The magic system was interesting, although never fully explained. I definitely do not have a 100% grasp on the way this world works, but I am intrigued by it. The tone reminded me a lot of Ninth House.

In the world of shadow magic, Charlie was a successful thief, but to the locals, she would always be a useful amateur, willing to palm a wedding ring or retrieve a dognapped pit bull. Determined to survive, she's up against a cast of doppelgängers, mercurial billionaires, gloamists, and the people she loves best in the world - all trying to steal a secret that will allow them control of the shadow world and more. Charlie was out of the game. She’d been too good at it, and the collateral damage had been too high. Now she was just a regular person.The success of the novel allowed it to be nominated for the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award in the Children’s Literature category in the year 2008. It was also nominated for the Abraham Lincoln Award in the same year. The second novel of the series was published under the title ‘Valiant’. Child abuse and grooming, drug and alcohol addiction and abuse, self-harm, body modifications, cons, murders, blood, secrets, lies, theft, captivity and coercion.

My mother haaaates it,” the girl was telling her friends, voice slightly slurred. She gave a hop and hovered in the air for a moment as her shadow wings fluttered, and a few patrons glanced over admiringly. Mom says that when I try to get a real job, I am going to regret having something I can’t hide. I told her it was my commitment to never selling out.” A dark romp full of danger and shadows with a razor sharp heroine and vivid magic." — Zoraida Córdova, Nationally bestselling author of The Inheritance of Orquídea DivinaIn short, while I can't sit and explain every plot point of Book of Night to anyone, I can say I enjoyed my time reading it.

But I’m still rounding up 3.5 stars to 4 it’s still promising start to a brand new series with surprising cliffhanger which kept me on my toes.The third thing I enjoyed is execution of the mystery: when Charlie is forced to get a compelling task related with her past which results with revealing secrets about shadows. She realizes she’s risked more than she can handle.