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A review by leopardsummer8
The Doors of Midnight by R.R. Virdi
4.0
Congratulations to Shola for giving me not one, but two heart attacks.
The Doors of Midnight is the epic fantasy sequel to The First Binding, and it is every bit as beautifully written...and as daunting. My copy of the e-book was 1163 pages, and each "page" was technically two e-book pages worth of swipes, making it really 2836 pages... Was it worth it though? Probably.
Once again, the novel is told through two main plotlines - the past and the present - with other stories and folklore woven in throughout. My first bit of advice for this book? Try harder than I did to find a summary of the first one to refresh yourself because going in blind is a bad idea. Most of the events of the first one came back to me, but the names were a bit confusing. I do think that the "present day" of this book was better than the last, but I'm not so sure on the "past" because I did find it to be a bit slow at times, although I suppose that's to be expected from a book that's 134 chapters. The style definitely makes up for the pacing.
We're introduced to a lot of new characters in this story. Shola is still my favorite little orange cat, and Ari remains a very intriguing narrator (I keep forgetting he's only 16 in his past right now). I wish there was more time spent with Radi and Aram because I didn't like Qimari as much. I really like Sham even though I'm scared he's going to turn into Fishcake from The Mortal Engines (if you know, you know). Eloine is growing on me, but I still have trust issues, so...
If you enjoyed The First Binding, you won't want to miss The Doors of Midnight.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
3.5/5
The Doors of Midnight is the epic fantasy sequel to The First Binding, and it is every bit as beautifully written...and as daunting. My copy of the e-book was 1163 pages, and each "page" was technically two e-book pages worth of swipes, making it really 2836 pages... Was it worth it though? Probably.
Once again, the novel is told through two main plotlines - the past and the present - with other stories and folklore woven in throughout. My first bit of advice for this book? Try harder than I did to find a summary of the first one to refresh yourself because going in blind is a bad idea. Most of the events of the first one came back to me, but the names were a bit confusing. I do think that the "present day" of this book was better than the last, but I'm not so sure on the "past" because I did find it to be a bit slow at times, although I suppose that's to be expected from a book that's 134 chapters. The style definitely makes up for the pacing.
We're introduced to a lot of new characters in this story. Shola is still my favorite little orange cat, and Ari remains a very intriguing narrator (I keep forgetting he's only 16 in his past right now). I wish there was more time spent with Radi and Aram because I didn't like Qimari as much. I really like Sham even though I'm scared he's going to turn into Fishcake from The Mortal Engines (if you know, you know). Eloine is growing on me, but I still have trust issues, so...
If you enjoyed The First Binding, you won't want to miss The Doors of Midnight.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the free e-ARC!
3.5/5