stop me from enjoying the novel.
What’s The Verdict?
Overall, Book of Night is an interesting paranormal fantasy novel with an engaging central mystery and romantic dynamic. After a slow start, I found myself tearing through the books (virtual) pages on my Kindle and really enjoying the twists and turns that Black takes her readers on. A two surprising twists near the conclusion throw even more intrigue into the story and set up Charlie Hall’s story to continue in Black’s upcoming sequel Thief of Night.
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆