Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Midnight Girls

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The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

8 reviews

lennie_reads's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

Thanks to Netgalley for this ARC.

I always love folklore / mythology retellings and when i found out this was also queer, i was all in.

This book is dual pov and the main characters are witch's apprentices for two out of the three witches of Lechija.

The witches are called White Yaga, Red Yaga and Black Yaga and have jurisdiction over Morning, Midday and Midnight respectively.

Each has an 'apprentice' to do their bidding and gather hearts for them to consume.

However, a rivalry that has been going on for years between Marynka (Midday's servant) and Zosia (Midnight's servant) will be put to the test when the two are once again sent out to capture a heart.

Marynka & Beata (Morning's servant) end up accidentally travelling with Zosia (as they don't know who the other is). Marynka & Zosia become very close very quickly. But their fast friendship is put to the test when their identities are revealed.

I absolutely loved Marynka and Zosia, they were both morally grey and didn't apologise for it. One wants power and one wants freedom but ultimately what they want is the same thing.

I really enjoyed the story but i felt it ended a bit abruptly and really would've liked to see more of Marynka and Zosia after the events of the book.

CW: death, blood, murder, child abuse, injury, self harm, war

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gardens_and_dragons's review

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adventurous 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

4.0

This was a nice YA fantasy! It was fast pace Polish inspired historical fantasy with monsters who fall in love with each other as they compete to consume the heart of a prince. It’s also a wlw story, which was nice to see in the YA sphere.

I think i would have liked this a bit more if I was more invested in the politics behind the scenes. It felt like it wanted to say more about the context in which these two women were in, but it was really only discussed in the last quarter of the book. Overall though, I liked the magic, the enemies to lovers trope, and strong female characters. The banter with the main characters, and the prince and the side characters was great.

I think that for a younger audience, this could be definitely a 5 star.

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pey333's review

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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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nytephoenyx's review

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dark tense medium-paced

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

3.25

I really, really wanted to like The Midnight Girls because I thought the magic/monster-driven concept at its center was wonderful. There are edges of fairytale to the story – the kind of fairytales that evoke gruesome images, not princesses and pumpkins. It’s not gory, but it is dark, and the trio of competing young women was compelling. Especially when we speak of stealing princes’s hearts… and not in the way you may think. That said, it felt Jasińska wasn’t quite sure what she wanted to do with the story at times – some scenes are powerfully written, but the threads that tie them together are loose and tangled. It didn’t quite work for me.

We have a trio of servants who work for three witches in three forests – Beata is White Jaga’s servant in the Morning Forest, Marynka is Red Jaga’s servant in the Midday Forest, and Zosia is Black Jaga’s servant in the Midnight Forest. They are tasks with stealing hearts for princes for their witches to devour to make them stronger. Almost every time, Zosia “Midnight” wins the race and Marynka “Midday” hatesit. Beata “Morning” just does her best and accepts her place. The Midnight Girls is mostly Marynka’s story of hate and love and rivalry and frustration and finally peace. Zosia’s story is woven in as well, but at the heart, it’s Marynka’s tale. It’s a love story, mostly.

There are a lot of things going on in The Midnight Girls. There’s Karnawal – a winter Carnival festival – and there’s Price Józef’s story with Kajetan. There’s a lot of working relationships that Jasińska clearly wanted to develop, and none of them got quite enough attention, not even the sapphic romance between Zosia and Marynka. For the first two-thirds, I was bored and frustrated, save for the occasional vibrant scene (the ice maze!). The last third caught my interest but it moved so quickly that as soon as things seemed to be developing… they stopped. The book ended.

That said, there’s a lovely review on Goodreads from a Polish reader commenting on the magic, Polish-coded cast, and general setting. It’s a lovely, happy, enthusiastic review and a reminder that there are so many groups underrepresented in literature still, even if they don’t seem so obvious to the casual reader. The sheer joy in this review reminds me how often only the western-most European cultures get mention. While I found the world-building a little awkward (is this real? Fantasy? Magical realism? Jasińska seems to jump but I believe it’s intended to be fantasy intertwined in the real world), it’s clear this book is not for me and it’s made another so happy.

Criticism unrelated to the book itself or the author – this title feels like it was chosen by someone who didn’t read the book. Jasińska stated online that she didn’t title the book herself, so this is not on her. To be clear, there are no “midnight girls”. There is one girl affiliated with “midnight” (Zosia) and three girls who are monsters.

The Midnight Girls is a pass from me, although there are moments and pieces I appreciated. I think that to the right reader, this will be a wonderful read and I appreciate that it exists even if I read too deeply into things like the relationships and the world building and ruined it for myself. I celebrate that this is a YA book with well-represented Polish-coded characters, queer relationships, and dark, spooky sunset magic.

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nutm3g's review

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adventurous dark funny inspiring 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

The Midnight Girls was an exciting and entertaining read, where the villains were given the chance of a romance story for once. The sapphic enemies to lovers felt fully hashed out and believable, exploring the thin line between love and hate (as well as how quickly it can shift between the two). I enjoyed that the author did not set out to write a story where they would be "redeemed" or turn good, but rather let their love and story unfold while they remained true to themselves. While set in a semi-real historical backdrop where Poland and its people grappled for freedom from their oppressors and their right to maintain their identity we see Zosia (Midnight), Marynka (Midday), and even Beata (Morning) grapple with the same ideas of freedom and identity. It was an enjoyable read, with wonderful magical world-building.

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nicolemattingly's review against another edition

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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

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allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

Sapphic rivals-to-lovers make villainy look fun in this ya fantasy standalone. Inspired by late-18th century Poland, the world is brimming with dark forests hiding heart-eating witches and towns and cities hosting a religious milieu of Christians, Jews, and Muslims. External imperial forces may vie for control of the area, but there are internal magical threats to fear, as well. Our story centers on three monsters created by the Jaga sisters in the forest. These monsters are teenage girls honed into weapons that steal princes' hearts. All flavors of heart are fair game for our predators, but the story follows them as they seek out the ultimate prize: a pure heart. Marynka and Zosia have always been rivals, but this is a competition like no other, one with higher stakes and fewer secrets between them.

It's a furious, action-packed standoff as our monsters try to outperform one another and win the prize. They are unapologetically vicious and powerful as they pass through the upper echelons of society to get close to his royal highness. The tension between the two is palpable and fraught as they come to understand one another as something other than the competition. The third monster, Beata, creates an interesting counterpoint, not caught up in the mutual frenzy.

The world-building here is decadent and festive even with the dark patina of magic and the looming imperial threats. The sapphic romance is chaotic and heartfelt, with an equally resounding mlm love story at the periphery. While the hunt for the heart is resolved by book's end, it still leaves us with a bit of an open ending regarding how these girls will move forward and stake a claim on their own future. I enjoyed the read, especially appreciating the anti-imperialist sentiment, even if our monstrous girls don't exactly take up the cause.

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foreverinastory's review

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adventurous dark 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

5.0

Thank you to Source Fire Books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I absolutely loved this one!!

The Midnight Girls is a dark Polish inspired fantasy about the apprentices of Red, White & Black Jaga. Marynka serves Red Jaga and is always put in competition with Midnight, Black Jaga's servant. She wants to prove she's worthy of being a witch and Red Jaga's approval. After losing to Midnight one too many times, Marynka is determined to take down Midnight once and for all. To do this she'll need to steal a Prince's pure heart.

I loved how monstrous this book was. The fact that the girls are magical, but also have monster forms, I loved it. I loved the rivalry between Midday (Marynka) and Midnight. I was addicted to their competition. I loved seeing the girls trying to figure out the best way to get to the prince. This is the perfect winter book and was so much fun! Cannot recommend enough.

Rep: Sapphic white Polish female MCs, sapphic female side character (lesbian coded), Jewish female side character, Muslim BIPOC male side character, Black male side character.

CWs: Animal death, blood, child abuse, domestic/emotional abuse, body horror, injury/injury detail, murder, toxic relationship (witch and Marynka), violence, death.

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