• Author: Allen Houston
• ISBN: 9780615804453
• Publisher: Flycatcher Books
• Genre: Fantasy/Cozy Horror

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

While Nightfall Gardens is a very different story, many of its elements reminded me of the Chimera books by Phil Gomm, which is why I classified it as Cozy Horror.  In addition to this, one of the characters, Deiva, instantly made me think of Miss Havisham from Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations.  On top of that, the Blackwood family curse begins with the Greek myth about Pandora, and Lily Blackwood, who is primarily affected by the curse, isn’t perfect.  Her character flaws become apparent right from the start, and she makes mistakes.  She makes the kind of mistakes that almost get her killed several times.  Suffice it to say, I enjoyed this book.

My one problem with it, however, is that it just ends.  There’s no cliffhanger or any other event to make a good stopping point for the 1st book in a series.  To make it worse, the story has only just begun.  It’s really more of an introduction than anything else, and there’s still so much that is left unknown.  In other words, there’s no real resolution to anything.  Had I read this first book when it was originally published, I would have had to wait to read the 2nd book.  Chances are, I wouldn’t have bothered, because, while the story is great, I’m not invested in it yet.  I’m not left worrying about what might happen.  A cliffhanger isn’t necessary to cause that feeling, but there needs to be some kind of ending that makes me want to pick the next book up.

Luckily for me, and any of you who haven’t yet read the book, the 2nd and 3rd books are available.  We don’t have to wait.  Like a 2nd episode of a never before watched TV show on Netflix, I’ll likely read at least the 2nd book, not because it demands to be read, but because it’s available, and why not?  It has the potential to be even better than the 1st, since the story can get under way now that the introductions have been made.  I recommend giving Nightfall Gardens a chance.  It’s not a long book, and so, if you decide it’s not worth continuing, you’ve only lost a couple hours of time.  I don’t think you’ll feel that way, though.  If it weren’t for the ending, I would give the book 5 stars.