Title: We Rule the Night
Author: Claire Eliza Bartlett
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
No. of pages: Hardcover, 400
Publication Date: April 2, 2019
Date Read: February 20, 2019
Rating: 4/5
Synopsis:
Seventeen-year-old Revna is a factory worker, manufacturing war machines for the Union of the North. When she’s caught using illegal magic, she fears being branded a traitor and imprisoned. Meanwhile, on the front lines, Linné defied her father, a Union general, and disguised herself as a boy to join the army. They’re both offered a reprieve from punishment if they use their magic in a special women’s military flight unit and undertake terrifying, deadly missions under cover of darkness. Revna and Linné can hardly stand to be in the same cockpit, but if they can’t fly together, and if they can’t find a way to fly well, the enemy’s superior firepower will destroy them–if they don’t destroy each other first.
We Rule the Night is a powerful story about sacrifice, complicated friendships, and survival despite impossible odds.
Review:
First, many thanks to The NOVL and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers for sending me an early copy of We Rule the Night to review through a giveaway.
When I first saw this book, I was intrigued. REAL INTRIGUED. It looks like it has a giant phoenix on it and who can turn down a book with such a gorgeous, stunning cover. But, this is one heck of a gorgeous, stunning debut.
We Rule the Night follows two girls who live in a state on the brink of war. Revna and her family have been branded second class citizens due to her father being imprisoned as a traitor. As the factory that she works in is bombed, she saved the life of a Skarov and herself by using illegal magic to control the Weave to pull them to safety. But she soon finds out that her Weave magic is needed more than she thought it ever could be. Linné is the daughter of a Union general who disguised herself as a boy to fight on the front lines. She only wants to prove herself and help her country. When she’s found out, she’s told that she could either go home to be an assistant, or she can join a new troop of air fighters that use magic to fly their planes. This new troop is where Revna and Linné meet. They’re both part of the first group of women to be considered to be allowed to fight. Linné, who has spent the last few years as a boy, has a hard time fitting in; not only because she’s used to actually being a soldier, but because of who her father is and due to the fact that she’s seemed to make friends with the new Information Unit soldiers on base. Revna has a hard time because she knows that every move she makes is being watched and she can’t slip in fear for her mother and little sister’s life. But she’s also tired of the pity that she gets because she’s got two prosthetic legs. As Linné and Revan get paired toegther as pilot and navigator, their dislike for each other is great. But as they begin to work together, they seem to deal with each other as partners until on a mission, tragedy strikes, they become stranded, and they have to figure out how to put their differences aside or they might not survive.
I loved this book. Bartlett has created a world that doesn’t seem too far off, but includes just enough magic that you know it can’t happen in real life. It’s honestly a bummer. This world that Bartlett has created pulls you in and you can’t get enough of it. The characters that Bartlett has created are super deep; they have conflict, they deal with grief, they have to learn to work together. All of the characters that we meet have something about them that makes you want to learn more about them. They all have something about them that you learn little hints of, but never enough to truly get all the answers you’re hoping for.
I really liked the representation in the book. I can’t ever remember reading a book before where one of the main characters has some type of disability. Revna, when younger, lost both of her legs in an accident. Due to this, she’s grown up in prosthetics and has residual phantom pains. All throughout the book, we see her struggle with the pain, but also with people who constantly see her as less then because she has the prosthetics. As her character develops and she the story continues, we get to see her come into her own and truly recognize that she can do anything that she sets her mind to, that having prosthetics can’t hold her back from doing something she wants. Revna is such a strong character and I loved that she continually pressed on.
There were so many things that I loved about this book. I HATE that I can’t share all my thoughts because then I’d give too much away and I definitely don’t want to spoil this book for you. The this book wrecked me. I was distressed and had so many emotions and I was not prepared. I really hope that a second book comes from this because I need more of this story.
We Rule the Night releases April 2, 2019. This is one that I HIGHLY recommend. Its got magic, war, intrigue, and survival. Truly things one needs when hoping for a great fantasy. You definitely don’t want to miss this stunning debut.
Adventures and Reading 