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A review by fallingwings
The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey
4.0
3.5 Stars
Listen, I see a book that promises bird people or winged creatures, I will drop anything and everything I'm doing to make sure I read it as soon as I can.
Cons:
× Why is it whenever something traumatic happens to someone in a story, authors feel the need to make their characters lustful in order to temporarily "forget" about said traumatic event? I understand we all process and handle trauma differently, but I'm going to be judging you so hard if one of the first things you want after said traumatic event is sex with someone you barely know.
× While I don't think this book has insta love, I will admit relationships move way too fast. How do you go from being enemies, to having to trust them to ensure your survival, to being comrades, to romance, all in a week or so? The only relationship that felt realistic was the one between Dorian and Ivy (and surprise, they're not romantically involved with one another).
× Okay. So while this book doesn't have body swapping (thank god), another person is basically sharing mind with her. And because of this, I have a hard time with believing the romance between her and is genuine. It gets even more wierd when he learns that his former lover is more or less sharing a body with her and while I appreciate not being entirely comfortable with it, it still makes me baffled why she allows things to continue with him afterwards (like touching and kissing) regardless of her feelings. I don't know if I can get behind a romantic relationship between them in the next installments if this is how it's going to be.
Pros:
× I saw many people saying this book has insta love and honestly? I don't see it, neither with Caius or Rowan. Insta attraction (when it comes to Caius), sure. And Rowan is a guy Echo's known since they were children. While I'm not a fan of two characters already in a relationship when the story starts, I can't claim their romance is insta love when they've know each other and have been friends for years before the story began. So no insta love for the win here.
× I really enjoyed the author's writing style. It's not overly flowery, but the details are vibrant enough to get a scene playing out in your head.
× Bird people with feathers. Enough said.
× Echo's name is a legit pun for her role in the story and I love it.
× I love the way the relationship between Ivy and Dorian progressed throughout the book. Again, it's the only one to me that feels genuine and properly fleshed out.
× I loved how the Phoenix's flames were colored.
× You-know-who stabbing herself in hopes to end things and save her friends. My respect for her character skyrocketed in that scene.
× I really like Ivy. She's not a fighter like Echo or the others, but she's not pushover either. If anything, she's very admirable.
× THAT COVER IS BEAUTIFUL AND HAS MY FAVORITE COLORS. I got the hardback version of this book solely for that cover.
Listen, I see a book that promises bird people or winged creatures, I will drop anything and everything I'm doing to make sure I read it as soon as I can.
Cons:
× Why is it whenever something traumatic happens to someone in a story, authors feel the need to make their characters lustful in order to temporarily "forget" about said traumatic event? I understand we all process and handle trauma differently, but I'm going to be judging you so hard if one of the first things you want after said traumatic event is sex with someone you barely know.
× While I don't think this book has insta love, I will admit relationships move way too fast. How do you go from being enemies, to having to trust them to ensure your survival, to being comrades, to romance, all in a week or so? The only relationship that felt realistic was the one between Dorian and Ivy (and surprise, they're not romantically involved with one another).
× Okay. So while this book doesn't have body swapping (thank god), another person is basically sharing
Spoiler
Echo'sSpoiler
CaiusSpoiler
EchoPros:
× I saw many people saying this book has insta love and honestly? I don't see it, neither with Caius or Rowan. Insta attraction (when it comes to Caius), sure. And Rowan is a guy Echo's known since they were children. While I'm not a fan of two characters already in a relationship when the story starts, I can't claim their romance is insta love when they've know each other and have been friends for years before the story began. So no insta love for the win here.
× I really enjoyed the author's writing style. It's not overly flowery, but the details are vibrant enough to get a scene playing out in your head.
× Bird people with feathers. Enough said.
× Echo's name is a legit pun for her role in the story and I love it.
× I love the way the relationship between Ivy and Dorian progressed throughout the book. Again, it's the only one to me that feels genuine and properly fleshed out.
× I loved how the Phoenix's flames were colored
Spoiler
black and white× You-know-who stabbing herself in hopes to end things and save her friends. My respect for her character skyrocketed in that scene.
× I really like Ivy. She's not a fighter like Echo or the others, but she's not pushover either. If anything, she's very admirable.
× THAT COVER IS BEAUTIFUL AND HAS MY FAVORITE COLORS. I got the hardback version of this book solely for that cover.