The Night Realm Review

Title: The Night Realm
Author: Annette Marie
Series: Spell Weaver #1
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy Inc.
Publication Date: 20 October 2017
Source: Xpresso Book Tours
Format: eBook
Pages: 362
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Reading Timeline: 08 April 2018 - 09 April 2019

Goodreads Synopsis:

As a nymph living in exile among humans, Clio has picked up all sorts of unique survival skills. But stealing from the most dangerous spell weavers in the Underworld? Not so much. 

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what she has to do to earn a ticket back home.

Conning her way into the Underworld may have gone pretty well, but now she’s got a new problem. His name is Lyre and he’s a sinfully alluring incubus, a dangerously skilled spell weaver, and the only thing standing between her and stealing some damn magic.

Maneuvering around him without blowing her cover shouldn’t be that difficult, but chaos has been dogging her every step, monsters hide behind beautiful faces, and Lyre keeps saving her neck even though they’re enemies. Kind of enemies? Either way, her mission is getting complicated fast, and in the Underworld, even one mistake could prove fatal.

Book Review:

Pre-reading Thoughts:

I absolutely loved Annette Marie's other series the Red Winter Trilogy. I didn't like it in the beginning, in fact I was gonna give up on it but then the second book happened and after the second book the third book blew me out of the park. I have an expectation that this book will be a bit slow and will focus more on setting up the world and laying down the rules and then the second book is where we will get into all the juicy stuff.

Thank you so much to Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book. Just a small disclaimer for those reading this review. I have received this book to review with no expenses on my side. Please note that this does not affect my opinion in any way. All thoughts are my own.

Writing Thoughts:

Annette Marie's writing is always a pleasure to read. It is detailed and enticing. She is definitely a master of her craft. I love how she uses the multiple points of views in this book. It helped the pace of the plot to move forward. The dialogue in this book was also really good. It worked and just helped to create a really good pace in the book. One of the things that I like about Marie is her world building. I always find it to be spectacular.

Plot Thoughts:

I had expected the plot to start off slow in this book and my expectations were definitely met. It took a while for the plot pacing to pick up but the slow pacing in the beginning really helps you to grasp the new world that you are introduced to. This book focused a lot on introducing you to the world and how it functions whilst adding a little bit of angst, swoon-worthy moments and some action.

Character Thoughts:

A couple chapters into the book, I couldn't tell if I liked the characters or not. Let's just say that they are now some of my favourites. They are complex and well developed. They are also interesting. There are a lot of people that we are introduced to but there is a clear line between who you should focus on and who you shouldn't. This characters tugged at the strings of my heart.  

Final Thoughts:

Overall, I really liked this book. It was a lot different from her Red Winter trilogy which made me happy but this book also retained the technical aspects that I really enjoyed. The writing was really good. I love the attention to detail that Marie gives. She has a way with words that does not make it heavy or too much to read. The plot started off slow but I really got to understand the inner workings of the world that Marie was creating. The characters were complex and well developed. Overall, this was a really great start to a new series and I cannot wait for the next one. Thank you so much to Xpresso Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book to review

Yours in Reading,

Melleny