A review by literarylauraj
Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz

5.0

I’d probably give this more of a 4.5. It was fabulously predictable in a way that made the ending so deliciously good. The second half did drag constantly. But I love the relationship between Anaïs and Leo. The OwlCrate edition has a letter at the end between the two characters which, knowing it existed at all, was a spoiler. It’s one of those books I would love a sequel to but don’t think I really need one. It wraps up well at the end and I love the bonus letter to bits! The first half takes you through the obvious potential culprits, but as you go on you start getting a lot more information that makes you question what you know. I did see the villain coming after a certain point. And I think a lot of parts could have been tidied up a bit better and get almost tedious to read. The names of the characters and places were almost too confusing to even bother pronouncing, I wish there had been a pronunciation guide. The author sets it up like there’s going to be a big tie in to the political scene across different regions that are mentioned, but they don’t seem particularly fleshed out and the plot is much simpler in reality. I could barely figure out where locations were even WITH the map. Over all I really enjoyed the book and thought the writing was very well done. I do love the ending, although tragic in some ways, it didn’t leave me wanting to throw the book across the room, for which I am most grateful indeed and give 5 stars!