lacheri's review against another edition
5.0
This is such a goood read!! I mean it!! I want to read Uglies right after I'm done reading this series. I was pulled in just like that first book.
caedocyon's review against another edition
4.0
Read it in a day, years after reading the other two. There's a lot of exposition in these books, but you don't care because the ideas and plot twists are utterly fascinating. I tagged it fantasy, but it feels pretty sci-fi on the inside... until you remember that there's no such thing as midnight physics. Westerfield also doesn't pull his punches with the ending, which is a nice difference from most YA books.
There's a special place in my heart for these because I'm mathematically inclined, like Dess---who is easily the most awesome character in the series. (Maybe I'm biased.) I often stop to check out interesting numbers, which led at least once to anticipating the next plot twist.
I'd give this an "I liked it" for myself (embarrassingly far out of teen-dom), but I would definitely recommend the books to teenagers on a four-star basis, so we'll go with that.
There's a special place in my heart for these because I'm mathematically inclined, like Dess---who is easily the most awesome character in the series. (Maybe I'm biased.) I often stop to check out interesting numbers, which led at least once to anticipating the next plot twist.
I'd give this an "I liked it" for myself (embarrassingly far out of teen-dom), but I would definitely recommend the books to teenagers on a four-star basis, so we'll go with that.
aether's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
bxermom's review against another edition
4.0
This was a fantastic series that I enjoyed reading with my son. I was shocked by the ending and wish it hadn't ended.
mjfmjfmjf's review against another edition
3.0
Third and presumably final book of Midnighters. Not one of Westerfeld's better books or better series. This one in particular felt rushed that it did have a true actual ending. The characters kept on making annoying choices rather than interesting or smart choices. And the story took a long time building until it finally started rushing, so I suppose the pacing was a bit off. But it was a fast read. 3.5 of 5.
hoosgracie's review against another edition
4.0
The final (?) book in the series has the midnighters fighting off the slithers plan to invade daylight and take people. Very suspenseful and excellent ending, which closes the series, but leaves open the possiblity of other additions.
anna_wa's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
Sometimes you eventually make your way around to those books you said years and years ago that you wanted to read - and on the rare occasions you do that, you are hit with permanent written evidence of how much things have changed in 20 years. Namely, the characters giving each other quarters in order to make a call on a payphone and one of the characters being decidedly rich in comparison to her peers because she actually owns a computer.
Despite the slaps to the face of how much time has passed extremely quickly, this is still overall a good Scott Westerfeld trilogy. All of the things that made me first fall in love with his writing at 12 years old reading Uglies are present here too: fantastic world-building, teenage characters that do feel like real teenagers (for better or worse), and of course.. an attention-grabbing first sentence of the book paired with an attention-keeping last sentence of the book. His pair of "perfect first sentence + perfect last sentence" is something I still try to emulate in my own writing today.
I will say though... in comparison to the first two books of the trilogy, this book felt flatter in comparison to me personally. I don't know how to pinpoint what exactly the reasoning for that is because it's all here: action, adventure, a mystery, high-stakes, and a good conclusion. It's hard for me to figure out, exactly, what is missing from this book that the other two had.
One hint towards the answer might be that the first book felt like it really did end on a cliff-hanger. An ending note of "there is still more to come, read the next book now". But I didn't really feel that when I finished the second book - in fact, for the most part, I felt like it could have just been a duology. Even though there were still certain things left up in the air, the second book really made me feel the punch of the end of a movie with the credits rolling. It didn't seem to end with that same "there is still more to come, read the next book now" urgency.
Maybe the truth is I just wasn't as interested in Rex's dilemma in this book as I was with Jessica's in the first book and Dess's in the second one. Maybe it's that simple.
In any case, overall I enjoyed this trilogy. I definitely did NOT enjoy the fact that this book and the book before it drop the r slur 3 different times - and in this book specifically two of those three instances are a person bullying another person (as opposed to someone just being like "oh my gosh this is sooo [beep]").
It seems to me that Scott Westerfeld has changed a lot in the last twenty years (as most people do) and, based on his newer Impostor books, I don't get the sense that he would ever use that word again. But it was still extremely uncomfortable for me to read it, so that is why I want to warn everybody who decides to read it that that is there. There are also other ableist microaggressions in the second and third book especially; I mostly tuned them out/replaced them in my brain because I feel like Westerfeld has changed and wouldn't write those again if he were writing the books now, but yeah. They do exist, so watch out for that.
Despite the slaps to the face of how much time has passed extremely quickly, this is still overall a good Scott Westerfeld trilogy. All of the things that made me first fall in love with his writing at 12 years old reading Uglies are present here too: fantastic world-building, teenage characters that do feel like real teenagers (for better or worse), and of course.. an attention-grabbing first sentence of the book paired with an attention-keeping last sentence of the book. His pair of "perfect first sentence + perfect last sentence" is something I still try to emulate in my own writing today.
I will say though... in comparison to the first two books of the trilogy, this book felt flatter in comparison to me personally. I don't know how to pinpoint what exactly the reasoning for that is because it's all here: action, adventure, a mystery, high-stakes, and a good conclusion. It's hard for me to figure out, exactly, what is missing from this book that the other two had.
One hint towards the answer might be that the first book felt like it really did end on a cliff-hanger. An ending note of "there is still more to come, read the next book now". But I didn't really feel that when I finished the second book - in fact, for the most part, I felt like it could have just been a duology. Even though there were still certain things left up in the air, the second book really made me feel the punch of the end of a movie with the credits rolling. It didn't seem to end with that same "there is still more to come, read the next book now" urgency.
Maybe the truth is I just wasn't as interested in Rex's dilemma in this book as I was with Jessica's in the first book and Dess's in the second one. Maybe it's that simple.
In any case, overall I enjoyed this trilogy. I definitely did NOT enjoy the fact that this book and the book before it drop the r slur 3 different times - and in this book specifically two of those three instances are a person bullying another person (as opposed to someone just being like "oh my gosh this is sooo [beep]").
It seems to me that Scott Westerfeld has changed a lot in the last twenty years (as most people do) and, based on his newer Impostor books, I don't get the sense that he would ever use that word again. But it was still extremely uncomfortable for me to read it, so that is why I want to warn everybody who decides to read it that that is there. There are also other ableist microaggressions in the second and third book especially; I mostly tuned them out/replaced them in my brain because I feel like Westerfeld has changed and wouldn't write those again if he were writing the books now, but yeah. They do exist, so watch out for that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Car accident, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Death, Bullying, and Ableism
Multiple uses of the R wordmerlin_reads's review against another edition
3.0
A bittersweet ending to this unique trilogy.
Having gotten used to their secret hour, the Midnighters are thrown for a loop when the blue hour arrives during the day. Soon their fears are realized when they figure out that the rip between worlds is failing, and there may be no way to stop it and keep the monsters out.
I liked the flow of this one. New elements were thrown in that threw our crew for a loop and it was fun to watch them try to figure out what was going on. But we also got to see the strain that this secret life was taking on them personally. Home lives were falling apart and even their own friendships were straining.
Sadly though, I never really connected with any of the characters. I'm not sure why. I just never felt any sense of "OMG NO" when bad things happened. I didn't swoon when characters made a love connection. I just didn't feel it.
Also, why didn't Jessica's sister get taken by the monsters? Because she was such a little shit. And speaking of her sister, I did feel that the ending was a little too sweet on their part, but again, that may just be me not connecting.
Overall, an interesting series to read, but not sure it will be one I remember.
Having gotten used to their secret hour, the Midnighters are thrown for a loop when the blue hour arrives during the day. Soon their fears are realized when they figure out that the rip between worlds is failing, and there may be no way to stop it and keep the monsters out.
I liked the flow of this one. New elements were thrown in that threw our crew for a loop and it was fun to watch them try to figure out what was going on. But we also got to see the strain that this secret life was taking on them personally. Home lives were falling apart and even their own friendships were straining.
Sadly though, I never really connected with any of the characters. I'm not sure why. I just never felt any sense of "OMG NO" when bad things happened. I didn't swoon when characters made a love connection. I just didn't feel it.
Also, why didn't Jessica's sister get taken by the monsters? Because she was such a little shit. And speaking of her sister, I did feel that the ending was a little too sweet on their part, but again, that may just be me not connecting.
Overall, an interesting series to read, but not sure it will be one I remember.
grayreader's review against another edition
3.0
One of the best opening lines I've seen in a while. An interesting take on supernatural teens without putting too much emphasis on high school drama. An engaging read.
skyedivin's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0