A review by chrissireads
The Midnights, by Sarah Nicole Smetana
3.0
The Midnights centres around Susannah who lives at home with her mum and dad. She’s living a fairly normal life, working, going to school and jamming with her dad who used to be in a band. Susannah is a songwriter and wants to write an amazing song to impress her dad who she absolutely idolises. However, Susannah’s dad dies unexpectedly and Susannah finds her life being completely turned upside down. She has to move to Orange, to live with a grandmother she didn’t know she had. Susannah’s mum seems to be acting differently as well. Susannah feels pretty lost until she meets a girl who seems far too cool to be friends with her. Her new friend introduces Susannah to a band and life begins to change for her once more. Susannah realises she can reinvent herself, but soon secrets from the past start to unravel…
Susannah is an interesting character. I wanted to root for her and found her voice to be incredibly well written. I loved that she had such a strong connection to music and the ties it had with her father. Her relationship with her mother was complex. They were so up and down. I wasn’t overly convinced by some of the decisions Susannah made. I felt like there was a lot of resentment there because Susannah didn’t always understand her mother’s decisions. It was really interesting to see the relationship develop over time. It felt like a realistic relationship especially as they were both experiencing grief. Relationships are hard sometimes and I loved how that was portrayed in The Midnights. I adored Susannah’s grandmother and thought she helped Susannah to grow over the course of the story.
I did really enjoy how this story was full of music references, it was clear that it was a massive passion in Susannah and her father’s lives and I loved how that was the thing that bound them together.
Whilst this story did drag in places for me, for the main part I was super impressed with this book. It’s certainly a promising debut!
Susannah is an interesting character. I wanted to root for her and found her voice to be incredibly well written. I loved that she had such a strong connection to music and the ties it had with her father. Her relationship with her mother was complex. They were so up and down. I wasn’t overly convinced by some of the decisions Susannah made. I felt like there was a lot of resentment there because Susannah didn’t always understand her mother’s decisions. It was really interesting to see the relationship develop over time. It felt like a realistic relationship especially as they were both experiencing grief. Relationships are hard sometimes and I loved how that was portrayed in The Midnights. I adored Susannah’s grandmother and thought she helped Susannah to grow over the course of the story.
I did really enjoy how this story was full of music references, it was clear that it was a massive passion in Susannah and her father’s lives and I loved how that was the thing that bound them together.
Whilst this story did drag in places for me, for the main part I was super impressed with this book. It’s certainly a promising debut!