Real Rating: 3.9* of five

The Publisher Says: Remy Pendergast is many things: 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 lie: 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.

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Weeelll...ya see...it's like this: I ain't the one to say nice things about vampire stuff, or about throuple romances. I do not believe the first exist, or could; the second seems like a really, really, really hard way to have a relationship one wishes to keep in place on the long term.

So what the hell made you ask for this DRC, old man?, I hear you wonder.

Rin Chupeco.

The Never-Tilting World and Wicked As You Wish as well as her debut The Bone Witch are all very well-written stories with queer characters and stakes that matter, characters I cared about, and world-building I invested in. I expected this book to have those strengths...mostly did...and be even better than her seven-years-ago debut. Not so much on this one.

The problem for me is that I can't put my finger on exactly how, why, or where. The prose is fine. The story doesn't have plot holes. I knew about the vampires before I asked for the DRC. There's not a good palpable reason for me not to be warbling my fool lungs out about this book. But.

There is always a chemistry between book and reader that is never, ever the same. Authors aren't the same people from book to book. Readers aren't either. And sometimes, in any kind of relationship, two chemistries change just enough, in just the wrong direction from each other, that one is not resonating in the right way for the other to get the gleeful rush of connection.

This is what happened in my experience of this perfectly good story. ( )

A book full of promise! It gave exactly what it hinted would happen at the beginning. A twist on vampire lore. Sexy characters and steamy romance. I can't recommend this one enough! ( )

Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco is dark, complicated, and sexy, and there is so much to love within its pages. I particularly love Mx. Chupeco’s use of morally ambiguous characters to blur the lines between good and evil and human and monster. They do this with great effect, particularly around Remy’s relationship with his father. Silver Under Nightfall may be a book about vampires, but they are not the scariest monster Remy battles, making it a book with monsters that is all too realistic in its portrayal of relationships. Plus, it has excellent spicy scenes to help keep you warm as the nights grow cooler. ( )

Really good story set in Asian landscape. I think fans of Jay Kristoff's book Empire of the Vampire would enjoy this story. ( )

When I saw Silver Under Nightfall for review, I was both intrigued yet hesitant. I say this because I remember not loving Rin Chupeco’s writing style when I read The Bone Witch. So I was hesitant for this reason, especially with it being 500 pages; however, the idea of vampires, bounty hunters, and poly enemies to lovers vibes had me interested enough to try.

Silver Under Nightfall was slow in the beginning- I definitely enjoyed the last half more than the first half, where I felt there was more plot and romance development happening. I really liked the plot and world-building with the vampire and human politics, the action, and the mystery. I think some people might consider some of the plot reveals to be cliched/predictable, but I didn’t mind. The ending does leave quite a few loose ends, so I’m guessing they’ll be a sequel.

One of my main issues was the lack of dimension to the characters. I feel like we didn’t get much of Remy’s personality, just mostly his background history. We get a lot about how he’s influenced by his father and how he’s viewed as an outsider to the other reapers due to that. Other than that, he’s a bit rash and stubborn, but there wasn’t much else to his personality. There was a bit more development from him in the second half, so I was happy about that. Similarly, although Xiaodan had the most interaction with Remy, there wasn’t much to her character or backstory either. Zidan seems like such an interesting character, so I really wish we got to know more information about him and also some more interactions between him and Remy. The side characters were nice as well, and I liked their friendships with Remy.

As excited as I was for the poly romance aspect, I wasn’t really feeling it in the beginning. Maybe I overhyped it for myself, but there wasn’t much actual (romantic) chemistry between them in the beginning. There was clearly sexual interest when Remy and Xiaodan first met, so it was more of insta-lust than insta-love. Even after that, I didn’t really get the sense of romantic feelings developing. Remy and Zidan went from enemies (arguably) to acquaintances at best, if you can even say that based on their limited interactions, in the first third of the book. It wasn’t until the last third of the book that I felt some romantic chemistry developing between all three of them. I personally considered the smut to be mid-level in terms of graphicness, so not very steamy/spicey for me.

Overall, Silver Under Nightfall was a solid read. I would recommend it to people looking for a gothic fantasy with vampires, mystery, and polyamorous romance! ( )