Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published May 2022
320 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Publication Information
#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of betrayals, cabals, and a dissolute thief of shadows, in the vein of Neil Gaiman and Erin Morgenstern.
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 Hall.
Now, she's trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but getting out 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 Charlie's shadowless, and possibly soulless, boyfriend has been hiding things from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends into a maelstrom of murder and lies.
Determined to survive, she's up against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world―all trying to steal a secret that will give them vast and terrible power.
"Charlie Hall is every 'bad luck and worse trouble' protagonist to ever magic her way into urban fantasy. She's desperate, she's profane, she's fascinating, and she kicks ass and takes names with the best antiheroes of the genre. Her world is gritty and mysterious, the stakes are always high, and the power is always tempting." - Library Journal (starred review)
"There's a lot of flipping back and forth between the past and the present, and though both timelines are well plotted and suspenseful, the story leans a touch too hard on the flashbacks. Still, the mystery elements are well executed, as is Charlie's characterization, and the big twist at the end packs a satisfying punch. Hits the marks for spooky thrills and mysterious chills." - Kirkus Reviews
"Bestselling YA author Black conjures a dark world filled with crime, betrayal, and power in her atmospheric adult fantasy debut...The many mysteries keep the suspense sizzling as Charlie guides readers through this slippery world. Black's adult fans and readers looking for dark urban fantasy will be thrilled." - Publishers Weekly
"Dark, strange, thick with mystery and twists―a story so believable in its magic, you'll be keeping one eye on your shadow as you turn the pages." - Leigh Bardugo, New York Times bestselling author of Ninth House
"If Neil Gaiman channeled 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
"Heart, soul, and a bit of kink―The Book of Night is smart, decadent fun." - Kelly Link, Pulitzer Prize finalist
This information about Book of Night was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Sharona Jacob
Holly Black is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of over thirty fantasy novels for kids and teens. She has been a finalist for an Eisner Award and the Lodestar Award, and the recipient of the Mythopoeic Award, a Nebula, and a Newbery Honor. Her books have been translated into 32 languages worldwide and adapted for film. She currently lives in New England with her husband and son in a house with a secret library.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Stone Home
by Crystal Hana Kim
A moving family drama and coming-of-age story revealing a dark corner of South Korean history.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
