Thief of Night Book Review

Greetings, witches! I'm back with another NetGalley review, though you can already find Holly Black's Thief of Night wherever books are sold. This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I'm so grateful I've gotten to enjoy it early.

Because this is a sequel, there will be minor spoilers for the duology. Consider yourself warned. If you haven't already, check out my review of Book of Night, the beginning of the Charlatan's story.

Genre: Urban Dark Fantasy / Paranormal / Crime Fiction / Murder Mystery

Category: Spooky Read

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Rating: 4/5 Stars

Plot: 4/5 stars

Characters: 4/5 stars

World: 4/5 stars

Pairing: Dunkin' Donuts Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso (copycat) OR apple cider old fashioned cocktail + black velvet cake

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PLOT

After taking down a corrupt billionaire and making a deal to save the man she loved, Charlie Hall deserves a happy ending. But while being tethered, Vince loses his memories of Charlie, and by extension much of his humanity. What's left is Red: an angry shadow who's used to being robbed of autonomy and forced to do horrible things—and he doesn't trust the con artist he's tied to.

As Red tries to determine who he is, people from his first life attempt to bring him back into the fold. Charlie struggles to balance giving him space and freedom to find himself with fighting those who would manipulate and use him further.

But not everything ought to be a con. Love, she supposed, shouldn't.

If that weren't enough, as the new Hierophant, Charlie's expected to hunt dangerous shadows like Red, despite her lack of magic. When a church massacre is caused by a Blight, Charlie is tasked by the Cabals with tracking it discreetly and keeping details out of the press.

Thief of Night is just as good, if not better, than its predecessor. It picks up just weeks after the events of book one, when the wounds are still fresh. Holly Black's addictive prose and exciting twists had me constantly lying to myself with "just one more chapter." At 288 pages, it's a fast-paced thrill that was hard to put down.

Watching Charlie con people into doing what she wants and screwing over the real bad guys is always satisfying. Watching her fall back in love was just a bonus.

"Charlie Hall, glue trap for disaster, crooked from the day she was born, who’d never met a bad decision she wasn’t willing to double down on, may have finally met her match."

CHARACTERS

Charlie remains the morally grey Charlatan we’ve come to know, but navigating the loss of Vince, her complicated relationship with Red, family drama, and a past trauma that's come back to haunt her exposes vulnerabilities and insecurities.

Despite the horrors she's endured, Charlie remains a good person. Sure, she's a selfish liar and a conniving thief, but she does it all from a place of love. Though she wants to protect Posey and misses Vince, she never violates Posey's privacy or uses her power over Red to control him. Nor does she try to manipulate him into being who she wants or sway him into a romantic relationship.

Red is for the readers who love Shadow Daddies. He’s got questionable morals, hidden motivations, and an enthusiastic affinity for violence. Without his “good guy” guise to protect him, Charlie sees all the worst parts of Red. This causes her wonder if he’ll accept the parts of her she kept from Vince, especially when he surprises her with rare moments of tenderness, comraderie, and openness.

"Who wants to be a thing full of holes? A half-woven tapestry? Something poised to unravel? Something that shouldn't be at all. I'm just the pieces someone else didn't want. Why would I want to be as I am?"

[...]

“I’m afraid to lose what little self I have left. I am afraid that everything you like in me isn’t me at all.”

Honorable mention goes to Odette, my favorite side character. I love how confident, blunt, and intuitive she is. For some reason, I always picture Gwendoline Christie? I feel she'd kill it in a TV adaptation.

"You imagine yourself like actors, Vaseline on the lens, hiding your flaws. But you should want someone to kiss your scars. Someone who'll catch your vomit in their hands. Who'll love you just as much if you get so drunk you piss the bed––or if you need a fucking catheter and a piss bag. True love has to take the stink along with the sweetness."

WORLD

Now that Charlie's more involved with the magic community, we get a deeper look into the magic system, the Cabals, and their politics, clearing up some of the questions readers may have had in book one.

My only complaint is not getting to see Charlie develop her new skills more. She's the kind of character who'd want to use every weapon in her arsenal, but I understand that her strength is meant to lie first and foremost in her cleverness.

TL;DR

Thief of Night is an excellent conclusion to the Charlatan duology that surpasses its predecessor with a faster-paced plot, deeper world building, and a satisfying ending. Holly Black has crafted a luxuriously dark story for fans of paranormal fiction, complex characters with questionable morals, noir aesthetics, gritty drama, lyrical prose, and shadow daddies.

Here you'll find themes of trauma, identity and self-discovery, trust, and control vs autonomy as Charlie and Red solve a murder mystery and learn to love the worst parts of each other.