Review: The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules, and society’s pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colors. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences.

Nirrim keeps her head down and a dangerous secret close to her chest.

But then she encounters Sid, a rakish traveler from far away who whispers rumors that the High Caste possesses magic. Sid tempts Nirrim to seek that magic for herself. But to do that, Nirrim must surrender her old life. She must place her trust in this sly stranger who asks, above all, not to be trusted.

Set in the world of the New York Times–bestselling Winner’s Trilogy, beloved author Marie Rutkoski returns with an epic LGBTQ romantic fantasy about learning to free ourselves from the lies others tell us—and the lies we tell ourselves.

ARC kindly provided by the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like The Midnight Lie but I couldn't bring myself to love it as much as I wanted to. I was expecting more from this book and author, I was expecting a well-balanced mix of fantasy and romance but in this case the romance overpowered everything else.
The beginning was interesting enough (especially the whole God-sent bird) but then whatever bigger plot I had envisioned disappeared in favor of the love story.
I really couldn't feel invested in it, partially because I prefer books balanced books and I don't like "romance" as a genre that much and partially because I couldn't connect to any of the characters.
I didn't exactly dislike the MCs, sort of liked them but couldn't bring myself to actually be that invested in them and so---so the romantic element that takes most of the book really fell short for me.
I liked the ending but the middle part of the book was really hard for me to get through--it felt like wading through to a swamp at a really, really slow pace. Only Marie Rutkoski writing style made the torture a bit more bearable, enough for me to finish the book.
All in all this was quite disappointing, I was hoping for something better, much better.

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Review: The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood

  The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood 

What if you knew how and when you will die?

Csorwe does — she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice.

But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin—the wizard's loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power.

But Csorwe will soon learn – gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.

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ARC kindly provided by the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of the most original books I have ever read, at least in terms of world building. Sadly I had very high expectations and the book just didn't deliver. It is an okay book mind you, and I (sort of) liked it, in the end but--I still have very mixed feelings about it.


Things I liked:
-The world building!At first it felt confusing but one can't deny that it is also very original,.
- The writing style
- The overall story

Things I did not like:
- The pacing *add moan*
I had huuge problems with the pacing. The first half dragged a lot, the chapters didn't end where one would expect to and as a result reading this book was akin to walking through a swamp... A very slooow endeavor, indeed.
- Csowre. She is so bloody boring!.To me she lacked "flavor". She's loyal and has some positive traits but I found her very boring, especially at the beginning. Most of the time she just goes with the flow... occasionally she rises to the occasion.
- The secondary characters weren't particularly developed .Especially Sethannai. He's so underdeveloped that's hard to understand Csowre devotion for him.

All in all this is an average reading, neither too bad nor too good.

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