What do you think?
Rate this book
Lord of the Night Realm: Book I - Sojourn
A romantic fantasy tale following Ellie, a young woman torn from her everyday life and dropped in an unfamiliar and dreary world known as the Night Realm. There she forms unexpected and cherished relationships with its denizens, including Lord Janus-the vampire who takes her in as his ward. But if Ellie's not quick to decide between the life she knew and the one she's found, evils lurking in the shadows may take it upon themselves to write a new fate for her.
529 pages, Paperback
Published April 15, 2022
5 people are currently reading
375 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 12, 2024
This is a fluffy, silly, fantastical story complete with a sweet romance. In the end, it was too sweet for me, but I think plenty of other people will enjoy this.
Ellie is an enthusiastic literature student at her fantasy university, despite her mother's desire for her to continue the family alchemy business. One day, she follows a talking rat in a waistcoat and discovers a doorway into the Night Realm, a place of darkness where the world's exiles have secretly carved out a decent living. She ends up trapped there, at a vampire's castle--but he's very cool and polite and explains everything to her. Until the set time she can return home, she wanders the castle, makes friends, and slowly falls for her host. Just as she's getting comfortable, a threat to the entire Night Realm literally rears its ugly head.
Ellie is friendly and boldly teasing, with occasional baffling bouts of social anxiety. She's recklessly insistent on exploring and helping despite being an ordinary girl, in a pretty standard adventure-heroine way. I didn't enjoy how often her stupidest decisions would VERY coincidentally solve the problem. The characters remarking on what a stroke of luck it was didn't make it better for me.
Janus is simply the most friendly and accommodating bloke you could imagine. He's a lord of half the realm who does a lot of everyday business and personally checks on the hospital/asylum. He's a vampire who refuses to drink human blood or associate with those evil vamps up north. He's an alchemist and botanist. He loves romance books. He gets bullied by the mayor and his undead housekeeper. When I tell you that the Tumblr girlies would go crazy over this one. RIP me.
As you can imagine, there's not a lot to stop Ellie and Janus from bonding. They especially bond over his library of books. I saw "They shared a chuckle/laugh/giggle" so many times. The gorgeous cover of this book gives an air of mystique and depth that isn't really here. It's just two nice people having a pretty normal, emphatically healthy courtship replete with silly jokes.
The side characters are pretty entertaining; they also confirm that this is not a serious book. I mean, there's a talking rat in a waistcoat, so you know what you're in for.
I did have some fun. It's cute and sweet. I did struggle to keep interest after a while, though. I think this could have either been cute and sweet and considerably shorter, or had more intrigue and conflict and kept the length. As is, it's not for me.
Ellie is an enthusiastic literature student at her fantasy university, despite her mother's desire for her to continue the family alchemy business. One day, she follows a talking rat in a waistcoat and discovers a doorway into the Night Realm, a place of darkness where the world's exiles have secretly carved out a decent living. She ends up trapped there, at a vampire's castle--but he's very cool and polite and explains everything to her. Until the set time she can return home, she wanders the castle, makes friends, and slowly falls for her host. Just as she's getting comfortable, a threat to the entire Night Realm literally rears its ugly head.
Ellie is friendly and boldly teasing, with occasional baffling bouts of social anxiety. She's recklessly insistent on exploring and helping despite being an ordinary girl, in a pretty standard adventure-heroine way. I didn't enjoy how often her stupidest decisions would VERY coincidentally solve the problem. The characters remarking on what a stroke of luck it was didn't make it better for me.
Janus is simply the most friendly and accommodating bloke you could imagine. He's a lord of half the realm who does a lot of everyday business and personally checks on the hospital/asylum. He's a vampire who refuses to drink human blood or associate with those evil vamps up north. He's an alchemist and botanist. He loves romance books. He gets bullied by the mayor and his undead housekeeper. When I tell you that the Tumblr girlies would go crazy over this one. RIP me.
As you can imagine, there's not a lot to stop Ellie and Janus from bonding. They especially bond over his library of books. I saw "They shared a chuckle/laugh/giggle" so many times. The gorgeous cover of this book gives an air of mystique and depth that isn't really here. It's just two nice people having a pretty normal, emphatically healthy courtship replete with silly jokes.
The side characters are pretty entertaining; they also confirm that this is not a serious book. I mean, there's a talking rat in a waistcoat, so you know what you're in for.
I did have some fun. It's cute and sweet. I did struggle to keep interest after a while, though. I think this could have either been cute and sweet and considerably shorter, or had more intrigue and conflict and kept the length. As is, it's not for me.
March 5, 2023
criminally underrated
May 13, 2022
Ruim RUIM não, mas insípido.
May 14, 2024
LORD OF THE NIGHT REALM: SOJOURN reads like a classic fairy tale in the best ways. It’s whimsical, but there’s also a steadily rising sense of dread beneath the surface that makes the story all the more interesting. The world in this book is lush and complex, and I enjoyed the gradual reveal that all is not as it seems.
The characters very much stand out, and though I thought Ellie a touch immature at times (she reads a little younger than she’s meant to be), her naivety is a big part of her character growth as she finds her place in the Night Realm. I loved Janus; he was instantly charming, and I really appreciate the rare presence of a vampire lord who isn’t an ass and/or violent toward the protagonist. The romance between them was sweet and soft, and I look forward to seeing what’s in store next for them in the second book.
The characters very much stand out, and though I thought Ellie a touch immature at times (she reads a little younger than she’s meant to be), her naivety is a big part of her character growth as she finds her place in the Night Realm. I loved Janus; he was instantly charming, and I really appreciate the rare presence of a vampire lord who isn’t an ass and/or violent toward the protagonist. The romance between them was sweet and soft, and I look forward to seeing what’s in store next for them in the second book.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews