I literally cheered aloud when I got my advance copy of this book! 'Young Gothic' was one of my Top Reads of 2024, so I was beyond eager for the next part of the story. What could possibly happen to our messed-up band of monsters next?

MA Bennett does not disappoint. We take a moment to catch up with the protagonists before being whisked off across the Carpathians to Dracula's castle, where the Big Bad of the previous books has reappeared for more insidious plots. He's not going down without a fight, and he's had centuries to plan...

This could so easily have been Halloween-cartoonish, and the Scooby Doo comparisons were lampshaded in the last book. Fortunately the very real and modern characters make everything seem plausible. I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief because each of our four leads is struggling with the difficulties of being a 'monster' in a manner that's entirely relatable. The reader is virtually asked 'what would YOU do in their situation?'

Eve, Hal, Ren and Griffin each have clearly defined voices and it was a true pleasure to spend time with them again. I felt for each in turn, as the equally-difficult non-supernatural challenges they face are also entirely understandable - from past abuse to loss of a child, religious trauma and simply discovering one's sense of self. These are young people thrown into another bizarre situation, and I was absolutely with them as they fought to win through.

The atmosphere is fast-paced and creepy and as before, while certain events were telegraphed simply because they were nodding to a past influence (in this case, the novel 'Dracula') that's never a problem. As the ending approached, I had no idea how the Villagers Storming the Castle tactics would succeed, and the pages flew past as a result.

A great second outing for the Young Gothics. I sincerely hope we see them again in another instalment of bringing traditional horror to the modern day.

After loving the first Young Gothic book, I was elated to find out that there'd be more. I really enjoyed this book's atmosphere and the depth the characters all had, although I did find some parts dragged out a little longer than they needed to.

The first book in this series came out last summer, and the second is already due. It's really hard to review this without spoiling either book, and these are books you really want to go into unspoiled, so I'm going to talk more about the tone than the plot!

The creepy, horror-movie feel of the first book continues in this one, as the Young Gothics learn more about themselves, their history and their abilities. MA clearly has a deep love for the classics of horror fiction which shines through every page of this read. I learned some things about the classics I hadn't known before!

Don't start with this book - it won't make sense without the first one - but if you're looking for a thrilling, horror read with some historical notes and clever twists, this is the series for you. Can't wait for the third one!


Book recommendation: Try The Diviners by Libba Bray. It combines a historical setting with supernatural mystery, as well as a group of teens uncovering dark secrets. It has a similar eerie vibe and thrilling atmosphere with complex characters facing dangers tied to their own abilities.

TV recommendation: For a similar mix of horror, thrills and teen antics, try Stranger Things. The teens there face all kinds of mysteries and horror drawn from history and folklore.

Children of the Night is a very decent sequel to what was one of my favourite horror books of 2024. The horror was toned down quite a lot, possibly because most chapters were about Ren and his narrative is a little all over the place. The capitalization of random words still confuses me. However, I do think Griffin’s narrative was much better. Less racial stereotypes were used and he sounded way more intelligent in this book. A big issue I had with the first book was that he sounded really dumb. He had a lot of development in Children of the Night, which he was severely lacking before.

I’m a little sad that Eve is once again a victim of sexual violence. It’s an important part of her backstory, so hearing about that again was fine, but there really didn’t need to be another instance–this happens at the end of a chapter and you have to wait about three chapters to see what the outcome is. It’s especially upsetting as she is the only female member of the group and she’s been abused and been made to get naked in front of strangers multiple times. Hopefully this trend doesn’t continue.

I’m also completely over books in 2024/25 referencing Harry Potter, especially ones that feature LGBTQIA+ characters. These references were completely pointless as they were mostly used to describe a character’s glasses. You could just say they were wearing round frame glasses. We don’t need reference to a book by a transphobic author.

Ok, so that’s all of my negatives out of the way. Now onto the positives. The best part of Children of the Night was learning more about the Young Gothics and the new powers they possess. I wouldn’t say I know everything about their original stories, so it was really interesting to find out about their powers and the reasons why they manifest.

The development of their friendships into a found family was so sweet–nothing builds a found family quite like shared trauma. The romantic relationships were also great. Each had its problems but I’m hoping, especially for Hal and Eve, that they can work through these. I’m assuming based on the ending there’s a plan for more books, hopefully each character gets one centred around them as this was very much Ren’s book.

The creepy vibes were definitely there but I do think Children of the Night lacks the tension that made the first book so unsettling. I know that most of this tension came from the Young Gothics not knowing about their true natures, but I had high hopes for this book as it’s set in Transylvania. The setting was done pretty well though. I don’t know anything about Romanian culture, but apparently it was done justice in Children of the Night–from what I could tell nothing was offensive.

I could tell straight away that something was up with the Scholomance, but I never would have guessed what was actually going on. The twists were very well thought out, even if one in particular was obvious from the start. I found Children of the Night an easier read compared to the first book (it only took me two days to finish), but that’s probably because I already knew the characters. I’d say this one isn’t as good as the first book but it is still a very good and entertaining read.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hachette and M.A. Bennet for a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the second book in the Young Gothic series, the first book which came out last year in 2024. It's a YA Horror, which leans into more historical links in both it's subject matter and writing style, though with four modern day teenage protagonists. I read Young Gothic upon it's release last year and whilst I loved the concept and overall plot of that book I did have a few issues mainly with some of the more problematic themes and in the way some of the characters were written. M.A. Bennet really knows her lore though and any fan of gothic and classic horror will find so much to love in both the first book and its sequel. It plays around with classic gothic tropes, and blending them with more modern takes also - our protagonists are incredibly media literate and there is a lot of fun to be had with how the more monstrous and mysterious elements of the book played out.
In this second book, we pick up a few months after the first with our four protagonists - Eve, Ren, Griffin and Hal being irrevocably changed forever by what happened to them the previous summer. They are struggling to continue on with their lives (and navigating their own romantic relationships amongst the group), with varying difficulty and its clear that things are not over and their new powers are changing and strengthening day by day.
Ren is more the focus of this book in terms of the plot as he is the one who is invited personally by the 'Count' to the castle of Dracula in Transylvania with the other three left behind in the local village. Things are not as they seem however both in the castle and down in the village, and as children start to disappear, it's clear it's going to take all four of our misfit Young Gothics to try and save them - and themselves!
Let's start with the good points of this book then - we get some fun new characters in the village and getting to hear more from the Count is pretty interesting given how much of an enigma he was in the first book. The characters still act as we would expect them to and are generally fun and intelligent, though the division between Ren and the others is really felt. I liked the new setting and once again M.A.Bennet takes things at the slow burn pace which is suited to gothic texts - although much with the first book I can't help feeling like this is a bit over-long.
The mystery however is not as engaging as in the first book as our protagonists are so much more in the know now and besides finding out some tidbits about vampire and werewolf lore and various urban legends, there isn't much new and exciting to be discovered here - it's obvious fairly early on where the missing children are and that certain people are not to be trusted. I still have the same issues with some of the 'teen speak' as I did with the first book, with Ren's parts once again still being the most egregious and it really takes me out of the story whenever these instances happen or Griffin mentions his 'baby mama.'
The plot is also just not as interesting to me as in the first book and the book feels rather too slow - it feels like this could have been much tighter paced given how few events actually happen and what we do get generally is a lot of the Gothics sitting around and talking about the lore and that they need to rescue Ren without doing very much about it and just waiting until the day they're invited to go up to the Castle. It felt pretty frustrating and the plot definitely felt like it was lacking. I found Hal to somehow be more irritating in this book with his jealousy over Eve and he seemed somehow to regress character-wise with most of his arc being about his fear of switching into his 'other self.' Once again I really disliked some elements of Eve's arc, with us seeing repetition of some things such as her once again getting naked in front of a bunch of people and being taken advantage of and it's not something I like to see for our only main female character in the group.
Overall, whilst again I think this book had some great and very fun ideas and I still enjoy the characters a lot, I found a lot of the same issues I had with the first book were still present and the plot didn't grip me. I believe from some hints that were placed throughout that we may be seeing more books in this series but I think for me, I'm going to leave it with this one.

I adored Young Gothic and with this follow up, my love for this series continues to grow. 5 stars for the best kind of book with an in depth plot and characters you will love.

This series has truly been one of the biggest surprises of the past few years for me. Such a unique concept and characters, with great writing and plotting to bolster it. Fantastic follow-up to the first instalment!

Absolutely love the way M.A Bennet weaves together classic literature and a new contemporary creepy story.

I adore these characters and so glad we got a sequel to find out what happens to them next.

The writing is engaging and gripping and I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on this author.

🌟 4.5 🌟
Children of the night is the highly anticipated sequel to Young Gothic.

In it we rejoin the young gothics & find how they've been coping or not in some cases with their new powers.
Positives -
I enjoyed the story & was happy to be reunited with these characters. I think there was great foreshadowing throughout the book for the keys points of the finale of this book. I loved following the relationships of the main 4 characters. The development of Hal & Eves relationship is everything! They really care for each other & try to be the best they can be for each other.
I found the new characters really added to the world that's being created in these books. I am eagerly anticipating the next one. There must be more!

Negatives -
Over referencing Harry Potter. It's 2024 & J.K Rowling does not need anymore publicity considering her stance on Trans rights.

Hals overuse of calling Eve Wednesday Adams - I feel like this was overdone & became tiresome.

Even with those in mind, I cannot wait for M.A Bennetts next novel!

This is the second book so best read with the first for context and character knowledge. This has all the gothic requirements, including literally flaming torches, pitchforks, Transylvanian castles, beholden villagers and captive children. The four main characters and their various inner conflicts are well explored & developed, along with a few new entries, such as Van Helsing. Its quite gory in places in the way anything with vampires et al is but it is deliciously predictable for genre fans. Don't approach this expecting high literature or cutting edge innovation, but as a distracting bit of fun it's great!

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?