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A review by adancewithbooks
The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim
dark
emotional
3.5
Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.
Last year I really enjoyed The City of Dusk and so I was looking forward to The Midnight Kingdom. I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first book. I wasn't so much dissapointed in the story as I was with the way it was told.
At the end of City of Dusk our main characters were fairly divided over various realms. Taesia, Nicolai, Julian and Finn are with the god Pho in Ryans body in Noctus. Risha finds herself in Motri. Angelica and Dante remain in Vaega. One at the top and the other in hiding.
As much as I was invested in their stories, I still struggled with this book. To actually pick it back up. There is so much information, so many additional characters in each story, even more so when even the larger groups start splitting up and we get more along the lines of 5 story lines. Each very seperate yet intertwined in the bigger story. But sometimes that bigger story was hard to find. Why were some things important again? There was so much going on that it was hard to then get to the actual feelings. Sometimes we forwarded through that a bit too fast.
I also was not a fan of how almost every chapter was a switch to another storyline or how a lot of those chapters ended in a type of cliffhangers. A few times would have been fine but it was almost every time at about the middle point. It grew a bit tiresome.
Yet I am invested in these characters. I like them. Taesia is the big main character and I still like her. She tries not to show it too much but she struggles with herself so much and the expectations others have of her. And I get that. It feels like you are stuck. And then you lash out, make mistakes.
Angelica really grew more on me this book. She is so determined to shut everyone out. But when you are on the run, you don't always have that option. And yes sometimes you might get hurt, but sometimes it is worth it. To get that connection with your sibling or that new found friend.
Last year I really enjoyed The City of Dusk and so I was looking forward to The Midnight Kingdom. I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first book. I wasn't so much dissapointed in the story as I was with the way it was told.
At the end of City of Dusk our main characters were fairly divided over various realms. Taesia, Nicolai, Julian and Finn are with the god Pho in Ryans body in Noctus. Risha finds herself in Motri. Angelica and Dante remain in Vaega. One at the top and the other in hiding.
As much as I was invested in their stories, I still struggled with this book. To actually pick it back up. There is so much information, so many additional characters in each story, even more so when even the larger groups start splitting up and we get more along the lines of 5 story lines. Each very seperate yet intertwined in the bigger story. But sometimes that bigger story was hard to find. Why were some things important again? There was so much going on that it was hard to then get to the actual feelings. Sometimes we forwarded through that a bit too fast.
I also was not a fan of how almost every chapter was a switch to another storyline or how a lot of those chapters ended in a type of cliffhangers. A few times would have been fine but it was almost every time at about the middle point. It grew a bit tiresome.
Yet I am invested in these characters. I like them. Taesia is the big main character and I still like her. She tries not to show it too much but she struggles with herself so much and the expectations others have of her. And I get that. It feels like you are stuck. And then you lash out, make mistakes.
Angelica really grew more on me this book. She is so determined to shut everyone out. But when you are on the run, you don't always have that option. And yes sometimes you might get hurt, but sometimes it is worth it. To get that connection with your sibling or that new found friend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Torture, Murder, and Violence
Eye Removal | Sacrifice