Night Study

“‘Sneaks, spies, defenders, heroes, masterminds, tenacious bastards-it doesn’t matter what you call us. We’re the ones who will do whatever it takes to stop those who believe they’re entitled to wealth and power at the expense of others.’
‘The family business,’ Yelena said, smiling. ‘I like that. Well said, Janco.’
Valek squeezed her hand in agreement. For once Janco didn’t preen.

If I could only point out one thing about this entire series, it would be the character’s relationships with each other:

Yelena and Valek’s quiet, romantic relationship.
Janco and Ari’s amazing bromace.
Ari and Janco’s loyalty and friendship with Valek.
Valek’s loyalty to the Commander.
Yelena’s relationship with Lief, even though show more they didn’t grow up together.
Fisk and the ‘little brother’ vibe he has with Yelena.
And then squishing them all together.

For me the secondary characters livened up the first series (Study) to a point in which now Ari and Janco have become just as important as Valek and Yelena. They are fiercely protective, yet they know Yelena can handle herself. I wouldn’t mind a run off series including the (mis)adventures of Ari and Janco.

Valek and Yelena are not ones to rush into anything. Readers understand that from the years of separation endured while Valek works for the Commander and Yelena works as the liaison. In Night Study, however, you get to see different sides of both of the characters. Sure, we’ve seen glimpses of a panicked Valek and an overwhelmed Yelena, but for once we get to openly see behind the stoic assassin without the prying of his heart-mate and a Yelena who is having to learn to accept others for support and not work through things on her own.

The plot itself is full of twists and mind boggling counter twists. With rogue magicians creating an army against Ixia, it’s hard for our crew to distinguish between who’s a friend and who’s a foe; which are being controlled and which are willingly members of the cartel. That, combined with the Commander becoming extra mysterious and strict with Valek sets off sparks and tension between the counties that have already been near war for years.

Overall, Night Study left the reader with more questions then answers, which leaves Dawn Study with even more pressure and anticipation. Start the series, meet the characters, fall in love, grab the complimentary tissues and lock picks on your way in. show less

After Shadow Study ended in a cliffhanger, I’ve been patiently waiting for Night Study, the second installment in the Soulfinders trilogy, the fifth in the Study series, and the eighth in The Chronicles of Ixia series. And after a year of not-so-patiently waiting for Night Study, I was not disappointed in this fantastic sequel!

Night Study begins right after Yelena’s cliffhanger of a statement in Shadow Study – and thank god it did. I don’t think I could have handled not hearing Valek’s response to Yelena. But back to the meat of the story. Yelena and Valek, along with Devlin, Leif, Ari, Janco and assassin-in-training Onora, continue the hunt for rogue magician Owen Moon. Their path leads them all over Ixia and Sitia, where the show more uncover conspiracies, experience personal upheaval and bear witness to the escalating tension between the two countries. Night Study has plenty of action and excitement, along with fantastic character and plot development.

Plot wise, Night Study expands the story on a much larger scale than Shadow Study. A lot of things are happening at the same time and thanks to Snyder’s employ of multiple POV’s, we are able to experience everything without creating unnecessary moments that take away from crucial developments. There is also a lot of character development, particularly concerning Valek (!!). I loved getting to see more of him in this book and I expect Dawn Study will have a few more secrets to share. Also this book had more Janco, who I adore for his ability to make me laugh out loud. Relationships in this book were also put through the ringer – Valek and the Commander was a particularly interesting one to witness. I won’t spoil too much here, but I’m really looking forward to see how this all plays out in Dawn Study. What I loved about all this development was the characters really beginning to question their alliances, learn more about themselves, their true abilities, and their pasts.
Snyder’s writing is easy to follow, even as she switches POV’s between characters. She manages to create vivid settings and situations without weighing down the reader with longwinded over-descriptions that would slow the action down.

Night Study is a great reads for fans of Snyder’s series like myself. I am looking forward to and also slightly dreading the conclusion in Dawn Study!

Review is also heret show less

This is the 2nd book in the Soulfinders series and the 5th book in the Study series by Snyder. The third (and final) book in the Soulfinders series will be titled, Dawn Study, and is scheduled to release in 2017. This was a decent continuation of the Soulfinders series. I really enjoyed Valek's parts of the story but some parts of the story were pretty boring and pacing was a bit slow.

Yelena still does not have any magic but the plot surrounding Owen Moon and a group called the Cartel thickens. Valek is determined to protect Yelena from Owen but the Commander is starting to doubt Valek’s loyalty to him. Yelena and Valek are struggling to figure out what Owen, the Cartel, and the Commander are up to before it is too late and war breaks show more out between their two home countries.

This book was a mixed bag for me. The story is told from Yelena, Leif, and Valek’s points of view. I have never liked Yelena as a character and my dislike for her continues. She continues to make life difficult for those around her by being rash and inconsiderate and honestly her portions of the story were a drag for me.

I have always been fairly ambivalent about Leif, so his portions of the story were okay but not all that engaging. Valek’s portions of the story were the most interesting; I have always thought he is the most intriguing character in this series. However even Valek comes off as a bit overprotective and alpha-male at points in this story (although you can’t really blame him, Yelena has absolutely no sense of self preservation).

The plot is generally boring and I didn’t really find it all that interesting. It mainly focuses around Valek and Yelena trying to figure out what this Cartel group is up to and why magicians are disappearing. Wrapped into that story is Valek’s issues with the Commander not trusting him and keeping secrets from him.

The main part of this story that really redeemed the book was finally learning more of Valek’s history and meeting his family. This portion of the story was very well done and fascinating. The whole plot behind why Valek is immune to magic is also explored and expanded on. I almost stopped reading this book a couple times, but then we got to these interesting portions about Valek and his family and I was hooked.

Overall this was a decent continuation of this series. I thought the plot was a bit boring and the pacing a bit inconsistent. I continue to dislike Yelena as a character and feel like the whole story would be better off without her. However Valek is an awesome character and I really loved the background about his immunity to magic and meeting his family. Having this towards the end of the book engaged me in the story and made me curious to see how this all plays out in the next book of the series. I don’t think this is a great fantasy book, but I would recommend if you are a huge fan of the Study series..or of Valek like me :-) show less

Of all of the series that Mrs. Snyder has written, the Study books have still been my favorite. I read the first book in this series, Soulfinders which is kind of an extension of the Study books. It was Shadow Study. The book was fine but I was a little disappointed when I read it as I wanted and should have liked it more than I did. However this book made up for my disappointment. It does pick up where Shadow Study leaves off so if you are just starting this series, you will want to start with the first book. I felt all of the rich history involving Yelena and her lover, Valek in this book. They are my favorite couple in all of Mrs. Snyder's books. They were meant for each other. It is even more evident in this book with the happy news show more surrounding their relationship. I can't wait to see where it blossoms from in the next book.

The battle involving Yelena and Valek's enemies was great. I actually kind of did not miss the fact that Yelena was still without her healing powers in this book. Yelena was still the strong leader even without them. In fact, I thought it made her stronger. Yet, I will be glad when she does (hopefully) get her powers back. show less

The pacing was just too slow, the first half dragged so much I nearly gave up. The second half was a bit better. I liked Valeks point of view and that there was more about his background story, only reason I gave this three stars. I didn't care much for Yelena's parts; also found it really jarring that Yelena's chapters were written in the first person, when the others were third pov.

What really started to bother me was the romance, it's just getting too sappy. The proposal was ridiculous and is it necessary to mention the damn baby every three pages? I get it, she's pregnant, can we please get on with the plot?

I thoroughly enjoy this series. Snyder constantly pulls on your heartstrings and keeps you wanting more. I couldn't stop reading! I love reading about Yelena and Valek, Ari and Janco and Leif. It was so good to be back in their world. I really enjoyed the plot of this and so many questions were answered but I now have a million more! I loved seeing a new side to Valek, and the new development is crazy. I can't wait to see where the next book takes us.

I really enjoyed the character development in this book. I am constantly surprised and impressed with how much these characters continue to grow and mature with each instalment. They become stronger in so many ways and also learn about their flaws - these characters may seem perfect, but show more they make mistakes too.

There isn't much more world building to add to this story, but we visited more places and got to know more about how things work. It wasn't spectacular but this is an already established world.

I quite enjoyed the plot of this book as well - let's face it, I liked everything, whether or not it was that good or not. It was a bit slow at times but it definitely kept me captivated. The twists and turns were great and we were introduced to a new character who has become a thorn in Yelena and Valek's sides.

My love for this series continues :) and I cannot wait for the next book! show less

For me, this one was slow to start. I wasn't as gung-ho about picking it up as I was the previous one. The action didn't get really good until about the last 100-150 pages. That's not saying that the book was bad or anything, because it wasn't, it was just more of a slow burn up to all the climactic action at the end. There isn't really much else to say. Don't start the series here, and if you've read the rest of the series, then you know what to expect. There were some character developments that you may not see coming, and some twisty turns like in every Study book.

All in all, a good addition to the series. Read the entire series...and spinoff series...and just anything by Maria V. Snyder. There's not much else to say.