Silver Under Nightfall

Reaper #1

by Rin Chupeco

Full of court intrigue, queer romance, and terrifying monsters—this “deliciously fun” (Sangu Mandanna, author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches ) epic fantasy appeals to fans of Samantha Shannon’s The Priory of the Orange Tree and the adult animated series Castlevania.

Remy Pendergast is many the only son of the Duke of Valenbonne (though his father might wish otherwise), an elite bounty hunter of rogue vampires, and an outcast among his fellow Reapers. His mother was the subject of gossip even before she eloped with a vampire, giving rise to the rumors that Remy is half-vampire himself. Though the kingdom of Aluria barely tolerates him, Remy’s father has been shaping him into a weapon to fight for the kingdom at any cost.

When a terrifying new breed of vampire is sighted outside of the city, Remy prepares to investigate alone. But then he encounters the shockingly warmhearted vampire heiress Xiaodan Song and her infuriatingly arrogant fiancé, vampire lord Zidan Malekh, who may hold the key to defeating the creatures—though he knows associating with them won’t do his reputation any favors. When he’s offered a spot alongside them to find the truth about the mutating virus Rot that’s plaguing the kingdom, Remy faces a choice.

It’s one he’s certain he’ll regret.

But as the three face dangerous hardships during their journey, Remy develops fond and complicated feelings for the couple. He begins to question what he holds true about vampires, as well as the story behind his own family legacy. As the Rot continues to spread across the kingdom, Remy must decide where his loyalties with his father and the kingdom he’s been trained all his life to defend or the vampires who might just be the death of him.

Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Romance, Horror, Queer, LGBT, Adult

506 pages, Paperback

First published September 13, 2022

About the author

Gone.

Newsletter: http://www.rinchupeco.com/newsletter
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Reviews

[chai ♡ · Rating 2 out of 5]

:(

[james · Rating 5 out of 5]

welcome to 202-Queer 🌈✨, the year where i only read queer books and finally have fun 🌈✨


it would not be 202-Queer 🌈✨ if i didn't re-read my favourite book

Silver Under Nightfall is definitely my new comfort book. Which is strange cause it used to be A Little Life and the vibes could not be more different.

every time i'm sad i put the audiobook on and stare at the pretty cover of my hardcover copy while the narrator's voice soothes me with the tales of queer vampires and a vampire hunter fighting each other during the day and whispering confessions of love during the night ❤️

---
1st read:

less books about boring straight people, more books about polyamorous vampires


if this doesn't get a sequel, i will throw hands

---
2nd read:

this is one of like three good books i read this year (much to think about)

so.. about that sequel... personally i am ready whenever you're ready, RC

[EmmaSkies · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crawling out of my Silver Under Nightfall induced stupor to tell you how fucking good this book is. Every second I wasn't reading this book I was thinking about it.

This is the perfect vampire read that I've been looking for. Brutal and bloody, gothic, sexy, and with an amazing cast of characters and gruesome monsters that feel right out of a Resident Evil game. I'm struggling to create a cohesive review out of this so let me just drop some of my thoughts here:

- Remy has climbed the ranks right to the top of some of my favorite main characters I've read this year;
- The book is brilliantly paced with an incredibly strong opening chapter that sucks you right in;
- A backdrop of court politics and intrigue will get me every time;
- The TENSION in the romantic subplot????? my god;
- I love a good mysterious mad scientist plot;
- The entire cast of characters is so good, even the ones you absolutely hate;
- and it's surprisingly funny!

I can't believe this absolute fucking gem has been sitting unread on my shelf for over a YEAR just waiting for me to crack it open. Also I am now personally offended that the release date for the sequel was pushed because I was under the impression it comes out later this year. How am I supposed to make it to next april???

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

(i took this book with me to the oogie boogie bash!)

Rin chupeco is an author who means a lot to me, and their stories (the full spectrum of the range in which they write) always feel like coming home to me. But a queer polyamorous with vampires and vampire hunters Castlevania inspired tale… it just felt extra good to read. The atmosphere was everything and i knew from the first chapter i was really going to adore this one.

Also, bonus extra i suppose: this book has like my favorite cover art of all time. I am obsessed.

tw/cw: death, murder, a lot of blood depiction, gore, violence, needle depiction, brief mentions of miscarriages/still births, a lot of talk of medical experimentation, a lot of talk of virus and mutated strands, ableist language (always in a negative light), parental abuse, unwanted sexual acts/forced prostitution/implied rape, and an animal death (horse).

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[CuddleWolf52 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why do these characters love Remy?
Because he's never been shown real love.
That's it.
Why are these vampires from a medieval/fantasy period acting like their personalities are scraped right off a modern paranormal mystery/investigation book's cast?
Just cause.
There is no tension--with anything. Everything is resolved right as I'm registering it as a potential problem that...maybe the characters have to learn from? Compromise? Anything? Nope.

I couldn't even enjoy the thruple, which is saying something. I mean...in theory? You've got a hot sexy 900-year-old doctor genius who can pin the main guy to a tree and maintain delicious "will you fight me or fuck me" energy nonstop. Immediately when he showed up I was on board.
But, then... Xiaodan. Oh Xioadan Xiaodan Xiaodan...Somehow, even though she is the first of the two to be introduced, and the one that Remy expressed the clearest lust and interest towards....she gives me nothing. Which is frustrating...I wanted to love her, but she felt just like the paper I read her off of-flat and devoid of any real dimension.
Any flicker of interest for either of them was extinguished thoroughly when the (honestly incredibly stupid and pointless) drama happened after they were in bone town.

It felt like instead of being individual characters that love Remy, they're just fillers for what each other lacks. Like, they're one entity that perfectly balances everything so that Remy can be happy. They don't think separately. There's never any talking between them...and yeah, I get that they were in love and happy before they both fell for Remy...but does that really mean that they should never have any development throughout the entire story? 1 + 2 = 3...and 3 times as many issues....no? Is it just me?

Oh god. Don't get me started on the mom reveal....EITHER of THEM!!!....same for the dad
or, any reveal.
I don't think I could count the number of times I said "Why is this even happening?" when characters did a thing, or...anything happened.
I somehow feel like maybe it's not ideal when a reader absorbs a "reveal" with little to no reaction.
That's honestly a succinct summary of my thoughts about this book-no reaction. Feeling nothing. Meh.

---Also... where's the show? This book is 90% tell.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remy Pendergast, the only son of the Duke of Valenbonne, is a vampire hunter with a bit of an unpleasant reputation. His mother was the subject of gossip even before she ran off with a vampire, giving rise to the many rumors that Remy is himself half-vampire, and at least a few high ups had an old feud with his father and thus decide to take it out on Remy. Opportunities are few and far between for him, but with two diplomats arriving from two separate vampire courts in order to make a peace treaty, and a murder following shortly after, Remy has a bit of work to do... especially as he is the main suspect.

Well, this is Castlevania fan-fic with name changes. No, I don’t mean that as an insult, it’s practically spelled out in the advertising and one can’t help but notice if one is familiar with it... well, I happen to like Castlevania so that didn’t particularly bother me. What I got along with it was a pleasant surprise as there’s a lot of fantasy politics (something I prefer to action scenes) and a very interesting world. I was particularly interested in the vampire court system and how they operated on different levels (I do hope to see more of that in the second book as I believe the author has stated it will be a duology).

The world is interesting. Most of the characters are likeable... and I’m glad in regard to the mystery aspect that we didn’t have that classic “I’ll be stupidly suspicious of the outsiders because I usually hunt them” moment I expected from our vampire hunter, as while he is very flawed, he’s not stupid and thus quickly works with the two court vampires in regards to the situation.

Alright mostly positive but I do have issues with the book. My biggest is aspects of the author’s writing. There are several abrupt transitions. Say they’re in the middle of a conversation and then BAM attack next paragraph, no transition. First time it happened I thought it was an interesting way to jar the reader into feeling like something could happen at any time. It happened multiple times though and after a bit felt less like an interesting creative choice and more like an editor took out a paragraph of description in between to keep things faster paced. It wasn’t even always a fight, sometimes someone would just enter the scene without any notice, or we’d just move onto a new topic without any transition. It was never jarring enough to make me want to quit or anything, but it was frustrating enough that I noticed it repeatedly.

I’m also not an overly big fan of Remy as a character. He improves as it goes on, but dear sweet Dracula, he annoyed the hell out of me at the start. Had it not been for the interesting world and other characters (which is to say, literally everything about the book other than Remy) I would have DNF it.

As said though, Remy does improve, so overall my complaints are minor. It’s a fun read and pretty breezy for 500+ pages. Recommended to fantasy fans who happen to like vampires. 4/5 stars

[idiomatic · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5, bonus points for being enjoyably fucky and for the sequel hook. on merit it should be docked a star for openly being castlevania fic but i always wanted to watch castlevania but couldn't stand the animation so actually, perk for me. it's straight up insane and shameless that the book self-declares as 'inspired by castlevania' but then again ali hazelwood wears reylo tshirts to signings. we live in a fallen society, etc.

otherwise? worst dialogue i've read all year, teapot cosplay from the pits of whedon hell. generally would have been improved if it was not gaslamp fantasy (a genre that brings out sff's least tolerable voice, the 'oy mista cockwabbit, you me bloody pissing dad?' one) and would not have been materially changed if it had shifted to an earlier medieval setting, because the world was too incoherent to have a sense of setting or specifics. very much the kind of Diverse Fantasy that is extremely generic-genre-european in setting but will have a latino character who is recognizable as such because he declares ¡carajo! when surprised.

mm. what else. godawful lurching scene transitions. battle scenes generic and videogamey though that's never my thing. bad dialogue extends to bad onomatopoeia, which didn't help the lack of any sense of danger. author visibly reluctant to break or even scratch her toys. at one point the book's big villain declares he's sent a spy to follow the protagonist!! and i am not spoiler tagging this because the guy who steps out to show himself up as a spy is: an unnamed rando we've met once. PLEASE.

and while i praised the scene-by-scene fuckiness, i.e. the pleasurable generation of chemistry in individual scenes as much as the actual consummations, there is a noticeable lack of romantic tension in the plot. in its place, an overfocus on babying the protagonist and consciously negotiating consent while staring directly into the camera. which okay, consent politics aside, the fact that none of these negotiations or advancements were moved forward through the plot was frustrating - and like i said, contributed to this feeling like it was fic of something else, with an unearned confidence that something else was holding up our interest in the world from behind while we checked in for the nth time that protagonist babyman adultman cusswords von grumpus was Doing Okay. no!!! all you have going for you is the sexual tension, please use it to POWER A SINGLE RELEVANT PLOT ENGINE on these flimsy ass pages.

what else. gender: i hate it! this book didn't invent any new genders but here are some genders i came in hating that were in fine form: 1) protagonist babyman adultman cusswords von grumpus, who is 'any man we want the reader to Like we have to traumatize until he is Safe, and then in trauma he is Baby'. 2) 'sunshine' in a grumpy/sunshine dynamic, or in this case grumpy/grumpy/sunshine, where coincidentally both grumpies are men and the sunshine is the girl, and she giggles, and she comforts, and a grumpy man has to teach her victorian swears, and, it's just regular gender, what you've invented is regular gender, hate it! 3) the woman the man protagonist is fucking from the jump, who is a vacuous slut in the regular 'here to inform you the man knows how to fuck soullessly, we will meet a better woman later who will teach him how to feel real feelings' convention except here due to babyman trauma she is doing Noncon to him and the sunshine has to stand up to her to Teach Her (And Him) About Consent. HORRIBLE, but also NOT A SUFFICIENT VEIL over the VERY REGULAR AND RETROGRADE GENDER POLITICS. i literally rounded up my star count (because i had a basically good time and think generally we should applaud anyone in sff who is writing characters doing fun seductions on purpose) and then took the extra star back after writing this paragraph. HATE!

'did you have a good time' yes. and i will come back for book two expecting identical pleasures and complaints.

[Krysta ꕤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Xiodan’s hands on his. soft. caressing. Malekh’s laid on her. on him. firm. insistent. both keeping him in place between them, where he belonged.”

🩸 this one’s for the Castlevania fans who were begging for Trevor, Alucard and Sypha to be a throuple.. (so in other words, it’s basically for me.)🩸

i actually soft dnf this book a couple years ago when i tried to read it physically, but I’m so glad i gave it another go. the world has a dark edge to it that i really liked, with a type of plague like rot taking over. Remy has to team up with Xiaodan and Zidan to investigate what’s going on, while also fighting his complicated feelings for both of them. what can i say, I’ll forever be a sucker for vampires and when enemies are forced to be in each others spaces once they realize their goals align. the tension between Remy and Zidan was so good, Remy was such a hater and i couldn’t wait for the moment when he’d cave in. Xiaodan was so accepting of Remy and pushed him to think outside of what he’s been told to believe, they fit together so well. idk how to feel about his father, but the ending kinda surprised me. i heard the sequel isn’t good, so ill just take this win.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Silver Under Nightfall is, at its heart, a detective story. It hearkens back to the original Dracula by Bram Stoker. The plot’s driving force was a group of people finding out the identity of the vampire preying on London. In my opinion, the best horror novels have an element of investigation to them as well. Who is behind this evil plot? What further machinations does this villain have in mind? Is there an underlying secret that ties everything together? Silver Under Nightfall makes the reader ask these questions, and more.

The investigation of who exactly is creating and unleashing these bloodthirsty mutant vampires takes protagonists Remy, Xiaodan, and Zidan acros multiple settings in the kingdom of Aluria and even beyond. Chupeco is able to take the reader straight to those places and conjure those images in the mind. These settings provide amply creepy (or occasionally heartwarming or outright sexy – this book does involve a throuple, after all) backdrops for all the ongoing action.

Basically, if you feel let-down by the fact that Castlevania on Netflix only has four seasons and you wish the creators would stop being fucking cowards and give us the throuple between Sypha, Trevor, and Alucard that we deserve, Silver Under Nightfall is one hundred percent the book for you.

🦇🖤 Read my full review here! 🖤🦇

[Stefanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This should have been a DNF, but I went ahead and finished this book so I could justifiably give this book the rating it deserves: 1 star. I'm here to warn others. You will be drawn in by the promise of a sexy polyamorous love story between two vampires and someone who's supposed to fight them. You will be drawn in by the promise of court intrigue, by the Castlevania reference for those who know it. TURN BACK WHILE YOU STILL CAN. This is not a good book. The characters are simplistic and flat, the plot needlessly convoluted and boring, and the writing overly relied on dialogue to explain things, like a bad play. I am not sure I have been this disappointed by a book in a long time. I curse its name.

Apologies in advance for this summary; I just don't care enough about the story to get details right. But essentially, we have Remy, who's a Hunter of vampires, and everyone hates him and picks on him. His dad basically uses him as a spy to find out information about another dude he has a grudge on, as well as to find out where his ex-wife and Remy's mom got off to many years ago - to the extent he semi-forces Remy to pimp himself out to the ladies of the nation. Remy's fellow Hunters look down on him or send him on hunts that are supposed to kill him. It's on one of these hunts that he comes across one of the love interests, the vampire Zidan Malehk, and a vampire that reanimates after it's supposedly been killed. Malekh is in town because he's a high-level court vampire who's engaged to another high-level court vampire, Xiaodan, and they're both trying to set up an alliance with humans. They both fall for Remy ridiculously fast and the three try to figure out what's going on with these reanimating corpses, who's behind it and how to stop it.

At 500 pages, this book is needlessly bloated. The first 40% is all backstory and plot and it is BORING. This is where I nearly DNF'ed. The romance kicks in shortly after that, but after all that waiting, it gets started rather fast and is very based on physical attraction. Malehk and Xiaodan both seem to be into Remy because he's such a sad sack, ahem, excuse me - because he doesn't love himself, so they just feel called to love him and protect him and build him up, PUKE.

Remy is not likable. He's whiny and has a chip on his shoulder. Xiaodan is a badass with no personality, except maybe "nice." Malehk is the stereotype of every brooding, mysterious love interest, and we never really get to delve into how his 900 (!) years of life made him who he is.

After reading the entirety of this book, I honest to Jesus think the most interesting character is Remy's dad, the semi-bad guy. Give me a book on that scheming, mischievous bastard.

I also have to say, this published book (not ARC) included SEVERAL instances of Chupeco simply using a word incorrectly. What is this, amateur hour?? 1 star to whoever edited this book as well. I have never seen something so unprofessional in a published book before.

Also, FYI, this book ends on a sort of cliffhanger. Theoretically things could improve if Chupeco were to write a continuation, but I very much doubt it.

I have read one book by Rin Chupeco before and it was "eh." But this one has put me off them entirely. I will never be convinced to read anything they write again, for love nor money. I am honestly shocked and dismayed by how many people out there somehow thought this was a four- or five-star book.

[libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heart happy no more words

I need a second book 😭😭

Xiaodan ily I would die for u

[Megan ❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me, pretending I'm Fine after I binge read the fuck out of this book and it instantly became one of my fav books of 2022:



Pre-release review:

Me every time Rin Chupeco teased this novel on twitter:



Me when it finally gets announced and realize I have to wait until 2023:



Edit 2/19/22: me when Rin Chupeco announces on their insta that the release date has moved up to September 2022:

[Jan Agaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

castlevania is such an accurate comp. I loved the romantic tension throughout this book, the action scenes were well done, and my jaw dropped at some of the reveals. I bought the second book immediately.

[Lance · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Bloody, brilliant, and utterly readable in the vein of the Castlevania animated series but with an actual poly throuple, Silver Under Nightfall is an excellent first entry into an adult dark fantasy duology that I really enjoyed sinking my teeth into.

[Bon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edited this for a year-old typo, shh. I was re-reading this to see what captured me in the first book that has me feeling so bereft in book two.

Make way, make way for what is probably Bon's favorite book of 2022 so far. Halfway through my library ebook, I ran out to hunt down the only physical copy left in a ten-mile radius.

Amongst the huge crop of vampire stories releasing in fall 2022, Rin Chupeco has created a standout. These creatures are queer, endearing, and manage to be refreshing, despite having some nostalgic, traditional canonical powers and weaknesses. Reminiscent of The Witcher and Castlevania, Silver Under Nightfall was way more than the sum of its inspirations, a fast-paced, action-packed adventure with a regency ambience, plenty of mystery, and memorable characters. It was a book topping 500 pages, and I never wanted it to end.

A good foundation of this kind of book for me is tropes, and I completely loved the tropes here: the humans are often the real monsters, found family, self-loathy character learns to love themself and others, vampires protecting their human.

A social outcast who armors himself with sharp blades and an ascerbic vocabulary of creative curses, protagonist Remy Pendergast is a pretty himbo (bless him) but nevertheless skilled vampire hunter with a strong code of ethics. His preconceptions of vampires that govern how he hunts are soon challenged by the arrival of puppy in vampire form Song Xiaodan, an heiress with interesting powers, and her fiancé Zidan Malekh, a stoic vampire scientist nearly a millenium old.

Remy is used to being hated by those he saves and protects, as most humans have heard rumors that he is a dhampir. He's also never known a romantic relationship that wasn't transactional for information on his bounties, and sexually unfulfilling. So he's an emotionally damaged, self-destructive archetype. My favorite.

Chupeco's worldbuilding was fantastic without being overcomplicated; the story keeps us moving throughout the geography of the world, from a place like medieval England to distinctly Asian-inspired locales. There are vampire and human politics clashing. There are characters, humans and vampires alike, of every color, gender and personality. There are super neat weapons and supernatural abilities that specific vampires have. There are also more than human-shaped vampires, an absolutely rad inclusion. And there is an absolute Power Throuple by the end. All of it served to render me all-in by the quarter mark - and by that I mean binge reading 'til the wee hours.

I will say I predicted several of the eleventh-hour plot revelations, but surprisingly, that didn't make me mad; rather, I was glad I could follow the breadcrumbs left throughout the story. The various mysteries weren't quite the central conflict, anyways, but rather Remy reconciling the world and self he thought he knew.

I really can't phrase how much I loved this perfect blend of action, romance, and supernatural intrigue, and I'm already eagerly waiting the next book.

[Maddie Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

RATING BREAKDOWN
Characters: 4⭐️
Setting: 3⭐️
Plot: 4⭐️
Themes: 3⭐️
Emotional Impact: 2⭐️
Personal Enjoyment: 4⭐️
Total Rounded Average: 3.5⭐️

I love that this played an intriguing court politics game while exploring a character caught between duty and desire. It's a simple enough agenda, but it came out fresh! It comes down to tone and delivery here to offer something new in a beloved and saturated genre.

The plot did not grip me immediately, as the real tension of the story wasn't delivered until a few chapters in, but once the threat and stakes were clear, everything felt well-paced and exciting. That said, the characters are introduced quickly and they are interesting from the jump. I enjoyed the distinct flavor of each character, it created believable and fascinating chemistry as the book progressed. The setting is still a bit fuzzy, but I pictured a mashup of medieval anime, which looks cool in my head.

Overall, this isn't anything profound, but I would put this with the fun, vibey, palate-cleansers in my library. It's a good time and well-executed.

[Samantha (ladybug.books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second read (6/7): I need the sequel in my hands yesterday (preferably with a different cover). Somehow managed to forget how heartbreaking the ending of this book is. Still just as obsessed.

——————-
First read: If I don't get news of a sequel to this book soon I will die.

Gothic vibes, vampires, scheming, fighting, and so much sexual tension. I am obsessed with this book! At 500 pages its a long one but once I started it I didn't want to put it down. You will get a full review if I ever manage to form coherent thoughts. OBSESSED!

[abi · Rating 2 out of 5]

one of the main characters unironically yelling “eat shit, you scum-sucking cuntrabbit” during the final battle pushed me over the edge. we don’t deserve poly vampires if this is how we’re going to treat them.

[Emma Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m so sorry, y’all. This book was definitely an “it’s not you, it’s me” situation.

I can absolutely tell that this is Chupeco’s first adult (not YA) novel. And like, I love YA. My favorite vampire book, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, is YA. But this book felt rather clumsily aged up to adult, which gave the whole thing this sort of … hollow feeling, like none of the characters or worldbuilding had substance beyond the surface. For instance, all the swearing feels like it’s there to proclaim, hey look, this book is An Adult Book—not for any organic reason.

Or maybe part of the problem for me is that the book feels largely, idk how to phrase this, written to trope. It’s polyamorous vampires, yay! Don’t get me wrong, I was super excited about the premise. But nothing feels organic. I don’t really believe the romance, and I don’t understand the vampires.

Like, this is a vaguely victorian setting, but I have no sense of place beyond that. I want my vampires to feel alien, otherworldly, in some way or another. But Chupeco’s characterization isn’t strong enough to carry that kind of atmosphere. And Remy and his two love interests say they love each other, but what makes them all a good fit?

[Bill Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

oh my GOD

[siu · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is one of the rare books where i rate it 3.5 stars but would still highly recommend it to fantasy lovers. the romance was my favorite part of the book to read about. the politics/rot conflict never managed to grab my interest (i think plenty of readers would have no problem getting into it though) but it was easy enough to follow along after you get through the first few chapters. you can definitely skim political bits here and there and won't miss anything.

the beginning started with a quick bang and then dragged (for me) for the next chapter or so as we get introduced to so many characters. i just find dukes, lords, and ladies sooo fucking boring lmao y'all will never catch me reading a historical romance with those. BUT THEN it soon started to pick up when the love interests were introduced and omg it was so fucking good. AND THANK FUCK THEY WERE BOTH VAMPIRES. made the whole lords bs more bearable.

the folks were right. the sexual tension was unreal. ESPECIALLY THE FIRST CHAPTER LIKE SIRRR WHY DO U HAVE HIM LIKE THAT. and the vampire's fiancé, xiaodan, is so so cute i had the best time face-casting her.

while i don't dislike our mc, Remy, he didn't have any attributes that made me like him WHICH HAD ME LIKE, WHAT DO Y'ALL SEE IN HIM ?? HOW DID HE MANAGE TO SNAG TWO HOT VAMPIRES. he's so dry, stubborn, and prideful. he embarrasses me with his dialogue sometimes like pls don't give me secondhand embarrassment i /will/ put this book down and never pick it up again... /hj (i love malekh and xiaodan too much to not finish their story). i do wish we had more than remy's POV. mayhaps in book 2? 😗

remy is so deep in his oh-i'm-not-special and my-life-isn't-worth-it mindset that he asks SO MANY TIMES "but why did you pick me" i'm about to pick you up and toss you out this window rn.

anyways angst was great y'all. i love malekh and xiaodan's dynamic and their approach w remy. thank goodness they worked closely together this whole book so it felt like the subplot romance was actually quite a lot😛 it was delicious to read and i will definitely be picking up book 2 !!

(...not the US edition tho... THAT IS NOT MY MALEKH. THAT'S HANDSOME SQUIDWARD WITH AN ORANGE WIG‼️)

[Shealea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chupeco's first foray into adult fantasy took a while to win me over (mainly because I'm not an avid reader of books with regency-era settings). But once it did win me over, I was an absolute goner.

• A refreshing take on vampiric lore? Yes.
• Wonderfully cinematic atmosphere? Yes.
• Distinct narrative voice and cutting dialogue? Yes.
• Fascinating weapons and compelling action? Plentiful.
• Murder mystery turned sweeping conspiracy? Absolutely.
• Tension? On every page.

Maybe it's the Filipino in me, but I saw notable parallels between Remy's (arguably unwise) loyalty to the kingdom of Aluria and my personal relationship with my country, especially amidst disinformative media and corrupt, morally bankrupt officials. In this essay, I will --

Highly recommended!
* I received a print ARC of Silver Under Nightfall from the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

🌻🍃 More bookish content on Shut up, Shealea 🍃🌻
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[Ingerlisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

✧.* This did not need to be 500 pages

I really dislike meandering plots lines, unpolished twists and characters that give me nothing...

I didn't hate it, I actually think this had potential and was a unique story but was waayyy too long and slow. The start weirdly gave me empire of the vampire vibes, so I was fully prepared to enter this high fantasy epic but the more I read the slower the story became and the weaker the plot, the characters and the world building became.

I'll continue because I own the 2nd book already but I'm hoping the next book is more polished.

[ivanareadsalot · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really quite enjoyed this!

fun, sexy and dynamic start to a series, one that i look forward to devouring with glee!

[Greekchoir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel bad because so people whose opinions I trust LOVE Silver Under Nightfall. When I started this book, it was a strong 4-5 stars! But the further I got into it...hmmm....

Let's start with what I liked. SUN is campy: it's big, fun, gory, sexy, it's a bit silly at times but it knows its strengths and generally plays to them well. It commits to what it is, and I respect any book that does that as wholeheartedly as this one. The action scenes in the beginning of the story, in particular, leaned into this aspect successfully.

I didn't feel as strongly about the main characters as I maybe would have liked, but I have a particular fondness for Xiaodan. I would read something just about her! Waiter! Waiter! More scenes where Xiaodan kicks ass!

That being said...I have two major issues that I think bring down this book. The first is that I had difficulty buying the relationship between Remy and Zidan. I think this is because the book is trying to have its cake and eat it too - it wants you to buy that they're having an enemies to lovers situation, but can't quite push them together enough at the end of the day for them to feel successful beyond physical attraction. The book leans into how much they miscommunicate, and I think the balance there is too heavily tipped to pull it back again. (For me).

The other problem is that...after the throuple gets together....I don't think this book really cares, anymore? The pacing of the second half is breakneck compared to the first, with the climax being condensed into one brief chapter. And while all the loose ends are tied together neatly, it's missing a sense of cohesiveness.

I think I'm just being grouchy, and if this book sounds like something you would like, then you probably will! Unfortunately it just did not cause the brainworms I was really hoping for.

One last thing I say, I find it both baffling/hilarious that this book is filled with SO MUCH sexual tension and yearning and then the actual sex scenes are fade to black. Like that is so funny.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're here for the vibes, you will like this book. I was indeed here for those vibes. I like Castlevania. I like queerness and sexiness. I like a darker fantasy. I like conflicted main characters. But there really isn't anything here for someone to grab onto if you need more than vibes. I am a little sad to say that it was a more shallow reading experience than I was expecting. I'm saying shallow but clearly I enjoyed myself, with a four star rating. It just didn't have much thematic depth.

Just lots of cool imagery, broody characters, violence, angst, a little bit of magic, and some really good sex sccenes.

I suggested this book for one of my IRL book clubs and I am sad to say I enjoyed it the most of the only three other people who read/showed up. I wish more people had read it so I would have maybe had more people in my corner, but we still had a pretty good discussion, mostly about why it wasn't a good book for a general audience. And it was really because they were not super into the vibes and don't find vampires as inherently interesting as I do! I did make really good food, though. If you guys haven't tried masabacha you need to get on that. There were three of us there and we demolished a doubled recipe.

It did realllly make me want to rewatch Castlevania though.

[Cassidy Chivers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honestly I don't have much to say about this one. It really sadly fell flat for me because I really just didn't click with the romance. It felt like our MC fell in love with the first person to show him kindness, I didn't see chemistry. And then it really bothered me when I noticed how little two of the ppl in this relationship interacted with eachother. They seemed to only interact with our MC even though all of them were in the relationship.

I think the romance took over this story. And since I didn't vibe with it it over shadowed the cool world and vampire.

[S. ≽^•⩊•^≼ I'm not here yet · Rating 2 out of 5]

The world and main idea were good but nothing more. The ending left me wanting to read the second book in the Reaper duology (I'm not sure if it's a duology), the full review will come for book 2 and I hope for improvement, and on how the Court of Wanderers goes, I might change my rating for this book.

[charlotte, · Rating 4 out of 5]

On my blog.

Rep: East & Southeast Asian-coded characters, bi nonbinary mc, bi mcs, polyamory, sapphic side character

CWs: implied child abuse, implied rape, past adult-minor relationship, gore, violence

Galley provided by publisher

Silver Under Nightfall is, overall, a lot of fun. When it comps to Castlevania, it really means it. Any fans of that, any fans of vampires in fiction at all, shouldn’t hesitate to pick this one up.

The story follows Remy, the only son of a famous vampire hunter, who is hated by most of his compatriots for the fact that his mother (ostensibly) eloped with a vampire. A few things happen which I won’t recount (and don’t recall in detail anyway), but what ends up happening is that Remy is sent to work with two vampires, who are allies of the Queen, Xiaodan Song and her fiance Zidan Malekh, following the discovery of a kind of plague that makes vampires impossible to kill.

When I say this book is fun, primarily I mean I really enjoyed reading it and I did so from the first page. There are some books that take a little bit of getting into, that grow on you more than being something you love straightaway. Silver Under Nightfall was not one of those: I knew I would love it from the first page I read. It was an addictive read, one that I couldn’t put down. The Castlevania comp is understandable because it reads like something you could imagine as a game or TV show.

It helps that it’s pretty fast paced and doesn’t stop to give you pages and pages of exposition. Of course there is time for explaining the world and giving all that context, but it fits seamlessly into the action. Occasionally there are lulls (of course there would be) and perhaps that’s why I went for a 4-star review when at times I thought I would give it five, but on the whole, I found the pacing solid and well-balanced between keeping the story moving and letting events breathe.

This wouldn’t mean very much though if the book wasn’t populated with characters you want to root for. Luckily, it definitely is. Remy is a very sympathetic main character and also very readable. And Xiaodan and Zidan are mysterious and compelling. You’re as intrigued by them as Remy is (although, it would be fair to say, somewhat less annoyed). It’s the characters as much as the world that sucks you into the story.

What I mean to say by all this, overall, is that you should be picking this book up. This is one I’d highly recommend, so trust me when I say you don’t want to miss out.

[Kit (Metaphors and Moonlight) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread Update:

I’m going to leave my original review below because it helps set the right expectations, but I enjoyed this significantly more upon rereading! Perhaps because I knew what to expect. (I think marketing and things I’d heard threw me off the first time.)

I really liked all three main characters. Xiaodan was sweet, kind, and bubbly. Zidan was smart, competent, composed, and protective (but not overly so). Remy was quiet and reserved at first, but only because of how he’d always been treated in his hometown, because he’d learned to make himself small. When he had the chance to flourish and be himself, he was more witty and playful. Also someone who always wanted to help others, even at his own expense. And all three were badass.

I loved the sexual and romantic tension in the build-up to the romance. I understood why Remy was so hesitant this time. He was confused about his feelings, and he didn’t believe the vampires at first because of his insecurities. It made sense that they had to repeatedly tell him they both wanted him, in order to get it through his skull. And I believed the feelings between them all more.

Note: Remy uses a neutral honorific, but he gives no other indication of being nonbinary. I can’t find an answer elsewhere, so I’ve tentatively marked this as MMF romance.

I listened to the audiobook this time, narrated by Matthew Spencer, and enjoyed that too! He made characters sound different enough to tell them apart, it all sounded natural, and it changed to match the emotion, intensity, etc. of the scenes.

So yeah, I liked this a whole star more this time! You can see the rest of my thoughts about the plot, sex scenes, etc. below.

Original Review:

*I received an ecopy of this book via NetGalley. This has not influenced my review.*

I was a bit disappointed in the romance, but the story was overall enjoyable.

I didn't really feel the romantic feelings between Remy and the other two. It seemed to be mostly based on physical attraction and the little bit they knew of each other through fighting together or against each other. Which works for initial feelings, but they jumped straight into being all-in and wanting to commit. To be fair, it's not hard to understand why Remy, or anyone, would want Zidan. He was smart, a skilled fighter, poised, kind, supportive, sexy, and a broody vampire, to boot. But even that isn't quite enough for me to actually feel the romantic chemistry between two characters.

I did feel some of the sexual attraction between them, at least. More so with Zidan. But even that quickly turned into... Zidan: "I want to have sex with you." Xiaodan: "I also want to have sex with you." Both: "We both want to have sex with you, together." Other characters: "They want to have sex with you, why haven't you fucked them yet?" And then, there was so much talk of sex and wanting sex and the sex they'd had and how horny and insatiable everyone was, but not really any actual sex scenes. There were explicit moments, but they were basically a few sentences each, summaries mostly. I don't think I've ever complained before about a book not having sex scenes, it's not a requirement for me, but this felt like being teased that we were going to get sex scenes, and all the while the author had no intention of giving them. The best was the one when *SPOILER* Remy wasn't even involved but Zidan held eye contact with him while Xiaodan was drinking from him. *SPOILER*

So the romance and sex elements were not necessarily bad, just lacking depth. There was some sexy vampire biting though! I always appreciate that.

Remy didn't seem to have a ton of personality, other than being self-sacrificing and blaming himself for everything bad. Xiaodan was cute, bubbly, compassionate, and enjoyed a good fight against baddies; she was likeable, but also little flat. I already talked about Zidan some, but he was smart, a skilled fighter, kind at heart, though he could be prickly and angry if he didn't like or didn't trust someone yet, though apparently that was also his tell that he was interested in someone. He was an old vampire with some walls built up. But, as cliche as it may be, I am a sucker for an intense, broody hot guy vampire, and I found him the most interesting of the bunch. There were also some likeable side characters.

Outside the romance, there was a good story. There was a strange mystery about something affecting vampires, causing them to be basically unkillable and mutate into horrifying monsters. There were some other sort of connected mysteries about who was involved and what different people were up to. There was action and fighting and danger. There was Remy's past and how he was viewed and treated by his fellow reapers and townspeople. The description says the book is full of court intrigue, but I would not say that. Perhaps in future books.

This was all set in a high fantasy world with different vampire courts, which is cool, though you don't get to see or learn too much about the courts. Also perhaps in future books.

I liked the "again" thing in that chapter of the book. Which I know is not helpful for anyone who hasn't read the book yet, but it was just a fun little writing thing.

As of the time of this review, I can't find anything about a series, but the way this ended makes it clear this is not meant to be a standalone. No cliffhanger, but loose threads and setup for the next book.

I know it sounds like I have more complaints than compliments, but I feel fairly neutral about this one. I think there's potential for certain things to be explored more or become more interesting in future books. And though I never felt the strength of the romance, I enjoyed the mystery and overall story in this vampire-filled high fantasy world.

*Rating: 3 Stars // 1st Read Date: 2022 // Format: Ebook via TTS*
*Rating: 4 Stars // 2nd Read Date: 2024 // Format: Audiobook*

Recommended For:
Anyone who likes high fantasy, sexy vampires, action-packed fight scenes, and queer throuple romance.

Original Review @ Metaphors and Moonlight