Scan barcode
sophiesmallhands's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Death, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore
Moderate: War, Addiction, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, and Kidnapping
Minor: Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Child death, Colonisation, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Death of parent, and Drug use
jessiereads98's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved The Midnight Kingdom. The Gods’ continue to bide their time for war while the heirs attempt to save the realms in the sequel to The City of Dusk. The world building and character development really shine in this instalment of the series as we get to spend more time with all the characters in multiple realms.
In The Midnight Kingdom we travel to Noctus and Mortri, as well as new regions of Vitae. Each realm felt distinct and unique. Tara Sim created an interesting world full of differing terrains, beings, and cultures, more of which we learn about in this book. The chilling atmosphere of Mortri was particularly immersive. I also enjoyed how Sim created differing cultures within the realm of Vitae which were further explored here.
The beating heart of The Midnight Kingdoms is really the characters. We get to spend more time with each of the heirs individually as we join them each on their own, occasionally intersecting, journeys. We also get to know more about major side characters from The City of Dusk in this book. My heart aches for Taesia and Reina in this one. I feel an increased understanding of Angelica, who we see tremendous growth from in this novel. The characters each have distinct and compelling arcs to follow. However, I do wish that the differing POVs were more distinct. There is less jumping around here than in The City of Dusk, but it still happens.
At times this book felt like it may just be filler, or set-up for the third book, or self-indulgent world expansion by the author. Even if it was all of those things, it was still enjoyable due to the character development and the superb world-building.
In The Midnight Kingdom we travel to Noctus and Mortri, as well as new regions of Vitae. Each realm felt distinct and unique. Tara Sim created an interesting world full of differing terrains, beings, and cultures, more of which we learn about in this book. The chilling atmosphere of Mortri was particularly immersive. I also enjoyed how Sim created differing cultures within the realm of Vitae which were further explored here.
The beating heart of The Midnight Kingdoms is really the characters. We get to spend more time with each of the heirs individually as we join them each on their own, occasionally intersecting, journeys. We also get to know more about major side characters from The City of Dusk in this book. My heart aches for Taesia and Reina in this one. I feel an increased understanding of Angelica, who we see tremendous growth from in this novel. The characters each have distinct and compelling arcs to follow. However, I do wish that the differing POVs were more distinct. There is less jumping around here than in The City of Dusk, but it still happens.
At times this book felt like it may just be filler, or set-up for the third book, or self-indulgent world expansion by the author. Even if it was all of those things, it was still enjoyable due to the character development and the superb world-building.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Violence, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Confinement, Addiction, Blood, Gore, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Torture
Minor: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Colonisation, Cursing, Death of parent, and War
adancewithbooks's review against another edition
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
More...