This just didn't work for me. It felt very flat and empty. It could have been an interesting premise, but nothing was very developed or fleshed out in a compelling way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends!

This was such a fun and interesting YA fantasy read. I have several other Alexandra Christo books on my shelf that I may bump them on the TBR!!! The worldbuilding in The Night Hunt is so vast and I absolutely loved how the author created this elemental world. Atias and Silas are perfect for the enemies to lovers trope and I just adored both of their characters. Highly recommend, especially if you love a good plot twist!

Atia - a Nafas, Silas - a Herald, Tristan - a mortal, and Cillian - a banshee, are a ragtag band of unlikely companions on a quest to retake their lives. This is a ya paranormal romance for fans of Cassandra Clare.

This was fine, I suppose. I just couldn't stay interested in it. I had a hard time connecting to the story, and the weird mix of paranormal and mythological creature characters didn't mesh in a way that made sense to me.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC

I think Alexandra Christo comes up with some absolutely fantastic ideas. The books never quiiiite hit it for me, though. This is definitely my favorite one so far. The world building and the characters are just fine, but again, the concept is really great. It started strong and ended strong, but faltered a bit in the middle. Overall, I enjoyed it, just like her other books, but didn't LOVE it.

DNFed at 30%

No one is more disappointed than me because I loooved To Kill A Kingdom. I’m convinced this book wasn’t written by the same author. The world is so incredibly EMPTY I never would’ve guessed this is a fantasy world with different kingdoms. :/ It’s such a shame too because the premise and creatures are interesting there’s just very little meat to the bones here.

I received a copy through NetGalley for review.

So, while I did enjoy this one, it started great, and ended great.
But there's a good 60% of this book that I both struggled with and didn't really enjoy.
This is a 3.5 read for me, only rounded up for the ending.

Atia is a Nefas, the last of her kind, as her parents were killed when she was a child, and she fled, running to save herself. She's a monster, of a variety who was ejected from the Gods paradise Oksenya for starting a war. While they retained their immortality, they were stripped of much of their powers and send in exile to the mortal world. In her true form, she has blue skin, white hair, white glowing eyes, large curving golden horns and wings that resemble bare branches of trees. They feed off human terror and nightmares. The Gods are hunting the Nefas, and will curse them if they break the rules and accidentally kill a human- a punishment all monsters in exile face.

Silas is a Herald, stripped of everything he used to be, including his name and memories. He is forced to be a messenger for the gods and ferry the souls of the departed to their afterlife. But he's not quite like other Heralds, and he desperately wants to wage war on the gods and find out who he was, be free and reclaim his true name.

While the beginning and the reveal at 80% through were fantastic, I only wish there were some more info on the war that caused the expulsion of the monsters from Oksenya, Atia was too young to have been told a whole lot about it, so she was mostly in the dark, and Silas had no memories of it. I don't think a smidge more info would have spoiled the reveal but would have rather tied it more together for me.
My only other irk was that most of the female characters for some reason all had 4 letter names.

This was a nice standalone with good characters with growth and emotional and romantic connections. I just wish it hit that spot for me a bit more.

A monster, a curse, and a journey to kill a god. What an adventure! And that twist at the end was crazy! The enemies to lovers romance twirled and sprinkled in with the plot line was perfectly done and not heavy handed. The character growth was so evident and well written. It is a very creative world with rich and diverse lore that the author built.

A beautiful story about monsters, angels, and those in between. While I think this single novel could have been stretched into a duology, it was a fantastic read. Christo has a gift for crafting complex worlds and exploring the nuances of the characters who live within them.

A fun fantasy starring a monster girl forced to be human and accompanied by a little soldier of death with no memory of who he is. While the ending felt a little chaotic and unpolished compared to earlier parts of the story, I overall enjoyed the action, humor, and romance.

Big thank you NetGalley and to the publisher for the chance to review this book pre-release. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I really loved that there was a steady, fairly fast pace the entire way through, and I really liked the romance, though I would have liked it a little more developed. A more formal review will be available on my IG/TikTok and Goodreads.

Like Christo’s other work, I adored this book! She knows how to create lovable characters that you want to root for. I wasn’t too engaged in the beginning, but towards the second half of the book there was a lot more action and intriguing twists. I was really surprised by the big reveal.

Is the title of the night hunt conjures up certain images for you, just throw them aside because that is not what this book is about. The Night mission might have been a little bit more appropriate. Anyway, it combines a couple of different pieces of mythology into one story. And I will say that I still have trouble wrapping my head around a 17-year-old protagonist that is with seemingly immortal. Potentially much older love interests. But that is the way with story such as this, particularly when you're dealing with beings that are not actually human and or following the rules of regular aging. That's besides the point but I just wanted to bring that up.

It's completely serviceable story, It moves along at a good pace and there is enough of a twist in there (twice) to keep things interesting. You don't learn much about the actual monsters, so you may need to rely on certain already known folklore to fill in the gaps.

2.5. stars

I enjoyed Alexandra Christo's To Kill a Kingdom, so this was an anticipated read for me. Her books have a recurring feature of monstrous heroines, and this was no different.

Atia is a monster who feeds on fear. Silas is a messenger of the Gods. Together, they embark on a quest to kill three beings: a vampire, a banshee, and a God.

I was quickly engrossed in this fast-paced adventure. I enjoyed the nods to Greek mythology and the found family aspect of the band of characters. There was also a big twist I didn't see coming! The only part I found lacking was the romance, which felt forced and didn't have much of a buildup.

Atia, is the last Nefas, but in one night she loses control and must join forces with an unlikely partner. Her partner is a Herald, Silas, a messenger of the gods. He now wants to make a deal with Atia. Together they must battle other monsters, Gods', and face their pasts' if they are to have a future. I loved their chemistry and the other characters in the story as well.

Thank you to Macmillan Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

When I saw that the author of To Kill a Kingdom had a new book out, I knew that I had to add it to my TBR list right away! The Night Hunt by Alexandra Christo is a YA fantasy from a dual first-person POV. The story revolves around Atia, a monster who feeds on people's fear, and Silas, a Herald who has been cursed to carry messages and escort the dead. One day, out of options, they decide to team up. Atia wants to avenge her family, and Silas wants to break his curse. Can the pair put aside their differences and work together to fulfill their missions?

Here is a magical excerpt from the Prologue:

"But Atia liked having her name known.
With names came purpose and power. People gave them like gifts: so you could be recognized and remembered.
Atia liked gifts too.
Fear was one she collected often. Her reputation drifted through the world in whispers, so she was never just a howl in the night, or the slam of a door, or the slow swallow of a dry throat.
She was Atia. The Last of the Nefas.
And the Gods did not like it."

Overall, The Night Hunt is a YA fantasy that will appeal to fans of A Ruinous Fate or Thor: Love and Thunder. One highlight of this book was the really great mythology and world-building. There were a lot of creatures here that I rarely see in YA fantasy. I also thought that Atia's powers were very cool. Another highlight of this book was the romance between the lead characters. If I had to complain about 1 thing, I would say that some parts felt very YA or juvenile, in particular, the moments of humor. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of YA fantasy in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book in October!

This was just such a good fantasy. I ADORED the FMC, Atia. She was monstrous, a bit grumpy, and very hungry for fear. She's what's called a Nefas, and this fact is a central plot of this story that really is the driving force of the narrative. Her relationship with all the characters is really fun to read because she's so very unapologetically herself and it makes it impossible not to love her. She's a monster, but a monster with honor and I loved reading her thoughts on things. The MMC, Silas, was also really great. Since I liked Atia so much, I wanted her to have a love interest I felt like made sense and that matched her lovability, and I'm glad that Silas did that. He's a stuffy Herald of Death who never seems to relax, so their dynamic together was so sweet to read. Of course, any good quest needs solid side characters as well and Cillian and Tristan definitely were just that :') The characters were obviously all great to me, but what I think is the best thing about this story is the worldbuilding. It was so vivid and exciting. The lore of this world was immersive, yet never felt overwhelming or info-dumpy. Everything I learned about this world made more excited to dive further into it. I couldn't get enough of the tales of the gods and how the monsters and humans fit into this world. I could honestly read a sequel to this just because I was so invested. I especially loved the twists to the story that added onto the overall fantasy world. I truly can't say enough how much the world building made this an especially fun read.

In this story we follow Atia, who is a monster cursed by Herald, and her journey to get her immortality back. The lore and the mythology were very interesting and were rich elements that added to the worlbuilding in this story. And some of the characters were very fun to read about.
My only issues with the book was that I couldn't connect with some of the characters or understand their motivations.
Overall, an interesting and engaging young adult fantasy.

This was an adventure to read & I loved every second of it. Atia is an amazing FMC, strong-willed, witty, and willing to kill for those she loves. The story was well-paced & the world was well-built. The ending was everything I want from a book about gods & monsters.

Drawn in by the gorgeous cover, and the equally gorgeous writing. Ultimately found this book to be a little predictable, however, but it's still one of the better books I've read recently. Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!

I really enjoyed this book and the enemies to lover trope and the cover was stunning! I would definitely recommend! 4/5