An Artificial Night is an underdog story in which the protagonist confronts an almost unkillable force. Except it doesn't do that very well, since the heroine's method of dealing with problems is simply to first go to the Luidaeg for help and then charge blindly into danger - the trickery and cleverness that makes an underdog story compelling is missing.

Toby comes across as too stupid to live. She's slow to figure out a puzzle given to her at the beginning, and she consistently charges blindly into danger, which other characters accept with only token protests. This sort of behaviour is presented as laudable and heroic instead of reckless and foolish, and Toby herself suffers no consequences. This just made it hard to take the book seriously, since I never believed that Toby would lose anything of value.

In addition, I was never emotionally invested in the minor characters. As a result, revelations about minor characters are devoid of impact, and one scene in particular in which those characters save the day seemed laughable because I could barely remember who those characters were.

The series does have its pluses, though, since the worldbuilding is original for urban fantasy and the romance never takes precedence over the action. The dynamics between Toby and Tybalt are intriguing, and I enjoy reading about the Luidaeg (though I wish that she wasn't just there to provide magical goodies for Toby and that Toby would actually have to pay the consequences of bargaining with her).

I also like how Toby has a daughter and a family, which I've never seen in any other urban fantasy before. I do wish, though, that she would interact with the daughter and do more than just think about her every once in a while.