Reviews

Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan

lsparrow's review against another edition

4.0

Like all of her books I struggle through the first 1/3 of the book - but I do it because I know that I am going to love the book by the halfway point and for the last 1/3 I will not be able to put it down. This book combines historical fiction with fantasy/fae. Mostly I found the intrigue between the characters sucked me in.

booksbyfem's review against another edition

3.25

This could have been really good. The premise was great and it had all the elements of a really good story about the Fae. It's a shame that the first third of the book was needlessly bogged down with boring introductory events. The language used was at times a bit contrived. 

syllareads's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

ellie_klemm's review

informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

3.5

plants_and_bees's review against another edition

I don't know if it was because i was listening to it while doing other things but this book was very confusing to me and i think i would maybe need to physically read it or just really sit down with this book, so maybe I'll try again in the future but not right now

blodeuedd's review against another edition

3.0

There are two courts in London, and two queens rule England. One Mortal, one Fae. I do like the Fae, and I'd loved to read even more about the different Fae and lands.

Elizabeth and Vididiana The Fae know of each other. To the rest The Fae ares stories. The tricksters, the fair ones.

Do I like Elizabeth? No, she is always so petty. Did I like Vivi? Gods no, she was one mad cow. You can see my point, things are not better in the Court of Onyx.

I need to get to the point. Lady Lune is sent to the mortal court. There she will gather information. At the same time we have Michael, new to the court and trying to get into Walsingham's good graces. And uncover who a hidden player is at court. The will obviously meet at one point, and maybe even like each other, at the end.

We have political intrigues. A spot of romance. The dangers of the fae. The dangers of a mortal court. And it makes so much sense. Of course the Fae were in the background, this works so well.

I never expected the conclusion to actually arrive in this book, which was good! But it also makes me so curious what will happen in the rest of the series.

jesassa's review against another edition

2.0

While I loved Natural History of Dragons, it took me a very long time to get into this novel. The last 70 pages or so were by far my favorite but that was only after many internal debates on whether or not to give up on it, all in spite of how much I enjoyed the writing style. I think what bothered me was the passage of time. I found myself confused and having a hard time following when actions occurred. The set up took a bit too long and the payoff wasn't big enough for me. I'm going to look for Warrior and Witch though, Natural History impressed me so much.

garrison1989's review against another edition

1.0

couldnt even finish it it was so bad. completely boring!

chaptersofjacky's review against another edition

5.0

Königin Elisabeth regiert England. Sie muss sich immer noch gegen Spanien und andere katholische Länder behaupten. Ihre Cousine Maria Stuart ist längst hingerichtet. Doch es gibt noch eine weitere Königin, eine, die in der Geschichte nie erwähnt wird: Invidiana, die Königin über das England der Feen. Ihr Reich liegt direkt unter London und von dort aus zieht sie ihre Fäden. Lady Lune, eine in Ungnade gefallene ehemalige Hofdame von Invidiana, soll ins sterbliche England und dort den Spion von Königin Elisabeth ausspionieren. Doch dabei wird ihre Loyalität auf eine harte Probe gestellt.
Wie schon bei „Lady Trents Memoiren“ ist auch dieses Cover aus dem @crosscult wieder toll! Man entdeckt viele kleine bedeutende Verzierungen. „Die Schattenkönigin“ ist nur der Beginn einer neuen Reihe von Marie Brennan. UND was das für ein Auftakt ist! Die Geschichte ist stark an den wahren historischen Ereignissen zur Zeit von Königin Elisabeth orientiert. Dazu wird noch die Geschichte der Feen gewebt. Heraus kommt eine tolle Geschichte, bei der ich nur staunen konnte, wie clever Marie Brennan Fiktion und Historie zusammengebracht hat.
Die ganze Geschichte ist keine leichte Kost, die man mal nebenher liest. Nicht, weil sie so grausam ist, sondern, weil man einfach sehr konzentriert und aufmerksam lesen muss. Dem Leser wird nicht alles haargenau erklärt. Was für mich den Einstieg erschwert hat, sind die vielen unterschiedlichen Personen, die es gibt. War ich aber einmal drin, konnte ich das Buch nicht mehr aus der Hand legen und die letzten 300 Seiten habe ich am Stück gelesen.
Die Charaktere waren so vielfältig und allesamt tragend für die Geschichte.
Ich war begeistert von der Geschichte, der Welt und ihren Charakteren. Wen es nicht abschreckt, dass man diese Geschichte nicht einfach so nebenbei weglesen kann, der findet hier eine grandiose Geschichte!
Ich freue mich sehr auf den zweiten Teil und gebe: 5/5.

willsouth's review against another edition

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5