The Hollow Heart is the stunning sequel to The Midnight Lie and the final book in this duology. I was eager to see how Nirrim's decision would play out. How Sid  would react. And then, finally, how they would come together, because last book they were done. 

I have to admit, after the epic levels of the Midnight Lie, I did not love this book that much. And I was a bit disappointed with how quickly we got to the conclusion. For me, I think that I had hyped this book up so much, that I was always going to be a little disappointed. But I did still really enjoy this book and may have devoured in one sitting.

The chapters were split between Nirrim and Sid. Nirrim, I did grow to hate. I disliked her power hungry side and didn't feel that it was fully down to the bargain that she had struck. Whereas Sid was much more interesting. I think this is partly down to the mystery surrounding her being resolved. But probably because we got too met Kestrel and Arrin again. I enjoyed their side plot so much so that it did distract me from the main story, which was probably the point!

The reveal at the end was amazing and to have an understanding of the wider world was incredible. But I did feel that I was left with more questions than answers. I am hoping that The Hollow Heart is a gateway to other series set within this world and that we get to discover more about the gods. I think that would be great.

Overall, while this was a fun read, it didn't quite hit right with me, but one I will definitely read again.

Nope. As much as I loved The Winner's Curse, I hated this one. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to make the main character absolutely hateful and insufferable for the entirety of this book?? I'm talking about Nirrim, not Sid. Sid was fine.

Also, we finally got Kestrel and Arin in this one, so I finally managed to place this book into a correct timeline compared to the original series, but.. I'm sad to say I did not like them here. Everyone suffers from a major case of bad communication, which I hate.

I did however like the triple POV situation and it admittedly all came together pretty nicely in the end, but not enough to redeem this book. I'm still very confused about a great many things.

The Midnight Lie skyrocketed itself to my best books of 2023, so I was very excited to pick up the sequel, The Hollow Heart.
This was a really great sequel but it wasn't quite on the same level as the first book. Rutkoski's writing is so captivating. I don't know what she does but I can't help but devour it as quickly as possible. I found this book a lot more political than the first, and I didn't enjoy that aspect as much as I thought I would. There was a lot of scheming and plotting but not so much doing. However, this was my only gripe with the book, so it was still a marvelous read.

I really do love this duology and I'm sad it has ended. Time for me to read more by Rutkoski!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this sequel, it didn't live up the expectations of the first but nevertheless, I had a fun time within the pages.

I absolutely adored the first book in the series and I think it should also end as a standalone. I don‘t think the sequel was necessary. I still enjoyed it but it was just okay. I expected much more from it.

This was a fantastic story, The plot follows both women as they continue where we left off. As we follow someone who has no heart -it’s so interesting to read the affects it has, the murders, the cruelty, this does feel like a different world from the first book, but so it should with the lack of compassion in Nirrim, fantastic and a great sequel

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

“Yes, he imprisoned me, but I imprisoned him first. Do not worry, tadpole. He is mine, and I am his. Always.”

second instalment
conclusion to duology
Queer young adult fantasy
multi-POV

This sapphic fantasy book is magical and whimsical and picks up right after The Midnight Lie, where Nirrim offered up her heart to the God of Thieves in so that her people’s memories of their city’s history could be restored. Sid and Nirrim’s romance unfolded so sweetly and swoon-worthily, with due exploration of their lesbianism done with a fine hand. The writing is somewhat nostalgic and flowy, and the multi-POV is a treat to explore sides. I so wish this was a trilogy!

Thank you for my earc of this book!
This was a good follow on but definitely left room for improvement plot-wise. At times a little lagged or aimless but overall good and enjoyable to read.

I loved the first book in this series, so I was quite disappointed when this one didn't grip me in the same way. I picked it up and put it down multiple times because the writing style was so detached in the opening chapters. I realise that this is an artifact of the plot itself - if you recall, in the end of the first series, the main character gave her heart to the gods - but it made starting this book really hard going, to the extent that I was so put off that I DNF-ed it. Which was disappointing, because I seriously loved the first in the duology. Perhaps I'll come back to this some day, but for now, it's definitely not for me.

This was a mess. I don’t know what happened, but the plot in this second instalment was chaotic and didn’t even make sense most of the time. It’s mentioned that important events take place off the page, half of the book is focused on a new subplot which comes out of nowhere and Sid goes from being a mature and interesting character in the first book to becoming a capricious character with mommy issues in this one.

I planned on reading the first one but at the moment I don't know when thats going to happen. Plus this file is now archived so I'll just pick up a physical copy!!

Sorry!!

An excellent finale to a wonderful duology. THE HOLLOW HEART built beautifully on the development of our two main characters and I was particularly happy with the inclusion of Sid's POV in this book as it made me fall far more deeply in love with her than I already was. I especially loved the incorporation of real-world issues into this fantasy world - and the way in which lesbian identity was explored within this book was truly a highlight to me. And of course, the prose was simply stunning.

Thank you to netgalley and then publishers for providing an eARC in exchange of an honest review.

I am really disappointed to say that despite absolutely loving the midnight lie this book just wasn’t it. The plot follows both women as they continue where we left off. One going home to her sick mother and the other declaring herself a god after discovering the secret of the gods.

As we follow someone whiteout a heart - though it’s unclear exactly what’s been lost. Maybe conscience? She has many people murdered for their crimes against the half kith. She essentially becomes something maybe worse than the original. We also discover (or maybe I’m dumb) that Sid’d parents are actually Kestrel and Arin from the winners series. So now I’m disappointed because they feel so different as worlds and stories. Also Kestrel is an asshole to her kid.

Anyway, the story goes nowhere: both women pining after each other and both sure the other doesn’t love them. Back on the island we have one killing everyone and manipulating people, and then Sid playing detective discovering who poisoned her mother: honestly I can’t say I care?

This has none of the plot beats that made the first book so wonderful and just felt like maybe midnight lie should have been a slightly longer standalone instead.

I will eat my hat if this actually concludes this series. I know it says “duology” but that ending has way too much potential!

Let’s start with the positives. Marie Rutkoski writes so very nicely; her dialogue is great - the perfect combination of witty and lyrical, but without ever treading into the realm of being a bit too purple. The plot has awesome ideas woven with it - magical birds, Gods and potential for magical abilities throughout. And, perhaps most importantly, Rutkoski ties this series into the previous series which gives us insight into where those characters went next.

The trouble is, each of those components (the plot, the magical bird and the links to previous series) all had some serious issues. The bird, first of all, was basically as convenient as Tolkien’s eagles but without as much purpose! It looked pretty, it conveniently cropped up when it was useful, but it was largely unexplained and silly. What a waste of a cool bird!

The plot was fast, with strong characters, but the world building was totally sketchy. If you asked me to paint you a picture of a scene from this world I would genuinely be pulling from memory from her previous series, because none of the remaining scenes were developed enough to come to life.

Which brings me nicely to the previous links. This series does not stand alone. At all. You have to have read that series, not only because you’ll be totally spoiled if you don’t but also because some of the characters play a vital role in this book which just wouldn’t make sense if you hadn’t read the previous series. They were also so cheesy. I had second hand embarrassment at one point!

But you know, it’s sort of like junk food. You know it’s not good for you, but you like it and can’t put it down. This series was that for me. There were some brilliant ideas, some societal conversations which were important and some fantasy themes I loved, but all of them sadly felt underdeveloped and left me feeling a bit disappointed.

ARC provided from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The final book in Marie Rutkoski’s Forgotten Gods duology, so there will be spoilers to the first book, The Midnight Lie in this review, was a delightful rollercoaster from start to finish.

The voices for both Nirrim and Sid were written well and, combined with the culture of the countries each spent their time in, made their chapters feel very distinctive with different atmospheres and focuses. One was introspective and focused more on magic, with dark undercurrents and tense vibes, the other was more politically and family minded, with greater emphasis on the relationships with other characters. That the two journeys each character went on were very different, yet still brought them to the same place at the end made for quite a satisfying read.

We see a lot more of the lore established in The Midnight Lie, but also mentioned in the prequel Winners series, with chapters told from the perspective of one of the gods (unrevealed which one until towards the end). This helped give credence to the Half-Kith and their gifts, and I like how the history was explained, as well as Nirrim’s own history of how her parents came to meet and have her. Seeing the magic in action when wielded by people rather than the effects of potions as we saw in the first book was also quite entertaining and made what we saw in the first book even more horrific.

I devoured this book – it was fast paced with great characters and magic and reading it felt like stepping into a fairytale. I loved how Nirrim’s deal with the God of Thieves (knowledge in exchange for her heart) played out, particularly in how Rutkoski chose to interpret the heart as Nirrim’s compassion rather than her love. While I enjoyed the Winners trilogy, this duology resonated with me a lot more and felt like something different that I could really get my teeth into. The writing was engaging, the plot thrilling and the characterisation excellent (and a touch disturbing in places). Definitely a world and characters I would love to return to.

The hollow heart is the sequel to the midnight lie. This sequel follows the story of two girls, Nirrim and Sid who fall in love with each other in a world filled with magic and oppression.
Facing the strict rules of society, they both end up in prison, where an immediate connection brings them closer to each other than expected. As both girls get more and more involved in the magic of their world, terrible secrets come out and hearts get lost on the way.

Not nearly as good at the midnight lie and not a perfect sequel.… but still pretty good storywise! I only wish the ending wasn’t as rushed and I think it’s a different kind of sequel as fans want and expect, but still good in its own way.

The Hollow Heart is an interesting sequel. It's not perfect and low on the lovely romance that made the first book so special, but characterization-wise it's very clever.

The first thing that caught my attention of this book is that it's a total mirror of The Midnight Lie in every way. The themes are the complete opposite of each other. The midnight lie is about what happens when history get erased. When people accept the way things are without questioning as that's what they are used to. When you accept mistreatment because that's all you've ever known and don't know how else the world would work. The whole plot of the Midnight Lie is uncovering the history of a place that seems to have behave it. In retrospective, Sid is a part of this theme. In Nirrims eyes, our main point of view, Sid is a a mystery. She's someone herself without history as everything she shares could easily be a lie. It adds a layer of fascination to her.

In The Hollow Heart the history has been revealed and the consequences are unavoidable. Suddenly both Sid and Nirrim get a point of view and both their histories are so much they can't handle it and the implications of the history. For Nirrim, who also deals with being heartless, this means she is angry. She is angry at the mistreatment she went to, angry at what she assumed was normal and what I personally like a lot... anger at the homophobia she has been put trough. Often in homophobic worlds (as like reality) your sexuality is something supposed to be "tolerated". When you get rights heterosexual couples get, you should be grateful. You aren't supposed to get angry that you were opressed and denied rights in the first place, as apparently this is already such a great gift. Nirrim DOES get to be angry, angry that she was tricked into thinking she belongs to a man. She literally calls it nonsense and it's great as lesbian characters aren't often allowed to be angry. Anyways, Nirrim is fulled with want for revenge and her anger plus heartlessness makes her not want to create a better world neccecarily, she just wants the power she never got. These chapters are paced a bit weird, as is the narration by a heartless character sometimes a bit rough. Still, it's a weird place because at one place Nirrim is rightfully mad, but she also become the fullblown villain in the story.

Sid is the shining star of this book. Although it did feel a bit like fanservice for a book I haven't read, the characterization is so interesting. Sid went from a historyless traveller, to a crown princess with a reputation. A daughter of an opressed and colonized group and the opressor. The daughter of parents who went trough enough to fill an entire triology with. And as many daughters, she can never fully understand her parents past and trauma. She is just born with it inherited and suddenly there are expectations and enemies she had to do nothing for to get them shoved onto her plate. She knows pieces of her parents history and learns more pieces of it troughout the book, but many are secondhand accounts how heroic her parents was. All she has is a legacy she doesn't understand and doesn't know how to live up to. All she sees is her moms cleverness she got by surviving and because of that never knows how to read her and assume the worse. She wants their love so much, but the gap between them and herself seems to big. In the book, she is mostly trying to solve a mystery around her mom and for that she needs to confront her parents past and expectations. She is angry too, but also filled with guilt and self-loathing that she can never get it right. And while the book does kind of shy away from making her parents fully homophobic, her romantic history does get another tone when mentioned than it would be if she was a guy. Suddenly all jabs and jokes how much hearts she breaks feel more personal, more as an attack. Sids narrative also deals a bit more with lesbian anger, but in a different context. While her parents never call her dating woman forbidden, it does affect her lifestyle and choices and limitations. It makes Sid an interesting parallel to real gay culture and how the whole 'hook-up' gay scene exists for a reason other than 'gay people are naturally promiscuous'. Again it's a bit slower, but paints a beautiful portrait of a lesbian who has so much love inside her but let her own insecurities she tried to supress for so long, many caused by her sexuality and arguably gender identity, come in the way of being the person she has the potenial to be.

My only complaint is that this 100% feels like a second book and not closure of the series. If this was the second book and there was a whole third book dealing with the fall out of heartless Nirrims and her reunion with Sid and her plan to attack more countries and an misunderstanding and a.... you get where I'm going for. The last few chapters feel extremely rushed, but that's because I feel like the author got screw over by the publisher. I honestly really believe she had plans for another whole book and that maybe even the publisher wanted her to include more of the parents, but that's so far an assumption I'm making here.

Anyways thematically these two books are completely different yet form a cohesive whole and while it didn't went how I would write it myself, I appreciate the commitment to the theme and bold move to make them so different in the first place yet still fit together.

The perfect sequel to the first book “the midnight lie”. I found this just as well written as the first one in the duology and it totally met my expectations.
So I would recommend both to anyone!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending me an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinions!

The Midnight Lie was one of my favorite books of 2020 and will probably always remain one of my favorite YA fantasies, so I was obviously beyond excited to read the conclusion to Nirrim and Sid’s story.

While The Midnight Lie put heavy focus on Nirrim’s POV, The Hollow Heart sports a dual POV, giving the reader more insight into the inner workings of both main characters. Oceans between them, Nirrim and Sid struggle with their feelings for each other and how to balance them with their respective duties to their people.
This book definitely has a lot more callbacks to the Winner’s trilogy, putting heavy focus on Sid’s family and their history. While it was pretty easy to follow, I still wish that I had read the trilogy first, just for some extra context - but Rutkoski definitely did an amazing job at balancing linking the stories while still keeping The Hollow Heart readable.

Another aspect I deeply enjoyed was the deep dive into the lore. All the speculating readers had to deal with in book 1 absolutely paid off, and it is all tied together in a rather satisfying way. Sadly, I think that the explicit explanation of the gods and magic took away some of the magical atmosphere that made The Midnight Lie so outstanding. This book wasn’t about figuring out the workings of a secretive society anymore, but rather about two lovers grappling with their circumstances. An absolutely valid turn of events, but one that was bittersweet to me, as it took away the thing I loved most about TML.

Giving Sid more complexity and character development was a great call, and though I was hesitant at first, I actually ended up enjoying her time at home.
I will admit that the finale felt a little anticlimactic to me, but nonetheless, it was a satisfying conclusion to a series that I will definitely return to in the future!

A worthy sequel to THe Nightmight Lie, this book is well and truly a book all about Sid. Despite the texture and structure of the book at times feeling a bit 'lumpy' and disjointed, it was still a fabulous read. We found so much more about the magic system, and there were key things that we finally saw fromt Sid's perspective, which was absolutely intriguing.