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bewkgummywerm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Transphobia, and Violence
hue's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
The backside text hardly does any justice to the story within. Marie Rutkoski has woven an intricate, fantastically drab world where injustice is hideously clear yet accepted.
I adored the characters, the differences between High Kith and Half-Kith and Middlings, the writing was lucious and lurid, the telling captivatingly vivid.
Nirrim was such a pleasure to follow as she wandered through her thoughts and actions, disassembling all that she had grown up believing, never realising how twisted and unfair it all had been.
If you enjoyed this wonderful story, I recommend two other books that gave me the same feeling as this did.
1. The City of Woven Streets by Emmi Itäranta
2. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
I adored the characters, the differences between High Kith and Half-Kith and Middlings, the writing was lucious and lurid, the telling captivatingly vivid.
Nirrim was such a pleasure to follow as she wandered through her thoughts and actions, disassembling all that she had grown up believing, never realising how twisted and unfair it all had been.
If you enjoyed this wonderful story, I recommend two other books that gave me the same feeling as this did.
1. The City of Woven Streets by Emmi Itäranta
2. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Gaslighting
erynpaige's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Grief, Murder, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, War, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I loved this while I was reading it, and now that I've put it down I'm torn between wanting the sequel, and not trusting that the sequel will be satisfying given how this book ended and some other issues which I'll discuss. Firstly, what this book is: THE MIDNIGHT LIE is a sapphic story of moments of happiness amid oppression and abuse in a fantasy setting. It's about loving small joys and good things for their transience, not in spite of it. It's a heartbreakingly relatable portrayal of trauma bonding, abuse, and betrayal, piling small cruelties atop systemic injustices in a setting where escape isn't enough.
One thing this does very well is show what gaslighting can look like in a way that gently and persistently provides a series of outside voices to counter the narrative being fed to the main character by her abuser. Her protests of this person's goodness and faithfulness become smaller and smaller until she finally has to decide what to do with the information she has been given. It begins subtly and slowly builds in a way that makes it a useful example of how insidious the abuse is and how much her abuser is controlling her understanding of reality, beginning when she was a much younger kid. As much as it muddles the message a little, I'm glad that the people trying to point out the one person's abuse aren't paragons themselves, that's especially important because it stop the main character from just switching which character has her undying loyalty.
I like how queer this is but please don't pitch it to anyone as a sapphic romance. It's sapphic, there is a romance, but the combination of traits implied by that conjoined phrase is not representative of this book. So much of the emotional core in THE MIDNIGHT LIE revolves around whether and how to trust untrustworthy people, whether they can't be trusted because they're personally cruel, they're not powerful enough to provide protection from the system, or they're impermanent and nothing and no one lasts forever. This commentary on untrustworthiness and betrayal makes for a fascinating book but an emotionally fraught romance. I'm also concerned about possible biphobia transphobia from some interactions with the love interest. The words the love interest chooses when expressing jealousy are suspiciously similar to some biphobic and transphobic talking points and it was uncomfortable to read, waiting to figure out whether the character was bigoted or just insecure and using bigoted language to convey those feelings. I think it's more the second one, but I remain unsure.
The end-of-book revelations about the truth of the setting worked well and made things make sense but I hate the decision that the main character made with that information. I don't know what she should have done instead given what she learned, but I hope the sequel takes the consequences of her choice seriously and doesn't treat it flippantly. I want it fixed but I don't want it cheapened by being handled too quickly.
One thing this does very well is show what gaslighting can look like in a way that gently and persistently provides a series of outside voices to counter the narrative being fed to the main character by her abuser. Her protests of this person's goodness and faithfulness become smaller and smaller until she finally has to decide what to do with the information she has been given. It begins subtly and slowly builds in a way that makes it a useful example of how insidious the abuse is and how much her abuser is controlling her understanding of reality, beginning when she was a much younger kid. As much as it muddles the message a little, I'm glad that the people trying to point out the one person's abuse aren't paragons themselves, that's especially important because it stop the main character from just switching which character has her undying loyalty.
I like how queer this is but please don't pitch it to anyone as a sapphic romance. It's sapphic, there is a romance, but the combination of traits implied by that conjoined phrase is not representative of this book. So much of the emotional core in THE MIDNIGHT LIE revolves around whether and how to trust untrustworthy people, whether they can't be trusted because they're personally cruel, they're not powerful enough to provide protection from the system, or they're impermanent and nothing and no one lasts forever. This commentary on untrustworthiness and betrayal makes for a fascinating book but an emotionally fraught romance. I'm also concerned about possible biphobia transphobia from some interactions with the love interest. The words the love interest chooses when expressing jealousy are suspiciously similar to some biphobic and transphobic talking points and it was uncomfortable to read, waiting to figure out whether the character was bigoted or just insecure and using bigoted language to convey those feelings. I think it's more the second one, but I remain unsure.
The end-of-book revelations about the truth of the setting worked well and made things make sense but I hate the decision that the main character made with that information. I don't know what she should have done instead given what she learned, but I hope the sequel takes the consequences of her choice seriously and doesn't treat it flippantly. I want it fixed but I don't want it cheapened by being handled too quickly.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, and Murder
Minor: Animal death, Biphobia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Death of parent
CW for brief misgendering, threats of sexual assault.caidyn's review against another edition
adventurous
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
Thanks to Edelweiss, Macmillan, and Farrar, Straus, and Giroux (BYR) for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
4.5/5
CW: abandonment, bloodletting (for magic), forgery, caste system, homophobia, and sexism
I literally didn't expect to love this book so much but here we are!
It follows Nirrim, who lives in the Ward (lower caste) where there's lots of crime and overcrowding. Only the High Kith (high class) get any pleasure and it usually is whatever they want it to be, no matter if it hurts someone. Nirrim's life is very restricted and she was left abandoned as a child at an orphanage. She can't wear certain things, go certain places, or even eat sweets. After getting in trouble for something, she meets Sid, a woman who's higher class and has secrets of her own, which tempt Nirrim.
The world is very unique. I've read things like it, but the writing around it was so... magical. It literally sucked me into the story and the characters. I was very interested in where the story was going to go. While I did get a little bored in the middle, I was still interested enough to keep going. And I did love that romance. Nirrim and Sid are too cute together.
And all those reveals at the end??? I got literal chills on my arms after reading it because it was so well done. I literally cannot wait for the next book!
4.5/5
CW: abandonment, bloodletting (for magic), forgery, caste system, homophobia, and sexism
I literally didn't expect to love this book so much but here we are!
It follows Nirrim, who lives in the Ward (lower caste) where there's lots of crime and overcrowding. Only the High Kith (high class) get any pleasure and it usually is whatever they want it to be, no matter if it hurts someone. Nirrim's life is very restricted and she was left abandoned as a child at an orphanage. She can't wear certain things, go certain places, or even eat sweets. After getting in trouble for something, she meets Sid, a woman who's higher class and has secrets of her own, which tempt Nirrim.
The world is very unique. I've read things like it, but the writing around it was so... magical. It literally sucked me into the story and the characters. I was very interested in where the story was going to go. While I did get a little bored in the middle, I was still interested enough to keep going. And I did love that romance. Nirrim and Sid are too cute together.
And all those reveals at the end??? I got literal chills on my arms after reading it because it was so well done. I literally cannot wait for the next book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Sexism, and Blood
Moderate: Abandonment