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A review by theverysleepygirl
The Audient and The Phantom Night by Sadie Hewitt
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
If you like instalust, villainous male leads and the occasional dark romance, you'll love this book. If you're on BookTok, vou'll also love this book.
Now if you're here for the retelling... you may not. Just because it is non-existent. As in, I was surprised when I saw that this was being referred to as "Beauty & The Beast" retelling, non-existent.
However, this is not the reason why l'm giving this book a 3 star rating. It's not a bad book. Like, at all. I see what people may like about it, but there a few things that kept me from truly enjoying myself.
I'll boil it all down to one word to start. The pacing.
Nearly nothing happens once we get past the inciting incident of this story. Sure, it's a great time to further personal and romantic development, but the way in which that was done was just not convincing, which l'll get to later. Consequently, l've found that you could take the first 50 pages, and the last 50 pages, and be able to make near-perfect sense of everything going on plot-wise.
On the romantic chemistry part, I'm sorry to say it but I struggled. It's weird be I liked Fenna just fine, and found Captain Cato to be a pretty lively character too, but them together? I wasn't too sure. From the beginning they had this sort of instalove attraction that didn't buy into, and unfortunately, the book failed to make me believe in it as it progressed.
This might also be due to the fact that Cato is a creep when they first meet and will never stop lusting over her in the middle of serious conversations.
Though I can see how this might work for some girlies, it doesn't for me when I'm trying to see where the actual plot and romantic aspects will go.
Despite this, Cato and Fenna are done wonderfully. Fenna's character development was absolutely insane to see, because she changed so much yet so naturally as the book evolved. It was a delight to see the person that she had become by the end of the story.
Though I can see how this might work for some girlies, it doesn't for me when I'm trying to see where the actual plot and romantic aspects will go.
Despite this, Cato and Fenna are done wonderfully. Fenna's character development was absolutely insane to see, because she changed so much yet so naturally as the book evolved. It was a delight to see the person that she had become by the end of the story.
Even Devlin showed a ton of development as a character, demonstrating through his reckless but kind of sweet actions that he was truly in love with Fenna.
Please note that this sentence does not negate my earlier point about there not being romantic chemistry. Rather, it shows that the pieces were there but I couldn't understand WHY he felt this way, which made everything feel less impactful.
Anyways, the worldbuilding was perfect. The aspects introduced were rather interesting, and I wouldn't mind diving into this world again. I also quite liked the side characters introduced, and seeing their interactions with Fenna on the ship.
I do see the strengths in Sadie Hewitt's writing, and am still interested in seeing what future stories she might have to offer.
In summary, it was a great idea, but unfortunately, the execution fell a little bit flat for me.
Thank you to Sadie Hewitt and NetGalley for providing me with an eArc copy in exchange for my honest review!