Night Ivy

I was lucky enough to have this book given to me in the form of an eARC to read.
Reading eBooks is hard for me, my head hurts when I do it too long, and looking at my phone in the car makes me car sick,
But I literally had SO MUCH trouble putting this book down.
Descriptive prose made it so easy to picture every location, every feeling, every person that Xelle interacted with.
And, speaking of Xelle, it is not very often you read a protagonist with anxiety, and how refreshing (can I say that?) it is to relate to a narrator and protagonist so deeply as I did to Zelle.
Even more still! The books is Set in a world where gender identities are varied and respected, but not in a way that feels hand fisted, and the protagonist is bi in a subtle way, that feels natural and genuine. Zelle’s romantic interests are not her singular personality trait, but something that just… is.
And again, I say, how refreshing!

If you’re looking for a lovely tale, told with a bardic kind of vibe, with vibrant storytelling and world building, look no further than Night Ivy!
I cannot wait to have myself a hard copy of this book, and would love to see special editions of it come to my favorite subscription boxes.
I look forward to the story’a continuation!

This book feels like a fairy tale, a sweeping song. The prose are so good and really create the atmosphere for it to feel so magical, but so real and imaginable. This book reminds me a lot of The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo, one of my favorite series.
I love the way gender, sexuality and mental health were all portrayed in this book- themes you don't see explored in fantasy a lot and it was so wonderfully done here. I really connected with Xelle through these aspects of their character as it felt very familiar and comfortable to me, seeing a lot of my own person and people I know in this character.
Is this a standalone or going to be a series? I am begging for another book!!

I received this story as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have to start by congratulating the author on fantastic world-building. The writing was very descriptive without feeling convoluted. It was easy to get lost in the world following Xelle's adventures. One of my favourite parts of this world was diversity. I liked that there were various gender identities represented. I love when authors remove the very real and current types of bigotry (real-world racism, homophobia, etc.) from their fantasy world sometimes!

Xelle was a unique main character. She came across as very relatable and easy to get attached to. Her characterization felt very refreshing! As someone who struggles with my own anxiety, seeing myself represented in a story made me feel seen and validated in a weird way. I also adored the way Xelle's sexuality was addressed. It felt grounded in the reality of how attraction works for many people on an individual level. There were moments I felt a little confused at the beginning of the story but it was very easy to get sucked in the story. I cannot wait to read more from E. D. E. Bell

I really enjoyed Night Ivy. Although I felt the book took a couple of chapters to find its footing, once it did I couldn't stop reading.

It reminds me of Becky Chambers's A Psalm of the Wild-Built in a lot of ways--a focus on character relationships and a quiet, but sometimes intense, approach to storytelling and description. One of the other reviews here compares it to Nghi Vo's Singing Hills cycle, which I think is on point for its interest in narrative and storytelling. Sometimes it reminds me of Studio Ghibli films as well, with lots of lush, loving description of places I totally want to visit, and a deft eye for "ma" (negative space) as well as for action and character development.

Finally, as a person in middle age as well as someone who suffers from anxiety (social anxiety sufferer in particular), I really appreciated Xelle as a character. It was refreshing to see someone who struggles with people in similar ways to me, and whose journey through the world looked a little more like mine than your stereotypical (teenage, male, able-bodied, neurotypical) fantasy protagonist.

I did feel that there were a few loose ends by the end of the book, but since it's the first in a series that's to be expected. And some of those loose ends felt like they were deliberate, as well, a choice made by the author to create a world that's messy and imperfect rather than one where everything is resolved in the space of a few hundred pages.

The bottom line is that if you're looking for fantasy about neurodiverse characters--or just great fantasy in a unique setting, period--you'll definitely want to check out Night Ivy.