When I heard Holly Black was releasing her adult debut, I was very excited. The Folk of Air trilogy is one of my favorites and I was excited to see what a master of fantasy like Holly Black could do when writing for an older audience. While it was far from an unpleasant read, I found Book of Night left a lot to be desired.
Featuring a new magic system, revolving around shadows – and Charlie a woman who can’t seem to stay out of trouble. The reader follows Charlie’s attempts to do better for the sake of her sister, while simultaneously seeking revenge against someone who haunts her past and present. The characters and world were convincing enough but it was not the departure from Black’s previous work that I had hoped. I already knew she could write this book. Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House – also an adult debut –fully embraced the increased scope, intricate prose, and darker themes that become accessible when writing for an older age group. I expected the same with Book of Night.

I do not leave the light on after reading a horror novel or avoid canines or cars after reading Cujo or Christine, but I was truly creeped out by Book of Night. Holly Black creates a dangerous world full of grimy, nefarious beings, all anchored into the magic of shadows. Black's main character, Charlie Hall, fits almost perfectly into this sullied place, being a con and a thief.

As the reader's understanding of the power and evil which can be derived by shadows grows (shadows that can be altered, lost, “sewn” back on, quickened, shadows that can infiltrate, murder), so too do the menacing forces determined to stop Charlie's discoveries. I literally felt menaced myself for the last half of the book.

Charlie is a compelling character since she is an intelligent, wily risk-taker burdened with heavy guilt. She does have a moral compass, one that is more moral, meaning ruthless when necessary, than most in the world of Book of Night. It's not, perhaps, our traditional morality, yet we feel we want her to succeed, protect her sister Posey and her mysterious boyfriend Vince and outwit the nightmarish hold that gloamists and other evils have on her world.

One hundred percent enthralling. Also a well-written, short novel.

Book of Night by Holly Black fell somewhat short of expectations, landing somewhere in that gray area of ambivalence. Holly Black is undeniably a force to be reckoned with when it comes to urban fantasy, but her first foray into adult fantasy did not quite hold the same dark intrigue of her past young adult pursuits.

Book of Night feels much closer to Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale than her more recent The Folk of the Air series, in its grittiness and grime. Book of Night follows Charlie, an ex-con artist, who now makes ends meet as a bartender somewhere in the Berkshires. Only, in this version of our world, people can practice shadow magic through their “quickened” shadow or by purchasing a stolen shadow from the black market. While Charlie used to participate in the seedy market of shadow trading, she’s tried to separate herself from that world.

However, that world is unable to give her up fully and she’s quickly pulled into another scheme for a rich and powerful man from her past. The stakes for this job are more serious than any other she’s ever done, and while Charlie wants nothing to do with it - realizes she has little choice. She just hopes to make it out alive and unaltered.

The concept of Book of Night is wholly unique and the fresh take on magic that comes with a price is intriguing. Unfortunately, the shadow magic is quite… shadowy at best and needs a more solid foundation to pull a reader in. Throughout the book, it is not abundantly clear what shadow magic truly does for a practitioner (commonly known as gloamists), other than it can cause their shadows to appear as different shapes like a party trick. While we do find out there is more to shadows and their magic, it is rather unclear what the limitations are or who knows about them. Shadow magic also requires a sacrifice in life energy, but it lacks clarity on how this works. There seemed to be some contradictory information in the book in references to extremely old tomes and evidence of shadow magic dating back far in the past, but it is also presented as something new from the last couple of decades. Truly the lack of magic parameters and magic confusion muddles the severity of the book’s conflict and can leave the reader feeling somewhat unattached to the consequences of what is going on.

A positive of this book is Holly’s prose. She has a unique and easily-consumed way of writing that lends itself well to her urban fantasy settings. This book has great real-world references that will make a reader smile and are relatable and thankfully not cringeworthy.

The characters are also well-rounded and mostly likable even in their moral grayness. You understand their overall motivations and their actions make sense. The only character left a little under-developed was Charlie’s sister, Posey. Posey is desperate to become a gloamist but seems to be hiding something, which might be more fleshed out in book two.

As mentioned in the beginning this book just fell in the gray area of being an okay read. However, one of Book of Night’s comp titles is Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, which is a book that left us with similar feelings to this one. If you’re a fan of Ninth House, definitely give Book of Night a read as you may be satisfied with its story, mystery, and lack of magical parameters.

It took a while for me to adjust to the world but once I read a small chunk it was a breeze to get through. Holly Black's writing, as always, never fails to immerse me in the story. An excellent book deserving of 5 stars!

as always, i am ever impressed with holly blacks writing. i couldnt put this down and was begging for more. i cant wait to hold a physical copy

I genuinely enjoyed this one and basically binge read it in less than 24 hours. Lol. The beginning was at first a bit chaotic or maybe it was my mood but I started it and put it down last night. And then today when I picked it up again, it just grabbed my attention and I had to keep reading. I have a few questions about the Magic system but overall such a good read!

This book has good bones and I'm sure it will appeal to a lot of readers but it just wasn't for me. I found it a bit confusing to follow the magic system which made it hard to really get into the story and then it also had a really slow start. However, I think it will definitely appeal to Holly Black fans and also fans of books like Ninth House and A Darker Shade of Magic.

Charlie Hall is a thief, a con artist, and a girl who loves trouble. In a world where there are magicians who can manipulate shadows to kill people, control people, and do so much worse, things are about to get interesting. Charlie has spent half her life working for gloamists (magicians who control these shadows) and after some big past mistakes she just wants to lie low, take easy jobs, and get out of the business. But getting out isn’t easy when you’ve got a reputation. Charlie has secrets, but shes about to discover that her boyfriend Vincent has even more. When a job gets out of hand and she soon discovers that her shadowless (possibly soulless) boyfriend has more secrets than she could ever imagine everything is about to go from bad to worse for her because Charlie Hall cannot escape trouble. Soon she will find herself descending into a maze of secrets, murder, money, magic, and power and will have to figure out what she truly wants. I have no words to describe how absolutely brilliant this book was, I loved it. I IMMEDIATELY NEED THE SEQUEL. The story fluctuates between Charlie’s childhood, the events leading up to how she got to where she is today, the present, and Vincent and his past. Charlie was raised to be a con artist, she has a talent for it, she keeps her life separated in secrets, her jobs, her nice home life with a quiet and handsome boyfriend who cleans up dead bodies. But when you keep secrets things are bound to unravel, and when it does unravel Charlie starts to realize that she wasn’t the only one keeping secrets in this relationship. Vincent is all masks, he is secrets, he is a calm face hiding something more, and he is connected to Charlie in ways she never knew. This was a story about romance, about surviving, about making bad decisions, and about loving someone for who they are despite everything else. I loved Charlie and I loved Vince, I loved the magic and the mayhem that was this book and I absolutely can’t wait to see where the story continues after that ending!!

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

I expected Black to deliver on a dark fantasy novel, and it certainly was dark. I just didn’t love it. The story started off a bit slow but piqued my interest enough to keep going. The second half of the novel did pick up though.

I didn’t love Charlie Hall as a narrator. And none of the other characters particularly stood out either.

The premise was interesting though, and the magic system was fascinating. That ending though…? Oh, boy. There better be a sequel.

Did this one grab me as much as Black’s The Folk of the Air series? No. But I’m excited to see what Black will do next now that’s she’s ventured into adult.

Sadly this book hasn't hooked me. Maybe I'm not in the right mindset, but I didn't get through more than a couple chapters. The prologue had me intrigued, but the way the first chapter started it definitely hit the wrong note with me. I'll probably try this book again later at some point, but it's not for me right now. 3 stars as a neutral rating.

This is an honest review for a ARC copy from NetGalley.

This is the story of Charlie who is a former thief/con artist. She is draw into a mystery about the Gloamists. They are people who live in shadows and can control shadows too. See in this world, shadows have powers that people can use. Sorry I am being vague but I don't want to give too much away in the review, you will have to read it yourself to see what I am talking about. Charlie is also trying to get her younger Sister Posey to give up her obsession with magic and go to College while keeping up her relationship with her boyfriend Vince who is all dark and mysterious. They kinda have an agreement not to ask questions about each other or their past. Which as you can tell isn't a good thing but you will find that out later.

This book is a great Urban Fantasy vibe that fans of Karen Maire Moning's Fever Series should really enjoy. It has the right mix of fantasy and mystery to it that I really liked. I admit I wasn't a huge fan of Black's Folk of Air Series but I really enjoyed Book of Night. There are trigger warnings in this because it does talk about blood, childhood trauma, PTSD, murder, and toxic relationships. It's a dark book.

I do have to say that ending pissed me off a little. I wasn't happy about the twist and I know that others might feel the same. It's what prevented me from giving it five stars. Over all though I do think this is a good book and that if you are a fan of Holly Black you will love this book, which is hopefully the beginning of a new series.

The Book Of Night is Holly Black's first venture into adult novels. It is a gritty, dark tale in a world where shadows can be altered and animated. I found the beginning to be slow, but once it picked up was a thrilling tale. I would recommend this book to people who enjoyed Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo.

This book was excellent! My favorite thing about the story were the characters which kept me riveted throughout. Black also ties in magic and mystery without being overly descriptive. I am delighted that this is a series and we will get more world building and more time with these characters!!
While it is an adult book, I think there is some cross over appeal for older teens as well.

Yes! Yes! Yes! I was ssooo excited to see an adult book written by Holly Black. I loved her first books that came out while I was in middle and high school and I have read some of her other YA but it's great to see her reaching for a wider audience and succeeding in such a great way.

This was exactly the dark fantasy with a unique magic system that I have come to expect from her work. I would have never thought of shadows as a conduit for magic or of this magic being hidden in our everyday world but it was very cool to read about.

I loved the prickly protagonist, Charlie, and the novel's setting which is an area of Massachusetts where she lives, and I know rather well, so I could see the way that she was able to seamlessly weave in real world landmarks and authentic local culture.

I would absolutely recommend this book and I hope that Black continues to write with adult audiences in mind.

Charlie Hall has spent her life making one bad decision after another. In a world where magicians can manipulate shadows to work independently from their owners, value is placed on being able to "quicken" ones shadow, and anyone who can help make that happen is in fierce competition with others. Charlie gets drawn back into her thieving past as several powerful leaders all search for the one book that may hold all the secrets to shadow manipulation. A thriller worthy of Holly Black and one that adults and teens can enjoy.

Thank you to the publisher for an early copy of this book.

I'm going to keep this short but.. this book made me sad in the way I have to give up on it in order to keep my sanity. The magic system in this book is probably what made me keep going, because it was just so unique and interesting and modern, honestly. But the story? Fell flat. I never felt connect to any characters, there were so many side characters without distinguished things to remember that I kept glazing over at parts. I might try this again with an audiobook because sometimes slower books like this work better being told instead of read, but right now this is my feeling and I am sad about it.

“What was it Balthazar had told Charlie - that she could steal the breath from a body, the hate from a heart, the moon from the sky? Well, in this case, maybe she didn’t need to steal anything.

Holly Black’s newest offering aimed at the adult audience features morally gray characters, shadowy figures, and dangerous competition for a magic book. Charlie’s boyfriend isn’t who he seems, shadows hold a power all their own and a secret cabal manipulates many. Charlie holds a unique skill set for theft and misdirection. Now haunted by tragedy, she looks to uncover the truth about a series of murders, the mysterious Mr. Salt’s involvement and the connection to her now missing boyfriend.

I had trouble connecting with some characters because they made such unlikeable, bad choices but kept reading assuming it was a distracted brain situation. Glad I continued because a late blooming, unexpected plot twist delivered depth and dimension to the story. Though the ending is complete, there is plenty of room for a continuing series with too much world building for a single volume. Fans of Ninth House will enjoy Book of Night.

Thanks to #netgalley for the opportunity to preview this title which publishes 5/3/2022

Holly Black is the Queen of Fae that is simple truth. Her moving into adult should have been everything I would ever want after all I've loved almost all of her books. However, Book of Night fell flat for me. I'm going to re try reading it a little later on but as of now it's just not her best work.

I've been waiting for this book for what feels like FOREVER. I thought for sure I wouldn't be given an ARC, but I'm incredibly happy I did. I decided not to read the synopsis and go in blind - which was a good choice. If you like Holly Black, you'll love this.

Anytime I think that I'm going to make the full fledged journey into fantasy novels, I realized that I can only do a light version, because otherwise I get lost. Holly Black is very well known in the industry for, especially for her varies fantasy series, including The Folk of the Air and Modern Faerie Tales. I was very excited about reading Holly Black's adult fantasy novel, Book of Night , but it didn't work out for me. I'll be objective in my review, because I think it'll work for everyone else.

Charlie Hall is a bartender and retired con-artist, trying to survive while also keeping herself out of harm's way. She lives with her sister Posey and her boyfriend Vince and is ultimately brought back into the dark world that she's left in the past. In a world where you can control peoples' shadows, Charlie has to protect the people she cares about, but when she has strong adversaries against her, she is going to dive deep into her past life to find out just what she needs to do.

Like I said previously, I struggled with this book, but not because the author's tone and storyline were not adult, it was just "too fantasy" for my enjoyment. I'm trying, people! There's strong triggers in this book that you should be aware about, but they did not affect my enjoyment with reading this book. The tone is very dark, and at times, claustrophobic, but if you like horror-esque fantasy, this book is for you. I definitely see readers being split on how to review this book as it won't be for everybody. I was told that the energy that this book gives off is completely different from the author's previous works, so I may continue down this journey of fantasy novel reading with her backlog.