Review of The Noble and the Nightingale by Barbara Ann Wright
This was a ton of fun. While I’m a Wright fan, I went into this book with my expectations lowered a bit. I noticed that some of the reviews were a bit mixed and for some reason, the cover bothered me. I can’t even tell you why I just don’t care for it. I don’t know if it is because I approached this book with lower expectations or what, but I had so much fun with it. Does it have some issues? Yes. But most of them had little effect on me and I just really enjoyed this.
This is definitely what I would call lighter fantasy. It still has some decent world-building, but it is not heavy and I think it is very approachable for all types of readers. In fact, this is the kind of book I would recommend to people who want to try some fantasy but are a little worried, or people that need to read a fantasy book for a reading challenge. This is not a fantasy book that I loved, but I think anyone could pick it up and easily read it. I think this kind of gateway fantasy book is really important to have.
The other part that I enjoyed about this is that it is a murder mystery and an intrigue book. While I do wish the mystery part lasted longer, we find out the killer too soon, but I still loved all the intrigue parts. I ended up reading this book until 3 am because I had to know how everything would unfold and what would happen to all the characters.
There is a pretty good-sized romance included in this considering this is also a fantasy and intrigue book. I liked the characters as a potential couple and I thought that they had some good sexual tension and chemistry together. The problem is that the romance is very insta-lovey. That was a bummer because had it went at a slower pace, I think I could have loved this book instead of really liking it. However, it did not ruin the whole romance for me, and it actually bothered me less than usual. Had this been just a romance story and not a fantasy/intrigue story it would have bothered me more.
One of the main characters has two sisters. While this was her love and work story, the other two sisters had a good size role. One sister is in the military and the other is a mage (meaning a magic castor) and they still have their stories to come since this is going to be a series. I’m actually pretty excited since I liked all three sisters and enjoyed their family dynamic. All of the sisters were completely different so I can’t wait to see just what their stories will be. Hopefully, Wright can get away from insta-love, for the sister’s stories, because this series could be really good.
In the end, I would recommend this to people looking for a lighter fantasy book. If you are an intrigue fan, even if you are not a big fantasy fan, I think you would enjoy this one. This is the kind of story to take you on an adventure and just have fun with. Not only could I not stop reading this book, but it put a big smile on my face. I’m a happy reader. 4 stars
A copy was given to me for a review.
