I truly didn’t think it was possible to love a book more than I loved The Priory of the Orange Tree, but as it so happens, returning to the world in A Day of Fallen Night was an even more amazing experience. With higher stakes, an intricately interwoven cast of queer characters, beautifully maintained tension, and gorgeously elevated prose, A Day of Fallen Night shattered my high expectations.

While this is a prequel, I don’t believe it necessarily has to be read beforehand; indeed, having some knowledge of the world as it is in Priory made certain elements of A Day of Fallen Night even more enjoyable. It’s also a novel meant to be savored; Shannon’s prose demands to be lingered over, and if I highlighted every line I thought was an absolute banger, I’d have easily run out of ink.

For fans of epic fantasy, I can’t recommend A Day of Fallen Night and the Roots of Chaos books more than I already do, which is a whole freaking lot. Samantha Shannon is a force to be reckoned with and has become an auto-buy author for me for the foreseeable future.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing and NetGalley for an advance review copy. All opinions are my own.