Reviews with content warning for Violence - The Midnight Girls

Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

25 reviews

fanboyriot's review

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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ramunepocky's review

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adventurous 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

4.5

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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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cateemma's review

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adventurous dark inspiring mysterious 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

4.0

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luckykosmos's review

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emotional reflective

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

Adored this, and it centers Jasinska as one to watch. The dynamic between Marynka, Zosia, and Beata was delightful, and the parallel between Marynka/Zosia and Jozef/Kajetan added extra depth to all involved. On a personal note, I loved seeing a Polish-centered Slav fantasy that also acknowledged the diversity of Poland at the time - Selim's Muslim representation was a pleasant surprise, even if his role was slight.

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sop17hie's review

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

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halfelfschollar's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Exceptional. That is the only word I can think of to describe this book. The story is well paced, making for an easy read that can be binged in a day or read over a number of weeks if the reader choses.

All the characters in this story felt alive and relatable. I can't think of one character that I did not like in some way and found aspects of their personality or story that related to my personal experiences. Whether that be Marynka's desire to prove herself or Zosia's hesitance to let herself be close to others. Even characters who did not get a point of view felt realistic and relatable.

The romance in this book had me grinning so hard! If you're a fan or rivals/enemies to lovers definitely pick this up.

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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

Content Warnings

abbyschalupa's review

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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

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