Black definitely excels at creating her world and really fleshing out her characters. I’ve enjoyed her YA work so it was great to see her delve into more mature themes in this NA book!

Holly Black’s world building is unmatched. I love reading the intricate way she builds the lore of her settings and plunks the characters within it. I always recommend Holly Black to adult readers looking for things to read after their book hangovers from adult fantasies like Sarah J Maas. Her books are definitely not just for young adults, and this one is no different.

I honestly enjoyed this so much! I loved the atmosphere and the magic system, the way the world aligned with ours but had those magical elements.

I am a bit surprised at the lukewarm reviews of this, and I think maybe people who read The Cruel Prince and wanted smutty fae stories might be the driving force behind a good majority of those. I went in with no expectations and it was glorious.

I loved Charlie and Vincent. Exploring both of their backstories was fantastic. Though there’s a heavy fantastical element focus, this novel is mostly character-driven. I am a big fan of character-driven novels so that might also speak to why I enjoyed this so much.

And that ending! Chef’s kiss! I love an ending that makes us guess at where the characters’ lives will take them. It was perfectly imperfect.

Unfortunately this one just was not to my taste. I think there is definitely an audience for this book it is just not me. It was a little bit on the wordy side without the action to back it up. Overall only three stars from me.

I was surprised by the twist and turns of this book. I enjoyed getting to know Charlie Hall, and I look forward to what is next in the series. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

I really enjoyed this one, and was excited to learn that there is a second installment on the way in early 2024!

Being a big fan of science fiction that has strong female characters, I was basically hooked from the start of this one. This one mixes up the magic included in Harry Potter, Wicked, and Practical Magic and adds a dark spin to it, to make a very successful and enjoyable adventure story.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who adores fantasy novels.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me free access to the advanced copy of this book to read.

This book started slow, but the interesting concept spurred me on. I'm glad I finished because this was as strange and dark journey. I am not familiar with the author's other work, but I will be anticipating whatever comes next.

I spent at least the first third of Book of Night feeling like it was a generally pleasant read with totally forgettable characters and a plot that I was mostly apathetic about... and then all of a sudden I was SO into this book that I was putting in holds at several different library branches for the audiobook, all so that I wouldn't have to stop reading it in order to do something as silly as... my job?

I finished reading this book over 2 months ago, and yet I am _still_ obsessed with Book of Night. I feel absurdly like a teenager constantly checking on their crush's social media... except I have a crush on a book and it entails searching netgalley 3x a week to see if the sequel has been added, and then (since it hasn't been), dejectedly going to Holly Black's instagram to see if there's been any news about it. This is A BOOK we're talking about here... I feel dumb, but also feel like there's no amount of dumb that will stop me.

I've made all my friends read Book of Night. You should read Book of Night. Everyone should read Book of Night.

I am a huge Holly black fan and I will absolutely read anything she writes. This one was surprisingly very hard for me to get into. I tried picking it up three different times and each time I needed up DNFing it. If you are a Holly Black fan going into this book I would just point out that it is for sure an adukt book that is very different than the majority of her writing. That is not a bad thing at all, I just know of others who have gone into this expecting something like her popular books and being disappointed.

This was probably my least favorite book by Holly Black. The story was very dark and hard to read at times. I had to take breaks and felt like I was recovering from what the main character was going though. I don't know if I would recommend this book to cruel prince fans this may be a story for a whole different set of readers.

This book’s world was thrilling and gritty. Its main character was compelling. The plot was high stakes and immediately intriguing,

I am holding myself back from giving this book 4 stars... I really really wanted it to be good!! The concept is great, and there's so much potential in the worldbuilding and the characters, but the book all together just didn't stick the landing for me.

I absolutely love the magic/fantasy of this book. Seriously, the concept is great, and I thought the worldbuilding was really well written and well-incorporated into the story. I'm obsessed with this idea of shadows as dark matter or energy and the relations between humans and their shadows. I love all the little details about how the modern world has developed within this concept. This feels like a book created from a great worldbuilding idea, but then the story was just slapped on top. The plot points themselves were fine enough, but the story just didn't carry itself well. The suspense wasn't there for me, the character motivations didn't feel super believable, and the ending was rather disappointing.

I have super high hopes for the sequel. With the world building and character introductions out of the way, a sequel might have the space it needs for a more developed story and plot. ...Hopefully.

I had such a odd love hate relationship with this book! Does it mean it was good? I dunno.

Holly Black knows how to set the mood with her MC Charlie Hall. A sexy hot mess con artist who really wants to be a normal good person. Charlie can steal from anyone, in this world people steal from other glowmists? Gloomists? People who can bend shadows. I forgot, roll on with it . She's in hot demand. Truthfully if I could get a magic book for like 1000 dollars I'd do it too. Charlie's steal prices are way too low. I think that was my one gripe through the whole book. Low balled herself. So poor that she can't pay for her sisters college classes. Rent was so high that she let her yes her instant boyfriend/hook up move in.

Broken girl got broke mentality.

Charlie's low self worth did grind at me at times. She thinks her hot quite boyfriend can do better than her. But we readers KNOW about the quite ones *wink*.

Since it is adult fiction info dumping and lamenting is much more allowed. Magic system was both explained and some how not? I'm not getting into that.

The final arc was well worth pushing on, it was enough to get me wondering about the next book. This book is 50/50 for me. Not the worst not the best and I'll still read the 2nd book.

3.5

(i received an e-arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.)

oh my god, Holly Black does it again. she has never failed in her track record of creating heroines who are not afraid to kick asses and take names. from Jude to Charlie, i can see Holly's evolution in character creation and writing style.

as a lover of the dark academia genre, i appreciate that Book of Night actually deviated from some overused tropes.

now that i have my own physical copy, i am going to take my time with annotating this book. it deserves all the detailed attention and care.

I am sorry for the inconvenience but I don’t have the time to read this anymore and have lost interest in the concept. I believe that it would benefit your book more if I did not skim your book and write a rushed review. Again, I am sorry for the inconvenience.

Actual Rating: 3.5 stars
I was excited to read Holly Black's first adult fantasy novel as I've enjoyed her YA in the past.

<i> Book of Night </i>reflects Black's fantastic writing, immersive world building and magic, and her complex storytelling perfectly. I have to say that I admire <i> Book of Night </i>, but that it wasn't necessarily my favorite simply because urban fantasy is just not my preferred fantasy setting.

<i> Book of Night </i> follows Charlie, a bartender who was a con artist in her youth, but is now trying to stay away from that life. Unfortunately, Charlie gets thrown into a dangerous situation with not so good people against her will and finds herself entangled in the exact life she was trying to stay away from. 

<i> Book of Night </i>'s fantastical element comes in the form of magical shadows that play into emotions and memories. Not everyone has this kind of magic, but some people want it for themselves and will do whatever is necessary to gain these powers. This is where Charlie finds herself, thrown into the underground world of shadows where she must figure out how to use her skills as a con artist to get away from the people who are after her and to keep her boyfriend and her sister safe.

Like I said, urban fantasy is just not my thing, so this didn't grip me like fantasy usually does. That being said, this world is immersive. You can tell how much work the author put into creating complex characters and a vibrant world of shadows and con artists. There's mystery, romance, and plenty of action.

If any of this sounds intriguing, I'd recommend picking this up. While I can't say this one of my new favorite fantasy books, I am not against continuing in this series and I would gladly read any other adult books Black publishes in the future.

I really struggled with this one, because I was so excited about it when I heard Holly Black was writing an Adult Fantasy book. I loved the Cruel Prince so much, I was hoping to love this too. I ended up struggling to finish it, mostly because I felt like the first half was dragging a lot. Once the plot picked up it got a little more interesting, and things moved much faster. I didn’t connect with Charlie very much, but by the end I did care about what happened to her, and I really want to see what happens to Vince. I heard that this will be a duology, so I will read the second one to see where this all goes.

I was given an advanced reader's copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy.

I had hopes for Book of Night, but the writing style just did not work for me. I stopped 50 pages in.

This was such an original concept with a gritty, sardonic, dark-academia vibe. I absolutely loved this book and I'm desperate for the sequel.