This was slightly better than the first book but it also had some second book syndrome. I find it very hard to get into this story because there’s no grounding, it feels very aimless a lot of the time and things are just happening. The added time line jumping just makes it hard to follow. It has good pieces, but it’s not easy to follow and I’m still not entirely sure I like it. I could not read the print, but the audio did help me finish.

Chloe C. Peñaranda once again proves her mastery of dark fantasy and heart-wrenching romance in The Night Is Defying, the gripping second volume of the Nytefall series. Narrated with breathtaking intensity by Jacci Prior and Corvin King, the duet narration elevates this already mesmerizing tale, making it an immersive and emotional experience.

Peñaranda crafts a world where fate is as cruel as it is inescapable, and where love is both salvation and destruction. The push-and-pull between Astraea and Nyte is intoxicating, their connection laced with longing, pain, and an undeniable pull toward one another—even as the world around them threatens to rip them apart.

With lyrical prose, vivid world-building, and a relentless emotional grip, The Night Is Defying is a must-read/listen for lovers of dark fantasy, star-crossed romance, and high-stakes intrigue. A truly spellbinding continuation that will leave readers aching for more.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️

This second book was much better than the first one.

I loved the plotting, the found family, the Romance and the plot twists.

The only thing I will say that that was confusing is sometimes I felt like there was a couple plot walls to where I couldn’t figure out if they were memories or they were current and overlapping.

For example, when she is injured and comes through the void to find him and he does what he does to save her, the next moment we are seeing a different aspect of this, but it’s done in front of people and not in the same way. The only thing I can think is it’s past memory vs current but that’s not clear in the audiobook. I’m not sure if it’s clearly separated in the book by italicized but listening to it. I was a little bit confused. Because of this confusion, it took me out of the story trying to think what the heck was going on.


I think plot pacing was perfect. I was entertained the whole time.

I am very interested to see where this story will go.

I listened to the audiobook for The Night is Defying. The narrators on this book are perfect.

The Night is Defying was a great follow up to the first book in the series. The first half of the book was a little slow for me but it was really nice to watch Astraea gain her memories, power and strength back as the book progressed. The world building gets more intricate and new players are introduced that move the story along and of course, the relationship between Astraea and Nyte was just as fun to explore as it was in book one. Once the action picked up, I was on the best roller coaster. While listening to the Audiobook I found some of the flashbacks harder to follow than if I was reading the print book. Especially once it seemed as if certain events from the past were happening again in present day. However, the narrators did an amazing job with the characters and Chloe's writing is always a great read!

Definitely excited about the next book after that cliffhanger.

Another triumph for Chloe! It is haunting long beautiful and has the perfect balance of intrigue, steam and plot progression. It’s heart gripping and will have readers begging for the next book already. Her incredible story telling and beautiful prose matched with the narration is a match made in Romantasy reader heaven. Perfection toy paired for our MCs the narrators bring this truly rich world to live and make the emotion on the page come alive. I couldn’t have asked for more!

This book is second in the series and unfortunately it does fall into the second book trap. There is a lot of action and romance. I did enjoy the main characters . I do also think that the book was a little too long. However, the ending did make up for it and I will continue with the series. I also enjoyed the narration in this book 3.5 stars.

I really enjoyed the first book but i think the second book was even better! There is so many twists and surprise information that i was not expecting and it just made the book so intriguing. The narrators were wonderful and really helped me get immersed into the story! they played each part perfectly. This book was stunning and i cant wait for more from this author!!

Thank you to Bramble Romance, Macmillan Audio, Chloe C. Peñaranda, and NetGalley for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

This book took all the things I loved about the first book and turned it up a notch. It’s got everything I want in a romantasy: political conflict and maneuvering, twists, turns, and betrayals, a strong female lead who comes into her power and doesn’t wait around for a man to save her, an epic forbidden love story that spans centuries, and a dangerous, morally grey, broody, Shadow Daddy. We get both Nyte and Astraea’s viewpoints, and we also get flashbacks to their past, and seeing them fall in love for the first time was amazing. The dual narration was fantastic. Jacci Prior does a great job with the female characters, and Corvin King’s voice for Nyte is absolutely delicious. This was such a great read, and I can’t wait for the next book!
💫
My rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨
Spice level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️
💫
Read if you like:
▫️vampires, fae, and celestials
▫️shadow daddy and magic
▫️villain gets the girl
▫️star crossed lovers
▫️dual POV
▫️dual timeline
💫
Thank you to Bramble Romance, Macmillan Audio, Chloe C. Peñaranda, and NetGalley for the ARC. I received an advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

*The Night is Defying* by Chloe C. Peñaranda is an enthralling continuation of the Nytefall series, blending high-stakes action, rich world-building, and an emotional tug-of-war between love and duty. Astraea and Nyte’s journey is a rollercoaster of revelations, power struggles, and heart-wrenching choices, keeping you hooked until the very end.

The narration by Jacci Prior and Corvin King is absolutely fabulous, bringing the characters and their complex emotions to life with a flawless duet performance. Their voices perfectly capture the tension, passion, and desperation that drive this gripping tale.

While the pacing felt slightly uneven in places, the story’s twists and emotional depth more than made up for it. If you’re a fan of star-crossed lovers, dark secrets, and dramatic stakes, this second installment is a must-listen!

I absolutely loved this continuation and that ending has me desperate for book 3 to come out!!

*Thank you NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review*

As a second in a romantasy trilogy, this falls hard into second book territory. Even more confusing, the timelines switch constantly, in a way that is very jarring from the story that the reader is already working desperately to grasp.

I found the first book, especially at the beginning, to be hard to follow but I was eventually sucked in. The structure of this book was such that not only was I not sucked in, but also as soon as I started to get into the groove, the timelines would switch and I was left scrambling for understanding.

The readers are brought back to the story of Astraea and Nyte, star-crossed lovers. Astraea is the daughter of dusk and dawn, the star maiden, who is just now getting her memories back from her prior life. Nyte, also known as Night's Death, is a fae-turned vampire, son of the evil king, and from another world. Being together is causing the stars to die but they cannot seem to stop boning.

I really think this series needed someone to sit down with some serious editing scissors because I kept asking myself, where is the point and how do we cut to it? I will read the next book because I hate when I am left without a conclusion. I see a ton of potential within this story and world but really need the editing.

Now, as an audiobook, this is great. Both narrators are excellent and really pull the reader into the story. But listening to it makes those time shifts even more confusing!

If you are a romantasy fan, you may want to add it to your collection but I would recommend reading it first. This is a great public library purchase for those that already have the first book.

Thank you to Tor, Bramble, and Net Galley for the DLC. All opinions are my own.

I adore this series so much! I stumbled upon it through @macmillan.audio and then was totally convinced when i saw the stunning hardcover. No surprise that book 2 is just as gorgeous, both in the story it tells and the aesthetic of the physical book. Asrtaea and Nyte are simply irresistable, to me and each other. Their story just completely swept away to their far off places and realms. it's an absolute yes from me.

This was really good. I enjoyed it and am glad with the story continuing and am hoping for more in the future

Good Lord Ms Penaranda how could you do me like that???
Leaving me sitting on that cliff until the next one comes out??!! OMG! 😳 So addictive!
During this installment, we also get a bit more of the backstory of Astraea and Nyte. The story continues where we left off at the end of the book, with Astraea coming to terms with being the star maiden and all that entails. Through noble efforts, Astraea is working on returning some of her memories and Nyte is free from the veil.
Do not start this book if you cannot binge it! It's packed with high stakes, new characters and significant plot twists that will leave you spinning in circles with your jaw dropped! This is an addictive love story that has you rooting for Astraea and Nyte through it all. It's magical to watch their love grow and turn into something else! This one is one of the stars ⭐️ like there is something else here and I'm excited about the next installment because this is quickly becoming one of my favorite series because there is so much here. Love, injustice, power plays, and of course, there is a betrayal that you won't see coming that is so intense that most of you will join me sitting on that cliffhanger!!!
I received the audiobook to listen to and review, and let me just say the narrator fits the story perfectly! The tone and the way she read the story there were so many times that I was pacing around my house because the narrators really brought the story to life!!!
Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this truly exciting opportunity! I fell in love with the series all over again!

Following the aftermath of the Libertatem, Astraea fights to maintain her freedom while recovering her memories and magic, hoping to find her killer. While Astraea embarks on her journey of self-discovery, Nyte fights to regain control of the bloodthirsty vampires amidst his brother's attempts to overthrow him.

This is the second book in the series, and I loved getting to see more of Nyte and Astraea's relationship, including peeks into their relationship before Astraea lost her memories. I also enjoyed learning more about the celestials and the vampires.

One of my biggest complaints is the lack of overall worldbuilding in the series. Although we see more of the world as Astraea travels across the veil, descriptions of places and the magic system still felt very limited.

I also felt like this book jumped around a lot more than the first book (especially as Nyte gave Astraea memories), and at times it wasn't very clear and left me feeling confused about what was happening.

I listened to this on audio, and absolutely loved both narrators. I couldn't imagine anyone more perfect to portray Nyte's voice than Corvin King.

Read if you like:
Romantasy
Who did this to you
Shadow daddies
Forbidden romance
Vampires
Dual-POV

Wow, a perfect sequel to the first book, it has everything you could want! I can't wait to see what book 3 has in store for us

It’s a very mellow and slow process. Very character focused. Still not a lot of world building or depth to what’s going on around them. The bondings seem to be almost worthless and then obsessive when it comes to Night. It’s like wandering around in someone’s inner monologue with some external interactions. It did not do it for me

Narrators: the voices are beautiful and I love the dual voice in conversation. I do have to say though there was only like slight variations in character voice. It was a little hard to decipher who’s talking sometimes.

The Night is Defying is a decent follow-up to the first of the series. Continuing the stories of Night and Astraea and their attempts to help Astreae find her memories while she tries to find her place in the world. It is, however, a bit of a confusing follow-up. At times it felt like the characters were just jumping from place to place with little to no transitional moments between to make it easier to keep up with. And Night’s personality changes started feeling more cliche and awkward than a powerful magical being losing his control.

The narrators weren’t bad. They were both quite good for the main characters. My only complaint here is that there was little to no emotion behind a lot of characters’ speech, leaving their spoken lines the same as the narrative pieces. And the narrator for Night wasn’t very good at differentiating the characters when he was covering the male voice lines. Using the same tones, and almost always speaking with flirty undertones no matter which character was speaking and to whom

<b>"Shine bright, and I'll meet you in the next darkness."</b> EXCUSE ME? Just TEAR my heart right out! In <i>The Night is Defying</i>, Astraea tries to regain her memories with Nyte's help. We get flashbacks from Astraea's previous life, and although she's drawn to Nyte, she's conflicted about returning to the world that was once hers. I already miss the banter and friendships that were developed through the story.

<i>The Night Is Defying</i> was a fantastic sequel to <i>The Stars are Dying<i>. I'm so glad I continued the series because I almost DNF'd the first book. It was difficult to get into <i>The Stars are Dying</i>, but the second book had me in its grasp the entire time, and the ending had me at the edge of my seat!

I LOVED the audiobook and the split chapters between Astraea and Nyte. I need the third book to be released ASAP!!

Thank you, NetGalley Chloe C Peñaranda, MacMillan Audio, and Bramble, for this audio ARC. All opinions are my own.

“The Night is Defying,” by Chloe C. Peñaranda

After loving the first book in this series, I was so excited to listen to the audiobook of The Night is Defying, and it completely surpassed my expectations. I adored book one (a solid 5-star read), but book two took everything I loved and made it even better.

One of the best parts for me was delving deeper into the protagonist’s lost past and memories, which added so much depth to the story. I also loved getting to know Nyte better in this installment. His lore was fascinating, and as an unapologetic fan of morally gray male characters, I couldn’t help but be drawn to his darker side. Chloe C. Peñaranda has this incredible talent for creating "red-flag" characters that are somehow irresistible, and I was absolutely here for it.

I loved the tropes, shadow daddy, enemies to lovers, etc. The world building was so good, and I was excited to see more of the celestial plane. I thought the side characters added to the story, I love well written side characters. I loved everything about this book.

And that ending? Absolutely insane!

I also have to praise the audiobook narration, which was flawless. It brought the story to life perfectly, and there isn’t a single thing I’d change about it.

5 out of 5 stars, I love this series!

-Vampires, Celestials, Fae, Gods
-Dual POV
-Enemies To Lovers
-Shadow Daddy

Thank you so much for the ARC, Netgalley.