Down Comes the Night (Allison Saft) - ★★★☆☆

 Me before reading this:

OH MY GOD THAT GORGEOUS COVER

*Jumping up and down like a crazy person*

Sign me up! A bisexual MC (like me) and major gothic vibes!

Me after reading this:

*Sighing and banging my head against the wall*

HOW DID THAT TURN OUT SO WRONG

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really wanted to love this book. Everything was going so well: a massive hype, a cover to die for, LGBT rep. But somehow, reading it felt like going through a gigantic caffeine withdrawal.

Down Comes the Night was pretty much an average YA novel: not that good, not that bad. In the beginning, I was struck by the mysterious atmosphere that Saft managed to create with her third-person POV. Often, YA authors tend to mess up that kind of perspective, but Saft wrote it really well. 

There was a slow start, and the characters were tiring at times. The plot was intriguing but trope-filled, in a fantasy world that was interesting, but not very original. The two countries at war trope is very common in YA. When done well, it can work beautifully, but this was not one of those cases. Even more cliche is the two soldiers on opposite sides falling for each other trope, which is (surprise, surprise) also commonly misused in YA and in this book.

That's not to say I don't like an enemies-to-lovers plot, but it didn't seem very probable in this case. Wren's entire country is full of wartime propaganda. She has literally been brainwashed from birth to believe that Hal and the rest of his country are evil. SHE IS A SOLDIER, NOT A HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST. But suddenly, she grows a bleeding heart? 

Let's be real. How likely is Wren to not only save the life of an enemy soldier, a monster who's murdered countless people like her, but to also fall into instalove with him???!!!!!!!!! Ohmigod, why didn't I dnf this again? YA authors these days. *Shaking my head and sighing*

It's pretty much a modified version of Wicked Saints, except with less depth and less believability. At least in that book, Nadya (the main female MC) was blatantly prejudiced against Tranavians (because, ya know, they're the enemy). It took a while to adjust her worldview and correct her beliefs, but here, that happens almost instantly with Wren. 

Thank you to Edelweiss and the publisher for this ARC.