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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
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
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
A big shout-out to Edelweiss for the ARC of this book!
The Midnight Kingdom is the sequel to City of Dusk by Tara Sim. And I'll try to keep this review spoiler free.
In City of Dusk we follow the heirs of 4 different houses and their quest to gain power for each of their deities and families. However, along the way they all find out that their gods have other intentions that might not be for the better good of the realms. This leads to them trying to stop these plans from happening, and the first book ends with an unexpected and catastrophic turn of events when the veil between the spirit and physical realms is at its thinnest.
In The Midnight Kingdom we pick up where we left off, but now the heirs are each on their own - each with their own missions to accomplish to help rectify what happened. We follow each of them as they start learning more about their own powers and confront personal difficulties that have kept them from reaching their potential.
We see quite a lot of character development in this book, while each of them are now forced to deal with their gods that want more and more power. But giving in to them isn't an option.
Personally, this book was a little bit slow for me, but the last few chapters really ramped up and brought all the threads together in a great way. I'm very curious to see how the series will continue since at the end of this one everyone has sufficiently leveled up and they are all united again - with a few new characters added.
All in all, I really do love this series. It's a really good and diverse representation of magic systems and the idea that power corrupts. Looking forward to book 3!
The Midnight Kingdom is the sequel to City of Dusk by Tara Sim. And I'll try to keep this review spoiler free.
In City of Dusk we follow the heirs of 4 different houses and their quest to gain power for each of their deities and families. However, along the way they all find out that their gods have other intentions that might not be for the better good of the realms. This leads to them trying to stop these plans from happening, and the first book ends with an unexpected and catastrophic turn of events when the veil between the spirit and physical realms is at its thinnest.
In The Midnight Kingdom we pick up where we left off, but now the heirs are each on their own - each with their own missions to accomplish to help rectify what happened. We follow each of them as they start learning more about their own powers and confront personal difficulties that have kept them from reaching their potential.
We see quite a lot of character development in this book, while each of them are now forced to deal with their gods that want more and more power. But giving in to them isn't an option.
Personally, this book was a little bit slow for me, but the last few chapters really ramped up and brought all the threads together in a great way. I'm very curious to see how the series will continue since at the end of this one everyone has sufficiently leveled up and they are all united again - with a few new characters added.
All in all, I really do love this series. It's a really good and diverse representation of magic systems and the idea that power corrupts. Looking forward to book 3!
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Rating: 4.3⭐
So this is the follow-up to City of Dusk, which I really enjoyed overall. This one continues the saga of the heirs dealing with the fallout of the final events of book 1, and does so in a pretty epic fashion.
Continuing the theme of following each of the heirs POVs, we see the storylines all happening concurrently, frequently switching between chapters, with huge distances now between the characters. Lots of worldbuilding as we are taken to several very different locales and realms, as well as more information on the gods. The realms of Mortri and Noctus are particularly enthralling and very vividly portrayed.
We get plenty of character development as well as we see them process their trauma(s), both old and new. The things these characters experience are quite heinous, but seeing them deal with their internal struggles as well as the many external influences really adds huge depth to each and every character. Certain characters that I didn't care for as much in City of Dusk really won me over in this one.
Faster paced, with lots of action amongst the huge amount of plot, with the last 20-25% being a really wild ride. Never really a dull moment for any of the characters as the book shovels story at you, which really helps you stay engaged throughout. Still very heavy on the fantasy elements, with some sci-fi/space-y stuff getting introduced.
The cliffhanger wasn't quite as brutal as the one at the end of City of Dusk, but leaves you heavily wanting to see how everything plays out in the next one. I am definitely invested in this world, and can't wait to get my hands on the 3rd book!
Special thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
So this is the follow-up to City of Dusk, which I really enjoyed overall. This one continues the saga of the heirs dealing with the fallout of the final events of book 1, and does so in a pretty epic fashion.
Continuing the theme of following each of the heirs POVs, we see the storylines all happening concurrently, frequently switching between chapters, with huge distances now between the characters. Lots of worldbuilding as we are taken to several very different locales and realms, as well as more information on the gods. The realms of Mortri and Noctus are particularly enthralling and very vividly portrayed.
We get plenty of character development as well as we see them process their trauma(s), both old and new. The things these characters experience are quite heinous, but seeing them deal with their internal struggles as well as the many external influences really adds huge depth to each and every character. Certain characters that I didn't care for as much in City of Dusk really won me over in this one.
Faster paced, with lots of action amongst the huge amount of plot, with the last 20-25% being a really wild ride. Never really a dull moment for any of the characters as the book shovels story at you, which really helps you stay engaged throughout. Still very heavy on the fantasy elements, with some sci-fi/space-y stuff getting introduced.
The cliffhanger wasn't quite as brutal as the one at the end of City of Dusk, but leaves you heavily wanting to see how everything plays out in the next one. I am definitely invested in this world, and can't wait to get my hands on the 3rd book!
Special thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
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