Do you have nightmares? 

 

Wren, AKA Nightstrider, literally is a nightmare, crafted by the ruler of The Reverie (the dream world). She hates him, but since he holds her anchor (the key to keeping her from just crumbling to ash), she has no choice but to do his bidding. So yeah, she does a lot of stuff she isn’t too keen on doing to stay alive, but there are some lines Wren won’t cross and won’t let others get by with crossing. It’s in the act of stopping one such act that Wren starts down the path of spontaneously falling in with a rebellion against her maker, even if it eventually results in her death. 

 

This is only the start of what is going on in this rather large first installment of this debut fantasy series (I think it’s meant to be a trilogy, but I could be wrong). This book is nearly 600 pages, has four protagonists, spans two separate realms, has more than three factions warring for power, a complex magic system that’s used prodigiously, and has a lot of character movement and action. It’s a lot. 

 

The fact that this book is so big and contains so much and yet there is a lot I felt needed explanation despite how long the book already is would explain why I think this book was a great time but not perfect. My largest sticking point was the magic system: It was used heavily in this book, by many characters, but no effort was ever taken to explain much of it (exception:origin of The Boundary).. What’s the source? What’s the exchange? What’s the price? How does it work? What are the rules? A lot of magical and fantastical matters were thrown out there to move the plot along but it was a game of, “Here, catch!”, and I felt like we were just expected to accept it at face value. I could have shrugged it off once or twice, but after a while it started to feel a little sloppy, especially in the third act. 

 

Nonetheless, it was an engrossing and propulsive read that engaged me from the start and surprised me with how much I enjoyed it. There wasn’t a huge pacing lag like you sometimes experience in the second act, which was so refreshing. A real page-turner that has left me looking forward to the sequel. 

 

I was provided a copy of this title by the publishers and the author via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you. 

 

File Under: Adult Fantasy/Book Series/Dark Fantasy/Fantasy/Romantasy/Fantasy Series