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nobeliumreads's review against another edition
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.
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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!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Suicide, and War
fanboyriot's review against another edition
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
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Death
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Suicide, War, and Abandonment
nicolemattingly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.5
Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska 🎧
CW: blood, gore, violence, murder/death, parental abandonment, servitude, hint at sexual assault (doesn’t happen), brief mention of suicide, childhood trauma, abusive guardians, animal death, avalanche, torture, cannibalism
Recommended by Sammie @booksdogsandcoffee1991
I had been falling into a slump when Sammie recommended this book to me. I immediately found it on Scribd and started listening. I had liked The Dark Tide (also by Jasinska) so I was curious on this new world and wanted to be drawn in. And I was.
A sapphic, witchy YA read with an interesting comment that resembles the stepmother of Snow White. Three monster servants to three witch sisters are on a hunt for the prince’s heart but not for love.
I do feel like the friendship/flirting came up a little quick. They had traveled together for days but we only got a couple glimpses of interactions between them so we miss the bonding between them. That being said, majority is high level tension of wanting together but competing against each other and that I loved!
Tropes:
Enemies/Rivals-to-lovers
Forced proximity
Slow burn
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, Gore, Blood, Body horror, War, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment
Minor: Suicide and Sexual harassment
abbyschalupa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Violence, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Abandonment, Child abuse, and Suicide
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