Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

16 reviews

reading_srsly's review against another edition

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

4.5

* Class inequality

* Grooming & Manipulation

* Mystery

* LGBTQ+ Romance

In a world where everything is accepted at face value and even the simplest of things are strictly regulated, all it takes is the slightest seed of curiosity to disrupt the careful balance of their society. 

The writing was a little tough to get into at first, it’s very simple and short despite being dialogue and conversation heavy. But the story itself is arresting (sometimes quite literally), and the mystery of the world is well woven through the setting and characters. The foreshadowing is heavy to the point the plot is somewhat predictable, but it’s still enjoyable to see it unfold. 

Sid is hands down my favorite character. Sid is the quintessential love interest, complete with witty banter and a devil-may-care attitude. She doesn’t hide her plans for the future or her flaws, and the subtle openness without triggering the many thinly veiled alarm bells of some other love interests easily catapults her to memorability. It is worth noting that there is a lot of manipulation and selfishness within just about every relationship of the story, and despite Sid’s levity this is also a pretty heavy read that features childhood trauma and manipulation. 

The big thing that drags this book down from five stars is that the ending felt highly unsatisfying.

I didn’t need a happily ever after, but after so long languishing in parties and the slow trickle of discovery, it seemed like the author rushed her way through to setting up book two.

This is a thought-provoking book that would be a great book club read. It highlights what happens when people neglect asking questions, the importance of a fresh outsider’s perspective, and the importance of holding on to history. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Classism

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Death of parent

jainabee's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.75

I got this in the Banned Books Box subscription and was curious to read something totally new to me. Had a hard time putting it down and now am hungry for more! The story twists and turns in ways that startled me and I gave up trying to predict anything about the characters. How refreshing! And lovely writing. A pleasure to read and I'm so glad there's more!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Slavery, Toxic relationship, Blood, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

Considering all of the challenging content in the book, it is all handled in a way that I could tolerate (I am somewhat squeamish) and I did not feel personally triggered. I have no problem with putting a book down if the violence is too graphic or gory for my tastes or if the cruelty and abuse goes beyond a brief explicit detail.

strawberrytheauthor's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

The beginning wasn’t very interesting but then the middle got better. I was getting excited to read the second one until the very last line. That last line made me so very angry, however I still need to read the second book to see what happens with said last line. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation

Moderate: Body horror and Sexual content

Minor: Child abuse

nicnevin's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

So this is the first book I've read from this author and its... Alright? I found the ending quite... Abrupt and the worldbuilding is a little slapdash however I realise that this is already set in a world from other books she wrote. 

Sid and Nirrim are a cute couple but I don't know how it ends. I guess leaving the book on such an abrupt ending ticked me off because it felt like a lot of build up for not much pay off bit I suppose that's why is more than one book. 

the magic blood reveal was pretty obvious so it annoyed me it took everyone so long to figure it out. Also shouldnt diluted blood be a yellowy orange colour? Maybe magic blood hits different idk

Don't get me wrong, the book is okay but just didn't gel with me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sandy_21's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

the ending suckssss

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, and Blood

Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death, Sexual assault, and Death of parent

haylzno's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

This was almost a DNF for me. 
The plot really seemed to... stall, like a bunch of times. I found myself getting bored frequently. 
I did listen to this as an audiobook and narration is really a make it break thing for me and I wasn't a huge fan of the narration, so honestly that played a big part. 

I always love me so good queer rep. But the MC and her relationship with her "mother" made me irrationally frustrated. By the time I decided I wanted to DNF I was only about an hour from finishing it so I pushed through, and honestly I don't remember a whole lot because I just couldn't make myself care. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use and Homophobia

imaginingly's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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

4.5

the TENSION this book had oh my GOSH
this was really good but— actually that’s all, it was a really good book and i enjoyed it from the very beginning! the ended definitely left me wanting more but it didnt have the “wow” factor to make it a 5 star

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting and Classism

Minor: Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Murder

angstifies's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious tense

• 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

5.0

just everything about the setting was perfect, i can’t get over how much i loved the magical elements in this world. i think i’ve never been as invested in a fictional relationship as i was in this book, oh i LOVED IT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Abandonment

k_aro's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

I really didn't expect much from The Midnight Lie—be as it may, I'm a little bit of a snob over fantasy novels due to the fact that I read a large quantity as a kid, and I saw it recommended from BookTok, which, based on my previous BookTok books has been... a mixed bag. Admittedly I wasn't shocked by many of the reveals, but I don't think that's a critique of the book; I think it's smart about revealing just enough that it makes sense on re-reads.

That said, I did not expect the ending! It's not like, a cheap plot twist, but it's such a painful refusal of closure that it hurts me just thinking about it. I didn't cry over the ending, but sheesh, I'm really looking forward to reading the next book. I also think it's a super well-written villain ending—I've read some books *coughs* The Young Elites *coughs* that REALLY muck up the villain ending and essentially spoil the experience of having read the book at all.

I do have some things I don't love about this book: for one, that Nirrim is so blind to Raven's consistent emotional/domestic abuse, despite her ability to spot it in other people (i.e. Aden). Like, I get that Nirrim and Raven's relationship is different to that of her and Aden's, but it just feels kind of weird that up until the proper reveal of who Raven is, Nirrim's insistent on thinking of her as the same one-dimensional mother figure who sometimes makes mistakes and hurts her. I'm not saying Nirrim has to be on board to condemn Raven the first time she does something bad, but it's just... weird, I guess.

I also think that the first like... fourth? Of the book is a little slow. It's got a lot to set up, so I'm not, like, mad that it's slow, but it does make it a bit hard to get into.

Also, there's certainly NO commentary going on about how the Half Kith's body parts are literally being used for the pleasure of the High Kith. Nope. No commentary at all. Not even about how Raven extorts families to get them families to move up in the world. Nada. Zip. Nothing. (This is sarcasm—sometimes, fantasy caste systems can be a bit... overstated, which to a certain degree could be true here, it also I think treats it with a bit more real parallels that it feels more verisimilitudinous to me.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Homophobia, Misogyny, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia

A note on the moderate content warning for rape:

The only reason I hesitate to put it under graphic is because, under all stops, the line between whether or not Aden rapes Nirrim is... concerningly thin, but still technically there. It's highly coercive and under most circumstances, would probably be considered rape—and this is not to downplay the real sexual trauma for whom coercive sex was the source of it—but Nirrim (until a certain moment) is technically never threatened verbally/coerced verbally. Is it highly coercive and at the very least dubious consent? Yes. But is it rape? I really can't tell, and given the purpose of trigger warnings as warnings that might *trigger* someone, I'm not 100% sure what to categorize it as.

Aside from that, the homophobia/lesbophobia is rarely actually acted out character-on-character; it's only as a facet of the fact that the lower Kiths are not permitted to have same-sex relationships. The actual brass tacks of characters being in same-sex relationships are not considered *morally* wrong.

sarahna's review against another edition

adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Abandonment, and Classism