A review by forestghost
Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

adventurous dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was very engaging and made me want to keep reading to see what would happen next, though the very dark topics it deals with sometimes made it hard to do so (incest, child sexual abuse). But while Midnight Robber had a great emotional impact on me, I found myself struggling to understand what the book was trying to tell me. Various themes were woven into the narrative, but many plots that had seemed important were dropped eventually without satisfying conclusions. 
Then again, this story is an exploration of the trauma the main character Tan-Tan experiences, and how she survives. In real life, things don’t usually get tied up neatly with a bow. It’s messy. And thus the narrative works wonderfully to reflect this messiness. 
Also, as a side note, I loved how queer people were allowed to casually exist. 
Overall, a book I would definitely recommend - as long as you’re in the right mindset to deal with the heavy topics. This was not an easy read, especially because I (foolishly) did not look up content warnings since it was required reading for a class. 
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