Today I’m reviewing a book you’ve probably heard of: THE GIRL AT MIDNIGHT by Melissa Grey as part of the The GIRL AT MIDNIGHT blog tour! Make sure you also enter the giveaway below, courtesy of Random House!
The Girl At Midnight
Author: Melissa Grey
Series: The Girl At Midnight #1
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Release Date: April 28, 2015
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Summary:
Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she’s fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it’s time to act.
Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, though if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it’s how to hunt down what she wants…and how to take it.
But some jobs aren’t as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.
First Sentence: The Ala had gone to the library in search of hope.
I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.
What I Liked
I love the dragon versus birds concept The Girl At Midnight is based on. It reminds me of a Chinese myth (?) or Chinese proverb (?) – I’m not sure whether it’s a myth or a proverb – where dragons and phoenixes are natural enemies. The Girl At Midnight reminds me of that Chinese myth or proverb; I love that the Drakharins have scales on their cheeks and that the Avicens have unique color feathers that represent a certain bird breed as their hair. I sadly couldn’t picture people with feathers for hair though, even though I saw a couple of pictures where people were cosplaying the Avicen.
Callipygian, Echo thought, watching Rowan depart. Having a nice butt. She took a moment to appreciate the scenic view before saying, “Honestly, Ivy, I don’t know what you don’t see.” (52)
I also like the fact that The Girl At Midnight takes place in multiple places around the world. We get to visit New York City (yay, hello hometown!) and trek through Japan. Melissa is definitely great at writing scenery – every time Echo visits some place new, I feel like I’m there along with her.
Echo’s use of foreign words and words others haven’t ever heard of in tight situations or when she’s trying to be clever was really entertaining to read about. Those moments definitely brightened up the book and sometimes made me even crack a smile. I wish these scenes occurred more often in the last half of the book as there wasn’t much of these entertaining scenes then.
What I Didn’t Like
I’ve seen this complaint about The Girl At Midnight from other reviewers around the blogosphere and I have to agree: The Girl At Midnight is way too similar to Daughter of Smoke and Bone and City of Bones. The Girl At Midnight doesn’t feel like it had been “inspired” by Daughter of Smoke and Bone, a bit of Shadow and Bone, and City of Bones, but more of like a copy, just with somewhat different characters. There are just too many similarities: angels vs chimaeras in Daughter of Smoke and Bone are the dragons vs. birds in The Girl At Midnight, the Ala is Brimstone, Echo is a wannabe Karou, Jace and Alec’s situation in City of Bones is the same as Caius and Dorian’s situation, The Girl At Midnight shared a huge plot twist with one of those books I’ve mentioned above, and I could go on and on. If The Girl At Midnight shared traits with only one of those books, it’ll be fine, but sharing traits with more than one popular book/series causes me to majorly side-eye it. I would have enjoyed The Girl At Midnight a lot more if it was more original.
“Backpfeifengesicht,” Echo said. It was one of her favorite words. German. A face made for punching. It suited Ruby perfectly. (102)
There was also cheating in this book – at least, I considered what Echo did cheating. Echo was in a relationship with another guy – she thought of him as her boyfriend and they shared a few kisses. Echo and her boyfriend were split apart for awhile and while they were apart, Echo then kissed Caius and developed a relationship with him without ever ending things with the guy she originally thought as her boyfriend. Nope, nope, nope, that’s just not the way to do things in my book.
The last third of the The Girl At Midnight also lagged. Things slowed down and it became quite tedious and predictable to read since it shared a major plot twist with another book I’ve mentioned above, which I saw coming from around page thirty.
Overall
If you’re looking for a book that’ll manage to make you crack a smile, I’ll recommend The Girl at Midnight.
Her debut novel, The Girl At Midnight, will be published by Delacorte/Random House in spring 2015.
Want a hardcover of The Girl At Midnight? Well, you can enter to win one – US only though, sorry guys.
I want to read this book but I am hesitating since a lot of reviews state that this is pretty much a copy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone.I don’t have problems with a few resemblances here and there,but this one sounds too much like DOSAB .And as I love myself some originality,I guess I have to pass this one.
Wonderful review Kelly!
Mishma @ Chasing Faerytales recently posted…A Little Bit of Everything #2 || Do you let your beliefs influence your relationships?
This book sounds so unique, and the cover is great! Thanks for the chance to win!
Huh. Well since you guys say there are similarities I may not pick this one up because what’s the point if technically I’ve read theseconcepts before already? I’m okay with some comparisons but not a whole bunch. Although like you said, the German words did make things a tad bit funnier. :)
I don’t mind similarities between books as long as the characters are unique and likable!
I loved the few pages of it I read in a preview excerpt!
I have a US address but rafflecopter might show my location outside US because I’m doing a semester abroad
thank you so very much! :)
I am sooo torn about reading this one. Obviously there have been so many glowing reviews for it but a lot of the problems I’ve seen people having with it are stuff I KNOW I’d have issues with. It’s disappointing to hear that it’s so similar to so many other things – I totally thought it sounded like such a unique book haha. I’m sure I’ll try it out this summer but hopefully the cheating thing doesn’t bother me as much. (It probably will. Sigh.)
Zoey @ Uncreatively Zoey recently posted…ARC Review: From a Distant Star
this one is on my tbr…a friend of mine gave me a kindle copy…so this is like a rehash of like other very familiar books then…is this like reading The Red Queen? i love the author’s purple hair color tho…hehehe!
Thanks for the giveaway. I have been wanting to read this one!
Cynthia recently posted…Friday Finds
If this book shares many similarities to other popular books out there than I feel no reason to read this one. I might as well say I know what happens even if it’s slightly different. I can only imagine what rating you gave this book and I’d say it’s around 2-3 out 5…I’m pretty sure I won’t read this book. It just doesn’t sound like it’s for me, but I’ll keep a look out for other reviews. Thanks for sharing your opinions Kelly! :)
Eeeeeeek. I have strong feelings about cheating and it doesn’t bode well that the main character kind of just forgot about the guy she was dating and pursued a relationship with another guy without even breaking up with the other guy! (That sentence just became a jumble, didn’t it? Kind of like her relationship? :P)
I’ve also heard similar things about the book being a copy of ADoSaB and City of Bones. I think that would make it harder for me to love the book but I don’t think I can say it would stop me from enjoying it. Especially since I adore dragons!! :)
I am glad that in spite of your issues with the book, it managed to entertain you and you ended up enjoying it, Kelly! :)
Lovely review!
Rashika recently posted…Review: Alias Hook by Lisa Jensen
I have heard some really great things about this one, and then some not so great things. But, even though the concept is very similar to some very well known books, I still think that I want to check it out. Just to see, ya know. Thanks for your review!
Jaime Lester recently posted…Jaime Reviews ~ Briar Queen by Katherine Harbour
interesting premise
Aw. Gorgeous post Kelly. <3 I'm sorry you had some issues with this one :( I haven't read Daughter of Smoke and Bone yet, so I didn't notice anything similar. Ack. Which means this was a four star for me, lol :) But omg, yes. The romance annoyed me too. I LOVED her with Caius. Would have been perfect if her "boyfriend" had not been there at all. Sigh. But he was. And it was.. yeah. Not the best :( but still liked the book, hih. Anyway. I'm glad you liked some things about it :D Thank you for sharing sweetie. <3
Carina Olsen recently posted…Waiting on Wednesday #187
I have heard so many great things about this book! :D
Oh no! I do love a good book like this one and it sounds like the type of read I would enjoy completely myself. It’s just a shame about it being so close to City of Bones because I love that series and when a book is too similar to another it really does bother me. So I don’t know anymore :/
Olivia recently posted…Edge of Evil (Review & Giveaway!)
I just received my order of this book! I’m so excited to read this since it sounds very unique from the books that I used to read.