Well dang. I loved Silver over Nightfall and was excited to get into book two. I don’t know if it was that it was an ebook v audiobook experience that made this one less enjoyable but it just felt like the pacing was all over the place and plot didn’t feel as tight or compelling as the first.
Overall I was a bit bored and disappointed it didn’t live up to the first one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Press for an eARC.

2.5 stars

I refuse to believe that this is the sequel to one of my favorite books of all time. Even months after reading this I can't process the dramatic drop in quality (both in the cover art and the content). This sequel did not deliver any of the development or character moments that I was hoping for. I think the book’s biggest flaw is its attempt to be plot-focused rather than character-focused. The strength of this series is the characters and their relationship. Rather than providing any meaningful development for Remy, Xiaodan, and Malekh, Court of Wanderers is a messy, rushed attempt at political world-building plagued by plot holes and inconsistencies.

The plot of Court of Wanderers lacks everything that made Silver Under Nightfall interesting. The monsters are barely present, the action scenes are dull and rare, and there is no drama or tension. The political fantasy plot was boring and honestly didn’t make any sense. There is an unreasonable amount of brand-new world-building for a second book. We are introduced to so many new concepts that feel tacked on to the world established in Silver Under Nightfall. They are inconsistent and boring and yet dominate the story. Entire plot threads are completely dropped, the logic behind decisions is often unclear, and characters from the first book are not consistent.

The change in Remy’s father from book one to book two actually pissed me off. It's not even a redemption arc. He just acts like a completely different person in this book. And it completely undermines the abuse and suffering Remy experienced at his hand.

There are moments in this book that remind me why I loved Silver Under Nightfall. These are almost entirely relationship moments between Remy, Xiaodan, and Malekh. Though I still loved their dynamic I am devastated by the lack of proper relationship development. The book relies on sex scenes to give the illusion of a strong relationship rather than putting any effort into growing their bond. I am particularly disappointed that we did not get more time with Malekh. One of my critiques of Silver Under Nightfall was the uneven emphasis on Xiaodan and Remy and sadly Court of Wanderers does nothing to fix this. This book actively robbed me of scenes that I was looking forward to.

I have tried for MONTHS to talk myself into enjoying this book but time has just made me realize how devastated I am. I would have waited years for a sequel worthy of Silver Under Nightfall and as far as I am concerned it is a standalone now.

Thank you NetGalley for the Arc of this book. This is however an honest review .
The beginning of this was good. I loved being back in this world and seeing characters I loved traveling and fighting battles I loved. However it slows down and gets very confusing about 30 % in and stays that way until about the 70% mark.
I had problems with the writing and world building in the middle that just let me feeling confused and disconnected from the story. After 70% things start moving again and making since but I honestly lost interest in the plot because of this. It was still very sexy and had lots of romantic moments ( this book is fade to black but you already know that if you read the first ) . Overall I found this to be a very disappointing sequel to the first, which I loved and gave 5 stars. I’m giving it a generous 3

I’ll start off by saying that while I enjoyed the first book, it wasn’t my absolute favorite thing. I was never so attached to the characters that their alteration would be offensive to me, the way some reviewers seemed to be. So perhaps that’s why I would rate this sequel at about the same level as the first book. But, I do understand and agree with the complaints that a number of characters seemed to have changed quite a bit without real development/explanation in a satisfying way. Remy’s quick shift from vampire hater and hunter to familiar and potential convert was predicable, given the nature of the main relationship. But the shift in his father?? I didn’t think it made a ton of sense and also really cheapened a lot of the plot of Silver Under Nightfall.

But, taking this book on its own, I thought we got a lot of interesting information about the politics of vampires (not all of which made sense) and a lot of background on Remy’s mother, which I enjoyed. In fact, I would have preferred to have gone quite a bit deeper into that. She had all this very justifiable rage over her home being invaded and destroyed and it sort of went… nowhere? Was even erased, it seemed. That was a disappointment for sure.

Pacing wise, the first half of the book felt very unbalanced in its treatment of the relationships vs the rest of the plot. At times this felt like a relationship counseling session on the titanic. all around a boat is sinking, people are screaming and dying, and things are on fire, and our MCs are just looking deeply into each other’s eyes and asking, “but where do YOU see this relationship in five years? I still have baggage and low self esteem from my childhood and I am afraid you’ll get tired of me” meanwhile the world is on fire and everyone may not survive long enough to have any of this even come up. like, maybe worry about if you will live another 5 years before we worry about whether a throuple can all get married to each other or…?

Once I hit around 50%, we shifted away from a lot of the throuple stuff and went almost completely into all action, all of the time, with a murder mystery, then so many battles, and a big conclusion. I actually think this book shone the most during the murder mystery portion; there was intrigue, clues, character development, and twists foreshadowed well in advance. It was fun and when it was resolved with way too much book left, I was wary. Ultimately the last 25% of the book went essentially the same as the last 25% of the first, with lots of action, bloody battle scenes, and emotional reaffirmations from our main throuple.

Other things I was disappointed in: the lack of consequences or exploration of the ethics of the mutations. It really felt like the characters went, well those were gross but useful, and shrugged. The horror of the mutations was such an interesting addition to the first book! Why are they just shrugging them away? Also, the lack of resolution regarding Remy’s decision to become a vampire. I assume that he will do so one day, but how that impacts his inheritance is confusing, and I assume he’s going to become the type his mother was? I have a lot more interest in that aspect of the plot than the repeated rehashing of who kidnapped his mother (I didn’t particularly care if she cheated on her husband and didn’t need her to be rehabbed so thoroughly there).

So. that’s a lot of disappointment and negative thoughts, but my overall experience wasn’t actually all that negative. I think the writing style is very similar to silver under nightfall (obviously), the pacing felt fairly similar, maybe even a little faster here, and a lot of things were brought up that I was interested in. I guess I just wish it has been more consistent with the first book and provided more depth to some of the plot points.

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-arc. I want to preface this review to say I didn't hate this book, but I don't know what happened between book 1 and this one. It lost all its magic. I was so bored for 70% of this book, because absolutely nothing was happening. There was too much focus on the big meeting at the allpriory and not enough action. I really had to force myself to read. Once we finally hit a stride at around 70% the book got interesting for me. I really enjoyed Edgar Pendergast in this book. He was the most interesting character in the second half. I feel like it could have ended after the first betrayal reveal and the scenes with Edgar, Remy. and Ligaya on the beach didn't really add anything.
Regardless this book was fine. I just wish it would have had the same spark as the first.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC.

Silver Under Nightfall was one of my favorite reads of the new year, and I was so excited to get more gothic vampire horror with Remy, Xiaodan, and Malek. The biggest theme that resonated with me in this sequel is the ability to depart from what is expected of you and remake yourself at any time. Several vampires have overcome traumatic pasts and rebuilt themselves into formidable opponents in battle and politics, and Remington follows his heart and truth, demanding visibility and respect, even when it disappoints his father. The plot of this sequel involved a lot more world-building and court politics than the first, liberally interspersed with monster slaying horror gore and the hottest sweetest threesome relationship development. That being said, I am a gay deviant at my core and I wish there was more sex! The author teased a lot of kinks without resolution and I'd die for an erotica spinoff. The political plot dragged for me at times, because I'm much more invested in the individual characters and relationships.

I was very fortunate to receive an ARC of this book, and what a ride it was from start to finish.

Silver Under Nightfall was a book I read and loved, so to read Court of Wanderers before it came out was a blessing given the cliffhanger. There were things that I liked and things that I thought could have been better about the books.

I liked that there was a clear storyline that flowed from the end of the first book into the second book. Everything started out pretty solid, but there were definitely moments where I felt a bit lost in some of the action events. Part of me feels like this series could have been split into a trilogy. Some of the revealed information felt a bit hurried at times; however, I thought the mystery of everything was done well. It was an interesting chain of events to see where things started and how all of the events and information unraveled.

One thing that I did like was the growth of Remy and Zidan's relationship throughout this book. In the first one, it was obvious that Zidan was much more introverted than Xiaodan, so to see the dynamic between them flourish was so rewarding. I also think this series as a whole does a good job of showing a healthy relationship between three people because they can be their own people while carrying on relationships with each other.

Again, I did enjoy this book and I thought the ending was a great way to conclude the series. My only qualms are I just felt like I was lost at times because things were moving a bit fast or just confusing. I loved the romance and the story! It feels bittersweet for the story to be over, but I'm definitely glad I read this series!

Imgur link goes to Instagram post scheduled for April 3rd
Blog post goes live April 2nd
Will be discussed in March Reads pt 2 on Youtube

**TL;DR:** A pretty good wrap-up to a duology, but with some real unnecessary sexual content.

Overall I really enjoyed Court of Wanderers. This is the final book in the Reaper duology and wraps up Remy, Xiodan, and Malekh’s story. This follows Silver Under Nightfall pretty much immediately as Remy and Malekh take Xiodan to the safety of Malekh’s court headquarters and from there the three work to bring the courts together and to save everyone from the Night Empress.

We’ll talk about the things I really enjoyed first. Unlike a lot of people I do like the poly relationship here. Remy is dense, yes, but as far as a team goes I like them. They were fairly believable in their flaws and how they worked together. I also actually loved how Remy’s family was settled, no spoilers there but I enjoyed that neat tie up. The twist was good, I didn’t see that one coming or to that extent. I also enjoyed the different courts and their leaders.

The biggest issue I had was the sexual content. It was completely unneeded. I say that as someone who LOVES romance, and doesn’t mind sex in my books at all. The sex scenes were fade to black in that they were happening but no in depth details were revealed as they happened. Instead the characters talked about politics while having sex??? And there is a scene where sex is publicly performed for political reasons which felt like nothing more than a ‘tantalize’ moment but it was cold as a cold fish and ultimately felt unneeded. I can’t decide if it was included to be ‘spicy’ or too be sex positive, and either way I feel like it was clumsy and detracted from the story overall. The pacing, because of this being such a weirdly large part of the story, is off in the middle.

If you enjoyed Silver Under Nightfall this does wrap the story up. I enjoyed seeing that, but there are some issues, as noted. But if you want to see a satisfying conclusion it is worth following through.

4 out of 5 Creepy Healing Trees

i really hate to write a review like this but... i just feel so disappointed :(

i LOVED silver under nightfall - it is probably one of my favorite books of all time and i was so excited for this sequel. but maybe too excited? this is a serious case of second book syndrome

the tone of this book is completely different from SUN and unfortunately, not really in a good way. i don't mind political fantasy but i feel it didn't really work in this books favor and i feel like it came out of nowhere. while SUN did include some politics in the world building, it also focused a lot more on character building and establishing relationships while i feel that CoW did the exact opposite. the characters that i grew to love fondly in SUN felt drastically different to me and there was no further character building in this novel.

i love some good political drama in fantasy books but in this book i don't think it worked and that's mainly because of the pacing. the politics dragged on and on for the majority of the novel with a sprinkle of "who done it" mystery and then the last 20% felt incredibly rushed and i just wasn't interested anymore. i almost DNFed this because i was bored.

reading this felt NOTHING like reading the first book and i almost wish i had never picked this up.

A worthy sequel and finale to this fantastic and amazing duology. It was wonderful to revisit these characters and learn more about them. The world building continued quite deftly and brought new characters and situations which enriched this story. It is exciting, fast-paced and sexy.

I devoured this book, just couldn't stop reading, even though I didn't want it to end. Had almost a heart attack because of one of the twists towards the end. Loved the dynamics among the trio, and all the scheming and plotting, and the battles, the whole story.

First and foremost, I would like to thank Netgalley and Saga Press for this arc! My opinions are my own.

After my fantastic experience with reading/listening to Silver Under Nightfall, I was thrilled to go directly into the second and final book of this duology.

I’m afraid that I didn’t enjoy this one as much as the previous novel. I wonder if I would have enjoyed it more if I had listened to the audiobook as I did with the last book, but I don’t think that would be the case. The story felt unorganized in many ways. The pace of the book is extremely slow. It took me way longer than it should have to get through it. I found myself reading an ebook page and immediately wanting to put it down. Even though I enjoyed the political intrigue in the first book, this book almost had too much of it. I honestly zoned out since I couldn’t keep up with who wanted what or hated who. I also found the Night Empress storyline to be confusing.
I still love the characters. I enjoyed seeing Lord Pendergast in a different light this time around. I loved Remy’s dream sequences with him being able to speak to a certain character (don’t want to spoil it). I just wish we could have gotten more development and depth to the story.

Overall, it’s not a bad read and I can see many people being happy with it. I personally just think that the first book was hard to live up to.
3.25 stars

I have very confused and mixed feelings about this second book in this series. I still liked the characters, especially Remy, and the storylines that continued from the first book were nicely tied up by the end, but for most of the story I just felt confused as to what was going on, especially with the vampire politics and some of the battle scenes.

I still really liked Remy, he is still the sweet and kind young man that I remember from the first book, and he seems to be finding himself and his place in the world in this story. I loved his relationship with Xiaodan and Malek. They are all very kind and caring people who love each other. Remy becomes more and more sure of that as the book goes on, even when things are a bit dark for all of them. His relationship with his father, also has some resolution which was nice to see.

My main issue with the book was all of the political intrigue with the vampires. I often felt confused and lost during those chapters. I also had a really hard time keeping track of who was who among the vampires. I think part of this was just that I had forgotten so much from the first book that I just felt it a struggle to keep up. There was one critical point in the story when Remy says something to the effect of, wait what just happened? What is going on? and I was saying to myself, yes, I feel the same way. It did eventually become clearer in that scene but I still felt lost the rest of the time.

The pacing and the writing were also a bit of an issue. The pacing was very slow in bits and there were a lot of chapters where it felt like nothing happened at all. I usually love Ms. Chupeco’s writing, but this book often felt muddled and not well edited. The action sequences and fight scenes were especially hard to follow. But there were also some sections and interactions between characters that were wonderfully written and beautiful and made my heart ache. I don’t like being overly critical of an ARC, as I always hope that some of these issues are fixed before the final publication, but this was a bit underwhelming on the whole.

If you liked the first book then you should give this one a chance. The story is wrapped up nicely even with all of the confusion. I really wished I had reread the first book before tackling this one, I think it might have helped with some of the issues I had. Either that, or perhaps a guide to the characters and the courts they belonged to would be helpful. But, in the end, I am glad that I read this and I did like it, even though it left me feeling a bit muddled.

I would like to forget I read this series to get to read it for the first time again. This wasn't as strong as Silver Under Nightfall, but it was still a wonderful and satisfying conclusion. The fantasy and romance both standalone as wonderful and put together they easily go into one of my top fantasy series. I loved Remy the whole time and really wished that I could punch his father in the face but aside from that I left this series feeling wonderful, satisfied with the conclusion without everything feeling too neat. I adored this series

You know a book is good when your brain blocks out the fact this is the second part of a duology, you're reminded of this in the author's acknowledgments, and your first reaction is devastation at not being able to go on more adventures with these characters.

This book was an utter delight. It was my most anticipated ARC of the year and did not disappoint in the slightest. My only critique was the foreshadowing felt like an ACME anvil at times, but I found myself not caring because the journey was such a joy to go on with these characters.

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the polyamory rep in this book. Take note publishers and editors alike - love triangles are out and healthy polyamory rep is in. Our three MCs are so loving, tender, and caring toward each other. The way imbalances of power, insecurities of being the new person in a polycule, and the importance of consent were handled with such care while never feeling cheesy.





****Thank you to Netgalley and Saga Press for a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest review. ****

Thank you to Saga Press and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book!

Wow, writing this review is such a bummer. I LOVED Silver Under Nightfall, it was one of my absolute favorite books I read last year and probably of all time. To go from that to this book is so underwhelming and disappointing. The tone of this sequel was just so different, and the things that I loved from SUN (namely, the characters and their relationships) felt very underdeveloped and pushed to the side in favor of an unnecessarily convoluted plot. This is book 2, why are we just suddenly introducing all these worldbuilding elements that weren't even hinted at in book 1? One of my biggest issues with book 1 was some of the worldbuilding and the way I felt that certain plot points needed to be developed. I was optimistic that that would happen in this book but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I didn't feel any attachment to the new characters that were introduced, and all the new elements of the world just felt clunky. I wish this book would have focused more on the already existing characters and deepening their relationships instead of being so focused on court politics. I know this book was already pushed back once, but I wish it could have been pushed back more; I really think it would have benefitted from another round of edits to make it seem less... meandering, plotwise, and to flesh out the character interactions a bit more.

I still would absolutely die for Remy, he was the single saving grace of this book. That boy is dumb as hell and so loving and devoted and I cherish him.

3.5/5 stars

I think that I went into this book with too many expectations. I loved the first book in this series and was wanting more of that. I was struggling to get through this book and I'm not sure if it was a case of right book wrong time or what. I know I am going to pick up the audiobook when it comes out and see if maybe the format was the problem. I will definitely be picking it up again and seeing if it was a case of right book wrong time.

This book picks up right where Silver Under Nighfall ends. If you have not read the first book, stop reading this review because spoilers obviously.

Xiaodan is recovering after her battle with the Night Empress, and she still can’t call the sun. Malekh is trying to help heal her while also finding out more about the mutations fighting with the Night Empress. And Remy is just happy to be here. Just kidding, Remy is dealing with the aftermath of finding out that the Night Empress is his mother somehow resurrected. He’s also falling more in love with both Xiaodan and Malekh. On top of all that, there is a meeting at the Allpriory, and representatives from all the vampire courts will be there.

First, I love the healthy depiction of a throuple. There is so much loving respect between all three main characters, and the communication is so good. In any relationship, trust and good communication have to be pillars, and Rin does such a stunning job of depicting the trust between Malekh, Xiaodan, and Remy. The love story is more of a b-plot, and the main plot focuses on the Night Empress and the threat she poses to humans and vampires alike.

This book deals a lot more with the horrors of war, and we learn more about both Remy and his mother’s heritage. We also see more of Remy’s father and how he came to be the man he is. I love a good well-rounded character, and I think Rin does such an excellent job of making even the people we would consider to be villains seem human. Except Quinten Yost, he can die in a fire.

The only big qualm I had with this book is that there was so much back and forth trying to figure out who the bad guy was. It was clear the Night Empress had help; she literally had thousands in her coven, but no one leaped to the obvious conclusion (no spoiler). I felt like the characters could have spent less time traveling and making pit stops on the way to the Allpriory and more time with the history/lore of vampires. The politics once we get to the Allpriory could have been fleshed out more, as well as the names of the courts and their leaders. I felt like that added history would have added an extra layer. I didn’t really care about the other courts because their characters just seemed to be hostile and conniving. I thought Rin did such a good job fleshing out side characters, except for here. The descriptions of the other courts and their grudges fell flat for me.

Overall, if you’re a fan of the first book, I think you’ll like this, and it does have a satisfying conclusion.

Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I was so nervous about reading this and honestly, rightly so. I’m not good with duologies usually. I struggle with the second book so much. This one is no different. I loved Silver Under Nightfall when I read it. I can acknowledge that it isn’t a book for everyone, but it was a book for me. However, Court of Wanderers was not the sequel I was thinking it was going to be. Whether that’s good or bad, I’m still trying to decide.

The first one didn’t have the fastest pace, but I found the second half more enjoyable than the first. This one was the opposite, I enjoyed the first half more than the second. As soon as the vampire politics really vamped up my interest waned. It’s strange to me because I usually enjoy books with a lot of political intrigue, but there was a lot going on during this section and a lot of information and world-building to set up for the ultimate reveals at the end. However, after slogging through the 50-75% bit I didn’t really care about the ending reveals as much as I should have.

This being said, I really love seeing Malekh, Xiaodan, and Remy again. I really enjoy their dynamics and seeing them relatively happy was a joy. Also, they’re super horny in this book, but the spice level is about the same as the first one with most of the action being implied rather than explicitly shown. I also quite liked being reunited with some of our side characters like Elke and being introduced to some new ones. However, character-wise my favorite thing is probably that we got to see more of the relationship between Remy’s parents and their backstory. It fleshed out their characters more and made both of them seem less terrible.

I liked seeing the shift in the relationships the most in this book. Our main trio had some shifts in their relationship, mostly in coming closer, but they did address the mortality question. No, I’m not going to tell you what happened. However, like I said my favorite relationship developments had to be between those of Remy and his parents. The shift in his relationship with his father probably being most drastic. I have a bit of a new found appreciation for Edgar Pendergast now. Ligaya was also an interesting character, but I sort of feel like the twist at the end did her a little dirty.

The strengthening of the relationship between Remy and his parents was also the thing that probably made the plot of this book the biggest downfall for me. I was sort of hoping that Ligaya was going on a rampage because Edgar was such a terrible father/person. I was looking forward to the conclusion of any drama between her and Malekh. However, by softening not only Ligaya’s edges, but Edgar’s as well, it made it so that the conflict I was hoping for couldn’t happen. So, am I disappointed, yes. Is it my problem? Yes. I can’t blame the author for having a different vision than I did for the conclusion of this story.

I’m gong to say something that I rarely do after I read a duology, but I almost wonder if this would have been better as a trilogy. I feel taking a bit longer to establish the other vampire courts with the reader, the other factions, ramp of some of the mystery and Ligaya’s backstory may have benefited the conclusion ultimately. I can’t decide. Very rarely do I think adding another book would have been the solution, but with this one maybe. And then we could have had a cover with Xiaodan on it.

Overall, I can’t say whether or not people who loved the first book will love this one equally. It has a very different vibe and trajectory than the first. If you loved the characters more than the plot of the first one, I think you stand a better chance. If you were really invested in the Gothic vibes and the infestation/science bits, I think you’ll be a bit let down by this one. If you’re into political intrigue, this may also work for you. I have a few other books by Rin Chupeco on my TBR and I still look forward to reading them.

Oh my precious little cinnamon roll himbo Remy; I love him even more.
I loved Silver Under Nightfall and I loved this book just as much. It's hilarious, heartfelt, a little crazy, and a lot steamy. I loved the continuation of the relationship development between Remy, Xiaodan, and Zidan. They are just the perfect throuple and they balance each other so well. Plus they're really hot (*coughs* throneroomscene *coughs*).
The plot gets more intricate with the addition of the other courts, Remy's father, and The Night Empress. I personally love political intrigues and mysteries and plots, so I ate all of this up. There were still plenty of battles and action scenes, so I never felt like things slowed down. I mean, my reading speed had to slow down at points for my poor brain to try to process the complexities of the reveals and machinations, especially towards the end, but that in no way took away from my enjoyment.
I love this world and I love these characters. I definitely got emotional at times, but I thought the ending was great.

Would definitely recommend, especially if you loved the first book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the preview. All opinions are my own.