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A review by shitbookreviews
The Light of the Midnight Stars by Rena Rossner
Did not finish book. Stopped at 56%.
Copy via Netgalley.
I really struggled with this one. It sounded wildly interesting:
✨ Historical fiction
✨ Jewish folklore (which is very, very rare in books)
✨ Magic
And I should have been hooked, but if I'm being honest with myself, I really didn't want to pick it back up.
This is the story of three sisters: Hannah, Sarah, and Levana. Each with their own magic abilities which leads to someone dinging the witchcraft bell and sending the village into a tizzy. Fleeing from their lives, they need to leave behind everything they know including some of their culture.
Ok so things I found really, really interesting:
⚫ Judaism actually being represented in a book. I am not religious but I love learning about them and let me tell you - you will learn A LOT.
⚫ The characters are insanely well developed and I can see them floating around in my noggin.
However, this was a very heavy book. Trigger warnings everywhere (anti-Semitism, violent deaths, rape & sexism.) and perhaps it was just a little too much for me to handle. I am also one with a simple brain - this book comes at you from three different POVs so I was thrown off very easily and constantly found myself lost.
And lastly, there's a lot to take in. As I mentioned before, learning about Judaism was amazing but it became overwhelming to the point where I had to stop and Google what things meant. It became a bit like homework.
Would I recommend this book to someone with an excellent attention span? Yes, absolutely.
Would I recommend it to someone after Jewish representation in a fantasy book? Of course!
Would I try to read it again? Probably not.
I really struggled with this one. It sounded wildly interesting:
✨ Historical fiction
✨ Jewish folklore (which is very, very rare in books)
✨ Magic
And I should have been hooked, but if I'm being honest with myself, I really didn't want to pick it back up.
This is the story of three sisters: Hannah, Sarah, and Levana. Each with their own magic abilities which leads to someone dinging the witchcraft bell and sending the village into a tizzy. Fleeing from their lives, they need to leave behind everything they know including some of their culture.
Ok so things I found really, really interesting:
⚫ Judaism actually being represented in a book. I am not religious but I love learning about them and let me tell you - you will learn A LOT.
⚫ The characters are insanely well developed and I can see them floating around in my noggin.
However, this was a very heavy book. Trigger warnings everywhere (anti-Semitism, violent deaths, rape & sexism.) and perhaps it was just a little too much for me to handle. I am also one with a simple brain - this book comes at you from three different POVs so I was thrown off very easily and constantly found myself lost.
And lastly, there's a lot to take in. As I mentioned before, learning about Judaism was amazing but it became overwhelming to the point where I had to stop and Google what things meant. It became a bit like homework.
Would I recommend this book to someone with an excellent attention span? Yes, absolutely.
Would I recommend it to someone after Jewish representation in a fantasy book? Of course!
Would I try to read it again? Probably not.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Rape, Sexism, and Antisemitism
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Misogyny