Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft provides fantasy readers a taste of Gothic fantasy where romantic brooding and pinning is mixed in with kingdoms seething with hate, malice, rivalries, and strategic alliances.

For those newer to the fantasy genre (myself included) there are enough combinations of fantasy and magic alongside romance (I would have love to see more of the LGBTQ+ dynamic myself) and a touch of mystery and suspense to provide an interesting read for a wider audience. This is quite the accomplishment for a novel, let alone a debut novel! An enjoyable read for young adult/new adult and those interested in a bit of a slow burn and a mélange of tropes.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

YA fantasy is one of my favorite genres. Besides all the fantasy elements, there are characters that have very relatable motivations. They want to be seen, and loved, for who they are. I was very drawn to the character of Wren in Down Comes The Night, by Allison Saft. She want's what everyone wants, to be accepted for who she really is. Finding that acceptance is a challenge, as all those who should love Wren unconditionally do not. This was a book filled with excellent world-building, empathetic characters, and a compelling story. I loved this book.

What I Liked:

World-building:

The world in this book has countries at war, magic, and political intrigue. Throughout Wren's life, her country has been at war with it's neighbors. There have been countless battles with many dead. That is why all young people are conscripted into the military, especially if they have magic. But Wren's magic is of a very particular kind. She is a healer. So she sees the worst injuries after a battle. She also is the Queen's illegitimate niece. But, the Queen finds her to be an embarrassment. So instead of being a court favorite, Wren is constantly in trouble. That is because of her natural tendency toward empathy, even with the enemy. The book sets up this problem of talented people being asked to do terrible things in the name of country in a way that one can see parallels in real life. It's easy to see the Other as the enemy, less so when you get to know the people on the other side of a conflict.

Characters:

I really liked Wren, who just couldn't find acceptance, not from her girlfriend, and not from her aunt, the Queen. She was treated always as a problem. So she was constantly chasing affirmation from others. This compelled her to take lots of unnecessary risks, that usually got her in trouble. When she meets Hal, an infamous warrior from the enemy nation, she immediately judges him by his reputation (something everyone else has done to her). But there is more to Hal than meets the eye.

Hal is a tortured soul. His magical talent is the opposite of Wren's. He can kill someone just by looking at them. Whether he want's to or not, Hal has been pushed to use his deadly magic to benefit his country, and his family. But he is sick of war, and his part in it. When he becomes seriously ill, he needs to convince Wren that he is worth saving. But first, he needs to believe it himself. Even if someone shows remorse, are they worth redemption?

Story:

This book was full of schemes and intrigues! I loved that you weren't certain of any character's motives for a while. Even with a terrible war that is costing both nations dearly, it seems like neither one wants peace. No one can be trusted. When Wren uncovers who is really behind a series of disappearances, she can hardly believe it. It's up to Hal and Wren to find the proof that will stop the war. But there are betrayals ahead that Wren can even imagine. I enjoyed all the misdirection, as the plot twists and turns.

Down Comes the Night is a gothic fantasy that is aptly dedicated to "the girls who feel too much." Wren is the illegitimate daughter of the queen's sister and a skilled healer who finds herself on probation after choosing to heal an enemy soldier against orders. To avoid being reassigned, she takes the offer of a reclusive lord from the neighboring neutral country to heal his sick servant in hopes that she'll secure an alliance and win back favor. Everything about this book is addicting and atmospheric and brings back my fears of creaky old mansions. I honestly cannot pinpoint exactly what made this book so addicting but I genuinely became so invested with the characters and the plot that I could not stop reading.

Wren definitely had to grow on me because of how she allowed her emotions to control her actions so recklessly at first. Her relationships with Una and Isabel is rocky to say the least and leaving them behind seems incredibly irrational but I love how Allison Saft really took her emotions and taught her (and the reader as a result) how to use them to make her stronger. As she learns more about the other side through Hal and begins to question how wars are meant to solve the problem, her character development honestly blooms so beautifully. Speaking of Hal, I don't have much to comment on him per say but I absolutely adored seeing his relationship with Wren unfold, it's really one of those stories where the romantic subplot just works so well in highlighting the main character's arc without overpowering the storyline.

This is definitely a story that just evokes so much reading happiness because of the experience and makes me kind of sad that it's just a standalone. However, the story truly takes advantage of being a standalone to explore how religion and war are tied together and also throw in a soft romance that leaves all the room for yearning.

ultimate verdict: impending wars blur the lines between black and white

A gothic, atmospheric book with a cliched enemies to lovers romance.
I’ll boldly say the cover was my favorite part but this was a good read, all the same.
Wren, an emotion driven healer, has to decide who to trust I her efforts to help her country.
This was a slow start for me, I really enjoyed the middle, then the ending wrapped up a little too nicely for me.
Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday booms for an opportunity to read this in exchange for my honest review

Allison Saft’s Down Comes the Night was an atmospheric adventure into a world filled with magic and wracked with political tensions.

I am torn on how I feel about this book overall because there were many strengths but also a few glaring weaknesses that got in the way of my enjoyment.

First, let’s focus on the characters. Wren Southerland, the protagonist, is very hard to stand in the beginning. She is emotional and reckless, and that is portrayed as a weakness throughout the book. Although she comes to terms with this part of herself and no longer sees it in this way, her emotional nature gets her into a lot of trouble. I wasn’t very pleased with this element of her character because it has a lot of anti-feminist undertones: being emotional, which is associated with being feminine, makes her weak for most of the book.

Similarly, she can be very inconsistent at times. Sometimes, she shows a strong moral commitment to saving lives and healing (as a combat medic and healer), while other times this commitment completely falls away. Similarly, she is very immature throughout most of the book, but she survived a war. This did not make much sense; her character was not too realistic.

However, I liked Hal Cavendish a lot; his character was very interesting. Lowry was also an interesting character to read about, and Queen Isabel’s development was done pretty well.

In regards to the plot, the book starts very slow. It was hard to make myself want to read it in the beginning. However, it picks up towards the middle and the end and becomes pretty riveting. I liked the ending a lot—I thought it was a good way to round out the story.

I also appreciated the quality of the writing. The descriptions were dense (which had me skimming a lot) but also contributed to an eerie atmosphere. The cover is stunning, and the writing captures the feelings that it evokes really well. Allison Saft did an exceptionally good job here.

Lastly, I liked the romance. I thought it was lovely and sweet. However, this book had been advertised to me as enemies to lovers, when really that was not what occurred.

Overall, I think this book was an enjoyable read, but there were parts of it that lowered its rating for me. I recommend Down Comes the Night to readers who enjoy prose that captures their emotions and sends them into the same spirals of dread, fear, anxiety, hope, and love as the characters, but also do not demand high paced plot and lovable main characters.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy of "Down Comes the Night" by Allison Saft. I really enjoyed this story, especially how it was a fantasy world but in a sort of late-1800s European setting, which was different and fun. It included more modern medical practices and the occasional electric light and gave it something of a macabre Sherlock Holmes feel, especially since the main plot centered on something of a mystery of missing people. This combined with war and political scheming in the background, and a romance that made up the bulk of the book, which is never something I mind. It was enemies to lovers, done in such a sweet way, with something of a bisexual love triangle that I thought was handled in a really satisfying manner. This book was dark, romantic, and fun. I also really connected with the main theme, that being an emotional, sensitive, soft-hearted person is not a weakness, but a strength. I definitely recommend giving this book a try!

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I just couldn't connect with the story or the characters. I think the premise is really interesting, but I don't think it was well executed. I wanted to like this so badly, but I found myself putting it down and not wanting to pick it back up. Oh well, not every book is a winner. This one just didn't speak to me.

OH MY GOD WHERE DO I START WITH THIS BOOK?

Let's just start with the protagonist, Wren Southerland. For the first 15% of the book, I was sure I would hate her. She was incredibly whiny, consistently disobeyed the direct orders given to her, and was just an overall brat because her commanding officer, Una Dryden, refused to think of her in a romantic capacity. But oh boy was I wrong! Wren developed into this feisty and strong character with a quick wit and so much personality it was hard to believe she was the same character we were introduced to at the beginning of the book. I'd like to say that her character arc became most interesting when she arrived at Colwick Hall, and met the one and only Hal Cavendish.

Hal Cavendish, also known as the Reaper of Vesria to Danubians like Wren, was set up to be in an enemies-to-lovers relationship with Wren, and I was expecting to be really disappointed by their development. Once again, my expectations couldn't have been farther from what happened, and I ended up loving the dynamic, as his hard shell slowly started to crack and he expressed himself to Wren. What can I say, I'm a sucker for "you're the only one I can be myself with" tropes.

The antagonist was a flawed character, with both motive and means to pull off what they wanted, and while it was revealed pretty early on who the antagonist was, it didn't feel rushed. Moreover, it was a brilliant decision on the author's part, because it never felt like we were being strung around and led in a false direction.

The ending was satisfactory as well, and I can confidently say that this is going to be one of my favorite books for a long time. The only criticism I have for this book is that it is marketed as a gothic fantasy, which it really isn't, it feels far more victorian than gothic, and that the first 10-15% is nearly unreadably slow. The high-end vocabulary is enjoyable, but it takes away from the meaning of the text rather than enhancing it, giving the first few chapters a very clunky feel. But overall, I enjoyed this book a lot.

Down Comes the Night was such a beautiful experience (yes, it was an experience, not just a book) with rich language, beautifully developed characters, and a spectacularly eerie setting. I appreciated the representation for queer characters, and how their queer identity wasn't the main focus of the book, but just another part of their character and motive for them to achieve their goals. It releases on March 2nd, so if you haven't bought it already, what are you waiting for? GO GET THIS BOOK!

5 STARS

It is winter, war is brewing, and Wren Southerland has lost everything.

Her nation of Danu is on the brink of violence with neighboring Vesria, one of her dearest friends has gone missing, and in the aftermath of a mission gone sideways, she has been stripped of her rank as a healer in the Queen’s Guard and sent to a convent to await whatever misery comes next. Except in that convent, Wren receives a letter inviting her to Colwick Hall, home to an eccentric lord whose servants are dying of a mysterious illness. Against all odds, she accepts the offer, only to find herself trapped in an eerie estate by the winter storms, with a patient who is also her sworn enemy.

And yet, to survive, she may need to make peace with that enemy. She might even have to prevent a war.


If you want enemies to lovers with a dash of mystery and murder and sickbed pining, this is the book for you!

Easily my favorite feature of Down Comes the Night is the outstanding execution of enemies to lovers! And, to be honest, lovers to enemies concerning a secondary character. Wren and Hal have a particular sort of banter that I enjoyed, one that could be a little impish, but one that also had all the sharpness of a knife when it hurt the most. Except those moments that hurt weren’t played off as cutesy banter, but genuinely painful, worth apology. And do you know what that means?

Our main characters actually communicate with each other!

I feel like that alone makes this book the Holy Grail. Wren and Hal may take a while to open up (which is sensible and perfectly in character), but they actually talk to one another! And have all manner of emotions, not just the soft sappy ones!

And on top of that, they also tangle up with some beloved tropes. Only one bed? Check! Sunshine and Hope Character healing Despondent and Tired Character? Also that! Character A gently overwhelmed by the sight of Character B in formal wear? Got a bit of that, too!

Basically, Down Comes the Night is well-crafted trope heaven. Yes, it absolutely has a compelling story (more on that in a moment), but it also sports a romance I don’t despise! And if you’ve been around for my reviews for any length of time, then you know that’s a real achievement. What can I say? I’m aro and I’m picky!


“Mercy is the most difficult thing.”

Seriously, stellar trope use aside, I’m in love with the plot and the way it questions war. Effectively, Wren, Hal, and many of their fellow soldiers are child soldiers. Sure, they’re nearly adults now, but they’ve been at war far too long far too young. More than that, they’ve witnessed atrocities. They’ve committed atrocities. All in the name of a war that was never of their own making. Hal especially bears a great deal of guilt for the awful things he’s done, and acknowledges that he is, in many ways, a monster.

And yet! Yet!

Down Comes the Night is also about recognizing the outside factors that pushed children into war. It’s about extending forgiveness in the interest of a better future, not just because it’s polite, but because it will be the right thing to do. It’s about the power of compassion in the face of an older generation that refuses to consider anything but further violence.

Plus, it’s about forgiveness being earned. This is by far my favorite thing about Hal in particular. He knows full well the scope of destruction that he’s brought in the war, and he regrets it deeply. It’s not enough to just feel regret, though, so his active goal is to make real change, make meaningful amends that will lead to a more peaceful future. He’s not in it to be forgiven, either. It’s not self-centered, and it’s the kind of redemption arc that I like to see. Forgiveness comes with work.

And as for mercy? It’s about mercy being so, so difficult to offer when you’ve been wronged, but still doing it anyway, because there are greater things at stake.


I will be the one-man hype squad for Down Comes the Night if I must, but I want to you to join me!

Maybe I’m just a sap for the power of compassion and trust. In fact, that’s the most likely explanation for my adoration of this book. But the point still stands that Down Comes the Night is a wonderful debut, and I can’t encourage you enough to read it!

You don’t have to wait long to get your hands on it, either. Tomorrow, March 2nd, it hits shelves for the first time, and you can fall in love with this wintery, gothic standalone too!

Please come join me in enemies to lovers trope heaven. I can’t be the only one in love with this book!


CW: graphic injury, gore (including eye gore), medical scenes, loss of a loved one, violence (including gun violence), smoking, animal death, child death, sex scene, nudity

[This review will go live on Hail & Well Read at 10am EST on 3/1/21.]

*An ARC of this book was provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.*

Mixed feelings about this one, but overall enjoyable. A solid magic system, interesting characters, good slow-burn romance, plenty of peril. I love that it's a standalone fantasy, as those are getting hard to come by. Some of the conversations and descriptions got a bit repetitive (the book felt really long because of this), the "gothic" atmosphere was more of a suggestion than an immersive experience, the main villain was obvious from the start and apparently just evil for evil's sake. But I kept reading, and more importantly, I wanted to keep reading. This is definitely more New Adult than Young Adult - the characters are confirmed in their adulthood, there's no coming-of-age transitions, there are some descriptions of violence and war that are a bit more mature than most YA (although still not overly graphic). Also, this is tagged as lgbt, the main character is bisexual and starts out in love with a woman, but the main romantic storyline is a M/F pairing (no triangle), just in case you were looking for something non-hetero.

It took me a little bit to get into the book, but once I did, I really enjoyed it! This book is a fantastic gothic fantasy that has just the right amount of mystery and witty and likeable characters to hook you into the story and make you not want to let go til you finish it. Not to mention a great enemies to lovers slow burn romance, how can you go wrong?

It starts off with the main character Wren, a mage with healing abilities being suspended from the queens guard due to her reckless actions. She then finds herself traveling to an estate of a lord in a bordering country to heal one of his servants. But everything isn't as it seems at the estate, including the servant who turns out to be her biggest enemy...As they work together to uncover a sinister plot within the house, they find themselves growing closer to each other and igniting all sorts of different emotions.

Overall this was an enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone looking for a good mystery to solve and a little bit of s slow burn romance.

This was a really pleasant surprise read, even after the synopsis caught my attention. It actually took me quite a long time to get through the first several chapters as it was very slow introducing the main setting, and spent so much time describing environments in areas we're barely spending time in. But once we got past that speed bump and thrown into our MC's meet-cute, I absolutely had to force myself to take breaks - couldn't put it down!

The dynamics between Wren and Hal are very much a Romeo and Juliet setup, where two enemies are reluctantly forced to work together. It's very refreshing on how physically and mentally vulnerable they both are from the start where they have to set aside their prejudices and can must rely upon their unstable truce.

Beyond the extensive scene descriptions in the beginning, the writing was nicely paced once the leads meet and work to solve the mystery behind the mansion and Hal's disease. I wish we could have seen a bit more from the magic system (especially on Hal's side) but it was a fun stand-alone and nice wintery fantasy murder mystery mashup to add to my re-reads.

This was the gothic bisexual horror fantasy that I could have hoped for. I love that it starts character focused before diving into the nitty-gritty. The mystery could have been a bit better, but the rest of this was great for me.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

magic, healing and bumps in the night

una and gwen are on the look out, gwen is a healer and una is in charge, when the capture a boy gwen wants to heal him but is forbidden though that doesnt stop her...

hal cavendish is the enemy an powerful enemy with powers of his own..one look from him and it causes death...he is a wanted war criminal

both sides have had men go missing, though they dont know it...

but hal and gwen are destined to meet

not a bad storyline, i did find the last few chapters drawn out...but apart from that it was an entertaining storyline...

<b>4.5 stars</b>

I have to say the cover didn't convince me but oh, the actual story and the ROMANCE did! I freaking loved it and I'm so happy with the way it turned out.

In Down Comes the Night, we follow a girl named Wren who has healing magic. She's bisexual and as soon as the story starts, we learn that she's been in love with her superior (and best friend) Una. I was shipping them until I figured out that Wren probably deserved better. Una kept leaving her crumbs and Wren had to be satisfied with that? No way. So when Wren ends up in creepy castle full of mystery and having to heal her enemy Hal Cavendish, things started getting more and more interesting! Especially when that said enemy wants to redeem himself and investigate the disappearances of a few of his people (and some of hers as well). But for that, he would need to survive this disease that no one has survived before him....

Overall, the creepy setting kept my attention and I adored the relationship between Wren and Hal!! I'm so glad I got to read this book. I'll definitely check out any other release by Allison Saft.


<i>(Thank you for letting me read and review an ARC via Netgalley)

I very much enjoyed this novel. The story was mysterious and violent, and it was interesting to see three separate communities on the brink of a war. The Gothic feel of the novel added to its appeal.

The characters were endearing and flawed. They were truly wonderful representations of reality. All are flawed in different ways and we see relationships that are both unhealthy and irrational. The character development and plot both moved at a steady pace.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/ Wednesday Books for providing a copy of this eARC for review.

Everything from the cover to the title to the synopsis made me know I would love this book. And I was not disappointed at all. A wonderful mix of magic and creepiness. A large haunted house in the midst of winter? Yes please. This book was perfect for me. Wonderfully drawn out characters and the romance was very sweet and we'll done. I enjoyed the main character a lot. It can be very difficult to be kind when everyone around you is anything but. It was a different kind of strength and one I loved reading about. I'm definitely going to be watching for future books by this author. Loved it!

This gothic medical fantasy novel set in a creepy castle lives rent-free in my mind most days, and it's bound to be one of 2021's hottest releases. It features on my upcoming list of queer reads, too! Delighted to see a bisexual main character in a fantasy novel (and her initial love interest is a lesbian!) because that's a rare treat.

The bisexual rep is really well-done. Wren isn't a token character, and her sexuality isn't used as a cheap trick or capitalized on for marketing's sake. She has real heartbreak and love, where her queerness doesn't have to be questioned at every turn to still be real and part of her. We also love a fantasy world without homophobia. This is what we mean when we say not all fantasy has to be grimdark and "reflect the real world"! Books can examine societal problems without harming readers!

Wren and Hal are literally enemies--their countries are fighting a war, and they're both soldiers. The romantic tension? Immaculate. Especially when they're forced to work together to find out the secret behind Hal's illness, a truth more sinister than they could have expected. These two drove the novel for me. Stuck inside a castle with your mortal enemy is such a vibe, after all. Even through all of this, I couldn't help but ship them. They get to know each other while Wren is working through the illness, and there's heated banter, but also boundary testing and slow affection. I'm so so in love with their story.

There's a significant murder mystery glossed over in the synopsis--it takes up quite a bit of the book, and although I sort of had a suspect in mind, it was the catching of the suspect that really engaged me. Wren and Hal are quite adept at elaborate plans, and stumble into some of my favorite tropes along the way: there's only one bed, sacrificing yourself, and secret midnight investigations. There's just something so attractive about working to find a murderer while trapped in a Gothic castle, right? Extraordinarily sexy. Thank you to the author for this gift. I shall treasure it forever.

I was also into the medical aspect. Wren has healing magic, but also an extensive knowledge of the human body and regular medicine. She's clever but impulsive, and the blend of science and magic behind her character intrigued me. DCTN has some slightly gory moments, but none more than most high fantasy series. I appreciated the darker elements. This recent trend in YA really does it for me, as I've mostly had enough of fantasy that isn't willing to fully embody its principles.

The worldbuilding is a bit basic beyond the war and political intrigue, but what really drew me in is how they're used to fuel the characters' motivations. Everyone's hiding something in this novel, and I had a grand time discovering all the small mysteries Saft locks in. It's definitely worth the read for all the small intricacies. 5/5 stars for a brilliantly written novel.

Wren has been dismissed from the Queen's guard, and she can't be with the girl she loves now, all because of a little bit of magic of hers gone terribly wrong. Outcast, she jumps at the chance for redemption when a letter asks for her assistance healing a servant in a lord's house. Traveling to Colwick Hall, she finds it dilapidated, creepy, and reflective of her host. Things become even stranger when the Reaper of Vesria, enemy to her people, is actually her patient. His name is Hal Cavendish, and he too sought out redemption here, but fell ill before he could find it. What they don't know is that now that they have walked into Colwick Hall, they might not be able to leave safely, and even if they wanted to, there are secrets buried in the Hall that threaten both kingdoms, and they can't turn away from that despite their own imminent peril.

Gothic fantasy meets murder mystery as disgraced magical healer is hired to cure an illness of unknown origin for an enemy of her people. There's a premise to pull a person in! Unfortunately, Wren is a bit of a willful healer, so she does things she generally shouldn't do, mostly because she feels like it. This gets her into trouble, both with her queen, and simply for the fact that she goes off to Colwick Hall without confirming some perhaps pertinent details. Still, she struggles upon finding out that her patient has killed many of her own people, and a plot is uncovered along the way as they find out more about the Hall and why they are there at the same time. Though Wren has Una, her by-the-book partner back home, she finds herself being drawn to Hal, even though he is supposed to be her enemy, as the walls close in around them. I generally enjoy when enemies become lovers, but Wren spends almost too much time as an enemy to Hal, which dampened my ability to believe their growing feelings for each other.

I loved the setting, and after the first few chapters the story and atmosphere is very compelling. Unfortunately, the pacing plods along for about half of the story, and the story itself feels as if it could have been compressed without losing anything important. Down Comes the Night is a gothic fantasy mystery with a touch of romance that pushes sworn enemies together to save their respective nations from disaster, and if any of that description interests you, I think you'll enjoy this debut from Allison Saft.

⭐⭐⭐.5/5⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft is an interesting mix of two genres, Gothic and fantasy romance, that Saft doesn't quite manage to blend well.

Saft has all the pieces of a good story here, but the way they're brought together doesn't make sense after a while. I don't often say this but Down Comes the Night has too much going on to just be a stand-alone novel, and that's thanks to the fantasy elements. There are things that happen that are easily solved in order to keep the plot going in the direction Saft needs it to go. The biggest offender is near the end, when Hal has been imprisoned and Wren and her commanding officer/first love go to save him. There are only three guards in front of his cell, and they're all "inexperienced" according to Saft. Why would you put inexperienced guards on a notorious war criminal's cell? You put your best on that post. Predictably, Wren and her commanding officer are able to intimidate the officers away, and they literally walk out of the prison with Hal. Everything worked too conveniently according to what Saft needed to happen, even when logic dictates that it shouldn't have. I spent too much of this novel going, "This shouldn't have worked, and I can literally think of several reasons why."

The timeline of the novel is literally two weeks, maybe three, and in that time I'm meant to believe that Wren and Hal are able to not only put aside their differences to be civil with each other, but fall in love? I couldn't buy it, unfortunately. I can see what Saft was trying to do with Wren's character, making her a compassionate, emotional girl who can connect with people, and I do appreciate that. There just wasn't enough time for me to believe that her relationship with Hal progressed the way that it did.

Added to that, the villain's plot doesn't stand up under scrutiny. The villain is an interesting character on their own, but ultimately their storyline had too many holes in it I couldn't ignore, and too many instances of characters acting a certain way so that Saft could get the villain to do what she needed him to do. The worldbuilding, which influences the villain's plot, also doesn't hold up once you think about it for too long.

Maybe if Saft hadn't tried to do so much in one novel, it would be better. But the constant convenience of everything going whatever way Saft needs it to in that moment in order to get to the next checkpoint on the plot became too much to ignore, and ultimately, does the story a severe disservice.