A review by nclcaitlin
Nightstrider: A Mesmerizing Epic Dark Fantasy by Sophia Slade

3.5

Good somnia, what a rollercoaster!

There are two realms. Humans who dream in the Wake manifest nightmares or luminaes. The two realms collide through Para Warwick a night terror, ruler of the Reverie, and the King of Wolfhelm in the Wake. 

Queen Ila is a former Weaver, part of a human sect meant to maintain the Boundary between the Wake and the Reverie, otherwise the worlds themselves would disintegrate. Ila rescues a child, a dreambreaker who can change the tide of the rebellion. Only thing is, the child is stolen from her by the King before Ila can whisk her to safety. 

 

In the Wake, Queen Ila is arranged to marry the King’s innocent and ignorant son Prince Caine. Caine is a cinnamon roll and nothing like his father. Which is unexpected for Ila. 

Wren is one of the worst nightmares created by Para Warwick; known as Nightstrider, once an honoured title, now a collar around her neck.

Then we have a luminaire and a nightmare working in tandem to aid the rebellion. 

All these characters find themselves working in different realms, for different sides, but all for the same purpose: to get their hands on the dreambreaker to harness her power. Some for devious reasons, others to gain advantage, few for love.  

There’s a lot to take in as you can see. But the inclusion of a glossary at the start helps you get acclimatised and the world-building quickly becomes apparent with constant, subtle reminders throughout. 

The writing is engaging and funny filled with morally grey characters, great sibling dynamics, and burgeoning emotions and morality. 

"You may believe you are different, Prince Caine," Ila said quietly. "But in my experience, passivity is as deadly as any blade."

I thought this was Young Adult. Nope. Definitely not. Not as gruesome and vivid as other adult books, but there are explicit moments. 

There is excessive torture, sometimes bordering on feeling like trauma and pain indulgence. And some scenes and exchanges played out like predictable fanfiction. 

Saying that, I know that these very facts will appeal to certain audiences. 

"I am not my father,"he gritted out. "I've spent my life trying to evade the role he crafted for me. He would have me leading battalions, collecting kingdoms for him like trinkets-'"'As you've collected mine!""Because I ran out of places to run, Ila! Same as you." He dragged a hand down his face, trying not to scream again. "He would have me treat you as a prisoner, but even when you betrayed me, I protected you. I all but crawled after you."

This was extremely fast-paced. Not a moment let up which made it an extremely fast and hard to put down read.

I am glad I got to this as I have been following the author’s work for a while and had the indie book on my shelf for a while!

Thank you to Orbit for providing me an arc in exchange for a review.