Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like this started out a little rocky, but once Wren gets to Colwick Hall, the story really started to pick up. The location was perfect for this to take on a gothic novel tone, and it was a little disappointing that it didn’t go there (that would have been amazing).

But that’s not to say I didn’t like it! I was invested in finding out what was happening to the missing soldiers and at Colwick Hall. I also really appreciated that Wren is someone who feels a lot and those around her have made her think that’s a bad thing until Hal helps her realize that it’s actually an asset.

I had a lot of issues with this book: It’s advertised as a gothic mystery, but it didn’t feel like that at all- it was a fantasy book with magic. The magic system isn’t explained besides that 10% of the population have magic because of genetics, but magic users are only part of one country, while electricity only exists in the enemy country (okayyyyy, sure). And why are they enemy countries? What started it/ fueled it to last so long??? The enemies to lovers romance is flimsy. I mean, one minute Wren hates Hal and wants to kill him, the next she likes him? And even though she’s a jerk to him time and time again, he still treats her well and endangers himself to rescue her/ save her life in several occasions. It’s told a million time how Wren is so compassionate/ kind/ displays her feelings, while Una and the queen are cold. It’s way overdone and annoying. The book drags- you can take out at least 75-100 pages and it’s still be the same story.
It’s never explained why the queen can’t stand her niece, what happened to her mother (sounds like she passed away, but how/ more info needed) or who was Wren’s father. The one thing I did like was the ending.

I absolutely LOVED this book from the first page to the last. It was exactly what I was in the mood for and had that nostalgic feel of the perfect fantasy book that takes you away somewhere else entirely and puts you in the middle of the plot as if you were there yourself. I fell in love with the characters so bad!!! Wren’s constant struggle to try and be tough when in the end she finds it’s okay to feel and be loved and to care struck really hard in my core. I constantly feel as though the good that I do is overlooked and trampled in the wake of others selfishness and to know that the right people will see it and it will mean something to them, made me feel so much for this book and these characters. I was at the edge of my seat from pretty much the 50% mark on, I will say the beginning was a little slower but that’s okay, we learned about the world and how it’s magic works and the background to our beloved characters and from there it took off in a whirlwind of chaos and betrayal and love and victory! I could NoT stop reading!!! I will be pushing this book on everyone who glances my way :) !! 5 stars!

Overall, Down Comes the Night contains all the elements it promised us on the blurb, even more. However, despite enjoying the story, I find that aside from the romance, none of the elements hit all the right mark for me. The atmosphere wasn’t as dark as I imagined; the plot wasn’t tight enough, focused waay too much on the romance, and took an easier turn; and the ending was too abrupt. It’s a great debut that certainly make me keep an eye on the author’s future works!

Sadly this ended up disappointing me. I really enjoyed the set-up of the first half, and was intrigued by the characters, but after about two-thirds I just got annoyed by the story and found the characters frustrating. It seems unfinished in some ways, as if two different books were made into one, without a lot of follow through from one end to the next.

A truly original, captivating book. The writing was great and the characters interesting even if somewhat mysterious. A must read for fantasy readers who are fans of Leigh Bardugo.

*Arc provided by the Wednesday Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Enemies to lovers and a creepy house is basically a neon sign saying please read me. The main character Wren has the ability to heal people with magic; a skill that gets her in more trouble than it helps. After being dismissed from the Queen's Guard Wren answers a letter from a reclusive lord asking her to heal his servant. Of course, the servant isn't ever just a servant it's none other than her arch nemesis and her kingdom's sworn enemy Hal Cavendish. I love this trope and I don't think there's a day I'll ever be disappointed by enemies to lovers with one party having to nurse the other back to health. There's something about it that makes it more realistic even in a fantasy setting when they fall into feelings because they get to know each other as opposed to just intense sexual frustration and tension.

The only reason I'm going with 4 stars instead of 5 is the pacing which is just personal preference and not anything wrong with the actual story. The story felt really rushed towards the end I would have liked to see it drawn out a little bit more after everything the characters went through. There was also one thing towards the end that grossed me out a bit and could have absolutely done without but such is life.

Down Comes the Night is a lush and atmospheric gothic fantasy that's intricately threaded with romance and elements of horror. In turns, it sends an ice floe skimming down your spine or a rush of molten sunlight to your veins. The prose is lovely and immersive, truly transporting the reader into the world Saft has created. The slow-burn is gorgeous and searingly romantic, while also incorporating excellent use of beloved fanfiction tropes such as enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, and only one bed.

I adored the characters of Wren, Una, and Hal, as well as Wren's dynamics with each of the latter two. Wren's character arc of wanting to prove herself and her internal struggle with being ruled by emotions resonated quite a bit with me, as I could relate to the desire for acceptance and feeling defined by one's abilities. I also grew deeply fond of Hal–his past, along with the way he grapples with his conflicting beliefs and sense of duty to his people really tugged at my heartstrings. I wish we had gotten to know Una more on the page, but I loved how fiercely protective she is of those she cares about.

While there were some less strong areas, there was nothing that I particularly wrong or that I disliked about the book. Yet, I felt that there was something preventing me from falling fully in love with the book as much as I wanted to. I loved the characters but wished to see some of their depths plumbed further, the mysterious elements kept me reading but were somewhat predictable, the political nuances were interesting but superficially explored, the magic system was fascinating but I longed for further details–I constantly found myself wanting more. However, it was overall a lovely read that I would recommend. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would gladly return to the lands of Danu (and Vesria) with Saft's characters. Many thanks to Netgalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

A Gothic fantasy romance with a mystery subplot is something I never knew I needed! This book nails a lot of things but I think, most importantly, it understands atmosphere. It is an easily visualized setting that blends many exciting elements together in an interesting way. The characters also feel fully formed and unique--they drive the story rather than the story driving them. Though I'm not typically one for romance, I have to say that the romance really got me here! This novel was a surprising delight and I can't wait to see what else comes from Allison Saft.

With a beautifully realized, nearly scientific magic system, DOWN COMES THE NIGHT lures you in from the first page, swiftly defining itself as a lush, gothic, romantic fantasy about the nature of war. DOWN COMES THE NIGHT is a very layered book, and at the heart of it, it is a story about mercy and the endless cycle of war--and how we can move past that, if only we take that chance.

This book surprised me with how much I loved it! I love seeing more queer rep in fantasies lately, and I think this book did a great job with representation. It is a standalone book, but I hope the author writes more books set within this world because it was so good! Having a murder mystery plot within a magical fantasy world fraught with complex wars and politics was such a great idea because it just added an extra layer to this book and made it stand out. This is the author's debut novel and her writing and character dialogue was really excellent. Can't wait to see what she comes out with in the future.

The first line of the description caught my attention immediately when I first saw Down Comes the Night... and then I saw it was set in a sort of haunted mansion, if you can even call it that, and I was a little hesitant, but Allison Saft really made the setting work to her advantage.

Instead of boredom within the walls of the estate, I was fascinated by the intricate details woven into the description, as though it was a character itself. Her ability to make the reader feel as though they're standing right there with the character down to the scents and chilly feel is incredible.

I'm a huge fan of seeing the consequences of using magic recklessly written into a book as well. I wasn't sure if it would trail off, but the theme of redemption for not only the main character but her love interest, who's also her kingdom's sworn enemy, was fully developed and kept the tension crackling on the pages.

I'm looking forward to reading more from Saft, and can't wait to see what she delivers next!

Down Comes the Night is author Allison Saft's debut novel. Told in the third person point of view, the story follows Wren Southerland who is a brilliant healer and Queen's Guard and unwanted niece of Queen Isabel. After 300 years of war, Isabel brokers an armistice with Vesria. Her hopes is that things could get back to normal. That is until soldiers, including Wren's only other friend, go missing while patrolling the borders with Vesria. Wren and Una Dryden, her commander and best friend, capture a possible spy holding a book with notes on the missing, only to have Wren heal the prisoner who then escapes. Unfortunately for Wren, the Queen really doesn't like her. She feels betrayed by her sister falling in low with a low born. She grows impatient with Wren's carelessness and threatens to send her back to the Order of the Maiden where she was sent as a baby.

For Wren, magic and medicine provided Wren with an escape from the loneliness of growing up alone and being ignored by Isabel her own flesh and blood. She's really good at both. After her mistake, Wren is banished back to the Order of the Maiden where she receives an interesting request from Lord Alistair Lowry of Cernos. Cernos has ignored all requests for aid for years. But now it seems that Alistair has a major problem on his hands, and since Wren is at the top of the list of healers and surgeons, she's the answer to his problem. After Isabel orders Wren to the mines to heal the miners, Wren chooses a different path. Wren decides to take up Alistair's offer and travels to Cernos. Things at Alistair's mansion are desperate. Servants have died. Another lies dying. The weather outside is downright frightful.

But the most shocking moment comes when Wren comes face to face with the monster known as Hal Cavendish, aka Reaper of Vesria. The same Hal who was listed as missing. The same Hal who has terrorized Vesna for years. She's trapped in the snowy mountains with a murderer, but soon realizes something even more sinister is just around the corner. As a healer, Wren is a bleeding heart. She needs to do what she's good at even though Hal is her enemy. What's really interesting is that Cernos has a technological advantage over both its neighbors and now claims to want to work with Vesria. They could easily have declared war on both countries and more than likely, won. To make matters even more interesting is that Alistair wants Wren to be his official liaison to Queen Isabel after she finds a way to cure Hal.

Wren tends to bare her heart to the reader: choosing to show an enemy kindness when it would be much easier to follow orders and ignore his pain. Hal is brooding, angsty, and above all, is seeking answers and redemption. Some have labeled this as LGBT and that is because Wren is in love with her best friend Una. But in the end, it is her connection to Hal and her desire to do good that drives the final chapters of this book. Down Comes the Night is a dark tale full of nods to some classic horror tropes like the mad scientist, haunted mansions, romanticism versus enlightenment, body horror, and more.

This book was so utterly delightful, I was surprised to find myself falling in love with it even more, with each chapter. In the blurb, it’s compared to Shadow & Bone, as well as The Winner’s Curse, and I’d say those are apt comparisons – though add some spookier, gothic vibes and you’re set. And best of all, it’s a standalone!

I quite loved everything about this. The magic system is new and refreshing, there is an unsettling mystery of disappearing soldiers and a devastating illness to solve, courtly politics and an exhaustive war between countries, surprising twists, and a swoony, slow burn romance to keep you turning pages.

I was completely taken with Wren and Hal’s relationship. From distrust, to a tentative alliance, to begrudging respect, to an unparalleled trust and camaraderie, to more. It was fun, and slow burn, and should entice fans of Leigh Bardugo’s books. I’d totally be down to see these characters going out and taking on more of the world in a future book, just saying!

All of that said, I figured I would enjoy this book, but was surprised by just how enchanted and immersed in the story I became. Definitely recommend this one if you enjoy mysteries, gothic settings, and slow burn rivals to lovers.

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

Down Comes the Night is a rich, gothic fantasy with an enemies-to-lovers slow burn romance, political intrigue, and a murder mystery. All of my favorite things! I was hesitant to start this title because I was afraid it was the first in a new series, which drains my interest as I wait for installments. Luckily, this novel stands alone, leaving the perfect package of atmosphere and adventure. It was a little predictable and follows YA tropes, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read.

While my expectations were high going into this book, I was rather disappointed.

I found a lot of myself in Wren, especially when it came to the empathy of others, but there was something about her character that lacked a compelling need to care about her outcome.

Also, a lot of medical terminology is used, so if you aren’t aware of certain terms you may need to look them up. As someone with a background in the medical field this wasn’t a problem for me, but I can see it posing some inconveniences for others.

The first half of the book was quite slow and I felt none of the characters were all that interesting, but I kept reading in hopes of it perking up. But once we were introduced to Alistair Lowry things got interesting. He was an eccentric character, flamboyant and fun, yet reserved and mysterious. He really was the character that made this book come alive!

The last quarter of the book is really where all of the action happens and things start to piece together. The stakes are raised and the ending takes a turn I didn’t quite expect.

Overall the prose of this book was beautiful and full of imagery, I just wish there was more drive with the characters and plot in the beginning. I will likely read the next book Allison Saft releases to see how she grows as a writer.

The premise of this book intrigued me, and I felt it did not disappoint. A creepy, gothic, crumbling mansion, a sworn enemy who isn't what be seems, magic, mystery and a little rromanc --this book had it all. Though the beginning of the book was a little slow for me, it quickly picked up as soon as Wren arrived at the mansion and I couldn't.put it down. A really enjoyable and well-done book. Can't wait to read more from this author!

"War had made orphans of them all."
My Rating: 3.75 stars

Down Comes the Night follows Wren who is the niece of the Queen and she is a healer. Wren though as an orphan has always kind of felt unwanted and like a burden to her aunt for different reasons over the years and this has caused her to always be trying to prove herself to the Queen. Wren is a healer and works in the army and while she likes her job she wants more and this chance at more comes at a time when Wren is already in trouble and the Queen doesn't want her to do it. Wren though decides to do it anyway to prove to the Queen that not only is she worthy, but she could also be doing something to end this never-ending war that her country has been in. Wren's new task is to heal Hal and figure out what made him so sick suddenly as it had already killed many other people and the people in the neighboring kingdom needed to figure out why. This is no easy task though especially once Wren finds out who Hal really is. After she figures this out things really start to heat up because now Wren has to make a really tough choice, while also dealing with this mysterious castle owner who has weird rules and very small staff because of the sickness that she is trying to get Hal to recover from.

All of this gets very messy and ends up making the two of them have to work together a bit, but they are both very apprehensive about it for different reasons. Hal and Wren end up having to not only put their differences aside but also risk everything they have in the future to survive and to stop other people from dying senselessly.

Overall I liked and enjoyed this book. It was fun and entertaining and had just the right amount of fantasy and mystery mixed together. The tension between Hal and Wren was just right and we got to learn so much about them, and seeing how the way they interacted changed over time was fun to see happen. You had two people who felt like they couldn't really rely on anyone else because of jobs they had to do, now having to rely on someone else and trust someone else that they didn't know very well in order to stop more wars from happening to stop more people from dying from the mysterious sickness that was happening.
The political intrigue add on to the magical elements and the mystery of the sickness was perfect and I could not get enough of it.

I also really enjoyed reading the different side characters and seeing how they all incorporated together so nicely and how they ended up helping Wren and Hal in the end in different ways was nice to see. For once I didn't notice any pointless side characters and all the ones we really got to know were actually used in the story.

I'm interested to see what Saft writes next as this one was a good stand-alone that was so hard to put down when I had to do other things.

(Read a finished copy from the library)

This book was one of my favorites so far from 2021! A wonderfully immersive page-turner, with just the right blend of horror, mystery and romance. As befits a gothic novel, the cast of (main) characters is small and the setting looms large - an isolated, crumbling mansion high in the snowy mountains, with forbidden chambers, strict curfews, and a mysterious illness that Wren’s been hired to cure. Faced with a treasonous assignment, a growing attachment to her patient, and with the increasingly erratic behavior of the lord who employs her, time is running out for Wren to find a cure and decide on where her loyalties lie. Really well-written and plotted, with an admirable heroine, LGBTQ rep, and great chemistry between all the central characters.