*I was sent an ARC of Children of the Night in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Hachette and M.A Bennett for my copy of the book*
Synopsis:
Filled with deadly secrets and the monsters you thought only existed in your mind …
You’ve heard of Jekyll and Hyde, you’ve heard of the Invisible Man, but have you heard of Castle Bran? Eve, Griffin, Hal and Ren are whisked away to Transylvania, to the supposed home of Dracula himself. Lured there by a desire to understand more about their true natures, our foursome are instead plunged into the midst of a deadly mystery.
Children are going missing, townspeople are being brutally killed and a suspicious stranger keeps appearing from the shadows. Meanwhile, Ren is trapped in Castle Bran, where his fate lies in the hands of a strange – yet oddly familiar – host.
With terrifying twists and turns around every corner, can the group uncover the answers they seek, or will this be the end of the Young Gothics?
Review:
Children of the Night is a very decent sequel to what was one of my favourite horror books of 2024. The horror was toned down quite a lot, possibly because most chapters were about Ren and his narrative is a little all over the place. The capitalization of random words still confuses me. However, I do think Griffin’s narrative was much better. Less racial stereotypes were used and he sounded way more intelligent in this book. A big issue I had with the first book was that he sounded really dumb. He had a lot of development in Children of the Night, which he was severely lacking before.
I’m a little sad that Eve is once again a victim of sexual violence. It’s an important part of her backstory, so hearing about that again was fine, but there really didn’t need to be another instance–this happens at the end of a chapter and you have to wait about three chapters to see what the outcome is. It’s especially upsetting as she is the only female member of the group and she’s been abused and been made to get naked in front of strangers multiple times. Hopefully this trend doesn’t continue.
I’m also completely over books in 2024/25 referencing Harry Potter, especially ones that feature LGBTQIA+ characters. These references were completely pointless as they were mostly used to describe a character’s glasses. You could just say they were wearing round frame glasses. We don’t need reference to a book by a transphobic author.
Ok, so that’s all of my negatives out of the way. Now onto the positives. The best part of Children of the Night was learning more about the Young Gothics and the new powers they possess. I wouldn’t say I know everything about their original stories, so it was really interesting to find out about their powers and the reasons why they manifest.
The development of their friendships into a found family was so sweet–nothing builds a found family quite like shared trauma. The romantic relationships were also great. Each had its problems but I’m hoping, especially for Hal and Eve, that they can work through these. I’m assuming based on the ending there’s a plan for more books, hopefully each character gets one centred around them as this was very much Ren’s book.
The creepy vibes were definitely there but I do think Children of the Night lacks the tension that made the first book so unsettling. I know that most of this tension came from the Young Gothics not knowing about their true natures, but I had high hopes for this book as it’s set in Transylvania. The setting was done pretty well though. I don’t know anything about Romanian culture, but apparently it was done justice in Children of the Night–from what I could tell nothing was offensive.
I could tell straight away that something was up with the Scholomance, but I never would have guessed what was actually going on. The twists were very well thought out, even if one in particular was obvious from the start. I found Children of the Night an easier read compared to the first book (it only took me two days to finish), but that’s probably because I already knew the characters. I’d say this one isn’t as good as the first book but it is still a very good and entertaining read.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: Monthly Wrap Up: January 2025
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: ARC Review: Children of the Night by M.A. Bennett […]