Title: Down Comes the Night
Author: Allison Saft
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication date: March 2nd, 2021
400 pages
4/5 stars
Goodreads Synopsis
He saw the darkness in her magic. She saw the magic in his darkness.
Wren Southerland’s reckless use of magic has cost her everything: she’s been dismissed from the Queen’s Guard and separated from her best friend—the girl she loves. So when a letter arrives from a reclusive lord, asking Wren to come to his estate, Colwick Hall, to cure his servant from a mysterious illness, she seizes her chance to redeem herself.
The mansion is crumbling, icy winds haunt the caved-in halls, and her eccentric host forbids her from leaving her room after dark. Worse, Wren’s patient isn’t a servant at all but Hal Cavendish, the infamous Reaper of Vesria and her kingdom’s sworn enemy. Hal also came to Colwick Hall for redemption, but the secrets in the estate may lead to both of their deaths.
With sinister forces at work, Wren and Hal realize they’ll have to join together if they have any hope of saving their kingdoms. But as Wren circles closer to the nefarious truth behind Hal’s illness, they realize they have no escape from the monsters within the mansion. All they have is each other, and a startling desire that could be their downfall.
Allison Saft’s Down Comes the Night is a snow-drenched romantic fantasy that keeps you racing through the pages long into the night.
Love makes monsters of us all.
Review
Down Comes the Night is Allison Saft’s standalone YA fantasy debut. Wren is a member of the Queen’s Guard, and one of the most powerful healers in her nation. When she disobeys a direct order and heals an enemy scout, she is suspended from the guard and send back to the abbey she learned in she looks for any way out. her escape comes in the form of tending to the eccentric lord’s servant in another kingdom. When she arrives, she learns the injured party is none other than Hal Cavendish, the notorious political figure from Vesria, enemy of Wren’s queendom.
I am a huge fan of this book of read the whole thing in one night. The story quickly drew me in with Wren’s character and her friendship with Una, and the action started quickly. There is also a thriller/mystery feel to this book mixed in with the fantastical elements of magic. Hal’s character is also so well developed and his arc is so interesting with Wren’s. The antagonist is suitably creepy for the setting and I enjoyed how everything went with that plot line.
I would have loved more information about the magic systems. Basically two kingdoms have magic but not all of them, but it doesn’t really explain how the magic works outside of Wren’s healing ability. I would have liked more information on that front.
I am a huge fan of this one and would love to read even more within this world if it were to be done in the future.
Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an early copy in exchange for an honest review.
Happy reading, folks!
Baltimore Bibliophile 