Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - The Midnight Girls

A little rushed, arguably full of holes, underdeveloped across the board and sadly short on depth and nuance where it really counted, but at the same time the whole thing is entertaining and fresh enough that I found myself surprisingly unconcerned with its flaws.

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brynn_books's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The concept of this book was so intriguing. I mean, who doesn’t love sapphic villains? This book is different than anything I've ever read before. I like how the main characters were both villains and how they didn’t completely change their ways by the end of the book.

I do wish the backstories were more expanded on. I also thought the beginning felt a little weird and rushed. It was like they became friends within one chapter and then almost immediately became enemies again. It felt a little rushed. I would have loved to see more development with their friendship and then watch them become sworn enemies again.

Overall, I wish the story was fleshed out a little more. I wanted more development between the characters’ relationships and more elaboration on the magic system. But I still enjoyed it. It was very fun and very queer. I don’t think there are any plans for a sequel, but I could definitely see one happening. Especially because the ending didn’t feel completely satisfying to me. There was something missing but I don’t know what. It also felt a little rushed to me. But I would still highly recommend this book if you’re into sapphic villains!

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pey333's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

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nobeliumreads's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

In the kingdom of Lechija is a prince with a pure heart. Consuming it gives one immeasurable power. Two monstrous girls, Zosia and Marynka, are willing to do anything to get it; the former for herself, the latter for her patron. But it’s not easy trying to kill a beloved prince during the festive Karnawal season, and as their rivalry heats up, so does the danger to both of their lives.

A fun and easy book I binge read in two days. Marynka and Zosia’s rivalry, the way they got so frustrated whilst also wanting to be sabotaged by the other was so entertaining to read.

I do admit that I liked Zosia more though, because at times Marynka did frustrate me. Beata, another servant girl to the witches, though predictable, was an unexpected addition and I personally think she deserves her own story after apparently third wheeling her entire life. However, I felt like we didn’t know much about the girls other than them being monsters or servants or rivals which made me feel a bit detached from them.

The writing is fine and the worldbuilding was really interesting, maybe too interesting because it ended up making me more intrigued in what was going on in the background instead of Marynka and Zosia; the political tension in Lechija, the budding revolution, whatever was going on between Józef and Kajetan. I would honestly love a second book about Józef and Kajetan. Another thing that I wish we’d seen more of were the witches; we spend the whole book being told how powerful and terrifying they are but they weren’t as big a threat as I expected them to be.

We never even see Black Jaga and considering how she’s apparently the most powerful of the witches, I expected a terrifying confrontation between her and the girls after finding out what Zosia did.

And although this is a personal preference, I would have loved to see more of Marynka and Zosia in the ending.

Overall, I enjoyed this book but couldn’t help but wish for more whilst reading it. My own expectations definitely influenced how I felt about the book, so that’s on me but objectively I think it’s still an enjoyable sapphic rivals to lovers book!

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yvonne_cl's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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giuliaprim's review against another edition

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relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

criminally underrated

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shaipanda's review against another edition

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adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This book didn’t grab me for some reason but idk if that’s cause I genuinely didn’t enjoy it that much or because I just finished one of the best books I’ve ever read
I did love that it was gay tho cause obviously lol and I enjoyed it overall but it was still a kinda meh read for me

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fanboyriot's review against another edition

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adventurous 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

4.5

A sapphic fantasy where two women who work for witches and take hearts of princes, what more could you ask for?

Strongly recommend for anyone into more lighter fantasy books. This was really easy to read, and there was even a page telling you how their names were pronounced. It was lovely. The Polish history sprinkled in through the story was done so well and worked surprisingly well with the rest of the plot. With the romance there was such good tension between the rivals and soon blended into yearning and the realization that they might have been after each other’s heart. It was so good!!

Sapphic
Villain x Villain
Fairytale Magic
Pronunciation Guide
Angst with a Happy Ending

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