The magical element remained mysterious throughout. My main issue with this book was that it was lacking in a richness to round it out and properly bring it to life. He was mysterious and intriguing right from the start, with his shadowless body but kind-hearted nature. In fact, I think he was the person I cared about most - and Book of Night did seem to end up being about him overall. Vince in particular was a favourite character. Similarly, Vince and Posey have their own flaws, but I loved them too. Her presentation was done very well, and despite her flaws she became a likeable character who I was desperately rooting for. Charlie is untrusting and believes the worst of herself, so much so that she cannot help but descend back into the underworld of gloamists and thievery. The main focus of Book of Night is its flawed characters, and Holly Black creates these very well.

And that is definitely not a bad thing, but it could be disappointing to some readers who are expecting a thoroughly defined magic system and world. This novel is more of a murder-mystery with fantasy elements thrown in, than it is a fantasy with a mystery element. If I can give one piece of advice when first reading Book of Night, it would be to ignore the blurb entirely. 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 allow them control of the shadow world and more. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends back into a maelstrom of murder and lies. 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. Bartending at a dive, she’s still entirely too close to the corrupt underbelly of the Berkshires. Now, she’s trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but going straight isn’t easy. And to rob their fellow magicians, they need Charlie. Gloamists guard their secrets greedily, creating an underground economy of grimoires. She’s spent half her life working for gloamists, magicians who manipulate their shadows to peer into locked rooms, strangle people in their beds, or worse. This urban fantasy sees Holly Black make her first foray into adult fantasy, but I’m not sure how successful it was.

Holly black the book of night