Alright, I know what you’re thinking. Black’s Book of Night has received a lot of flack since its release in May. It was one of the most anticipated adult fantasy books awaiting release in 2022, with readers already having high hopes to compare it to the beloved Folk of the Air series. I think that gave Book of Night an unfair, slippery slope to begin on.
Synopsis
Book of Night is described as dark, sexy, and more adult than the traditional YA writing we see from Black. The story follows Charlie Hall, a 28 year old bartender-slash-con-artist. In her world, magic exists in the form of shadows. There are people who have “quickened shadows,” aka shadows that can be moved and controlled by their owner. If one is lucky enough to have a quickened shadow, known as gloamists, they can control things from mood, state of mind, other people’s minds and actions, use their shadows to steal, and even inflict fear and pain with them.
Charlie hasn’t yet found herself with a quickened shadow, but she does find herself caught up in the art of thievery, completing jobs for the wealthy and gloamists alike. Stealing rare books, grimoires, artifacts, secrets of other gloamists, and more. It pays just enough to keep her coming back from more. However, as it is a dangerous job, Charlie decided she was out of the game as soon as she meets her new boyfriend, Vince.
Vince isn’t like any other guys she’s dated. Vince is strong, caring… and blonde. Definitely unlike the sickly-looking, dark haired, thieving sickos Charlie has been involved with before. But Vince has his secrets. When Charlie accepts a job after months of being out of the game, she starts finding stuff out real quick that she never wanted to know. About Vince, his family, and people in their small town. That’s when it starts to get real in Book of Night.
My rating of Book of Night
I can understand where, why, and when people decided they didn’t like Book of Night. We were promised dark and sexy, and while it delivered on dark, there were only a couple fade to black scenes that required a lot of imagination. Maybe I’m just used to a whole different definition of what dark and sexy means…. thank you, ACOTAR.
I did find that the book initially had a slow start. It took me until about Chapter 10 to really be able to delve in, but I am glad I stuck around. It was after this that the details really started flowing and the story came alive. Black’s writing has never disappointed me before, and I knew if I pushed through, it would’t fail me this time.
Here is where my unpopular opinion comes in. I loved the book. I thought it was great. Sure, there were some things here and there, but what book doesn’t have those things? After the initial first few chapters, I felt like I was really starting to be invested in the plot. I liked watching Charlie go from self-deprecating to confident and sure over the course of the story. I liked meeting Odette, the elderly dominatrix who is Charlie’s boss, and finding out the whole truth about Vince.
Should you read Book of Night?
Absolutely. But only if you go into it without your opinion already tainted due to the nasty reviews you’ve read on Goodreads. Like I mentioned earlier, people have been too hard on Book of Night since its release. There has been tons of comparison to Black’s other books, but there is no comparison there. Book of Night is not a YA enemies-to-lovers based on Cardan and Jude (as much as we love them). Black branched out and brought us a story in territory she’s never stepped into before, and I think she did a damn good job of it.
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