Summary
Review
I first came across They Mostly Come Out at Night because of a well-placed Facebook ad and the cover was captivating enough to get me to click. I read some negative reviews on Goodreads and I was a little worried about starting the book, but I am glad I did in the end.
Despite not having woodland creatures as the characters (well, not exactly), I definitely felt some Brian Jacques vibes. A young character who finds themself woven into a fate they can’t escape, living up to legends they have heard of and sharing stories of folktales and myths.
The world created in the novel is very interesting and I loved that the chapters were interspersed with folktales from the world within the book. I also liked that as a reader you can draw parallels between the folktales within the fictional world to folktales within our very real world. I also loved the concept of “Knacks”.
There were a couple of bits I disliked. Though they were very minor things, like the way something was worded once or twice and that I felt it was a little clunky. You know, when you have to read it again to make sense of it? But I read this book from start to finish in one sitting, so by that alone I know it enjoyed it well enough! The only other thing I would have liked would have been for some of the other characters to be have been fleshed out more, especially Branwen.
The book is self-published, which I knew when purchasing, but you’d be forgiven for thinking otherwise as the cover is very professional looking. Regrettably, Amazon has the dead giveaway of their own barcode on the inner pages amongst the back matter.