Thank you Wednesday Books and NetGalley for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review. My review is my own and not influenced by others.

I just finished reading Down comes a night by Allison Saft.
While I think many readers will enjoy reading this book, it didn’t work for me. I couldn’t feel any connection with the characters. And the story was to long-winded in my opinion, this is why I couldn’t hold my attention at the story.

I think this book is a one in a dozen for me and it doesn’t have to matter if the characters, the world building or the writing style draws me into the story. This book however lacked in every way for me. But like I said before, I think it really can work for other readers.

This is an absolutely stunning, sparkling debut. The characters are fully-realized, the world immersive and full of intrigue, and the plot page-turning. I can't wait to read more of Allison's books!

I'm not usually a fan of a murder mystery, but I found this book to be really interesting. The slow burn of the romance was great but I feel like it was missing something. It's not your typical fantasy and the gothic touches made it really stand out. Overall, good book. Not necessarily my favorite, but I enjoyed the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc.

3.5 stars.

I liked parts of this story, but it mostly just dragged on. The MC was annoying and childish. She basically did whatever she wanted regardless of the consequences. The only character I remotely liked was Hal. The plot wasn’t strong enough for me. I didn’t know if the focus was on the MC getting her position back, figuring out what happened to the missing soldiers, or something else. I guess they’re all intertwined, but it didn’t flow enough for me. I had to struggle through some parts. I loved the healing aspect; it was one of the best things about the story. Overall, it was just lacking for me.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Down Comes the Night in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, this is a really good romantic fantasy standalone. It's not, however, an atmospheric read. The description puts so much emphasis on the 'crumbling mansion' they're trapped in and reminds you over and over again that this is a gothic story but its not. That's okay, but if you were expecting something gothic, this is an enemies to lovers standalone (with a bi lead!!)/ murder mystery. Heck, I wouldn't even call our romantic leads 'trapped' in the mansion. It's more like someone asked really politely for them not to leave.

That aside, I liked this. It's a little predictable plotwise, but the romance was sweet and I liked watching the character dynamic there shift. Also books with bi leads who treat love interests of multiple genders as equally important plotwise regardless of their gender? Very cool. If you like enemies to lovers, chances are you'll love this. If you like gothic stories, you'll be let down.

A solid read - atmospheric with engaging characters and something to say. It took some time to warm up to Wren and Hal, and there were occaisonally scenes that were distractingly on the nose in the things they were trying to accomplish, but overall I enjoyed their journey a lot, and they had a lot of touching, funny moments that stood out, too. I think if you are able to root for them, it's an easy read, but I can see why this romance isn't to everyone's taste, since a lot of the narration and conflict is internal. The payoff for the romance and the plotline is really sweet at the end!

Unfortunately, this wasn't the book for me. I had such high expectations, but it just couldn't quite meet them. The characters weren't relatable, and was confused in what time period the story took place. Sadly, this wasn't my kind of read.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an EARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an easy 5 stars. I don't usually go for books like this, but my attention was grabbed from the very first line of the synopsis.

There are so many things I loved about this book. The enemies to l0vers was wonderfully executed, the slow-burn was just right. There was no annoying insta-love, our characters slowly but. surely got to know one another and warmed up to each other.

I particularly loved that despite the fact that our male protagonist shows remorse for what he has done in the name of his country, there is no immediate pardoning for the things he has done. The writer doesn't try to pass off the things he has done, there is a great emphasis on the fact that even if he has regrets, he cannot go without punishment. This is perhaps one of the greatest parts of this book.

The mystery throughout this was a delight to read. I wanted so badly to figure out who was behind the disappearances and in the end, I was not disappointed.

I loved the writing style as well. There were some damn beautiful lines in this book: "As she stepped into a corridor as dark as sin, the temperature dropped--a gradual slither across her body, like surrendering to the crash of an ocean wave. Her breath unfurled in white, uneven bursts. Here is a place where people went and never returned."

This was kind of amazing. It was dark and lovely and told the story of two soldiers on opposite sides of a war coming to realize they aren't as different as the propaganda in their countries have made them out to be. They aren't the monsters they always thought. They are more alike than they ever could have imagined.

Wren Southerland is a healer who wants more out of life. She has only ever wanted to be accepted and loved for who she is, but has only ever been used for her abilities and seen as the soldier she never wanted to become. Hal Cavendish is the Reaper of Vesria, reviled by Wren's people and feared by his own. He has only ever wanted to get away from his dark reputation and to fix the world they've broken by facing the consequences for the things he's done.

I really enjoyed these two coming together and working through each other's walls and learning about one another. I loved watching them start to care for one another and how they protected and defended each other. My heart went out to Hal and everything he had done and regretted.

This was such a grand, dark tale of love and loyalty, of soldiers tired of war, of two people broken down by the world around them but still willing to fight to make things better, no matter what <3

This book is an interesting conglomerate of YA, magic, romance, and gothic elements. Wren, the main character, has lots of rooms to grow through this book: she's a magic healer who craves the approval and love of her commander and the queen. But her loyalties are challenged when she takes a job at a gothic, creepy mansion under a mysterious man named Lowry. I liked the mystery aspect of this book and the gothic elements. But I didn't connect to the characters very much, and the romance seemed a little too fabricated to serve the plot. But this book has a great spooky atmosphere that was fun to read in October.

Writing Aesthetic/Style: 4
Plot/Movement: 3
Character Development: 3
Overall: 3

Thank you, Wednesday Books and NetGalley, for the review copy!

Down Comes the Night was EXACTLY what I was looking for. I'm a mood reader and I found myself in the mood for a romantic, gothic fantasy, which DCtN fit perfectly. Wren is a healer and a soldier, descended from royalty, and struggling to find her place and make her mark. Things go wrong, and she finds herself fleeing the country to an isolated estate in the mountains just as a winter storm hits. Of course, her sworn enemy is at the estate.

I really liked Wren, but I adored Hal. His personal journey was so poignant, and his connection with Wren was sweet and compelling. The pace at the beginning is slower than I expected, but once Wren arrives at Lowry's estate, it picks up a lot. The climax and ending of the book left me breathless.

I would definitely recommend this book to any lovers of gothic romances or fans of YA fantasy! It has tons of appeal and I think it will find a wide audience once it is published. Thank you to Netgalley and to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for providing and advanced reading e-book copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This YA fantasy romance had me eagerly turning page after page with the intrigue of a murder mystery taking place in a gothic feeling creepy castle. The world building was incredible and had all my senses engaged making me feel like I was amidst all the action. The storyline flowed well and while I could see this world and these characters taking part in a continuing series, I was happy to see this book end with relatively no loose ends.
I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

I was lucky to get to read this book as an ARC via netgalley. If you want a story filled with political plots, intrigue, war, religions, medicine, magic, hatred, and love then you have found the correct book. This story contains it all! The characters draw you and the background scenery is vivid enough to feel. I especially like the mix of biology and magic in this world.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun fantasy with magic (for some of the folks) and definite gothic touches. It was pretty cool, though a bit weird with the gothic bits in such a fantasy surrounding. The gothic bits were all at Colwick Hall and the mysterious and creepy Lord Lowry. The magic was cool with the explanations of the fola and whether your genes for it are inactive (so you don't have magic) or active and how it can be over used and then you lose access to the magic.

Wren is likeable and Hal too (after they stop trying to kill or capture each other). They work well together to solve the mystery of the missing soldiers from both Vesria and Danu. I enjoyed reading their adventures, even when it got dark and there might be a chance that the guilty party would get away with it.

This was a good story and I like that it was a standalone and not a series so that it completed nicely.

This book was something else. I went into it looking for gothic horror and what I got was far more than I expected. It was in fact, a fantastic book. I thought the beginning was a little bit slow, but right about 20% it picked up and I became more and more invested in the story and the characters. It was a brilliant standalone book and honestly, I was so pleased with it. By the time we got to the end I wanted more of the world and more of the characters. Whether that will ever happen I do not know...

For those of you who are curious this is like a gothic horror fantasy YA book. If you like any of those things you might like the book. It has many of the typical elements of gothic horror interwoven with fantasy elements. But not only that it’s also...modernized in some ways? All in all, it had extremely compelling world building that I thought was done well because it gave you a great idea of what the world was like, but it wasn’t info dumping on you either. It struck a nice balance that I really appreciated. But the world building was really just a background for the plot of the story: which was Wren and her journey.

The main plot of this revolves around Wren and her choices. While it does have some politics (quite a few, but they’re worked in well) I felt the majority of the story was Wren’s. But we also have Hal. Oh, and there is enemies to lovers romance in this, and it is absolutely delicious on all levels. It is so wonderfully developed and drawn out that I was anxious to finish it and see what happened! It has got to be one of the best done tropes I’ve read. I FELT for these characters every moment. (Yeah...the romance was one of my favorite things about this book).

The character development was nothing to sneeze at either. I felt that it was drawn through the book in a way that made sense as the characters progressed and learned. I was invested in these characters and I really did not want anything to happen to them. The characters themselves are generally morally grey or at the very minimum ambiguous, and that was appealing to me. There is definitely more to it than that, but those would be spoilers.

I also enjoyed the writing and pacing of this book overall. Sometimes it felt the pacing was a little...off, but overall I was engrossed throughout the whole book. And the writing was great!

This was a fantastic book, and I am so glad that I got a chance to read it.

Honestly, I really enjoyed this. WIth it's warring countries and religious / gothic elements, this definitely reminded me of Wicked Saints in the best way possible. I loved that the main character was bi and it wasn't really a major part of the plot. The romance was definitely one of my more favorite parts, alhtough I wish the enemies period of the enemies-to-lovers relationship was a little longer. I also wanted more out of the gothic setting, it felt a lot more like a whodunit that transitioned to a fantasy. But otherwise a great standalone if you love romance and want just a touch of darkness.

Down Comes the Night is the story of two enemies trapped inside a crumbling mansion, and it was the perfect read going into the Halloween season! Saft's writing is dark and gorgeous and I was super wrapped up in the science-based magic system she used.

I was excited to receive a copy of this ARC because I’ve heard great things about DOWN COMES THE NIGHT. Unfortunately, this book didn’t click with me. Part of the reason is that I think the story starts about eight chapters too soon, and over the course of those chapters we see Wren making one bad decision after another. While I agree that all protagonists don’t have to be likeable, I do believe they have to be rootable. Wren’s actions, especially in chapter one, put her firmly in the too-stupid-to-live category and I didn’t recover any confidence in her after that. The romance was highly telegraphed—I knew we’d encounter the Reaper again as soon as he was mentioned—but their chemistry felt flat. And although this novel is marketed as gothic, due to the setting in a wintry castle, it didn’t display the tension, foreboding, and terror quintessential to a gothic romance. Part of this is due to the overly descriptive prose which I found myself skimming often. This novel should have been about 30-5o% shorter than it is. I do think the magic as science was interesting, and one of the more unique aspects of this novel. I liked the idea of magical overuse injuries and the story potential from what aspect.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC.

I just couldn't get in to this book and did not finish it. The setting was described well, but the main character left me flat.

INCREDIBLE. I am heartbroken I don’t have more of this story to read right now. Fantastic characters, brilliant plotting, and atmosphere for days. I could not put this one down, lost sleep and read it on breaks at work. THIS is gothic done right. Absolutely keep your eyes on this author, they are a powerhouse.