Scan barcode
A review by musical_emmy
The Midnight Star by Marie Lu
4.0
Ok wow, this entire series has been incredible, It's been so long since I've read a trilogy this good. Also there won't be any spoilers in this review.
So first of all I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5 simply because I didn't like how much time had passed between the end of The Rose Society and the beginning of this one. Having over a year pass was probably necessary to move the plot along to where it needed to be for this book not to drag but I can't help but think that the time gap made me feel detached from Adelina and the others. I found myself having to second guess what happened in the time between the two books which I wasn't a huge fan of, but that passed by the time I was about 25% into the book.
Now with that little negative out of the way, I want to focus on how much I absolutely loved this book! My favourite thing about the whole series has been that the lines between good and bad have been burred so cleverly and that I just never know how to feel about the characters. There are times when I love Adelina and times when I can't stand her, the same goes for Rafaelle and the other daggers. Each character just seems so perfectly realistic and Adelina's descent into darkness is just so gripping. I also like how complex Violetta and Adelina's relationship is underneath everything else.
And then there's Magiano... He's just so sweet and perfect. I loved how the romance between Adelina and Magiano is so subtle. It's not forced upon us which just makes it all the more effective. The few pages of them together were enough to invest me in their relationship but not so much that I was tired of the romance (like so many other YA books lately) and honestly, it just worked. Even though there wasn't much of a focus on it it seemed so important. Magiano is the small piece of light in Adelina's otherwise dark experiences.
And then the ending.... I'm so conflicted by that ending. I think it was appropriate and in a way predictable but the way it was written made it quite perfect. And those last few pages are pretty ambiguous so really, the ending could be interpreted differently by each person who reads it, which is something I love.
Just an all around amazing trilogy. If I were to ever write a book, this is the type of book I would want to write.
So first of all I gave this book 4 stars rather than 5 simply because I didn't like how much time had passed between the end of The Rose Society and the beginning of this one. Having over a year pass was probably necessary to move the plot along to where it needed to be for this book not to drag but I can't help but think that the time gap made me feel detached from Adelina and the others. I found myself having to second guess what happened in the time between the two books which I wasn't a huge fan of, but that passed by the time I was about 25% into the book.
Now with that little negative out of the way, I want to focus on how much I absolutely loved this book! My favourite thing about the whole series has been that the lines between good and bad have been burred so cleverly and that I just never know how to feel about the characters. There are times when I love Adelina and times when I can't stand her, the same goes for Rafaelle and the other daggers. Each character just seems so perfectly realistic and Adelina's descent into darkness is just so gripping. I also like how complex Violetta and Adelina's relationship is underneath everything else.
And then there's Magiano... He's just so sweet and perfect. I loved how the romance between Adelina and Magiano is so subtle. It's not forced upon us which just makes it all the more effective. The few pages of them together were enough to invest me in their relationship but not so much that I was tired of the romance (like so many other YA books lately) and honestly, it just worked. Even though there wasn't much of a focus on it it seemed so important. Magiano is the small piece of light in Adelina's otherwise dark experiences.
And then the ending.... I'm so conflicted by that ending. I think it was appropriate and in a way predictable but the way it was written made it quite perfect. And those last few pages are pretty ambiguous so really, the ending could be interpreted differently by each person who reads it, which is something I love.
Just an all around amazing trilogy. If I were to ever write a book, this is the type of book I would want to write.