This was every bit as enthralling as Winner's Curse and was definitely worth the wait! Marie's prose is beautiful as always

I'm not entirely sure how to rate this book, i liked it well enough but i didn't love it.
The pacing is pretty slow and it did feel like a bit of a chore to read in some parts but the ending mostly made up for it.
I liked a few of the characters and thought it was really fun to be back in this world.
Another positive is that this book encouraged me to read more F/F romances, something i've not really done before.

eARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for honest review.

Up until the 80% mark this was going to be a 3 star read/rating. It was good but there nothing was really connecting with me. It was certainly well written with an intriguing slow burn plot, but it completely lacked any action to excite me. I also had issues with the main character throughout. She was just so frustratingly weak minded, naive and easily manipulated. I couldn’t get behind her or root for her. Then there was the romance, again maybe because this too was a somewhat slow burn or maybe I really just didn’t like Nirrim enough to see the appeal, but I couldn’t get behind this either.

Now the last 20% or so felt like a completely different story. It picked up pace immensely and the character development was pleasing but that ending was a complete curve ball. I did not see anything like that coming. So whilst for the most part it was just a nice read, a little repetitive in places, that ending certainly intrigued enough to raise the rating and the anticipation for the next installment.

Having enjoyed THE WINNER'S CURSE but hating THE WINNER'S KISS, I hoped that returning to this world, albeit a different place that claimed to have magic, I'd find some spark of the fun of THE WINNER'S CURSE.

That didn't happen.

My major problem was the plot, or lack thereof. There was no sense of a goal or forward momentum to the book. Nirrim slinks around, reacting to things that don't feel like they have any bearing on her or the world. Maybe they would if I read further, but I don't have the willpower to waste my time reading pages of nothing in the hopes that something happens to tie it together.

What does Nirrim want? Well, she anytime even the idea of fleeing comes to mind she dismisses it. And it's not like she has a antagonist to go against. I think the city and the state is supposed to be the antagonist, but it doesn't seem to pose a threat. She gets chucked into prison but she never felt in danger because she doesn't have a goal for them to oppose.

Nirrim spends a lot of time thinking about the past, which doesn't help the slow pace as all it does is spread out the few moemnths of something. A lot of these memories are from her as a baby of small toddler. I'm not that old, and yet I barely have any clear memories of being less than ten.

The book is about Nirrim. She is Half Kith and an orphan. She now works at an inn and bakery (& as a forger) for bed and board without pay. The phrase "It is as it is" is one used by people like Nirrim quite often. There are no questions like "Why". The city is dark in places and the law such as it is has a disregard for those of lower status such as Nirrim. On the other hand High Kith can do what they like really. However Sid arrives. There have no travellers on this island and yet that is exactly what Sid is. When Nirrim meets Sid things begin to change.

There is so much I'd love to share about this book but that would simply dilute the journey for other readers and that would be sad. The gradual reveals about Sid and Nirrim, and her world, made for gently compulsive reading. I kept think - "just a little more and then I'll put it down". For the last quarter or so I stopped pretending and just kept reading!

The Midnight Lie itself (though bear in mind this is from a proof copy) from early in the book.
"It is a midnight lie, she said. A kind of lie told for someone else's sake, a lie that sits between goodness and wrong, just as midnight is the moment between night and morning. Or a lie that is not technically false, like a misleading truth".
As you read this there is an underlying tension - do we know all the "Midnight lies" that have been told - I doubt it...

Is this perfect - maybe not but so so readable and, for me, enchanting. Initially this feels like rather a soft fantasy book. There are no ghastly monsters, no spells being cast, no quest etc. However as the book progresses you realise that you just haven't noticed the darkness and depth! The book allows you to watch the fading of innocence - quite uncomfortable. The story offers darkness, tension, lies and distrust. However it also offers light, love, revelation and beauty. It is certainly one of the best books I've read this year. I found it fresh which I liked and so engaging - my real sadness was that it ended - this part at least.

I really don't want to wait a year for the next part of this though I guess I will have to! However it has introduced me to a new fantasy writer which leaves me some other book from this author to explore while I'm waiting. Maybe this depends on what you want in your fantasy reading; for me this is somewhere between modern and classic fantasy. This may not suit everyone but I loved it.