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pixiepages's review against another edition
4.0
It took me a while to get into this book but once I was in.. I WAS HOOKED. Nirrim is an orphan raised by “Raven” who she loves and adores. She thinks she is the best “mom” she can have but is she really? Nirrim one day runs into this traveler Sid and needs to make a decision if she should go with her and abandon her old life. For some reason Nirrim has such a strong connection to her it's like she almost can’t say no. I need the second book now! I need to know what happens. This was a great LGBTQ romantic fantasy.
mellomorissa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.75
lalexvp's review against another edition
3.0
I am so disappointed. This book sounded so awesome but it’s characters and plot were extremely dull. I feel like it was heading in the direction of an immensely dystopic coming of age story where adulthood sheds light on all of the bullshit of being gaslighted through youth, but then it just... didn’t. And it seems like there might be a sequel but I’m not interested if there is one.
books4susie's review against another edition
4.0
A midnight lie, “A kind of lie I told for someone else's sake, a lie that sits between goodness and wrong, just as midnight is the moment between night and morning. Or a lie that is not technically false, like a misleading truth.” (pg. 22)
To me, this fantasy read almost like a mystery instead. Who is Nirrim? What are her mysterious powers? Where did they come from? Why is Raven so protective and controlling? And who is Sid? The whole book felt like a major build-up to me, but the last 100 pages, oh wow! I definitely wasn't expecting that ending. I cannot wait to see what happens now in the second book.
To me, this fantasy read almost like a mystery instead. Who is Nirrim? What are her mysterious powers? Where did they come from? Why is Raven so protective and controlling? And who is Sid? The whole book felt like a major build-up to me, but the last 100 pages, oh wow! I definitely wasn't expecting that ending. I cannot wait to see what happens now in the second book.
rachcannoli's review against another edition
3.0
3.5/5
MIDNIGHT LIE takes place years later in the same world as Rutkoski's Winner's Trilogy. In the country of Herrath, people are separated by a hierarchical caste system where our main character, Nirrim, belongs to the lowest class, the Half Kith. Nirrim has always felt comfortable to follow along her unassuming path, helping where she can and doing her best to pay forward kindness to those wishing to escape their life, but has never wished for it herself. She's even tried to tamp down strange visions she has in hopes to blend in and appear more unobtrusive. Until one day she's arrested for a crime she did not commit and meets a mysterious traveler, Sid, that opens her eyes to paths she'd never dreamed to want and changes her life forever.
This book is VERY much a slow burn in all kinds of ways, very different from the Winner's Trilogy. While that one is subversive in how quickly things happen and change, this very much takes it time setting up the world, our characters, and the main mystery until about the last 20 or so pages when it slaps you in the face and then leaves you on a cliffhanger. I'm not really sure how I feel about it, I think most of my thoughts will have to come out in spoiler territory, but at the very least I am certainly intrigued to continue on.
I feel like this book is missing a lot of urgency and emotion, if I'm being honest. I don't need it to be constant twists and turns, but if we're doing a slow burn I wish there was far more focus on character development and relationships. The main romance feels equally rushed and shallow. I don't mind a sapphic romance, though it's not exactly my bread and butter, but I spent most of the book confused what drew the two so inexplicably to one another and then with the reveal towards the end it kind of made me dislike it more.
I'm going to reserve full judgment until after I finish the sequel as I'm hoping it expands upon this groundwork. I know Rutkoski is capable, especially of crafting an incredibly addicting and engaging love story, so I believe she can do it, I was just left a bit underwhelmed after this. Don't let it scare you, the world is very interesting and the mystery is decently done, it definitely interested me more with the ending, but prepare for a VERY slow plot structure and if that doesn't scare you, totally check it out! The sapphic romance is decent and exciting representation for those who like, just sadly fell short for me. It does have semi Winner's Trilogy spoilers, but you could definitely read this without reading that first, though it does add a little bit extra if you’re already familiar.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON
OK so when Sid was initially revealed to be a woman I was totally on board with it. Made sense as Norrim's relationship with her friend who'd passed away definitely seemed a little more than purely friends (though I wasn't 100% on that, but it def made me pause). Representation is SO important and it's super rare to see wLw romance, especially in a fantasy genre so love to see it. My issue however, is with the relationship in general. I like Sid, she's your classic roguish, womanizing idiot who's full of secrets, but has a heart of gold, and man/woman, whatever, she's hot, let's get real. I picture her very Ruby Rose in my head (but y'know with blonde hair) and people say sexuality is a spectrum because ridiculously stunning women like Ruby Rose be giving straight women bi panic all over the place. My question was, why the heck is she SO infatuated with Norrim? Their interactions in the jail felt so arbitrary and there is nothing special about them other than Norrim is so quiet, scared, and unassuming which amuses Sid. But then she's straight up obsessed with her and it transfers to Norrim too. Their relationship feels SO infatuation to me with very little that's deeper. Their deepest moments are every time they fear the other is going to abandon them, but they mostly never discuss it and just skirt around the issue or get needlessly grumpy. I get why Sid would infatuate Norrim. If she's always been pushing down the fact that she's been queer to see this incredibly cool, free woman who's so comfortable being unabashedly herself, that's very alluring and attractive to someone so sheltered. I like that she pushed Norrim and gets her to question how bullshit her life has been and to want more for herself. But again, what interests Sid? Like she's so IMMEDIATELY livid about Aden (her semi bf who projects this need to be loved and dreams of a subservient wife he can just fuck whenever he pleases onto her, he sucks too but irrelevant in this case lol) because she thinks Norrim genuinely has feelings for him, but like...so? You JUST met this girl, she means literally nothing to you. I get that maybe you're attracted to her and it's gotta be hard in a world that mostly seems to frown upon queer relationships to try and forge a bond with someone who believes it's illegal and are nervous she may not feel the same, but it's zero cause to become immediately possessive and then angry when when you believed you'd been fooled. She had to know that’s a possibility when flirting with anyone. Even worse when she tries to immediately cut and run, like Norrim is worth nothing to her if she's not a romantic possibility, which kind of epically sucks. And again, all this for what?? You don’t know her!! Why is she so special?
That was until it's revealed at the end what Norrim's power was and who she is. So throughout the book we talk about how the Half Kith, when they get in trouble, have to give some kind of penalty be it blood or worse, they're basically harvesting them at times which is horrifying. And then one High Kith drinks her blood and gets this memory vision. So at first she believes this must be something that happens from all Half Kiths, that their blood does weird shit to the higher ups and their blood is a large source of the magic, which is kind of true. But further than that, it turns out most of the Half Kith are half humans half Gods, those are the ones with magical abilities like Nirrim, and her specific power is memory. But not just the ability to show someone a memory, apparently she can enforce her own will on others' memories, showing them her own, or false ones or warping what they already know. Which then all of a sudden means she can be whoever people want her to be and people can project their wants and desires onto her because she is probably unconsciously influencing them, hence why she is SO beloved and popular in the Ward. Aden projected his love/obsession onto her, Raven projected her greed/desire for wealth and a higher station, and suddenly explained why Sid was so obsessed with her. At one point she says there's something about Nirrim that makes her so different and she says 'I just can't stop looking at you' and how she's never been a conquest or she's always meant more. At first I thought this was just some lazy, YA romance bullshit. Like Twilight or something where Bella is sooooo special because Edward can't hear her thoughts, but she's really the most average teen on the planet who’s apparently the only pretty girl in Forks, and it seemed the same for Nirrim. But now I'm like, has she been influencing Sid to love her? Are her feelings even real? Nirrim MULTIPLE times wishes and prays and hopes that Sid feels as strongly for her as she does and that she'd want her and want to be with her or that she was special and Sid basically reciprocates all these feelings and then some. And at first I just thought it was kind of rushed, because despite how much time these two spend together they rarely bond or grow, they're just kind of moving from one task to the next and Nirrim just relentlessly thirsts over Sid for no reason other than she's super hot, freely sexual, and different to anyone she’s known. But then if I'm correct and Nirrim has projected her love onto Sid and used her memory god powers to influence her, it makes this entire romance seem SUPER icky and gross and manipulative. NOW if that's the twist of this story following Nirrim’s villain arc that she’s on, that'd be kind of hardcore badass NGL. But I don't think it's the case, and I can't help but have this thought in my head and it lines up so well with what happens. Like when Sid confessed she loved her I straight thought, why? I don't think you really do, it’s far too quick and I’ve seen no moment to prove you’re actually in love. But if it’s all a lie and thrust upon her because Nirrim brainwashed her…damn. But then if I'm supposed to root for their relationship, which I wasn't really, but if they developed it I had the potential to, now I'm just kind of uncomfortable about it. It's just a theory, but a discomfiting one NGL.
Sid eventually leaves after Roshar finds her and we find out who she truly is. WINNERS TRILOGY SPOILERS FROM HERE ON!!!!! So when she mentioned she worked for the queen I assumed that was Kestral because I assumed there was a time jump but it had been so long since I'd last read that I couldn't tell you the name of that land if you paid me. But then when she talked about how the king and queen were a big deal as they were a marriage from two different worlds of people, I was like oh yeah that's my babies Arin and Kestral. I then had a STRONG suspicion that she was their daughter as it seemed too convenient that she simply 'worked for' the queen but still carried herself like she was high born. Made even clearer to me when she had the memory off of Nirrim's blood and mentioned how her mother had beautiful blonde hair like hers, only longer, and that she loved her so much but they didn't have that relationship anymore. And then even more so when she mentioned how her mother was so sad when she learned that she was queer, but not because she didn't support her only because she was their hope of a 'future' and how they wished she'd marry a man to have a family. If that doesn't scream I'M ROYAL AND MY PARENTS JUST WANT TO CONTINUE THE BLOOD LINE, idk what else does lol. Girls got the charm and stubbornness of her mom and alluring wit, but obnoxious pride of her dad. And even sweeter because I feel like Sid plays piano at some point or makes mention of it, just like her sweet papa's beautiful music skills and what made her parents fall in love. It does deeply sadden me that her parents seem unsupportive of her sexual preferences, but I get they’re scared for their future n if she’s their only child n refuses to continue the blood line, that’s fair. It's also clear she's in her rebellious era as she's straight up running from all responsibility until Nirrim threw her for a loop and kept her here longer than she ever wanted to and allowing her to be caught by Roshar. First off, hello my sweet Roshar, so happy to see you again!! He's the sweet, BA scarred queer angel from Winner's and I adore that he's still so close with Kestral/Arin, also that his tiger is what gave Sid the scar on her hand, amazing. But apparently Kestral is super sick and dying (to my HEARTBREAK) and Sid has to go back to be with her. So for one, thank GOD she was held up because how else would she have ever found out this truth?? I don't think she would've and if her mom were to die while Sid was just off being a rebellious asshole, that's so epically fucked. Nirrim had gotten that fortune halfway through that said Sid would leave her, as she always feared, but she asks her to come and she says no. I kind of get why she does because she believes she'll have no use there and still thinks there's more to do here, but if she loves Sid as desperately as she claims, I cannot imagine why she wouldn't go with her simply to support her in her time of need and that's again why I just don't believe their relationship. I get it's happening for dramatic purposes, but again Nirrim muses on how easy it would be to force her memory magic on Sid and make her either forget about her mother entirely or force her to stay her and wonders if that's kinder which is so scary. She THANK GOD shies away from that and is rightfully horrified she'd even consider such a thing, but again truly makes me wonder how powerful she is and if she's capable of unconsciously influencing Sid the entire time to do as she pleases. Just gives me major ick, so I'm happy Sid got to go back to to them and away from this romance even if it leaves them both upset.
Also side note there's a subplot in the beginning of Raven, the women who owns the inn/tavern that Nirrim works who commissions her to make these fake passports using her memory powers and is kind of a surrogate mother. But it's SUPER clear she's bad news from the moment she comes home from jail and Raven literally scars her by smacking her in the face with a lantern because she thinks she lost one of her passport pictures that could implicate her in these illegal actions before she's even concerned if Nirrim were ok. And then EVERYONE, literally everyone, even assholes like Aden, are like do NOT trust Raven, she's just using you and she's a terrible person. And she consistently doesn't believe it despite the myriad of proof and examples until she sees for herself Raven has her own middle class house with a servant in secret while she pretends to be Half Kith to take advantage of them and uses Nirrim for her gifts. And then the big 'reveal' is that Nirrim's mother is Raven’s sister and she died giving birth to her and Raven promised to take care of her, but then straight up didn't lol. She dumped her at an orphanage until she heard she had abilities and could be useful and then fetched her, but as an employer, not at all as her family. She's a fucked up psycho but also turned out to be extremely irrelevant that doesn't really add much to the plot in the long run for what a big reveal it seemed to think it was other than adding to Nirrim's trust issues and that she's never truly known what love is other than obsession. Though news flash...you still don't really know what love is lol.
Now we're left with the twist of Nirrim embracing her god-ness and having given up her heart to the Lord Protector, who's actually the God of Thieves, so she feels no emotions and no love. Now she's woken up the Half Kith to the truth of Gods and their magic, walking around with the Elysium bird just on her shoulder, and has decided she's their Queen LOL. Can't say I expected this was where we'd leave off, but here we are! Because the ending is so insane I'm certainly interested to continue on, but I think it's more from sheer curiosity than because I actually like the story or characters, if that makes sense. Honestly if this book REALLY wanted to be cool, and cleverly play off of my affection for the Winner's Trilogy, Sid should be the protagonist of the next book. She's SO much more interesting and especially if Nirrim's going to continue to be an emotionless God Queen, she won't be an interesting narrator and I'd much rather experience things through Sid. Maybe I’d get the chance to truly fall in love with her and see what the heck she likes so much about Nirrim, maybe she'll convince me she hasn't been brainwashed to love her lol. And then we can check back in on our Winner's characters and later experience through Sid’s eyes out what's happened to Nirrim since she left and trying to save her from herself and get her heart back, that would be quite interesting, but who knows? I'm interested to see how the entire plot sits with me after completing the duology, but right now I'm really only left with an intrigued, but half hearted investment.
MIDNIGHT LIE takes place years later in the same world as Rutkoski's Winner's Trilogy. In the country of Herrath, people are separated by a hierarchical caste system where our main character, Nirrim, belongs to the lowest class, the Half Kith. Nirrim has always felt comfortable to follow along her unassuming path, helping where she can and doing her best to pay forward kindness to those wishing to escape their life, but has never wished for it herself. She's even tried to tamp down strange visions she has in hopes to blend in and appear more unobtrusive. Until one day she's arrested for a crime she did not commit and meets a mysterious traveler, Sid, that opens her eyes to paths she'd never dreamed to want and changes her life forever.
This book is VERY much a slow burn in all kinds of ways, very different from the Winner's Trilogy. While that one is subversive in how quickly things happen and change, this very much takes it time setting up the world, our characters, and the main mystery until about the last 20 or so pages when it slaps you in the face and then leaves you on a cliffhanger. I'm not really sure how I feel about it, I think most of my thoughts will have to come out in spoiler territory, but at the very least I am certainly intrigued to continue on.
I feel like this book is missing a lot of urgency and emotion, if I'm being honest. I don't need it to be constant twists and turns, but if we're doing a slow burn I wish there was far more focus on character development and relationships. The main romance feels equally rushed and shallow. I don't mind a sapphic romance, though it's not exactly my bread and butter, but I spent most of the book confused what drew the two so inexplicably to one another and then with the reveal towards the end it kind of made me dislike it more.
I'm going to reserve full judgment until after I finish the sequel as I'm hoping it expands upon this groundwork. I know Rutkoski is capable, especially of crafting an incredibly addicting and engaging love story, so I believe she can do it, I was just left a bit underwhelmed after this. Don't let it scare you, the world is very interesting and the mystery is decently done, it definitely interested me more with the ending, but prepare for a VERY slow plot structure and if that doesn't scare you, totally check it out! The sapphic romance is decent and exciting representation for those who like, just sadly fell short for me. It does have semi Winner's Trilogy spoilers, but you could definitely read this without reading that first, though it does add a little bit extra if you’re already familiar.
SPOILERS FROM HERE ON
OK so when Sid was initially revealed to be a woman I was totally on board with it. Made sense as Norrim's relationship with her friend who'd passed away definitely seemed a little more than purely friends (though I wasn't 100% on that, but it def made me pause). Representation is SO important and it's super rare to see wLw romance, especially in a fantasy genre so love to see it. My issue however, is with the relationship in general. I like Sid, she's your classic roguish, womanizing idiot who's full of secrets, but has a heart of gold, and man/woman, whatever, she's hot, let's get real. I picture her very Ruby Rose in my head (but y'know with blonde hair) and people say sexuality is a spectrum because ridiculously stunning women like Ruby Rose be giving straight women bi panic all over the place. My question was, why the heck is she SO infatuated with Norrim? Their interactions in the jail felt so arbitrary and there is nothing special about them other than Norrim is so quiet, scared, and unassuming which amuses Sid. But then she's straight up obsessed with her and it transfers to Norrim too. Their relationship feels SO infatuation to me with very little that's deeper. Their deepest moments are every time they fear the other is going to abandon them, but they mostly never discuss it and just skirt around the issue or get needlessly grumpy. I get why Sid would infatuate Norrim. If she's always been pushing down the fact that she's been queer to see this incredibly cool, free woman who's so comfortable being unabashedly herself, that's very alluring and attractive to someone so sheltered. I like that she pushed Norrim and gets her to question how bullshit her life has been and to want more for herself. But again, what interests Sid? Like she's so IMMEDIATELY livid about Aden (her semi bf who projects this need to be loved and dreams of a subservient wife he can just fuck whenever he pleases onto her, he sucks too but irrelevant in this case lol) because she thinks Norrim genuinely has feelings for him, but like...so? You JUST met this girl, she means literally nothing to you. I get that maybe you're attracted to her and it's gotta be hard in a world that mostly seems to frown upon queer relationships to try and forge a bond with someone who believes it's illegal and are nervous she may not feel the same, but it's zero cause to become immediately possessive and then angry when when you believed you'd been fooled. She had to know that’s a possibility when flirting with anyone. Even worse when she tries to immediately cut and run, like Norrim is worth nothing to her if she's not a romantic possibility, which kind of epically sucks. And again, all this for what?? You don’t know her!! Why is she so special?
That was until it's revealed at the end what Norrim's power was and who she is. So throughout the book we talk about how the Half Kith, when they get in trouble, have to give some kind of penalty be it blood or worse, they're basically harvesting them at times which is horrifying. And then one High Kith drinks her blood and gets this memory vision. So at first she believes this must be something that happens from all Half Kiths, that their blood does weird shit to the higher ups and their blood is a large source of the magic, which is kind of true. But further than that, it turns out most of the Half Kith are half humans half Gods, those are the ones with magical abilities like Nirrim, and her specific power is memory. But not just the ability to show someone a memory, apparently she can enforce her own will on others' memories, showing them her own, or false ones or warping what they already know. Which then all of a sudden means she can be whoever people want her to be and people can project their wants and desires onto her because she is probably unconsciously influencing them, hence why she is SO beloved and popular in the Ward. Aden projected his love/obsession onto her, Raven projected her greed/desire for wealth and a higher station, and suddenly explained why Sid was so obsessed with her. At one point she says there's something about Nirrim that makes her so different and she says 'I just can't stop looking at you' and how she's never been a conquest or she's always meant more. At first I thought this was just some lazy, YA romance bullshit. Like Twilight or something where Bella is sooooo special because Edward can't hear her thoughts, but she's really the most average teen on the planet who’s apparently the only pretty girl in Forks, and it seemed the same for Nirrim. But now I'm like, has she been influencing Sid to love her? Are her feelings even real? Nirrim MULTIPLE times wishes and prays and hopes that Sid feels as strongly for her as she does and that she'd want her and want to be with her or that she was special and Sid basically reciprocates all these feelings and then some. And at first I just thought it was kind of rushed, because despite how much time these two spend together they rarely bond or grow, they're just kind of moving from one task to the next and Nirrim just relentlessly thirsts over Sid for no reason other than she's super hot, freely sexual, and different to anyone she’s known. But then if I'm correct and Nirrim has projected her love onto Sid and used her memory god powers to influence her, it makes this entire romance seem SUPER icky and gross and manipulative. NOW if that's the twist of this story following Nirrim’s villain arc that she’s on, that'd be kind of hardcore badass NGL. But I don't think it's the case, and I can't help but have this thought in my head and it lines up so well with what happens. Like when Sid confessed she loved her I straight thought, why? I don't think you really do, it’s far too quick and I’ve seen no moment to prove you’re actually in love. But if it’s all a lie and thrust upon her because Nirrim brainwashed her…damn. But then if I'm supposed to root for their relationship, which I wasn't really, but if they developed it I had the potential to, now I'm just kind of uncomfortable about it. It's just a theory, but a discomfiting one NGL.
Sid eventually leaves after Roshar finds her and we find out who she truly is. WINNERS TRILOGY SPOILERS FROM HERE ON!!!!! So when she mentioned she worked for the queen I assumed that was Kestral because I assumed there was a time jump but it had been so long since I'd last read that I couldn't tell you the name of that land if you paid me. But then when she talked about how the king and queen were a big deal as they were a marriage from two different worlds of people, I was like oh yeah that's my babies Arin and Kestral. I then had a STRONG suspicion that she was their daughter as it seemed too convenient that she simply 'worked for' the queen but still carried herself like she was high born. Made even clearer to me when she had the memory off of Nirrim's blood and mentioned how her mother had beautiful blonde hair like hers, only longer, and that she loved her so much but they didn't have that relationship anymore. And then even more so when she mentioned how her mother was so sad when she learned that she was queer, but not because she didn't support her only because she was their hope of a 'future' and how they wished she'd marry a man to have a family. If that doesn't scream I'M ROYAL AND MY PARENTS JUST WANT TO CONTINUE THE BLOOD LINE, idk what else does lol. Girls got the charm and stubbornness of her mom and alluring wit, but obnoxious pride of her dad. And even sweeter because I feel like Sid plays piano at some point or makes mention of it, just like her sweet papa's beautiful music skills and what made her parents fall in love. It does deeply sadden me that her parents seem unsupportive of her sexual preferences, but I get they’re scared for their future n if she’s their only child n refuses to continue the blood line, that’s fair. It's also clear she's in her rebellious era as she's straight up running from all responsibility until Nirrim threw her for a loop and kept her here longer than she ever wanted to and allowing her to be caught by Roshar. First off, hello my sweet Roshar, so happy to see you again!! He's the sweet, BA scarred queer angel from Winner's and I adore that he's still so close with Kestral/Arin, also that his tiger is what gave Sid the scar on her hand, amazing. But apparently Kestral is super sick and dying (to my HEARTBREAK) and Sid has to go back to be with her. So for one, thank GOD she was held up because how else would she have ever found out this truth?? I don't think she would've and if her mom were to die while Sid was just off being a rebellious asshole, that's so epically fucked. Nirrim had gotten that fortune halfway through that said Sid would leave her, as she always feared, but she asks her to come and she says no. I kind of get why she does because she believes she'll have no use there and still thinks there's more to do here, but if she loves Sid as desperately as she claims, I cannot imagine why she wouldn't go with her simply to support her in her time of need and that's again why I just don't believe their relationship. I get it's happening for dramatic purposes, but again Nirrim muses on how easy it would be to force her memory magic on Sid and make her either forget about her mother entirely or force her to stay her and wonders if that's kinder which is so scary. She THANK GOD shies away from that and is rightfully horrified she'd even consider such a thing, but again truly makes me wonder how powerful she is and if she's capable of unconsciously influencing Sid the entire time to do as she pleases. Just gives me major ick, so I'm happy Sid got to go back to to them and away from this romance even if it leaves them both upset.
Also side note there's a subplot in the beginning of Raven, the women who owns the inn/tavern that Nirrim works who commissions her to make these fake passports using her memory powers and is kind of a surrogate mother. But it's SUPER clear she's bad news from the moment she comes home from jail and Raven literally scars her by smacking her in the face with a lantern because she thinks she lost one of her passport pictures that could implicate her in these illegal actions before she's even concerned if Nirrim were ok. And then EVERYONE, literally everyone, even assholes like Aden, are like do NOT trust Raven, she's just using you and she's a terrible person. And she consistently doesn't believe it despite the myriad of proof and examples until she sees for herself Raven has her own middle class house with a servant in secret while she pretends to be Half Kith to take advantage of them and uses Nirrim for her gifts. And then the big 'reveal' is that Nirrim's mother is Raven’s sister and she died giving birth to her and Raven promised to take care of her, but then straight up didn't lol. She dumped her at an orphanage until she heard she had abilities and could be useful and then fetched her, but as an employer, not at all as her family. She's a fucked up psycho but also turned out to be extremely irrelevant that doesn't really add much to the plot in the long run for what a big reveal it seemed to think it was other than adding to Nirrim's trust issues and that she's never truly known what love is other than obsession. Though news flash...you still don't really know what love is lol.
Now we're left with the twist of Nirrim embracing her god-ness and having given up her heart to the Lord Protector, who's actually the God of Thieves, so she feels no emotions and no love. Now she's woken up the Half Kith to the truth of Gods and their magic, walking around with the Elysium bird just on her shoulder, and has decided she's their Queen LOL. Can't say I expected this was where we'd leave off, but here we are! Because the ending is so insane I'm certainly interested to continue on, but I think it's more from sheer curiosity than because I actually like the story or characters, if that makes sense. Honestly if this book REALLY wanted to be cool, and cleverly play off of my affection for the Winner's Trilogy, Sid should be the protagonist of the next book. She's SO much more interesting and especially if Nirrim's going to continue to be an emotionless God Queen, she won't be an interesting narrator and I'd much rather experience things through Sid. Maybe I’d get the chance to truly fall in love with her and see what the heck she likes so much about Nirrim, maybe she'll convince me she hasn't been brainwashed to love her lol. And then we can check back in on our Winner's characters and later experience through Sid’s eyes out what's happened to Nirrim since she left and trying to save her from herself and get her heart back, that would be quite interesting, but who knows? I'm interested to see how the entire plot sits with me after completing the duology, but right now I'm really only left with an intrigued, but half hearted investment.
shubunkin_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
theverysleepygirl's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I loved this book. It is decidedly a 4.5 star read, so now, my only conflict is on whether I should round it up or round it down.
My only issue was the pacing, especially around the end, which felt a little stilted, but was too invested in the story to let it ruin things.
Also, I love Sid.
My only issue was the pacing, especially around the end, which felt a little stilted, but was too invested in the story to let it ruin things.
Also, I love Sid.
lesty_gibbs's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Reread this bc I loved it when I read it back in the day and I've fallen into a slump where I'm just dnf-ing a lot of books I really wanted to enjoy. I found this just as enjoyable the first time round - it held up <3
artimas's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
cassiehelfer's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This was super cute. YA magic but with a darker undertone and a really cute gay loge story. The writing was def poetic and created a beautiful little island world. Idk how to describe other than it felt like a really cozy magical window seat read.
The love story! I have a low threshold for cringe with YA romance but it was honestly so cute. I thought the girl discovering her sexuality was actually written in a way that resonated - confused at the spark of interest and then trying to be open to watching it develop. Sid is badass energy and I love them together.
Overall lovely little YA magical romance:)
The love story! I have a low threshold for cringe with YA romance but it was honestly so cute. I thought the girl discovering her sexuality was actually written in a way that resonated - confused at the spark of interest and then trying to be open to watching it develop. Sid is badass energy and I love them together.
Overall lovely little YA magical romance:)