I received an exciting email from @delreyuk today, with a link to the first three chapters of Book of Night by @blackholly

I’ve been a huge fan of Holly Black for years and you’ve probably seen me talking about The Coldest Girl in Coldtown as one of my favourite books ever.

Book of Night is Holly Black’s first adult novel and is definitely one of my most anticipated books of this year.

Description:

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.

Now, she's trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but going straight 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 her shadowless and possibly soulless boyfriend has been keeping secrets from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends back into a maelstrom of murder and lies. Determined to survive, she's up against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world - all trying to steal a secret that will allow them control of the shadow world and more.

🖤🖤🖤
I devoured the first three chapters, which set up a world where shadow magic is a profitable and dangerous skill, and introduces us to main character Charlie, who seems to have a pretty murky background. I was fully immersed and I can’t wait to read the rest!

Book of Night by Holly Black will be released on the 3rd of May, and the first three chapters are available request from @netgalley now.

Thanks to @netgalley and @delreyuk for the sneak preview!

Just from reading this extract I can tell this is going to be a good book!
Adult Urban Fantasy? Yes please!
Holly Black is back!

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.

Now, she's trying to distance herself from past mistakes, but going straight 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 her shadowless and possibly soulless boyfriend has been keeping secrets from her. When a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie descends back into a maelstrom of murder and lies. Determined to survive, she's up against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world - all trying to steal a secret that will allow them control of the shadow world and more.

I was delighted to be approved to read an extract of Holly Black’s forthcoming novel ‘Book of Night’ and what an extract it was! I immediately took to Charlie’s character and the first three chapters of this book had plenty of action going on, being full of tension. I can tell I’m going to love this book and it makes me very excited that this is my first Holly Black book. I do have her back catalogue on my bookshelves and this short extract of ‘Book of Night’ has moved them up my TBR quite substantially. I’m very much looking forward to getting back into Charlie’s world when this book is released. Holly Black just gained a new fan!

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an arc extract in exchange for an unbiased review.

"I'm Remy," he whispers to his shadow. "And I'll call you Red." - I have chills and I'm so intrigued.
This was such a good teaser. The first few chapters set the tone for a book I can tell I"m going to devour. Not much to say given it's only short but yes, I will be buying this and recommending it to everyone!

i was drawn in immediately!! i cant wait to continue this book. the world looks promising and i already like charlie and want to know more about her

This was only a three-chapter excerpt. It introduces Charlie, gives an idea of what sort of person she is (con-artist) and a glimpse into the world. There’s no sense yet how the plot will unfold from here, or if the book turns out to be as exciting and gut-wrenching as Black’s YA fiction, but I’ll definitely read the rest to find out. This sample gets four stars, as there was plenty of drama for such a short sample.

Review of chapters 1-3 - extract received from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The first 3 chapters of this book definitely had me intrigued! I loved the ideas of the shadow magic that we being to learn about, the characters seem strong and distinct and the plot seems like it will take an interesting turn! This fantasy has definitely got a darker feeling to it, but still manages to have some dry wit and sarcasm and a lot of intrigue is built up just in the first 3 chapters!

I’m definitely interested in reading the rest of the novel having had a taste from this sample, It’s fantasy with a noir-ish feeling, and quite unlike the other books of Holly Black’s that I’ve read.

Review for chapters 1-3

"Any child can be chased by their shadow. All they need to do is run straight toward the sun on a lazy afternoon. As long as they keep moving, it will be right behind them."

I'm already so invested in this book!!! I'm sooo curious what heppens next and I sure af gonna read this on may 3rd. Nothing can stop me.

Thank you NetGalley for providing digital advanced copy in exchange for honest review.

I was able to read the first three chapters of this book by the publisher. A captivating, original and engaging start to what I am sure will be a great read. The initial chapters focus on character development and world building and we are introduced to main character Charlie. The supernatural/fantasy elements offer something new and original that I haven't read before. While the first few chapters gave a few details and descriptions about the world and character's skills, I feel like Id need to read a lot more to fully grasp these concepts and understand how everything works and is different to the world we live in. The chapters give us a tease and keep you captivated and engaged to want to know more and would entice someone to keep reading. The style and pace of the book was well written and Holly Black is clearly an author who knows what she is doing. I will be keeping my eye out for this book when it releases.
Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read these chapters.

First of all: the description didn't show that this was only an excerpt from the book which was really annoying. I don't think publishers should wrongly advertise the excerpts as books.

Apart from this annoyance, I also wasn't too big a fan of the chapters we got. I liked Holly Black's "The Cruel Prince", but the protagonist of this novel already got on my nerves in chapter one. Her depiction just seemed a little too forced, like the author was trying really hard to make her edgy.

I am hooked! This three chapter sampler was menacing, eerie and entirely gripping. I love the preview to the protagonist, the world building and the overall tone of the book so far. I can’t wait to continue reading Book of Night! Its vibe reminds me of Leigh Bardugo’s Ninth House, so fans of that might want to check this out.

Thank you kindly Del Rey UK for access to sampler.

When I requested this I didn't know it was only an excerpt from the three first chapters of Book of Night. I just think this eARC shouldn't be advertised as the full book.
With that being said, my rating will only be about the chapters that were provided.
Although I liked the beginning I really needed a little bit more of the book to give it a proper rating.

Book of Night is one of my most anticipated books of this year. This was a snippet of the book so it is hard to review it but I liked how it started. I can't wait to read the whole story.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for providing me with the first 3 chapters of Holly Black's first adult novel, Book of Night.

I was hooked from the start. This is dark and disturbing, the world building is fantastic and I now I'm desperate for the rest of the book to find out what else is going to happen to Charlie.

The fantasy premise is original and spooky. I love the idea of being able to change your shadow and how it can give you a bit of magic. I can already tell that Charlie is going to be one of my favourite MC's.

Thank goodness I've pre-ordered this so I can continue ASAP!!

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for a small preview of Holly Black’s Book of Night.

Yes, yes, yes!!!! I love Holly Black and I have a copy of all of her books, so I knew that I would love this. A few chapters in and I’m already hooked. I’ve pre ordered my copy already, and can’t wait to lose myself in Holly’s imagination.

While this was sadly only a sampler of the first three chapters of Book of Night by Holly Black, it made me even more excited to read the full book.

I‘m already liking Charlie and I especially liked the glimpse into her childhood in the third chapter. The shadow magic aspect was very intriguing as well and I can’t wait to see more of it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing this extract.

Thank you netgalley and Random House UK for the extract of the book of night.

So far I would rate this 3.5/5 ⭐️. It didn't grab me straight away, of the 3 chapters provided the 3rd was the best about the MC's childhood and her relationship with her mother. The first two chapters I found slightly difficult to read as they didn't flow that well. I would still like to finish this book and will probably order it when it's released.

Book of Night by Holly Black

Nowhere does it state this is only a sampler so l was extremely disappointed when l downloaded this after being approved. l wouldn’t have requested it if ld realised.
What l read was great and l would of loved to read it all and provide a proper review
The 3 stars are for it not being made clear what I was requesting not for what l actually read

I was very disappointed that this was a snippet of the book I will leave feedback here as it will affect my score but I will not leave a review for the snippet anywhere else. I was really looking forward to this and was sad when only the first 4 chapters were provided.
Didn't really enjoy it fell flat for me.