Book of Night

ok I see a lot of folks are mad at this book for its ~unlikeable woman protagonist~ and honestly I liked Charlie a lot. i love a messy magic-user.HOWEVER I confess I was a lil disappointed in this book for other reasons. I LOVE [b:White Cat 6087756 White Cat (Curse Workers, #1) Holly Black https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1358274572l/6087756.SY75.jpg 6264661] and the rest of the Curse-Workers trilogy so much, and I've spent years hoping HB would write something else like it again–a contemporary urban fantasy crime story. Which is what Book of Night is, yay! BUT, I've re-read White Cat multiple times and each time I am so impressed by how smooth the world-building is and how clearly it establishes the world's rules of magic (so that you can be impressed when Cassel breaks them). That is...not the case with Book of Night, unfortunately, which was disappointing. I feel like the basic shadow magic idea is cool and there could be a really rad book with this premise, but this one feels like it needed another pass from an editor or something. I still thought it was a fine read but just like...not as good as White Cat sadly!!!