Night Rainbow by V. D. Taylor
🌈 Night Rainbow by V.D. Taylor — ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (5/5 Stars)
Indie fantasy that absolutely did not have to go this hard… but did.
⚠️ FULL SPOILERS AHEAD — YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED ⚠️
(Seriously. I’m about to ruin everything. Proceed accordingly.)
🧷 Trigger Warnings
Demonic contracts / loss of soul
Murder & serial killer themes
Stalking / psychological manipulation
Violence (including stabbing)
Fatalism / loss of autonomy
Existential dread (the quiet, “oh wow, life is scary” kind)
📚 About the Book
Night Rainbow is a fantasy novel by indie author V.D. Taylor, published on August 31, 2025.
And before my fellow “I’m not really a fantasy person” readers panic—same. This is not dragons-and-maps fantasy. This is philosophical, modern, quietly horrifying fantasy that sneaks up on you and then refuses to leave your brain.
😈 Premise: A Wish That Was Never Going to End Well
College student Emily Gate finds a strange black cube at an outdoor market. Naturally, she keeps it. Naturally, she reads the symbols etched into it. Naturally… she summons a demon.
Enter Emartia—a sharply dressed, unsettling demon whose name literally means “to miss the target.” He informs Emily that by summoning him, she’s entered a contract:
✔️ He grants her a wish
✔️ She sets a deadline
❌ When the wish is fulfilled, he gets her soul
Emily, believing she can outsmart fate (lol), wishes for love—specifically, mutual love between herself and a boy named Abel Green. Her plan? Avoid Abel entirely until the deadline passes.
What could possibly go wrong? 😬
🧠 The Big Themes (AKA Why This Book Messed Me Up)
This is not “just” a love story. Night Rainbow is a meditation on:
Free will vs. determinism
The illusion of control
Unintended consequences
Why shortcuts to happiness are usually traps
The prologue straight-up tells you what kind of book this is with its warning:
“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
And boy, does it mean it.
Emily’s attempts to avoid Abel don’t prevent the wish—they actively create the conditions that fulfill it. Her fear pushes her toward someone else (Michael), which leads her directly into danger… and right back into Abel’s arms.
The harder she runs, the tighter the trap snaps shut.
Chef’s kiss. (Okay, I promised not to overuse that phrase—but it applies here.)
🔍 FULL PLOT SUMMARY (Spoilers, Start to Finish)
🧩 The Summoning
Emily reads the cube’s shifting symbols aloud. Darkness fills her room. Emartia appears and explains the contract. No murder wishes. No forcing love directly. Manipulation? Oh, he’s excellent at that.
Emily negotiates terms:
Deadline: January 24 (her birthday)
She must stay in the city
Must attend university weekly
She thinks this is a game.
Emartia knows better.
🏫 College Life, Avoidance Tactics, and Red Flags Everywhere
Emily meets Abel Green during freshman orientation—instant chemistry, sharp conversations, deep connection. So naturally, she avoids him like the plague.
She takes a job at Studio Luna, only to discover Abel is the nephew of her bosses. Because of course he is.
Meanwhile, a student named Sabrina Clark is murdered. The campus grows tense. Enter Michael—quiet, unsettling, obsessed with old keys, and drawing extremely disturbing comics.
Emartia explicitly warns Emily to stay away from Michael.
Emily does not listen. Ever. 😬
🔪 The Killer Reveal
Emily steals Michael’s comic and discovers it depicts Sabrina’s murder in graphic detail—and another planned murder… hers.
Michael attacks her in an abandoned university building. He’s been planning this for months.
At the last possible second, Abel arrives, puts himself between Emily and Michael, and is stabbed protecting her.
Michael is arrested. He confesses. Abel survives—but emotionally shuts Emily out when she tries to explain anything about demons and destiny.
🎲 The Final Choice (Or the Illusion of One)
As the deadline approaches, Emartia tightens the pressure. Emily, exhausted and terrified, turns to chance. She flips coins. A hundred times. Heads = fight. Tails = surrender.
Result? 54 tails.
Emily dyes her hair blonde—her last symbolic act of autonomy—and finally meets Abel on a bridge. She tells him she loves him.
He says it back.
The cube reappears. It fractures. It glows.
Emily collapses.
🕳️ The Ending (Yes, She Loses)
Emily’s soul is taken. Her body still moves—but it isn’t hers anymore.
The final line confirms it:
“Then my body moved, but it wasn’t me controlling it.”
No loopholes.
No redemption arc.
No last-second save.
And honestly? That’s what makes this book unforgettable.
🌟 Final Thoughts
This book made me pause, reread, and think—about love, about choice, about how often we unknowingly walk straight into the very futures we’re trying to avoid.
It’s been a long time since a novel made me reflect on life this much.
⭐ 5/5 stars. Easily.
📖 If You Liked Night Rainbow, Try These
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman (lighter tone, same fate-vs-choice vibes)
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