Down Comes the Night by Allison Saft is pitched as a young adult Gothic romantic fantasy. It has Gothic elements as the story is based around an ancient mansion that has horrible secrets. The setting boasts chilling and dark (yet beautiful) scenery. the tone is one of fear, secret, and macabre terror. However I would not call this pure Gothic fiction.
This book surely has a place in the fantasy genre. However, We don’t know a lot about the world past Vesria, Cernos, and Danu (the three countries focused in story). We do become more acquainted with every country very well. Danu and Vesria have been at battle for quite a long time regardless of what their new peace negotiation would make you think. In the mean time, Cernos stayed unbiased and invested their energy being innovative and progressing medically. However, the one thing Cernos couldn’t achieve: obtaining magic like that of their neighbouring countries.
Presently, with Danubian soldiers out of nowhere vanishing. Wren should find who is truly behind the kidnappings before another war begins. Sadly, her wild utilization of magic has cost Wren her position in the Guard. So, when a letter shows up from Cernos promising a partnership in return for her healing skill. She hopes to make up for herself and conceivably prevent a huge number of innocent lives from being lost.
By and large, the plot, secret, stakes, and ticking clock were all set up so well that the remainder of the story just appeared to fall into place. Furthermore, the characters! I adored every one of them. Particularly Wren Southerland. I’ve seen a few reviews saying that Wren is too eye-roll-worthy in the first place or that her background isn’t fleshed out enough. However, I think her past and her present, and her intentions, were all completely explored and gave me an incredible feeling of her character. Indeed, she commits errors and is impulsive (particularly in the first half of the story), however she learns and develops based on her experiences and emotions.
While Down Comes the Night is likewise pitched as a romantic story. The romance is really my solitary criticism of the book. I basically do not feel the chemistry between Wren and Hal. Perhaps the reason behind it is that the other characters are simply excessively solid. I think, the fundamental selling point for Down Comes the Night is that everything comes together so perfectly. From both a reader and author’s point of view, this book is a masterclass on character arc, stakes, and having each and every detail comes together to make a wonderful story.
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