Review: We Rule the Night by Eliza Claire Bartlett

Hey all, Dani here.

How is everyone doing today? I’ll be honest, I’m feeling a bit drained. It has been a pretty hectic couple of weeks, and I’m definitely thinking that I need a couple down days to relax and recharge. Thankfully, I don’t think Damian and I plan to do much this weekend. We’re going to go see a couple movies, probably on Friday, and then Saturday and Sunday should just be lounging around the house, watching some shows and reading.

All right, let’s jump into today’s review.

Summary

Two girls use forbidden magic to fly and fight–for their country and for themselves–in this riveting debut that’s part Shadow and Bone, part Code Name Verity.

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.

My Thoughts

Rating: 4 stars

This book is inspired by the Night Witches, a group of female pilots in Russia who flew a lot of night missions and were pretty darn awesome. We Rule the Night takes that a step farther and makes it a fantastical story. Set in a world where there is magic, we follow two girls from a country that is particular about which forms of magic they accept. We jump right into the action, starting the story with Revna being caught using the Weave, aka the illegal magic, and Linne having been caught pretending to be a boy in the army. When given the choice, both girls choose this women’s military flight unit instead of the other punishments that would have awaited them.

I’ll be honest, I thought I was going to like this story more than I did. And part of the reason why I didn’t like this story was the character of Linne. She gets upset that she doesn’t fit in with the rest of the girls in the unit, but she treats them poorly because she’s used to being in a male military group and she thinks the girls need more discipline and order. It sets her apart from everyone. And she doesn’t really try to get along with them. And then when she has to team up with Revna in a plane, she gets upset because they can’t work together well, and she doesn’t want to fail in these missions to prove herself. But again, she doesn’t really try to work with the other girls. It was so immensely frustrating for me.

Things get more intriguing, and a sort-of friendship forms between Revna and Linne when their plane goes down and they are forced to work together to make it back to their base.

Oh, and did I mention that Revna actually has two magically mechanical prosthetic legs? She’s definitely a really interesting character, and I really enjoyed following her story. And having mentioned this, I should also mention that there are quite a few times where Linne pretty much harasses Revna about her ability/inability to do things.

Overall I definitely enjoyed reading this book, and I’m glad I picked it up. I don’t see this as being one that will stay in my collection or that I would read again, but it was still a worthwhile read. Also, the cover is gorgeous.

Where to Buy

You can pick up your own copy of this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore.