I could not get enough of its intricate world building, suspenseful plot, or Charlie Hall, who I rooted for on every page. This is a deliciously dark tale that I promise you will not be able to put down. Suddenly, she is thrown back into the dark world of shadow trading, where she encounters people who would do anything to control the shadows. But then one day, someone from Charlie’s past reemerges. Gloamists are people who steal shadows and manipulate them for all sorts of reasons: for entertainment, to alter memories, even to gain power. So when I read the first few pages of Book of Night, I knew it was going to be one of those special books that pulled me into its world and would not let me return to reality until I had savored every last page.Ĭharlie Hall is a low level con artist who does the occasional odd job here or there when she’s not bartending, having left the more dangerous world of shadow trading and gloamists behind. It’s a feeling that I search for every time I reach for a new book. Or when someone says my name for the hundredth time, trying to draw my attention away from whatever story I’ve lost myself in. Black’s adult fans and readers looking for dark urban fantasy will be thrilled.How do you know when you’re fully immersed in the world of a book? For me, it’s when I forget to check if I’m at my train stop. The many mysteries keep the suspense sizzling as Charlie guides readers through this slippery world. As the narrative shifts between past and present and the skeletons in Charlie’s closet come to light, she must reckon with her dysfunctional childhood-and with just how powerful shadows can be. Investigating its secrets leads her to discover a magic even darker than the shadows themselves. But when she reluctantly agrees to an odd job, a horrifying encounter reveals the return of a sinister individual from her past, plunging her into the dark underworld of shadow trading. At 28, however, Charlie’s determined to stay on the straight and narrow, using a bartending job to distract herself from the thrill of her old lifestyle. Growing up in this treacherous world, Charlie Hall learned the arts of conning and thievery from a young age, and there’s no denying her skill. Shadows are a valuable commodity to be manipulated, altered, traded, and experimented on-and there are many dangerous players looking to harvest them. Bestselling YA author Black ( The Cruel Prince) conjures a dark world filled with crime, betrayal, and power in her atmospheric adult fantasy debut.

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