Scan barcode
A review by ellieanor
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
3.0
3.5 stars.
I really wanted to adore this one, because it combines two of my all time favourite things - faeries and Tudors! And while I did like it, I didn't love it quite as much as I was hoping to, which is kind of disappointing, because there needs to be more fantasy-tudor books! Just...I need them. But this was quite different from what I had thought it might be like, and although I did think it had a stunning premise, I found it a little hard to connect with the story. I wanted to fall in love with characters and rave about this book, and I tried so hard to do that, but it just wasn't happening.
T H O U G H T S
- This is a very beautiful book. I say that meaning the literal aesthetic. The cover is super pretty, and the idea just appeals to me so much. Faeries and Tudors! This book sounds like it was made for me. And the faeries themselves were pretty cool - twisty and magical and dark and interesting. I loved reading about them! I wanted to know more about the hidden courts and the faeries that lived far from the mortal world. I wanted there to be some more rich world building and for this to be a big, beautiful, sprawling fantasy novel. Unfortunately, we didn't quite get there.
- I think that my main issue with this book it that it feels like a fairy tale. Now, I love fairy tales, don't get me wrong. They are beautiful stories and are amazing to retell! But they are always written slightly detached - you don't get right inside the characters, they aren't super well built and detailed. And that is really what this book was like. Everything was beautiful and lyrical and interesting and had so much potential, but I felt very distanced from the story. I could find much connection with the characters, because they were just instruments to tell the tale. They felt like the fairy tale characters that I described. I really wanted to relate to and love them, but there wasn't enough there for them to feel like real, likable people.
- There were a lot of opportunities for action and high stakes, but the author kept passing them over. I wish the story had been little more broad and less focused on just Lune and Deven (oh yeah, I didn't particularly like Deven). There was a lot of scheming going on but not much else, and sometimes I really questioned the characters motives. I would have loved for there to be a proper battle with the Wild Hunt, but I do understand that this is not that type of book.
There was a lot to love here, but this one fell a little flat for me. I adored the faeries and the way they interfered in England, but I found it hard to get into this book. I do think that if I could find it in a library somewhere, I might read the sequel, because I do want to find out what happens next. However, I think each book is set in a different time, and just marks what is going on in the Onyx Court during those centuries, so you could read this one as a standalone, if you wanted to. I would recommend this book, but only if you like that fairy tale-esque sort of narrative, and are interested in the premise, because that's the best bit.
I really wanted to adore this one, because it combines two of my all time favourite things - faeries and Tudors! And while I did like it, I didn't love it quite as much as I was hoping to, which is kind of disappointing, because there needs to be more fantasy-tudor books! Just...I need them. But this was quite different from what I had thought it might be like, and although I did think it had a stunning premise, I found it a little hard to connect with the story. I wanted to fall in love with characters and rave about this book, and I tried so hard to do that, but it just wasn't happening.
T H O U G H T S
- This is a very beautiful book. I say that meaning the literal aesthetic. The cover is super pretty, and the idea just appeals to me so much. Faeries and Tudors! This book sounds like it was made for me. And the faeries themselves were pretty cool - twisty and magical and dark and interesting. I loved reading about them! I wanted to know more about the hidden courts and the faeries that lived far from the mortal world. I wanted there to be some more rich world building and for this to be a big, beautiful, sprawling fantasy novel. Unfortunately, we didn't quite get there.
- I think that my main issue with this book it that it feels like a fairy tale. Now, I love fairy tales, don't get me wrong. They are beautiful stories and are amazing to retell! But they are always written slightly detached - you don't get right inside the characters, they aren't super well built and detailed. And that is really what this book was like. Everything was beautiful and lyrical and interesting and had so much potential, but I felt very distanced from the story. I could find much connection with the characters, because they were just instruments to tell the tale. They felt like the fairy tale characters that I described. I really wanted to relate to and love them, but there wasn't enough there for them to feel like real, likable people.
- There were a lot of opportunities for action and high stakes, but the author kept passing them over. I wish the story had been little more broad and less focused on just Lune and Deven (oh yeah, I didn't particularly like Deven). There was a lot of scheming going on but not much else, and sometimes I really questioned the characters motives. I would have loved for there to be a proper battle with the Wild Hunt, but I do understand that this is not that type of book.
There was a lot to love here, but this one fell a little flat for me. I adored the faeries and the way they interfered in England, but I found it hard to get into this book. I do think that if I could find it in a library somewhere, I might read the sequel, because I do want to find out what happens next. However, I think each book is set in a different time, and just marks what is going on in the Onyx Court during those centuries, so you could read this one as a standalone, if you wanted to. I would recommend this book, but only if you like that fairy tale-esque sort of narrative, and are interested in the premise, because that's the best bit.