Number-one New York Times best-selling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus

In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms.

And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires.

But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, nonexistent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

With sharp angles and prose, and a sinister bent, Holly Black is a master of shadow and story stitching. Remember while you listen, light isn’t playing tricks in Book of Night, the people are.

Praise for Holly Black:

“Black is a master at world-building.” (The New York Times Book Review)

“No one writes like Holly Black.” (John Green, number-one New York Times best-selling author)

Listening Length

12 hours and 33 minutes
Author

Holly Black
Narrator

Sara Amini
Audible release date

May 3, 2022
Language

English
Publisher

Macmillan Audio
ASIN

B0979GGQ2T
Version

Unabridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	12 hours and 33 minutes
Author	Holly Black
Narrator	Sara Amini
Whispersync for Voice	Ready
Audible.com Release Date	May 03, 2022
Publisher	Macmillan Audio
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Unabridged
Language	English
ASIN	B0979GGQ2T
Best Sellers Rank	#2,158 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #14 in Occult Horror Fiction #36 in Supernatural Thrillers (Audible Books & Originals) #235 in Occult Fiction

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5

3,093 global ratings

5 star		48%
4 star		31%
3 star		16%
2 star		4%
1 star		2%

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Emily

Terrific

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 28, 2023

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Charlie Hall is trying to live life on an honest track, it is not in her genes though as one of the best low level con artists. Charlie struggles and when she is asked to find another con artist she finds herself dragged into a missing book that could change everything. Throw in a live in boyfriend who she knows little about her past and a sister who is going to college but dabbles in risky meetings and you have a bunch of trouble coming her way.

I really enjoyed this one, very different read for me. I liked Charlie, the end was a complete surprise. I hope there is another book coming our way.

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LitShit Podcast

This book~UGH.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on September 22, 2022

Verified Purchase

I loved the Ya series this author did. It was dark, magical, twisted with characters who had a lot of depth. This is the first adult book by this author and it just isn't very good.

It’s like the book is trying super hard to be adult but misses the mark because the plot is messy, the themes are not especially adult and the intimate moments aren’t really that adult either. Our main character Charlie is a hot mess. She always gets into trouble and makes bad choices mostly because she was raised that way and because it’s fun. She’s trying to live a semi normal life after a career in thievery until she gets caught up in her old life.

See, magical exists in this world in the forms of shadows. Some people can give their shadow life and power. And this can be used to do other things like manipulate people, steal things, etc. how this shadow magic works is never fully explained and the sloppy descriptions of the different kind of specialties don’t make a whole lot of sense either.

Her boyfriend Vince is not who he says he is. In fact he’s the grandson of her swim enemy and on the run. His grandfather “hires” Charlie to find this magical book and Charlie is trying to find Vince and figure out why this book is special and who’s lying in what way.

Turns out Vince is actually a blight (a shadow that has been separated from its human) he’s special because real human Vince fed him a lot and treated him like a separate entity and then when Vince died he gave all of his energy and blood to his shadow, thus making him real. His grandfather wants to “study” him which means he wants to use him and Charlie calls it all out at a very public gathering. Vince nearly dies, Charlie saves him, the magic governing board locks him up and Charlie decides to bind herself to him to keep him near because the board won’t let him be fully free.

The ending doesn’t make a lot of sense either. Apparently Vince loses his memories. No more word about Charlie’s own magic shadow and somehow her sister has a magic shadow and I can’t figure out how that happened or how I missed it.

There’s nearly too much thrown into this book with little explanations. Also the flashbacks we get to Charlie’s childhood are mostly useless too and slows down the pacing of the book. Overall, skip this.

I also don’t like that this book was supposed to be a standalone but the ending makes it pretty clear this is some sort of series.

16 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Just what I needed.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 13, 2022

Verified Purchase

Speaking for myself, this story picks at familiar wounds, then pours salt in them. I'm hooked on the sting.

It can be hard to find protagonists like these in fantasy outside of the worlds of Holly Black. People like me need heroes full of flaws that they are painfully aware of, yet don't know how to escape, as their life choices snowball out of control in front of them. Yet, they are still heroes, more than worthy of our time and with so much to teach us. Relatable doesn't begin to cut it.

Book of Night reminds us of the virtues of confronting--or better yet, befriending--our own shadows, and even those of another, in a world built to exploit the very same. It's dark in all the right ways. I already want more.

7 people found this helpful

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Mainer

Best book I've read in a while!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 14, 2022

Verified Purchase

Holly Black's first adult fantasy involves a world of shadow magic. There are four types of gloamists, or people who can manipulate their own or others' shadows: Alterationists, Carapaces, Puppeteers, and Masks. Although they've existed forever, people only became aware of them generally in very recent times.
Our protagonist, Charlie Hall, works with gloamists in her capacity as a thief and pickpocket, stealing tomes and other gloamist tools for profit, though she's given it up recently to work as a bartender. She lives with her boyfriend Vince and her sister Posey who wants to become a gloamist. It's a complicated world where people steal others' shadows. Shadows can feed on their owners and eventually become Blights.
Ms. Black has built a unique setting for her urban fantasy. I've always enjoyed her YA books, but honestly, I expected the Maas approach to YA-to-adult writing which seems to just include more sex and swearing. THIS IS NOT THAT - AT ALL. This is a fully-realized fantasy with extremely interesting characters in a complex world and magic setting.
Charlie is, at heart, a loser. Oh, she tries hard to do the right thing but doesn't usually succeed. The con in her just finds that side of life more interesting. I love Charlie with all her flaws and street smarts. Vince is her boyfriend, mostly because he pays half the rent and is easy to get along with. The other characters are interesting and well-written. They're all pretty much morally gray if not just evil, but that's the world Charlie lives in.
The story starts out slow which is fine because I needed to acclimate to the magic system. It also alternates chapters to the pasts of young Charlie and Vince as the picture builds to what's at stake here. The real-world setting is western Massachusetts and the college/mill towns along the Connecticut River which helps supplement the urban feel of the story.
I can honestly say that I had no idea where the story was going most of the time and right up to the last page. There are so many twists of the kind that once revealed made me shake my head that I didn't see it coming. This is a stand-alone book though I believe there will be others coming in the series - and I am down for them. They will be automatic pre-orders because this is one of the best books I've read in a while.

23 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

A little flat

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 15, 2022

Verified Purchase

Unfortunately I found this book a little rushed with an ending that left me thinking 'is that it?' That coupled with a plot hole left me disappointed in a book I was really looking forward to. Likeable characters and an easy read.

8 people found this helpful

tonythereader

Loved this!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 30, 2022

Verified Purchase

Charlie Hall lives in a world where shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic purposes, but also for power and influence. Manipulating shadows comes at a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow has all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden - a second self. Sometimes it has a life of its own. Charlie is a bartender and gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons, but when a terrible figure from her past returns, her life is thrown into chaos and her future is anything from unclear to non-existent. Determined to survive, she throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a number of people who are desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

This took me FOREVER to read and I don’t know why because I thought it was really great. I started this when I was on holiday and didn’t have much time to read it when I got back because I have been working so much, and I really think that this prevented me from enjoying it as much as I would have had I not been working. It meant that I struggled to understand a lot of it, particularly about the shadows concept, and I often forgot important small details. Saying that, the concept was very interesting - I definitely have not read a book like this before and I loved Charlie as a main character. She had experienced a lot of trauma in her life and I think Holly Black did an incredible job of showing how she dealt with this.

I think if I’d had the time to dive into this properly then I would’ve ended up rating it 5 stars because there is nothing I can say I didn’t like about it! Definitely my favourite book that I’ve read by Holly Black so far!

3 people found this helpful

Tetleynick

Tries too hard

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 4, 2022

Verified Purchase

Great publicity about this book which is why I bought it.
Very interesting idea but the author just tries too hard to make it bleak.
Like a lot of new urban fantasy, there is a strong female lead (not a bad thing) but there is little or no humour and an ever increasing downward spiral.
I can fully understand people loving this book but it's not for me.

5 people found this helpful

Readinginpyjamas

I liked it but wanted more!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on September 16, 2022

Verified Purchase

I love adult fantasy and I was very excited to read Book of Night by Holly Black. This is her first adult novel and while it didn't quite hit the mark for me, I did enjoy it. The concept of the story is unique, a world in which shadows can be altered, stolen or even take actual form if you feed them blood. Shadow magic is used to gain power and influence, but it also comes with a high price. Charlie, the protagonist of this story, is a con artist, trying to escape her past and stay on the right side of the law while also protecting her sister. But when the past catches up with her, she has no choice but to play the game she knows best. I would have wanted the secondary characters to be more fleshed out, they didn't feel memorable, but I did like how Charlie was portrayed (the likeable anti-hero with a traumatic past), she matched the mood of the book perfectly. The dark atmosphere was very appealing, though the pace was very slow in the beginning and dizzying when the flashback chapters were introduced. Halfway through, the pace picked up and i was interested to see how things would turn out. I expected it to be a standalone but the open ending left room for a sequel and I probably will pick up book 2 at some point if it comes out.

2 people found this helpful

D Edwards

Boring

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 27, 2022

Verified Purchase

This has been so poorly written, so unengaging, and a world of magic that isn't really explained. A boring disappointment.

5 people found this helpful

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