Everything M. A. Bennett writes turns to gold, or deadly silver in this case. Picking up 2 months after Young Gothic left off Children of the Night is a brilliant spin on the Dracula story. All four of our protagonists are back and they’re straight back in deep, dark, spooky end as they find themselves whisked off to Transylvania. Separated from Ren, who is the very special guest of Florian Necker and his Diodati foundation, they are immediately caught up in the machinations of the foundation, Necker, and the shadowy boss they serve.

Full of fascinating actual Romanian lore, incredible twists, and creepy mystery the found family continue to discover more about their supernatural sides, try to reconcile their darkness and their light whilst also navigating their relationships with each other. Hal and Eve are utterly heartbreaking as they navigate their trauma and fears and Griffin and Ren made me squee on multiple occasions- honestly G’s faith and trust in Ren is inspiring. Both relationships are so wholesome (even when Ed isn’t) in the way they TALK to each other and work things out - not that Hal doesn’t have his toxic moments but that he recognises, acknowledges, and tries to prevent himself from being so again.

This is arguably Ren’s book - it is in Transylvania after all but all 4 are equally the stars and I cannot wait to see what they do next. Please tell me there’ll be more?