I don't believe it. I thought for sure I would love Book of Night, one of my most anticipated reads of the year, from the author who wrote one of my favorite YA fantasy series of all time. But I didn't. I think I'm in shock.
Where do I even start? When I think of Holly Black, I think of The Cruel Prince, with its sharp writing, compelling characters, well-plotted story, and seamless worldbuilding. None of that was here.
Instead, the writing was so flat, I didn't feel anything reading this. There was no tension, no suspense, no compulsive need to turn the pages. It's like all the energy has been sucked out of the story, and all that's left is words on a page. I honestly forced myself to continue and see it through to completion. I held on, hoping that it would turn around and grab me. But it never did.
The characters were some of the dullest and most unmemorable I've ever come across. To say Charlie is unlikable would be to imply she has some personality for me to dislike. But she doesn't. Her only attributes seem to be that she has righteous anger and she makes bad decisions, but I don't really understand why. There's no insight into her underlying motivations. We are only told constantly of what she is, but never shown.
There were so many side characters, I had trouble keeping them apart. They're all haphazardly introduced without any distinguishing characteristics that would make them unique or memorable. After a while, they all blur together. It feels like anytime something needed to be explained, a new character would be introduced along with a random digression, just to get the point across.
The worldbuilding was so awkward and confusing, I'm still not sure I understood it, even after having read the whole book. I don't think the magical system is that complicated, yet somehow, the explanations provided just didn't work for me. Most of the time, I felt like I was guessing at what everything means. (Shadows give you magical powers... and feelings? Gloamists trade shadows and have power, but why? What is carapace, Cabal, Hierophant?)
The story unfolds via a dual timeline, but the pacing was extremely slow for both. You have the present one, slow and plodding, intercut with the past timeline, which was somehow even more glacial, if you can believe it. So the overall effect is the mother of all slow burns.
This is supposed to be Holly Black's adult debut, yet it doesn't feel any more adult than her previous YA books, other than a few F-words here and there. If anything, it feels less. I remember the sexual tension in The Cruel Prince, and it didn't even have any sex scenes (being YA and all). This book, with a few fade to black ones, was somehow completely devoid of any sizzle or spark.
But for me, the biggest issue is that the story just doesn't make sense. The different parts of the magical world felt randomly tossed together without really blending into a cohesive whole. And the characters' actions don't really ring true for me either. Charlie, in particular, did so many things for no reason other than that she "makes bad decision," which is literally the explanation given.
Still, for all my complaints, the last 50 pages did come alive and breathe some life into this story. Things finally started to happen and a few separate events did come together with some satisfaction. If there's one thing the story does do right, it's that it contains a few twists that took me by surprise.
Just one last note. The story ends on a cliffhanger that clearly sets up for a sequel. I'm not a fan of books that pretend to be standalones, but actually turn out to be the first in a series. And especially when I didn't enjoy the book, it means I don't even get the satisfaction of having reached a real conclusion. So there's that.
I don't doubt that many readers would enjoy this dark magical tale, but it just wasn't for me. And after all that anticipation, no one's sadder than me.
Readaroo Rating: 2 stars
My heartfelt thanks for the copy that was provided for my honest and unbiased review.
0 comments:
Post a Comment