Book of Night by Holly Black

Book of Night

by Holly Black

'Dark, strange, thick with mystery and twists Book of Night is everything delicious and frightening I've come to expect from Holly Black.' Leigh Bardugo, Sunday Times bestselling author of Ninth House

'If Neil Gaiman channelled Stephen King, the result might be this book . . . scintillating prose, whiplash twists, and a voice of character that demands to be heard from again.' James Rollins, New York Times bestseller of The Starless Crown
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#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies.

Charlie Hall has never found a lock she couldn't pick, a book she couldn't steal, or a bad decision she wouldn't make. She's spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie.

Now, she's trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but going straight isn't easy. Bartending at a dive, she's still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Not to mention that her sister Posey is desperate for magic, and that her shadowless and possibly soulless boyfriend has been keeping secrets from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends back into a maelstrom of murder and lies. Determined to survive, she's up against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world - all trying to steal a secret that will allow them control of the shadow world and more.

'
Holly Black is a master of fantasy with the Midas touch -- there is no story she cannot turn to gold.' V.E. Schwab, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue

'Superb, entangling magic and mystery around the gritty horrors of human nature, neglectful parenting and the scourge of severe income inequalities . . . Will have you frantically turning pages and finishing in less time than you thought possible. Everything you could want from a modern fantasy.' SFX

'A gripping ride from start to finish. Book of Night invites you to reckon with the shadows of your past.' Olivie Blake, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Atlas Six

'A delicious, dark, adrenaline rush of a book. I'm already dying to see Charlie Hall's next con.' Alix E. Harrow, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Once and Future Witches

'Heart, soul, and a bit of kink -- Book of Night is smart, decadent fun.' Kelly Link, Pulitzer Prize Finalist

'A dark romp full of danger and shadows with a razor-sharp heroine and vivid magic.' Zoraida Córdova, bestselling author of The Inheritance of Orquídea Divina

'A deliciously clever page-turner.' Paolo Bacigalupi, New York Times Bestselling author of The Water Knife

'Book of Night delivers hot sex, a breathless plot, perfect characters, and some of the most gorgeous writing I've read in years, sharp as a razor blade, clear as a one-way glass.' Ellen Kushner, award-winning author of Swordspoint

'Black is a master at world-building.' The New York Times

Reviewed by Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub on

5 of 5 stars

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Featuring one of the most delightfully messed-up main characters I’ve read in a while, Book of Night is both wickedly clever and dangerously entertaining.

In a world where “quickened” shadows can be shifted according to the wearer’s mood, Charlie Hall’s shadow is disappointingly ordinary. It does not grow, act of its own accord, or shift on its own. That’s a good thing, since she has enough on her plate as it is. The thing is, Charlie Hall has never seen a bad decision that she isn’t willing to make. Con artist, thief, barista, and certified disaster, trouble has a habit of finding Charlie. To be fair, she doesn’t do all that much to avoid it. Ostensibly done with conning and stealing, Charlie nonetheless works in a bar that crime likes to frequent, she dates a man whose day job is cleaning up the messes left by violence, and she has a knack for upsetting the wrong people.

In a world such as that, it is inevitable that Charlie would be sucked back into a life of conning and stealing. This time the stakes are much higher: Charlie has to find a way to hopefully con her way out of a situation where every solution seems to spell death. The entirety of Book of Night is planned pandemonium, and I was hooked.

This is Holly Black’s first foray into adult fantasy, having garnered a huge fanbase in Young Adult fantasy. While Black’s signature twists and turns are present, the relationships are much more established, allowing me to enjoy the nuances of the characters without being distracted by relationship woes. Don’t get me wrong; as with everything else in her life, Charlie’s relationship with her boyfriend Vince follows the path of most resistance. However, the complications lie in the characters themselves, as opposed to their relationship status. In fact, seeing how Charlie interacted with the people around her was an excellent mirror into the morass of her rather messed-up psyche.

The story is sprinkled with scenes from the characters’ pasts, better developing both their personalities and the world. And it is such a cool world! Manipulators of shadows, known as gloamists, use their shadows to grasp at power, some legally and some otherwise. The wielders of power are fantastical, but the way the power is used to manipulate and control is completely familiar and believable.

There is always something going on, but never at the cost of the plot. The twists seemed to come out of nowhere, yet when I traced back the scenes in the book, the clues were right in front of me. The ending is fantastic, perfectly messy, instead of being tied into an overly neat little bow. While there could be a sequel, which I would gladly read, I almost hope that it is a standalone because the ending hit so well. Book of Night is an exciting urban fantasy from an author who can easily conquer any genre she chooses to write in.

*This review was originally posted in Grimdark Magazine
https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2022/01/21/book-of-night-by-holly-black/

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 15 December, 2021: Finished reading
  • 15 December, 2021: Reviewed