Book of Night cover art

Book of Night

Preview
Try Premium Plus free
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Book of Night

By: Holly Black
Narrated by: Sara Amini
Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £12.99

Buy Now for £12.99

About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus

In Charlie Hall's world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences-but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone's feelings-and memories-but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden-a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms.

And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires.

But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie's present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear-and at worst, non-existent. Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister-all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

With sharp angles and prose, and a sinister bent, Holly Black is a master of shadow and story stitching. Remember while you read, light isn't playing tricks in Book of Night, the people are.

'Black is a master at world-building.' The New York Times Book Review
'No one writes like Holly Black.' John Green, #1 New York Times bestselling author

© Holly Black 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Dark Fantasy Fantasy Mystery Fiction Paranormal Emotionally Gripping

Listeners also enjoyed...

Please See Us cover art
Haunted Hideout cover art
The Pale Dreamer cover art
Storm and Fury (Dramatized Adaptation) cover art
The Fragile Threads of Power cover art
Nightmare Carnival cover art
This Poison Heart cover art
The Hidden Things cover art
Some Can See cover art
Gideon the Ninth cover art
Paranormal Mysteries: Box Set cover art
And Then She Vanished cover art

Critic reviews

With a gripping, perfectly paced story and a killer ending, this dark fantasy feels like an instant classic
Dark, strange, thick with mystery and twists -- a story so believable in its magic, you'll be keeping one eye on your shadow as you turn the pages.
If Neil Gaiman channelled Stephen King, the result might be this book . . . scintillating prose, whiplash twists, and a voice of character that demands to be heard from again.
Holly Black is a master of fantasy with the Midas touch -- there is no story she cannot turn to gold.
Superb, entangling magic and mystery around the gritty horrors of human nature, neglectful parenting and the scourge of severe income inequalities . . . Will have you frantically turning pages and finishing in less time than you thought possible. Everything you could want from a modern fantasy.
A gripping ride from start to finish. Book of Night invites you to reckon with the shadows of your past.
Fuelled by Holly Black's wonderfully limitless imagination, Book of Night is a whip-smart and mysterious novel
Heart, soul, and a bit of kink -- Book of Night is smart, decadent fun.
A delicious, dark, adrenaline rush of a book. I'm already dying to see Charlie Hall's next con.
A deliciously clever page-turner.
All stars
Most relevant
i haven’t had an author that’s had me by the balls in such a long time. most of the time i get so bored, or i start checking out when the couple are already together but i genuinely cannot get enough of her work and this is no exception. it’s like finding an artist you really like and you just want to listen to every album they drop, but you’re also holding out for that one song that just doesn’t hit as well, yeah no. i haven’t found it yet.

i genuinely loved everything about this book; the plot, the characters, i love how holly black has a way of being so diverse and so progressive with her writing without making a show about it and you best bet i will wait for however long it takes for the next book. this review isn’t really a review on the book, just a girl yapping about her favourite author but trust me, the entire premise of this book, the mystery, the world building, the supernatural elements the VOICE ACTING HELLO??? i devoured it at an unhealthy pace. fully recommend, don’t listen to the people who complain about the cliffhanger, they’re just impatient, it’s worth every single second.

just your average holly black stan

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

Having read books by Holly Black I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. What a unique story she has crafted, which the narrator does a good job in telling.
It did take me until halfway through the book before I really got into this, due to the world and character building. Then suddenly the story line progresses interestingly and at a fast pace.
I certainly will purchase the next book to find out what happens.

Unique story!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

This was my first Holly Black book, and it was a bore. The story was slow and boring, the characters were flatter than a sheet of paper and the author gave vague or no real info about anything. She never explained why Charlie became who she was, or how shadow magic came to be, or how one becomes a gloamist, or who the Hierophant is or how one becomes one....Just one unanswered question after another. Shame really, considering Holly's success with her fantasy novels. I think she might have bitten off more than she can chew with this venture.

Slow and boring

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I enjoyed this book very much. It has a lot of build, tension, and mysteries. After finishing, I really feel like this story is just starting. As if this was the introduction to the characters and the world. Hopefully, this will continue in more books!
English is not my native language, so I'm sorry for mistakes

Feels like an exciting introduction

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

I loved the plot and the development of characters. I look forward to the next one!!

Loved it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

See more reviews