Title: Down Comes the Night

Author: Allison Saft

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Release Date: March 2, 2021

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy, Romance

Summary: 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.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound 

Book Depository

Preorder a signed and personalized copy of Down Comes the Night through Allison’s indie bookstore, Kepler’s Books & Magazines!

My Review

This gorgeously dark, atmospheric debut is a masterpiece. The story is spectacularly told, interwoven with unforgettable moments, a glistening slow-burn romance, and brewing with deception and intrigue. I could not put this book down.

Wren is every bit the character I expected her to be. She’s caring, selfless, headstrong, and passionate about her work. Yes, she is the definition of reckless, but her reasoning is plausible. Wren wants to prove that she can make a difference, that she’s not weak and reckless and easily manipulated. So, even though the queen denies her request to go to Lord Lowry’s crumbling estate to solve an unknown illness, Wren does anyway, in hopes of securing an alliance with him to defeat Vesria. But when she arrives, she’s introduced to the Reaper himself, Hal Cavendish, who just so happens to be her patient.

Even though Wren works to uncover this crippling illness, she wasn’t expecting to come across the deception hidden within the estate. Wren and Hal realize there’s more going on than they can comprehend and that something sinister lurks within these decaying halls, so thus begins an unsteady alliance between two sworn enemies. The connection between Wren and Hal was palpable, sizzling between the pages. The emotions Wren felt leapt off the page. She’s an emotionally in tuned character, and her emotions made this story that more interesting. She’s such an easy character to relate to because of her struggles and inner battles.

I was all over the atmosphere of this book. The world building is deliciously dark and eerie, with a wonderful spooky aspect. There’s no ghosts or anything like that, but there’s definitely a spooky setting to this story. You can tell just from the cover itself (which is so gorgeous, by the way). The richly setting is both beautiful but ominous. As the reader, I knew nothing good was coming. It’s a story that’s foreboding, but also full of moments with light. So while the setting is dark and wholly uncanny, there’s brilliant scenes where moments of lightness slip through.

Allison Saft’s writing was superb. Her writing was poetic and brought this beautiful, gripping story to life. Saft’s writing was, without a doubt, exquisite. She’s crafted a story that is masterfully told and created a world that is darkly and magically captivating. The magical aspect of this story is so well developed and depicted that it fit right in with the delectable setting of this story. There was never a moment where I wanted to put this book down; I was enamored with Saft’s writing and the word she has created.

Overall, this richly dark and romantic tale is everything I needed in a book. Down Comes the Night is a story that is full of lingering feelings, surviving the monsters hidden behind shadows (internal and external), and uncovering the mystery behind countless missing people. Down Comes the Night is a definite favorite fantasy book and worthy of all the praise. This sparkling, gothic tale is one I will always recommend. Trust me, this is a debut you are not going to want to miss.

My rating: 5 out of 5 stars