I loved this book so much! honestly got me out of a reading burn out that lasted 6 months. Totally recommend this book.

The cover of this book was stunning, and I was excited to read it based off the description and Christo’s other books.

The Night Hunt was a good book with some good world-building, however I felt that the characters fell a little flat in comparison.

It’s perfect for a quick, easy, fantasy read. Although I’d definitely recommend To Kill A Kingdom and Princess of Souls before this.

i enjoyed the differnt vibe from Alexandra this time around! Twists and turns in the plot kept me intrigued and i will be getting a physical copy to have on my shelves

What a fun book! I have found as I get older, I really enjoy the "monster" stories. Some of these monsters were new to me and I enjoyed getting to learn about them, but I also thoroughly enjoyed it as a creation story. I love the interpretation of the gods not being infallible and having issues of their own.

I normally love Christo's books and writing, but something just didn't work with this one for me. I think if the concepts and world building were spread out over two books, I would have enjoyed it more. We never really get an opportunity to really immerse ourselves in the intriguing myths and legends that made me so desperate to pick up this book.
I have seen a lot of posts from people who have enjoyed it however, so possibly this book just didn't hit the mark for me. A solid three stars.

3.5 stars

the concept was really cool, a monster that's supposed to be extinct has been secretly plaguing earth taking disguise as a human, but her life blew up because of the recklessness of her "hunting" partner, that happened to be a vampire.

it was quite interesting even though the plot wasn't exceptional, and I didn't feel the romance's chemistry. but i enjoyed the dynamics especially with the human in the group lol. such a weird assemble of found family but they're fitting really well.

The Night Hunt is Alexandra Christo's next hit!
The characters & world are well developed. I really loved the development of bothe the character & their relationships over the course of the story.
Although the premise is simple, I found it really compelling. The big twist at the end did surprise me even though looking back there are tiny tiny hints

As much as this is a standalone & the story is resolved by the end, I would love to see more of this world.

Such a truly epic fantasy ! I absolutely adored this.

Thank you so much for approving me for an e-ARC.

The Night Hunt sounded like a book I’d enjoy, and I really wanted to like it, but unfortunately I found it quite disappointing. While the writing is good, I had a lot of trouble caring about the characters and their wellbeing. They never seemed fleshed out enough to invest in, and sadly I just didn’t have any strong feelings about them at all.

I think this book would also have benefitted from more worldbuilding, further explanations and a better understanding of the war and the character’s motivations. I’m sure a lot of other readers will love this book, but for me I just felt like something was missing.

I enjoyed all the different creatures included, from vampires and banshees to gods and Nefas; they were my favourite aspect of the book, along with some of the banter between main characters Atia and Silas.
It’s a shame I didn’t like The Night Hunt more, but we can’t win them all. I have a couple of Alexandra Christo’s other books to read, so hopefully I’ll have better luck with those!

Had to DNF 3 chapters in unfortunately. Not what I was expecting from the description. I have read and enjoyed this author previously which is a shame

After reading To Kill A Kingdom, I was excited to hear about a new fiction piece from Christo! I’m a big folklore and mythical creatures fan, so to hear and see banshees and vampires, as well as demons and such, I was so excited! I enjoyed the novel, but sometimes found myself struggling to engage with the characters directly, and I hoped for some stringer world building with it being more of a fantasy book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishrs for a free ARC in exchange for a review!

This is a cute romantasy with lovely characters and lackluster worldbuilding.

Our heroes make a great core group, and their relationships and interactions are genuinely very interesting. Silas and Atia's relationship is very sweet and has a nice evolution. I also enjoyed a lot of the background characters, especially the Keeper. Absolutely wacky eldritch being; I loved him.

The worldbuilding, though, really didn't do it for me. It was vaguely Greek mythology influenced, but also not? I didn't really understand the world in terms of the lands, their origins, or connections. There seemed to be no reason for them to be element based in the names and the rulers were mentioned briefly but not really explained as to who they were or how they related to each other. I also didn't really get the whole High Gods vs River Gods vs other gods thing. It wasn't really explained, and seemed to be a pretty big part of the story not to clarify.

I liked Silas' plot twist at the end but the plot twist with the High Gods' true plan for the monsters seemed so obvious that it was surprising that anyone was surprised by it?

All in all, the deep and intricate characters kept me engrosses even though they were enshrined in a world I didn't get. 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher Hot Key Books for the digital ARC, it has not affected my honest review.

TW: grief, death, violence

“The Night Hunt” follows Atia, the last of a race of tricksters named Nefas who feed on fear, as she tries to avoid the fate of her parents- destroyed by the unpredictable and terrifying Gods. Living in isolation with only an untrustworthy vampire as her social life, Atia is miserable and doing her best to survive in a world where everything is against her. However, after she breaks a sacred law by terrifying a human to death to save another one, Atia’s powers begin to fade and she is forced into an alliance with someone she never wanted to meet to survive. Silas is a messenger for the Gods but not by choice, he is forced to attend deaths as a Herald to make up for a crime committed in a life he can no longer remember, and he wants nothing more than to have his missing humanity restored. He and Atia make a deal: she’ll help him, but only he leads her to the solution for her lost powers by aiding her in killing a vampire, a banshee and a God. Joined by a human named Tristan and a half-banshee named Cillian, Atia and Silas battle across the kingdoms to restore their lives, all while falling in love.

I adored this author’s other work “To Kill A Kingdom” so I was delighted to be approved for this one. This is a fast-paced, originally written Greek mythology-inspired YA fantasy with fascinating worldbuilding, strong characters and a wonderful sense of humour. Atia is such a fun character, she’s so angry but she’s also trying her best to live with honour despite being branded as a monster. She just wants to survive and lurking on the outskirts of society has left her bitter but desperately wanting companionship. Silas, on the other hand, has no idea who he might have been before but he wants to know anyway; he enjoys the rules and requirements of being a Herald, even as he agrees to a truce with Atia. The grey morality of this book improved the romance for me, I found their begrudging trust turning into friendship was well-written and believable especially as they adventure across the kingdoms to find ways to fix their curses. I do wish that there had been more for Tristan and CiIlian to do, if only because I liked the idea of Cillian being a half-human/half-banshee, but the time we did get with them was enjoyable. There’s a great plot twist towards the end, one I didn’t see coming at all and I’m so glad I read this book, it’s exactly the dark kind of YA that I love.

When I read the premise for this one I was expecting a dark and twisted story, filled with monsters and things that go bump in the night. Unfortunately I felt that this one missed the mark a little for me. I liked the characters and the mythology aspect of the story as well as the friendships Atia had formed with Tristan but I wanted more.

It's an easy read but I'm not sure that it will be a story that I'll remember a few months down the line.

The Night Hunt was definitely at the younger end of YA & because of that, I was a little disappointed with this one. I think if it had leant into the monster element of Atia's character, it could have been so much deeper & darker.

You know what you're getting from the very beginning with this one & it's a case of watching the story pan out. I really liked the side characters of Tristan & Cillian & would have loved a little more from them & the monsters they encounter on their quest.

I will say I really liked the reveal, which I hadn't seen coming, but I'm not sure that element was enough for me to make this a memorable read.

Rating: 1.5*

I was super excited to dig into this story, as the premise sounds amazing and unique: Atia, a monster who feeds on nightmares (called a Nefas) and her romance with a cursed boy called Silas. They become unlikely allies through a series of events and need to go on a quest to kill various mythical creatures as a result. This book had me at "gothic fantasy romance" in the description.

It lived up to none of my expectations. It took me 3 weeks to get 20% through this book and the entire story felt so dry that I was struggling to pick it up every time. You get the impression from the synopsis that Atia is a morally grey heroine (y'know, being a monster and all) but that is not the case. Her character was written in quite a juvenile way (in fact, most of the cast of characters felt very YA) and she was definitely as good as a 'monster' could be. So my attention was already waning despite the potential the story could have had.

Enter the love interest, and a few side characters who are all blander than unseasoned parsnip soup. Yikes. Silas spends the entire book wondering what he was like back when he was human (he is cursed to forget all his human memories by the Gods) and whilst that aspect kept me intrigued, there was literally nothing else interesting about him. I kid you not, I can't even recall another detail of his personality as I try now, and I finished this book yesterday. The other two characters Tristan and ?Cillian were equally forgettable and acted mainly as walking encyclopaedias for the info-dumped world building.

Now the quest plot. Way too easy and convenient. I pushed past the first 20% and put it down to the book having a slow start, but Christo built zero tension or intrigue later in the book either. The quest obstacles were way too easy for the characters to overcome, and the writing style was almost comical and too light-hearted for it to feel high-stakes. I considered DNF'ing at 40% but didn't and instead skimmed the rest of the book. Even skimming I was bored!

There is kind of an okay twist at the end and some scenes around 60-70% pulled me back into the book for a few pages here and there. If you're reading for the love story, I hate to break it to you, it lacks substance and you guessed it, is just as bland as the characters. Silas's backstory was interesting when revealed but ... that's the only positive thing I'll say about the book. That, and that the covers nice.

World building is non-existent. There's all these Kingdoms we go to (Water Kingdom, Air Kingdom etc) and like zero descriptions or background history. I can't picture what kind of world this story was set in at all. Can barely picture some of the characters and monsters mentioned either.

Overall, a very generic YA fantasy romance, and not even an engaging one of those. I wouldn't waste my time with it tbh, one of the worst books I've read this year if you don't count my DNFs.

Alexandra Christo usually writes interesting and nuanced characters, swoonworthy and well executed enemies to lovers romance but it's not the case in this book

An entertaining and well done fantasy with elements of Greek mythology and two unusual MCs. I enjoyed it and liked the characters.
Well done world building and character development, good storytelling
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Absolutely loved this book.

Loved the characters, loved the plot, loved the writing.

I would highly recommend it to anyone, I’ve loved this authors previous works and this is just as good if not better than the others

This started off so well! I was immediately thrown into the dual POV for our main characters Atia and Silas.

Atia is a Nefas- a monster that feeds on fears and is the last of her kind. Silas is a herald who guides souls to the afterlife. Both of them want something- Atia wants revenge from the gods for killing her family and Silas wants to remember who he was before he became a herald. When their paths cross, they go on an epic quest along with Tristan (Atia's scholar friend) and Cillian (a half human, half banshee who they save from vampires).

I enjoyed the writing- it was very readable and quick. I liked the pacing of the events, there is no info dumping and there was some action in the beginning. My biggest issue with this book has to be the plot. We know Atia is trying to avenge her parents, and Silas is trying to get back his memories, and this initial beginning was the most fun thing about the book. But by the 80% mark, that's when there's so much non-stop action and the scenes are so dragged out that none of it made any sense. Her parents were killed 'just because' and it really throws her entire character into the deep end, since the villains in this story have zero motivations for doing what they do. I was so out of it in the last 20%, because we are introduced to a dozen more characters, and some big events take place that should be shocking but ultimately just fell flat.

And then there was the romance. It was so insta-love and I just didn't understand when they started liking each other. Not to mention as soon as this is shown on the page, we get mounds of cringey dialogue and inner monologues from both character POVs that just felt so bland. I felt like I was reading a half-baked story.

Ultimately, the plot just goes in the bin after the 'reveals' and the ending is DRAGGED out so much, I actually considered dnf-ing it at 92%! I wanted to give this author another chance because her concepts always sound so good. But this just wasn't it.

I have to say I was ready to give this book 5 stars when I got to the 60% mark, but it all flipped at that point, and I'm so sad because it had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Overall, do give this a try and see for yourself, you might end up enjoying it a lot more if you like mythology and morally grey characters, but it just felt like the lower end of YA and I wish the plot was better. HOWEVER, I do love the side characters and the banter was 10/10.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an e-arc!