This was an interesting, emotional, visceral joyride of a story. The characters are very well fleshed-out for such a short work. The world was built fluidly and with enough detail to make you feel like part of the story. I'd read more from this author if given the opportunity.

Thanks to Netgalley, Mariah Montoya and Vestige Publishing for allowing me the opportunity to read and review thus ARC. All opinions are my own.

This book took me a while to get into and not that long to get out of. I find that the pace of the book left me confused. The story itself is interesting but it lacks character development which leaves me forgetting about people. I'm not in love with any one character in this book.

It's a very intriguing premise, this world that spins so slowly that days and nights are 30 years long. There are people who can withstand direct sun exposure migrating around the day side, people who cannot withstand any sun exposure migrating around the night side, and people, humans, who have to stay in the dawn and dusk regions. During the 30 year night, plant life goes dormant, living from reservoirs of sap stored during the sun years. The nocturnals are able to communicate telepathically with each other, and to a lesser extent with humans. Every year they lure a human, usually an adult but this year a young boy, into the eternal night, where they are infected with madness. Joah is a likable protagonist, initially sent to retrieve this boy, then to round up everyone he can for an unscheduled migration sunwards. There's an interesting exploration of what a small society forced to relocate every few years might be like. There's also a more human substory, sort of glancing, of a man who lost his wife, and a woman trying to escape a harmful and abusive relationship. The pacing is a bit erratic. We spend some time with the main characters getting to know them, but then large chunks of time pass with just a little summarization of what occurred in that time., so we don't really get to know or understand the other characters very well, including the titular nocturnals. The science is thinner than I like. I wanted to know more about the realities of living with these decades long days and nights, and the life that would evolve there. The extreme heat and cold. The hugely adaptable plant life. The sun and night people's cultures and interactions aren't clear, and seem strangely low tech, considering they were able to find an abandoned human spaceship/airplane and learn how to fly it. Though intriguing, this book ultimately leaves a lot unanswered and skims through enough of the plot to leave it feeling more of a summary than a novel. Nonetheless, there were parts I really enjoyed, and it did leave me thinking.

Since I’m the first person to rate and review this book, here’s a fair warning/advice - I’ve been striking out with science fiction lately, not quite finding something to match my mood and interests, so this review must be considered accordingly.
Considered objectively, The Nocturnals is an original and interesting story about a world that spins the wrong way around and its population divided into those who strive to always stay in the light and those who prefer darkness. As always, in a society that strikingly polarized, misunderstandings are bound to occur, misunderstandings based on misinformation and fear, the sort of things that lead to aggression and violence.
And yes, a parallel to modern politics can easily be drawn there, but it doesn’t seem necessary.
In this strange light-divided world, a former retriever (bipedal variety) and his freshly appointed partner set out to rescue a young boy who might have (literally) gone over to the dark side only to uncover the great secrets about their divided society.
There are some complicated local politics that go way back and lies, lies, and more lies by those in power. Again, draw your own parallels if you’re so inclined.
The author created a nicely imagined universe for readers to visit with pretty clever world-building to boot. For me, the emotional engagement or connection or something wasn’t quite there, so it ended up one of those books I appreciated more than loved. Which is fine, for it’s just short enough of a story to not overstay its welcome either way. User mileage may vary. Thanks Netgalley.