Best Enjoyed when you’re stuck in a dark mansion where something seems wrong but you’re still in the mood for an enemies to lovers romance.

Wren Southerland’s healing abilities and empathetic heart may have finally ruined her life. After healing a young boy who appears to be an enemy spy connected to the disappearances of her fellow soldiers, allowing him to escape, she is dismissed from her place on the guard where she serves under her best friend and first love. Isabel, the Queen of Danu–as well as Wren’s emotionally withholding and dismissive aunt–plans to send Wren far from her comfort and into the mines, a hell on earth for any healer. As she awaits her fate at the abbey where she honed her skills, a mysterious letter appears from a nobleman from the nearby neutral country of Cisneros. In the letter, Lord Lowry promises to aid Danu in the centuries-old war against their enemy, Vesria, in exchange for her help healing his favored servant, Henry. Wren sees this as a chance at peace. Though the Queen disagrees and forbids her from going, Wren still manages to find her way alone.

However, when Wren arrives at the old estate across the border, she finds that nothing is as it should be. Not only does the ancient mansion seem to be hiding dark secrets, but “Henry” turns out to be Hal Cavendish, the Reaper of Vesria and the most wanted man in Danu. After her initial shock, Wren sees this as an opportunity to reclaim her place and begins to formulate a plan. Unfortunately, there are machinations larger than both Wren and Hal at play, and they realize that must learn to work together–as well as fight the growing feelings they have for one another–in order to save not only themselves, but the countries they love.

There are so many things going on with this story. There’s the family drama, the political intrigue, the gothic mystery, a sort of love triangle, an interesting power structure, and an enemies to lovers romance arc. All of the plots were carried through, some far more successfully than others. For instance, the gothic mystery was a little painful as the MC really appeared to be oblivious and I found myself mentally screaming at her at times because very obvious mentions were made to vital parts of the story that seemed to be completely ignored. Usually, that wouldn’t slide with me, but the other plot points kept me invested. There was also the issue I had with figuring out the time period it was supposed to mimic. It felt like a mix between the late 1800s and WW1 Europe. It wasn’t enough to put me off, but at times I was really confused and I believe a little extra world building would have been helpful.

On the other side of this coin, I also enjoyed the setting and the depth of the characters themselves as well as the political and technological differences between countries that have and don’t have magic. I really enjoyed that part of the story because it was believable that a country without magic would have made the nonmagical advances that Cisneros would need to have in order to continue to improve themselves as they could not use magic the way their neighbors could. The enemies to lovers romance was also really great. I enjoyed that part of the story a lot. Although I knew where it was all leading, I wasn’t sure how or why it was going in that direction. It’s possible there may have been too many plot lines active at once. Regardless, it was still a good read.

Saft probably needs more work on her mystery writing, but I think the potential is definitely there and if she also improves her ability to write romance. I think her next book could be a killer. Overall, this book is worth a read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday books for and advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really wanted to love this book, but I found it a bit disjointed, like it wanted to be a lot of things at once. A solid fantasy with a bit of mystery and thriller thrown in, different parts of the story felt like they had been drawn from different books and forced together.

The slow burn romance between Wren and a man who should be her sworn enemy is what drew me to this book initially, but it just felt a bit flat. Wren was incredibly annoying and I didn't like her at all, which didn't help.

The world building was good however, and I'd be interested to read more in this world.

I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This gothic fantasy romance started off pretty interestingly, and is not your usual fantasy romance. The main character, Wren, is not a grrl powa warrior (not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that, but not everyone’s a badass warrior, obviously), but is, of all things, a combat medic. She is a magic surgeon of sorts, able to heal people with her magic and perform surgeries with her magic. Her country, Danu, has an uneasy cease-fire with neighboring country Vesria, and this is threatened by the fact that some Danuvian soldiers, one of whom is Wren’s friend, have gone missing.

Wren is in love with her superior, Una, who, at age eighteen, is already a war hero and very much respected by the Queen, Isabel, who also happens to be Wren’s aunt. Being related to the queen doesn’t help Wren much, as her mother, the queen’s sister, passed away and her father was a commoner and isn’t in the picture. All Wren wants is for her aunt to love her, but the Queen just, sadly, isn’t interested.

Wren has spent most of her life in an abbey, where the Queen banished her once her mother died, and it was there that she learned to perform healing magic for the benefit of their triune Goddess. This is interesting, as the religion, on its surface, looks a lot like Catholicism, with nuns and abbeys and such, but also pagan elements, like the description of the goddess, who has three heads – maiden, mother and crone. This goddess, like the God I worship, is also pretty vengeful, and demands you pay people threefold.

Wren and Una are on an assignment and, due to Wren’s emotions, it goes awry, and Wren is dismissed from service and sent back to the abbey. There she gets a letter from a noble, one that lives in the neutral country of Cernos, the only country whose inhabitants have no magic.

In the meantime, one of Danu’s most feared enemies, Hal Cavendish, the Reaper of Vesria (due to his magic, of which amounts to a magical death stare that basically kills people instantly – think of like, a male Medusa or something) has gone missing. Wren discovers that Vesrian soldiers have gone missing too.

In the interest of using Cernos as a mediator between the two nations, Wren decides to respond to the letter, of which was written by Lord Alistair Lowry, and travels to his estate, Colwick Hall, despite getting a new assignment from her aunt. It is here that most of the action takes place, because Lord Lowry has asked Wren to heal one of his servants, given that his servants have been dying of a mysterious disease.

This is a bit of a spoiler, but the servant Lowry has her heal happens to be Hal Cavendish, who has arrived at Colwick Hall to investigate the disappearance of the Vesrian soldiers. Wren, naturally, is horrified because of course, this is the guy that killed her fellow Danuvian soldiers, and who has a fearsome reputation. But he’s obviously very, very ill, and Wren has already signed a contract with Lowry to cure this “servant” of the illness.

Anyway, we see Wren get down to the business of diagnosing Hal and treating his illness (which turns out to be poisoning), and they slowly fall in love. She’s attracted to him right from the get go, but spends a good chunk of the story trying to convince herself that he’s a monster. Well, he did kill a lot of people, but the treatment gives them the opportunity to talk to one another, and they get to know each other, and slowly come to realize that a lot of what their respective countries’ governments and media is total bullcrap.

I love Hal. He’s a very interesting character who has a devastating magic ability, one that reminds me of Rogue from the X-Men. He’s clearly not the monster Wren or anyone else thinks he is, although he’s a good soldier, obviously. But he’s also intelligent and is deeply scarred by the war and the things he’s done. By the time Wren arrives at Colwick Hall to treat him, he’s basically used up his magic.

Which brings me to the magic system – I love it. Everyone has a system in their bodies called the fola. The fola is like a separate nervous system where their magic energy is stored. It glows or otherwise colors a person whenever it is used, and one can exhaust this magical energy. Rest usually brings it back, but it is possible to permanently lose one’s magic, and it can also be permanently removed from a person by surgically severing the fola. If a person uses their magic illegally, their magic can be severed from their use, and this is something Wren is afraid of.

Another thing I really liked is how both Hal and Wren essentially have PTSD due to their service in the war. This is realistic, and a lot of YA novels featuring warriors or whatever don’t really have characters that have PTSD or are affected by the things they’ve done. Wren gets flashbacks and so does Hal. Both have nightmares. It’s all very realistic.

Meanwhile, at first it seems that Colwick Hall is haunted, but that turns out to not be the case. In fact, what’s going on at Colwick Hall, and with Lord Lowry, is kind of predictable. Obviously, when Wren arrives, Lord Lowry is very strange and is clearly hiding something. He also tells Wren that his father was obsessed with figuring out why the people of Cernos don’t have magic. Here’s another spoiler, and it’s a big one – Lowry is clearly continuing his father’s work, as he thinks that if he and his fellow Cernosians can have magic in addition to their superior technology (they’ve harnessed electricity, unlike Danu and Vesria), they can be a world superpower.

At some point, Wren realizes that she could bring Hal to her aunt, and have her place in the military restored, and wrestles with this because she does fall deeply in love with him. She was also in love with Una, but eventually sees her as a best friend rather than a girlfriend. Relationships between soldiers was forbidden anyway, so their romantic relationship always came across as one-sided.

Hal helps Wren to see that her emotions and her compassion for others, including those that are technically her enemy, is a good thing. Previously, she felt that her emotions always got her into trouble. And it still does, even to the very end, but that’s still one of her best qualities.

Hal no longer believes in the military’s cause, because too many Vesrians hid their true intentions behind the banner of patriotism, as he says. This kind of reminds me of lefty criticism of the Iraq War, and of course, Hal being essentially a veteran with PTSD and guilt.

Both Hal and Wren wanted to feel useful, and their magic was the key to being seen as useful to those around them. But both were used by their respective governments. Both also want an end to the war, and that was partly her original intent – to bring Hal back as prisoner, who would then find the missing soldiers, and she’d be reinstated to her original position and the Queen would finally accept her. Still had ulterior motives, but she did want to end the war. Hal wants to become grand magistrate, and to do that, he has to solve the case of the missing soldiers. He wants Vesria to be a place where kids grow up happy, not as soldiers.

Excellent quote: “Both Danu and Vesria created monsters the moment they stooped to recruiting children.” I agree with this wholeheartedly, even though, of course, in our military, you have to be eighteen to serve. But I get the point – to recruit twelve year olds, for example, and teach them to kill…that is seriously messed up. Both Hal and Wren joined their militaries at very young ages (Hal when he was eight, and Wren when she was twelve).

I hope the teenagers that read this book remember that quote. If your society teaches children to kill…that’s about as low as it can get.

The author really knows human anatomy, because the narration and Wren’s dialogue is peppered with anatomical terms. I liked that, as it made Wren feel realistic as a combat medic and surgeon. I also liked the magic system – there’s a source for the magic, it isn’t the cure-all, it has its limits and it can be permanently lost through overuse, or deliberately by the surgical severing of the fola.

I thought the mystery at Colwick Hall and the mystery of the missing soldiers was a little too predictable and convenient – of course the missing soldiers would end up at Colwick Hall, the very place Wren travels to. The story is pretty much a gothic romance set in a fantasy realm that is inspired by Victorian-era Europe, as far as I can tell. It is primarily a love story, documenting the romantic relationship between Wren, a Danubian, and Hal, the feared Reaper of Vesria. They should be enemies, yet eventually fall deeply in love and are prepared to sacrifice what’s important to them to prevent another war breaking out between their respective countries, as both are deeply scarred by the war (and both suffer from PTSD).

The story is neatly wrapped up and does not end on a cliffhanger, but there’s also a possibility of a sequel if it does well. I wouldn’t mind a sequel, but this one is kind of rare in that it’s not set up to be a series or trilogy or whatever – the story stands on its own.

A copy of this book was provided by Wednesday Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for an eARC of this title in exchange for an honest review. This in no way changes my rating**

Down Comes the Night is a debut novel by Allison Saft. The synopsis promises a Romance Fantasy and the title promises some Gothic Horror thrown in for good measure. The book meets these promises, but it wasn't a favorite of mine.

The book follows Wren Southerland, the niece of her nation's Queen and a healer. Viewed as a screw up by her aunt for being emotional instead of detached, Wren sets out to prove herself by answering a summons to heal someone at the mysterious Colwick Hall. When she gets there, however, she discovers the person she's meant to be healing is Hal Cavendish, the most feared soldier of the nation hers is fighting. She also finds that the mysterious "illness" he has might be foul play and sets out to solve what's going on.

While the premise sounded promising, I was fairly bored through most of this book. I chalk most of that up to the predictability of the book. Due to the closed setting and a pretty small cast for what's essentially a locked door mystery, it is really easy to guess who's at fault for the "illness" of Colwick Hall. There are four named characters living there for most of the book, one is our protagonist, one is the sick love interest, and only one of the remaining two is suspicious enough to be pulling it off. I guessed it immediately after meeting the character and was not surprised when they were the culprit. I would have liked more red herrings to make this a more engaging mystery story. However, it would have required at least two to three additional characters to make that work.

I also had some individual issues with Wren and Hal. The main problem with Wren lied in her relationship with Una, her commanding officer. She starts the story "in love" with Una, but there is little evidence of them having a relationship. It is stated that they've kissed once and then Una ended whatever could've come between them because of "fraternization laws" in the military. It comes off more as an unrequited crush than a true "love" based on a deep understanding of the other person. They're good friends, but the romance fell flat for me in this situation.

Hal comes off as "very much wants to be Rhysand from ACOTAR" to me. He's the most powerful soldier for his nation, he has this scary power that makes him threatening, he has a reputation for being a bad boy but he's really nice and misunderstood, he kneels for her at one point, she's "the only one who doesn't see me as a monster", etc. Obviously, Rhys is an example of the "bad boy with the heart of gold" trope and is not the first or last love interest to have these qualities. I probably wouldn't have even made that connection had it not been for the off brand "mating bond" type magic Saft uses in the book. The explanation given is that Wren's healing magic stays in the patient until they're well enough to push the magic out. But until then, there is a "tether" between her and the patient that allows her to find him wherever he is and to "tug" on it (does this sound familiar?). Wren heals no fewer than three people OTHER than Hal and NEVER has this "tether" with someone else. Ever. I'd give the benefit of the doubt that this is due to her healing Hal for longer, but it pretty much shows up immediately after the first time she heals him. They later fall in love and the "remains of the tether" are still there multiple days after he is fully healed and running around causing havoc. I was not a fan of the ACOTAR "nods" in this book as they weren't done as well and seemed to have little to no rules. They just showed up when it was convenient to the plot.

The ending was sufficiently dramatic to keep my interest as I finished the book. Wren has a small growth arc. Overall, I am in a minority of people who wasn't overly impressed with this book, as evidenced by other Goodreads reviews. It really comes down to my looking at this book's Romance Fantasy and YA Mystery peers and just finding this be passable in comparison to some other titles that impressed me much more. I'm sure there are people who will really like this. Wren and Hal's relationship is actually built pretty well. But overall, it just came across a little run of the mill for me. It didn't strike me as anything overly special.

3/5 stars

My request on NetGalley was approved by the publisher, so thank you Wednesday Books!

My Rating: 4 / 5 🌟

To say I've been waiting for this book for a long time would be quite an understatement, considering this has been on my TBR ever since it was announced in 2019 knowing that it'll only be released in 2021. SO BASICALLY THE EXCITEMENT FOR THE BOOK IS REAL, Y'ALL. 😂

Being a debut novel and a YA Fantasy standalone, I would say Down Comes the Night is quite ambitious in what it wanted to achieve and I think Allison did a pretty good job in executing the storyline. And since it is a standalone, Allison had to make sure to not waste time on unnecessary details by making sure all the elements and characters that were included in the story was relevant to the story, and to this I applaud her for managing to do it quite well.

I've had this e-ARC for quite some time now but I haven't been wanting to pick it up. Then, after reading numerous books with underwhelming romance, I knew it was the time to pick this up since I heard the romance aspect is fantastic. AND LET ME TELL YOU, IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. I honestly have no clue how Allison managed to create a love story between these two characters in just one book and yes, I am very sad that I won't ever be seeing them again unless Allison wants to make a surprise sequel in the future. 😭 (Or a more likely scenario, I'M MANIFESTING A BONUS SCENE OF WREN AND HAL TO BE RELEASED IN THE PAPERBACK VERSION COMING NEXT YEAR. 👀)

And the last thing I want to talk about is THE WRITING. HOLY CRAP, Y'ALL. I AM CAPTIVATED BY THE WRITING. 😍 I love how Allison strings all her words together, they just flow so easily with one another and the writing just made me want to continue on with the book without stopping, although I didn't find the books to have any dull moments since I was so invested in the story, the writing just made the whole experience much more enjoyable for me.

I feel like this is way too early to know but I have a feeling that Allison Saft will make her way to my list of auto-buy authors! I definitely have to read her next book (THAT'S COMING OUT NEXT YEAR 🥲) to guarantee the position, but the odds are pretty good, and I'm so excited to read more of her works in the future!

So, if you're looking for a quick YA Fantasy standalone or you've been deprived of romance from YA Fantasy for some time and need a quick fix, Down Comes the Night is DEFINITELY the book for you, just like it was for me. 😁

I was initially drawn to Down Comes the Night due to its cover which was giving me some serious Gothic mystery vibes. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me and I found that at times the plot was disjointed and not cohesive. I often found my mind meandering as I was reading and so it took me over a month to finish. I can see the potential in this book and I am disappointed that it didn't live up to it.

I wanted to love this book because I had heard so much buzz about it on social media. Also- bi main character!

However, this just wasn't for me. I wasn't really feeling the main relationship, and I often felt like it wasn't believable. I also felt the pacing of the book was awkward at times. Overall I found myself to be bored during most of the book.

However, I know most people have loved this one so I would recommend checking it out for yourself, especially if you're into romance fantasy!

Down Comes the Night is a gothic tale of magic, power, and jealousy that will pull you in and keep you there in horror and wonder.

The story, especially the first half, reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier in character, setting, and other story elements. Wren Southerland is young, gifted, and impetuous, much like Rebecca. She wants to do the most good in the world but plows ahead without thinking things through. I couldn’t help but love her giant heart while my jaw-dropped over her spur of the moments decisions. Sometimes, she appears to be the damsel in distress, while at other times, showing sparks of a potential leader to her people, ushering them into a new age. Wren is a complex character full of the contradictions that come with her youth and is more of an anti-hero in this story since the burdens of her choices foreshadow her doom.

The gothic tone and atmosphere take the place of any detailed world-building. I learned some about the world, enough to mostly understand it, but I would have loved to explore many details in more depth. The story primarily pulls you in with the gothic horror, which is dark and pervasive though never scary. I enjoyed this uniqueness among the fantasy stories that I read.

I enjoyed the mystery, which is the focus of the first half of the story. The story is very much like Rebecca in that way - a mystery in a “haunted” house with a villain that will send chills up your spine. Soldiers have been going missing from the warring countries of Danu and Vesrian. Each country thinks the other took their people. Wren sets out to find her lost friend and ultimately solve the mystery.

The magic system is fascinating. That is one of those areas that could have been developed more but what I learned is fascinating. Magic runs through some people like blood does through veins and focuses on one body part. Hal could kill people through his eyes, and Wren could heal people through her hands. Other abilities are alluded to, but I did not learn enough information about them. I would have loved to know much more about the magical system and the different skills.

To Read or Not to Read

If a fantasy story that is told using all of the Gothic literature elements is something that intrigues you, then Down Comes the Night is a must-read for you!

HOW DARE THIS BE A STANDALONE!?! 😭

Fantasy, romance, magic, and mystery combine perfectly in DOWN COMES THE NIGHT. Once I stared reading Wren's adventure, I couldn't stop until I finished, even if that meant sleep deprivation and sore eyes.

*I received a free copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

It's hard to write a review when you do like a book, but you wanted more from it. When you can see the potential, but also the flaws. There's a lot to say and it can be difficult to put it all into words. That, in a nutshell, is how I feel about Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft. I do want to say upfront that if I could give half stars, I would rate this a 3.5.

Down Comes the Night follows Wren, a magical healer from Danu. She's known for her healing talents both with and without magic, but she's also know for her compassion. Unfortunately, compassion is seen as a weakness when your country has been in a centuries long war. Danu has long been at war with neighboring country Vestria while their other neighbor, Cernos, has stayed out of the conflict. But that may be changing when Wren receives a letter from a mysterious noble in Cernos seeking her help to cure an unknown illness in exchange for an alliance between their countries. But Wren finds herself buried deep in a political plot she did not expect all while finding new enemies and possible falling in love with old ones.

First and foremost, I did enjoy this story. The setting has the feel of late 1800's/turn of the century London, which I love. And the romance was very sweet. It also has a dichotomy of countries that rely on magic and religion and a country that relies on science and innovation that was very interesting. But, as with several aspects of the book, I wished for a deeper look at this dichotomy and how it exists. That is probably my biggest critique of this book. Too many aspects felt very surface level, like the difference in the countries and the tensions those brought and the magic people possessed, leaving me with several questions of "Why?" and "How?". Even the gothic feel of the book just could have gone deeper. Unlike the medical side of this book, which felt too much. There were times the story definitely got lost in medical jargon and too much medical detail. Including one description that honestly made me squeamish.

While there were also some general inconsistencies and plot conveniences, I would call this a solid debut. Despite my critiques, I am looking forward to seeing the growth in Allison's writing in whatever she brings us next.

Title: Down Comes the Night
Author: Allison Shaft
Pub. Date: March 2, 2021
Rating: 4

This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. Work is going to be a pain tomorrow, but I have no regrets.

I really enjoyed this book - the characters, the world, the plot - it's all engaging and keeps you hooked.
I will say that I found Lowry to be a bit predictable and I didn't quite enjoy him and his machinations. As for all the other characters, I either loved them or didn't mind them. All their arcs are satisfying and work really well.
I also loved the primary setting for this book - Colwick Hall. I'm a sucker for creepy old houses in books and when you set them on a mountain, in the snow...it creates a really interesting atmosphere.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and I can't wait to purchase a copy. I loved Hal and Wren and their slow exploration and getting to know of each other. Their dynamic is great and I could read about them forever. I highly suggest picking up this book when it comes out - I don't think you're going to want to miss it.

Title: Down Comes the Night
Author: Allison Shaft
Pub. Date: March 2, 2021
Rating: 4

This will be a spoiler free review. Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review. It’s 3AM and I have work tomorrow – well, today as you’re reading this. I couldn’t put the book down. Am I going to be exhausted at work, undoubtably, but it’s worth it.

I inhaled this book in about 6ish hours. Once I was hooked, I was invested. I didn’t want to stop reading. I was exhausted heading into this book, but it didn’t matter. I needed to know what was going to happen next. I need more Hal and Wren.

Their dynamic is amazing, and I just loved them so much. I love that Hal is clearly adorable. He might have been ruthless and dangerous and Not A Good Person but seeing him for who is truly is…impeccable.
His arc is just so satisfying.
And speaking of satisfying arcs, um, hello Wren.

Wren is amazing. She’s brilliant, witty and so incredibly strong. Sure, she makes mistakes, but when she realizes she’s making/made them, she learns and grows. I love that her strength is kindness. In a world that is constantly plagued by war and upheaval, Wren could have let everything harden her – but the fact that she doesn’t, it’s amazing. Her compassion is astounding.

Una, well, she kind of annoyed me. I’ve had friends like Una, ones who think they know what’s best for you, so they try and mold you into what they think you should be. Her arc in this book is interesting and ultimately satisfying. She grows and changes, but still stays true to who she is.
Her and Wren’s relationship is messy. It’s full of mixed feelings, intense pressure, frustration and longing. I think prior to the events at the end, they were friends, but more out of obligation. Post ending events, I think things will change.

As for Wren and Hal – I love them. I love them. I love them. That scene at the very end, when she [REDACTED] was just so wonderful. The way their relationship progressed, slowly and naturally, a gradual, begrudging get to know, was wonderful. The fact that they can see the fault of their countries, the biases and prejudices they’re raised with, and can move past them – it’s one of my favorite character dynamics. It also helps that Hal is the moody, broody type, and I have a hard time resisting those kinds of characters. And don’t even get me started on the soft moments, because I’ll be here all day.

Lowry was unfortunately predictable. He was the one element that I didn’t really care for in the book, and why I’m not giving it 5 stars. He just did nothing for me. His motivations didn’t move me or make me even want to remotely try and see his hurt and his reasoning. And maybe it was supposed to be obvious, but I kind of wish that it hadn’t been. I just grew bored of him and his machinations quickly.

Despite my one complaint, this book was great. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I’ll be paying the price at work, but that’s okay. I knew I was going to enjoy this, and I loved the characters and the world. Setting the majority of this book on a snowy mountain manor house is *chef’s kiss*. I love books set in the backdrop of a creepy house, so this delivers. It’s engaging and you end up reading it in one sitting. The character relationships are wonderful, and the softer tender moments are perfect. You can’t help but enjoy this book. You fall in love with Wren and Hal and everything they go through. I definitely recommend this book, and it comes out next week, so you don’t have to wait long! Make sure you pre-order or pick up your copy next week once it’s released!

Different but interesting!

Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft is big gothic fantasy where Wren Southerland of Danu is asked to help heal Lord Lowry’s servants after she was kicked out of the military. It wasn’t a servant but Hal Cavendish the infamous Reaper of Vesria and Danu’s enemy.

You get the gothic feel with the dark castle setting and being told not to leave your room after a certain time but there is a little bit of romance when Wren starts to fall in love with her patient that she shouldn’t even want to keep alive.

If you like gothic fantasy with the main character that can heal by touch even her enemy, this is book for you.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was hooked on this book from the very first chapter. It sucked me in and my fantasy loving heart was so happy about it. Down Comes the Night is dark, eerie, fast paced, and romantic. I loved the enemies to lovers story line and it kept me guessing the whole time.

My only issue with this book is the main character’s decision making was really sporadic and a bit naïve, but I guess you could also see it as bravery. Just didn’t seem very logical to me at times.

All in all I would definitely recommend this book. I’m really hoping there’s a sequel to get my hands on in the future

"Maybe the only difference between a monster and a hero was the color of a soldier's uniform."

Ok, so I loved Allison Saft's debut novel DOWN COMES THE NIGHT. Insert Stefon from SNL voice here - this book has everything. Pining! Sharing one bed! LGBTQ rep! Enemies to lovers! Morally grey characters! A creepy castle! Cool magic! A look at the ethics and trauma of war! Murder mystery!

From the beginning, I was completely sold on Wren, our main protagonist, because like Wren, I can have a lot of feelings and I really related to her struggle to be strong without tamping down on her natural empathy. In terms of describing Wren's healing magic, Saft did an excellent job of blending science and magic throughout the book, especially when it came to describing the scenes where Wren helped heal Hal's magic.

Speaking of Hal...I am a self-described sucker for a morally grey characters AND for an enemies to lovers romance, so *of course* I loved Hal. His struggle came across the page beautifully and I found myself rooting for him, Wren and their shared mission. Plus I just loved their slow burn romance...

While the overall mystery of the book may have been somewhat obvious from the start, it didn't hinder my enjoyment of this book at all. Our 3 main characters - Wren, Hal and Una - were so fleshed out and interesting to me, that I was just happy to be along for their journey. Saft's writing is so lush and lovely that I was swept up in the world she was creating for the reader. Overall. this books ticks a lot of my personal boxes in terms of what I enjoy reading, so it's no surprise that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

I'd recommend this atmospheric romance to fans of Emily A. Duncan's WICKED SAINTS series, Leigh Bardugo's Grishaverse trilogy, and Holly Black's COLDEST GIRL IN COLD TOWN.

"Her sensitivity had always forced her to look straight at the darkness in the world -- and allowed her to imagine how she might fix it. Empathy brought her and Hal together. It carried them here. If they could work together, if they could learn to care for each other, then there was still hope for their people.
She wasn't weak for feeling, either. Hardened hearts were breakable. But hers had endured again and again."

This book was...a lot. Immediately after finishing, I was tempted to give it 2 stars -- just for all the graphic descriptions of eyeball surgery. (The other scientific descriptions? Didn't get to me. But eyes? NOPE. I'M OUT.)

Here's my main thing with this book: it had a major identity crisis. I requested this book from NetGalley because of the Gothic cover -- and there are, indeed, Gothic elements:
Haunted Castle/House? -- ✔︎
Damsel in Distress? -- ✔︎ (Well, she's "imprisoned" there during a winter storm, so, yeah...)
Atmosphere of Mystery? -- ✔︎
Ghost or Monster? -- ✔︎
Awful Weather? -- ✔︎ (see above)
Omens/Portents/Visions/Dreams? -- ✔︎
Burdened Male Protagonist? -- ✔︎
Melodrama? -- ✔︎ (so. much. of. it.)
Death? -- ✔︎ (yep! and a bonus detailed description of the smell!)
The Beast Within? -- ✔︎
The elements are all there -- and if the novel was just the middle 60% of the book, I might have a different opinion.

But. It's not *just* a Gothic story.
It's filled with scientific terms and descriptions.
There's a whole magic subplot.
There's also a military subplot.
And a fantasy vibe.
And an Alt History vibe.
Not to mention allusions to Beauty and the Beast; Snow Queen; Bluebeard; Frankenstein; Jane Eyre...

It was just....too much.
It's rare that I feel like a book should be split into two -- with everything being published as trilogies these days, I value and appreciate the stand-alone novel. But I think maybe this story could have benefited from being split into two parts. Let me try to clarify.

The first 25% or so of this book is like this weird Fantasy/Religious/Military story. We have 3 kingdoms (countries?) -- Danu, Vesria, & Cernos -- two of which have magic, one of which does not. The two with magic are at War with each other -- which is only described in retrospect and in broad, sweeping strokes (e.g., the Horrors of War; War is Awful) -- and the third, Cernos, is just chilling in the middle like Switzerland. A very vague excuse for The War is given -- it's always happened, they've always hated each other, differences in magic and/or religion, etc. -- and we just have to accept that.

The country we focus on, Danu, is ruled by Isabel, the Ice Queen Paper Queen, who is cold, haughty, imperial, aloof, etc. Her niece, Wren, is our protagonist. Wren's mother is the Queen's sister -- making Isabel her aunt -- but Isabel hates Wren (again, something we have to take as a given) because her mother married a....commoner? IDK. It's not that important. What's important is that Isabel hates Wren, and Wren is desperate for her aunt's approval and affection.

And Wren is DiFfErEnT, because she cares. But everyone else sees that as her being reckless and impulsive and Bad At Everything. So Wren runs away, doing another reckless and impulsive thing, and gets herself imprisoned in a Gothic Murder Mystery.

Not the best Fantasy setup, because so much of it is rushed through and told to the reader, rather than shown...but "fine."

There's also an intense preoccupation with science -- lots of scientific descriptions like "the moon, as narrow and hooked as a suture needle", "dread gripped her, as cold as liquid helium," "it came out before she could stop it, like a spurt of arterial blood,". Which...I don't know. Didn't work for me. I want to compare it to Frankenstein, but that's not quite right. Saft attempts to provide a scientific explanation for magic -- genetics! fola! biological energy! -- and while I appreciate the effort, it didn't land for me. Because magic, is by definition, unexplainable. If you can provide a scientific rationale for it, it's not magic.

The Gothic Murder Mystery takes place in the magicless kingdom -- Cernos -- and this is where it got *real* tricky for me. Without magic, Cernos has developed electricity and cameras and telephones; there are references to plague doctors and their masks; Hal references "penny dreadfuls" and I think Lord Lowery even references Darwin. So...19th century? That kinda fits with the Gothic vibes, if you think more Jane Eyre and Wilkie Collins than Anne Radcliffe and Castle of Otranto...but then why the magic? Why the fantasy countries? Why not just have an Alt History of Victorian England where Darwin discovers "magical" fola instead of evolution? Or, in conjunction with evolution? THAT would have been a strong premise, and would have negated the need for the fantasy side of it.

Then the last 15-20% or so devolves into a melodramatic extolation of peace and empathy and forgiveness over blood justice and vengeance.
Wait, what?!
We completely abandon the Gothic Murder Mystery -- what happens to Hannah? Byers? Matthonwy? IDK -- and shift back to The Awful Magical War. And because Wren is DiFfErEnT, she's the one who saves EVERYONE. No, literally. All the major players -- except the Villain who is the Villain and therefore must die so that Good endures -- are swayed by Wren's way of thinking, which they had previously denigrated and almost punished her for.

*sigh*

If we had stuck with the Gothic story, the melodrama there would have fit better, and even the idea that Wren, as a Victorian Angel in the House, could convert everyone and make them Gooder, would have been fine.
But instead, we go back to the Horrors of War, and get all these heavy-handed monologues about the Value Of Forgiveness and how War Is Bad.
And, again -- because we're only told about the war, the impact of that falls flat. We don't see Hal in action, so his Transformation doesn't land quite the way I think it's supposed to. I didn't feel invested in the war, because we didn't see the horrors of it.

Bottom line: if this book had picked one genre, maybe two, it could have made for a stronger story. But the mish-mash of genres did it a disservice, IMHO.

Miscellaneous Spoilery Thoughts:

﹅ Saft writes with a lot of similes and metaphors. Like, A LOT. I don't normally comment on stylistic things, but there were so many that once I started looking for them, I couldn't stop seeing them and it just took me out of the story. (See above, for instance, in the scientific examples.)
Saft's descriptions were, on the whole, very lush and detailed, but the metaphors were a bit much.

✘ There's a Love Triangle. Sort of. Because...

✘ I don't know if this will bother anyone else, but I did NOT understand Una's role.
Now, before I go any further, let me make this clear: I have nothing against LGBTQ+ stories or the community, and I try to be an ally whenever possible. Some of my favorite reads last year were LGBTQ+ and I think there should be more of them. Here, I don't object to the concept, but rather to how it was executed.
But if a major selling point of this book is that Wren is Bi...that didn't land, for me.
Again, we don't see her relationship with Una; it's told to us, largely in hindsight. Wren loves Una, they had one night together, and now they don't talk of it. (Ostensibly because "fraternization" is frowned upon, but....) Instead, Wren's romance with Hal is described in great, steamy detail -- both the emotional and physical side of it. Again, I don't have a problem with that either, but if you're only going to show the heterosexual relationship, and portray the homosexual relationship as this toxic/harmful thing, it's not great. Priority is given to Hal/Wren, whereas Una/Wren is something that gets relegated to the past -- and Wren realizes that she loves Una "as a friend." It just seemed a little too forced for me. Especially because there was no real reason that Hal had to be a male character. Gender-swap Hal and Una and it would have been much more effective, if representing a Bi character was the point of the story. For me, there was no real reason for Una to be more than a friend (the story remains unchanged).

﹅ There was also *almost* a "Bury Your Gays" moment and I about lost it. Thankfully, we averted it because...

✘ ...apparently Isabel has magic. WUT. The ending here was SO abrupt and didn't jive with the rest of the story. Isabel has magic, saves Una, and then does a total 180 and suddenly is nice to Wren, calling her her niece because...she really wanted to be loved all along? It was all just a big misunderstanding? IDK. Because we didn't see any of that develop -- didn't even really see Wren try to get Isabel's love. All stuff that we were told in the first 25% of the book. Could have landed differently if we'd set it up differently.

When I got the email that I won a copy of this book, I audibly gasped. This is one of my most anticipated reads for this year and to see that I was getting a physical ARC left me speechless. I often say that I'm not lucky or I have no luck, but I was feeling lucky that day when I found out I won. And finally getting a copy of that book in my hands was so exciting.

And this book did not disappoint. 

I have always been a fan of gothic fantasties and really began to fall in love with the genre more after Wicked Saints. The first thing that caught my eye in this book was the fact that our main character, Wren, is bisexual. She is in love with her commanding officer, Una, who likes to pretend that she's blind to Wren's feelings. Una's tough shell is no deterrent for Wren though, who desperately wants to take things to the next level with her, even if she knows it's wrong. My one problem with the beginning though is that Wren feels pretty one dimensional here. She's the love sick puppy who wants to stay by Una's side, even if it means doing the thing she hates the most - hurting people. 

Once Wren makes it out of the city and towards Lowry's manor though, we see her personality begin to shine. Upon taking the risk to abandon her post at the abbey and do what she thinks is right for her country, Wren becomes a deserter, a fighter, and a patriot at the same time. No longer is she waiting around for orders from Una, she's making her own decisions and doing what she believes is right. Until she comes face to face with Hal Cavendish, her country's number one sworn enemy. Yet, instead of immediately running back to Una like we think she's going to do, she decides to stay to treat him, so she can bring him in herself. 

Once Hal is in the picture, I already knew it was endgame for Wren. Hal is a broody, tough guy with a marshmallow inside. He doesn't want to be the savage fighter and war criminal, he wants peace. And while he likes to present himself as this tough guy persona, we all know he's a big softy. One thing I wish we had though is the "only soft for you" trope. Hal has lost his edge and suddenly is a peaceful guy who doesn't want to fight anymore, and while I love that change of heart, I didn't want him to lose his stoicism or his rough edges. I wanted him to keep his appearance as a tough guy, while being soft and sweet for Wren. I did not get my wish.

Of course there's Lowry, who adds a little personality spice into this mix. He's definitely a strange man who is dramatic and drastic, but it keeps things interesting. I wish we got to learn more about him, seeing as Wren was staying in his home, but from the moments we get with him and learn about him, it's clear this guy is very strange. 

One thing I loved a lot about this book, was the plot. The series of events that unfolded in this story were so intense and I couldn't put down this book for a moment. There were so many twists and turns, some I saw through and others I didn't. By the end, I felt like I had gone on a rollercoaster with all the emotions I was feeling. Overall, I loved this book and while it has its faults, I loved it anyways. I honestly wish it wasn't a standalone, I need more Wren and Hal!

I had SO MANY issues with this book, but at the same time I tried to DNF it three different times and I kept picking it back up. There's this spark that made me keep reading. At times the writing is really wonderful, and there are some interesting ideas and world building. I don't know anything about medicine and biology, but the way magic and science are interwoven and Wren's healing magic seemed really believable and compelling.

That being said - holy inconsistencies, Batman. This book reads like a first or maybe second draft and really needs some good developmental editing to call out the many weird inconsistencies and leaps. There are three countries, two of which are at war and the last of which is super isolated in the mountains. For a country that's super isolated I sure expected it to take more than a 24-hour extremely uneventful carriage ride to get there... And they rode through the night but then stopped at an inn a few hours from their destination? WHY? And then this inn is described as being a few hours ride from the mansion Wren is going to, but later they're walking to the village and it's described as being a mile and a half away. What? So it's a few hours' ride but also a 45 minute walk through knee deep snow?

AND THEN! There's a part where Wren is exploring and all the doors are locked but one, so she forces the lock... on the unlocked door... Uh. And then she's like 'gee, maybe I shouldn't go in here... but the door was unlocked so that's a sign!' Sure, the door you just FORCED OPEN is a sign you should totally go in that room.

AND THEN!!! Lord Lowry is described and literally the only descriptors I remember are he's got a creepy ass weird smile, wears a lot of red, and has a giant key hanging around his neck. So halfway through the book when they find a secret locked door and are like "Oh gosh, we have to find the key! We'll start the search in the morning" I was already shaking my head. Really?

The final straw for me is this: "It was one thing to kill in self-defense. It was another thing entirely to mete out justice. Could she forgive herself if she did this?" THERE IS A GUN PRESSED TO YOUR NECK. HOW MUCH MORE OF A JUSTIFICATION FOR SELF-DEFENSE DO YOU NEED?!

Wren just... bothered me as a character, and I didn't feel like she had any real or meaningful personal growth. She spends the entire book having this gut instinct to show compassion and mercy, and the people around her tell her over and over again that makes her week. She ends up being this super wishy-washy character that ping-pongs violently from being "weak" and showing compassion to forcing herself to be "ruthless" and cold, and it just gave me whiplash. Also, there's a big difference between a character who craves external validation, acceptance, and love and finally gets that external reinforcement, and one who learns that she needs to love herself first and foremost. Wren spends the book turning herself inside out trying to be someone she's not because she wants so badly to be loved and accepted, and at the end she's like "Ooh, here's another chance to be loved by people!" That... should not be the lesson you learned, girl.

IN SUMMARY - This book is terribly executed, but it has the POTENTIAL to be a really wonderful gothic fantasy mystery romance. I think this really should have been midwifed along a bit more before being released to the world. I read an egalley so perhaps the final product will end up being more polished, but... I doubt it.

Wren is a healer who works for the Queen's guard. But she is dismissed due to her reckless use of magic and in the process is separated from her best friend who is also the girl she loves. Everything in her life changes for the worse. But then suddenly she receives an opportunity to redeem herself. And after that, her life changes completely.
This story involves a magic system which I thought was quite interesting.
There is a gothic side to this book and I liked how thrilling and mysterious the backdrop of the book was.
And it also has a trope I love that is forbidden romance.
Quite an interesting plot.
Enjoyed it

I LOVE one-shot fantasy stories with "just the right amount of" romance. "Down Came the Night" was very close to being one of my top fantasy YA romance novels of the past few years. I loved the two main characters, the political story line, the magic, the life lessons and the descriptions. The main character is a healer, and I especially loved the imagery of using body parts to describe various settings in the book.

My only real qualm: the romance really did start to get nauseatingly heavy during the second half of the book. It hurts to read books that overuse words, and for this book the overused word was: reverence. So much.. "He looked at her in reverence.." One time? Cool. Two times? I can take it. After that?... there is way too much reverence for this girl, even if she is a pretty amazing main character and I would have probably fallen in love with her too.

I enjoyed how contained this book was-- while there COULD be a sequel, it really isn't needed. This was a very fast read for me, I couldn't put it down.

Thank you Allison Saft for writing such a lovely book. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.