https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/239413682-the-night-king-s-court
Book Blurb:
Caraval meets Flowerheart in this rich and immersive cozy fantasy, where dazzling magic, lush descriptions, and a sweet sapphic romance cast an irresistible spell.
Ida’s father went missing without a trace seven years ago, last seen at the court of the enigmatic Night King, which comes to life only after dark with magic and revelry.
So when a position opens up for a new court Luminaire, Ida doesn’t hesitate. She inherited her gift for enchantments from her father—and with this position, she’ll use it to find him again.
Ida is swept into the king’s collection of magical beings, those who bring light and entertainment to the Court’s midnight gatherings—and swept away by the Court, where faerie gardens edge into underwater masquerades, dreaming revels offer blissful escapes, and life is a mesmerizing euphoria.
Yet a sinister thread interrupts Ida’s nights of decadence. Memories go missing, the castle’s magic takes on a malevolence, and Ida can’t seem to leave the boundaries of the court itself.
Enlisting the help of the king’s breathtakingly beautiful daughter Lenore, Ida must unravel the castle’s secrets… before this enchanted world destroys her.
*2026 ALC Netgalley *Young Adult *Romantasy *Sapphic *Closed Door
*ALC 1/12 (Netgalley) *Unique magic system *fast friends *sweet cozy fantasy
Thoughts:
So I recently went on Netgalley and just started requesting a bunch of audio books that sounded interesting... at the time I didn't think that I would get approved for all of them and then I got approved for pretty much all of them at the same time. Knowing that I now had to get through so many ALC (along with a few others from different ALC sites I signed up for) I randomly chose this one to start with.
Ida is a young adult (not quite 20) and decides to go on a journey to find her missing father, he disappeared around 7 years earlier while working for the kingdom as the court Luminaire. Ida lives in a world where magic exists just not everyone has the ability, she inherited her father's skills and while she uses a different medium she decides to leave her family home in search of answers despite what everyone around her says she knows that her father didn't just leave their family on his own free will and she wants to get to the bottom of it!
Essentially she goes to the King after she learns that a spot has opened up and he is searching for a new Luminaire... she has the skills she has been practicing for years and what better way to get answers than to go where her father was last known to be residing when he went missing. Only once she gets there she has to audition for her job, no one has heard of or remembers her father when she brings up his name and she is told very early on to be careful who she questions and to never ask the King directly.
The narrator does a great job bringing these characters to life and I really enjoyed the world building that the author shows throughout the story it really felt like I was at the castle with Ida searching for her father. Ida shortly after arrival realizes that she is bound to the king and no longer able to freely leave it is brought up later that leaving is possible but it would come with a great loss that she's not willing to sacrifice.
Ida meets some friends along the way including Lenore (The king's daughter (not through marriage)), Vegard an Ice spirit from the north, gloam a being that was like a navigator to new arrivals and even her assigned maid. Learning Ida's quest Lenore and Vegard offer to help even at risk to their own safety while in the castle but they would like answers too they remember arriving but certain memories are gone and even though they were there at the time her father would have been neither one knows of him it's like he never existed at all.
The author does a great job keeping everything kind of eerily mysterious throughout and as the mystery unravels and Ida finds ways to help her friends regain their missing memories will they ever be the same? Sometimes lost memories should stay lost.
As far as the "romance" aspect goes it's really on the light side like barely there like a few "glances" or a brushed hand but I would say this more focused on the mystery surrounding Ida and her missing father but the story pulled me in and I wanted to know what happened to Ida's father as much as she did by the end of the story.
I think that I might have an advantage when listening to this story as I am just starting my romantasy journey so I don't have much to compare it to and might have enjoyed it more over others who have read loads of romantasy. Over all I enjoyed this story and would recommend this to those interested in Young Adult, Cozy Mysteries, Romantasy's (light on the romance) with detailed world building with unique magic systems.
Have you read/listened to this one? What did you think? Tell me in the comments!
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