Book Review: Book of Night by Holly Black

Book of Night by Holly Black is a urban fantasy. 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.

Book of Night was a little of a mixed bag for me. I have enjoy Holly Black's books in the past, and I enjoy urban fantasy, so I thought this was going to be a hit for me. I thought the story and writing were very well done, and I liked some of the slow reveals. However, I found the much needed timeline hopping a little jaring. I completely understand the why behind it, and think it might have been the only way to get the reveals in there, but I prefer a more linear stoeytelling style. I thought the characters were well built, as were the connections between them. I really liked Charlie as a character, and often wanted a little bit more of her personal interactions with Vince or Psey to give me just a bit more of her personality. I thought the world building was also well done, and the only downsides for me were ones of personal preference rather than mistakes or lacking skill on the author's part. Maybe it has just been too long since I read other books from Black, or perhaps it is the real world intruding that wqas making it hard for me to get lost in the story. Once I finished the book I was still intrigued by the set up, and wanted to know what happened next and more stories from the world Black created. So, while I might have had trouble getting engaged with the story, honestly three books later and it still has not let me go. 

Book of Night is a book that fans of the author will want to pick up, and those that enjoy darker urban fantasy will enjoy.