Book Review: ‘Court of Nightmares’ by K.A. Knight

For once, TikTok did not make me read it. However, the reason ‘Court of Nightmares' was on my radar in the first place was because I've read and reviewed ‘Den of Vipers'.

You can read my full thoughts on ‘Den of Vipers’ here.

Thing is, there are so many reasons why that book is a bit of a wrong ‘un. Knight knows what she did. And usually I'm not one to be suckered into writing for shock's sake, but I'm not wholly convinced that's what is going with these books. I think Knight genuinely enjoys seeing how far the story can be pushed, and I thought we'd found the limit in ‘Den of Vipers’.

And then I tried ‘Court of Nightmares'…

Here's the summary:

“There are many things that go bump in the night, and I am one of them. As a vampyr who was born to fulfill a prophecy, my life was planned before I was created. I obeyed every rule, and I became the perfect vampyr, but one night changed everything. Rejected by the man who was destined for me, who was supposed to love me forever, I do the only thing I can, I flee… Into the night, nursing my broken heart. Being a rejected mate corrupts the soul, however, and in this game of Courts and Kings, nobody wins. Nobody except the monsters in the shadows. The monsters that save me, welcome me, and make me one of them. Welcome to the Court of Nightmares, where all your wicked dreams come true.”

So, another thing to know about Knight's work is that it is always long. Coming in at 564 pages it is one heck of a commitment, one that I wasn't sure I could stay faithful too. But I made it. I did it. And by gods I refuse to let Knight win this one. Not today, Satan!

Look, these books have their issues. The content warnings are lists not to be reckoned with (Blood, Sexual Content, Torture, Death, Body Horror, to name a few) But there is something so addictive and cloying about Knight's writing that I couldn't stop. Even at its most grim, I could not tear my eyes away from the page.

Take heed, HERE BE SPOILER WARNINGS!

Look, let's address the biggest elephant in the room, or shall I say, arachnid?

There's a serious amount of page time dedicated to spider fucking.

Yes. You heard me. This man shifts into a spider form. Hairy, multiple eyes, silk-slinging, spider. And the things he does… If you have a spider phobia, or a general ick regarding eight legged creatures then this book is not for you. Don't even go there. Don't do it. Goodbye. I'll see you at the next one. Thanks for coming.

Still here?

Gods know why.

‘Court of Nightmares' is, at its heart, a quintessential paranormal “why choose” reverse harem story. It's got all your favourite tropes from an early 00s urban fantasy, mixed in with some extreme spice, and a very basic storyline. It is what it is, and what it is a rotation of monster fucking from page to page.

Vampires. Shapeshifters (snake, lion, spider, werewolf). Ghost whisperers. Shadowcallers. Fey. Dragons. Mermaids/Sirens. You name it, this book has it. In spades. It also throws in the current penchant for different “courts” embroiled in some kind of vampiric political power play.

There's a lot of blood drinking. Mating. More blood drinking. More mating. And if being bonded to 7 hulking alpha dudes is your bag, then this book is for you.

What let me down a bit was the way the plot and the character development sometimes felt too surface level. The dialogue was sometimes clunky, or cliche, and I thought that we could have had less bonking and more focus on the imminent threat and danger. But, you know, what's a girl to do when she's worshipped by 7 primal beasts?

I kinda wished Althea, our main protagonist, wasn't so physically perfect. She's beautiful. And we are constantly reminded of that. She definitely gets pretty privilege, and where I don't always mind that in a book, I thought this was too easily won. She turned into a vampire at 16 and suddenly got hot. Like, really hot. Smoking hot. I think I just needed to see a more flawed side to her, even if it was her personality.

Overall, I liked it. Spider sexy time aside, I liked seeing Althea bond with each of her men in different ways, and where the story was a little diluted, it did have an overall arc that it sought to follow.

Is it great? No. Will I read more books in the series? Maybe. Will I read more books by this author? Absolutely.

What can I say? I'm a sucker for punishment.

Written by Sarah