Midnight Thief
Author: Livia Blackburne
Series: Midnight Thief #1
Genre: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy
Release Date: July 8, 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Summary:
But when the leader of the Assassins Guild offers Kyra a lucrative job, she hesitates. She knows how to get by on her own, and she’s not sure she wants to play by his rules. But he’s persistent — and darkly attractive — and Kyra can’t quite resist his pull.
Tristam of Brancel is a young Palace knight on a mission. After his best friend is brutally murdered by Demon Riders, a clan of vicious warriors who ride bloodthirsty wildcats, Tristam vows to take them down. But as his investigation deepens, he finds his efforts thwarted by a talented thief, one who sneaks past Palace defenses with uncanny ease.
When a fateful raid throws Kyra and Tristam together, the two enemies realize that their best chance at survival — and vengeance — might be to join forces. And as their loyalties are tested to the breaking point, they learn a startling secret about Kyra’s past that threatens to reshape both their lives.
First Sentence: This job could kill her.
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.
My Review:
I’ll be honest: The only reason why I wanted to read Midnight Thief the first place is because my friends who have already read Midnight Thief absolutely loved it and other people I knew were really excited for it. I watched my friends go on and on about Midnight Thief on twitter and felt myself start to get excited for it too – I simply couldn’t wait to witness the epicness they were talking about. To my disappointment, Midnight Thief didn’t impress me. At all. In fact, all Midnight Thief managed to do was bore me, although it did have some interesting moments.
My main problem with Midnight Thief is Livia Blackburne’s writing. Her writing made it hard for me to connect with anything – the plotline, the story, and the characters. There was nothing specifically wrong with Livia Blackburne’s writing – it was just distant and a little below average to what I’m used to.
Later, after Kyra had quieted, rinsed her face, and accepted a cup of water, Bella finally spoke.
“You’re losing yourself, Kyra. Is it worth it?” (ARC 142)
Midnight Thief was also pretty predictable too. I was DMing Kristen from My Friends Are Fiction on twitter updates and notes while I was reading Midnight Thief and I predicted most of the plot twists except for one. That one plot twist I missed, I missed because it was really similar to a plot twist I read from another book I’ve read before, which I would write more in detail about in the next paragraph below.
I don’t know how I feel about this, but multiple parts of Midnight Thief reminded me of something else – a game in one scenario and other books in other scenarios. First of all, there are people called Demon Riders, who are “a clan of vicious warriors who ride bloodthirsty wildcats,” (don’t worry guys, this isn’t a spoiler – it’s written in the summary of Midnight Thief) which happened to remind me of this game I was really obsessed with when I was younger, Maplestory. You see, Maplestory has a job where players can ride on wild jaguars and shoot arrows at enemies while riding the jaguars. While the Demon Riders in Midnight Thief don’t shoot arrows while riding on their jaguars, they do ride jaguars while they hunt. There was also this small poison plotline in Midnight Thief that reminded me of one of my most favorite books ever: Poison Study by Maria V. Synder. I can’t go more into detail about it because it’s a spoiler, but the similarity is definitely there. Another similarity Midnight Thief had with another book is also a spoiler, but I can say that the similarity reminds me of the Darkness Rising trilogy by Kelley Armstrong. If you’ve read the Darkness Rising trilogy like I did, you’ll definitely get the Midnight Thief similarity too.
What kind of man did it take, to so coolly and methodically slip through the Palace defenses? To betray his own city to bloodthirsty beasts? (ARC 167)
There is romance in Midnight Thief, but you guys can calm down, there’s no love triangle. Midnight Thief‘s summary is cruel – it made me think that the book would contain a love triangle of some sort. Yes, that was one of my top worries. However, although there are no love triangles in Midnight Thief, I didn’t feel any chemistry between the couple, if you can even call them a couple. The couple were more like friends in my eyes and I wasn’t surprised when they finally kissed because I knew they would end up together anyways. In the end, the romance doesn’t impress me much.
Overall, as of now, I highly doubt I’ll be reading the sequel to Midnight Thief. Midnight Thief is just sadly not the book for me.
This book has such an amazing cover, but I noticed that it’s not getting too many good reviews.
Carrie recently posted…City of Lost Souls, Cassandra Clare
Good review. Too bad the book was a miss. I haven’t read this one yet. <3
Bummer…this book seemed to have a TON of potential. It’s so hard to enjoy a book though when you’re not given the opportunity to connect with the story or characters. I had a similar experience with another book recently and I was just so disappointed. Here’s hoping your next read is AMAZING!
Sarah recently posted…Book Review: Since You’ve Been Gone by Morgan Matson
I totally agree with you, I only gave it 2 stars on GD myself. It was such a disappointment, because the synopsis makes it sound like a fantastic read, BUT THEN YOU READ IT…
I found similarities too, especially the Poison Study one! I was like, waaaait, I’ve read this before. So much love for Poison Study!
The romance was extremely boring, honestly I don’t even understand how they feel in love, it’s like it happened out of the blue.
I’ve heard nothing but good things so far about this one and now I’m a little hesitant to read this one. I just can never get behind a book that has severe similarities to other books. If it has just a vague overall similarity to a book or a genre of books, that’s fine. But when it has scenes in it that are similar to other scenes in different books then I just can’t really love the book. I never blame the author, I just can never feel really connected to the book.
Sorry this book disappointed you :(. But great review!
Kim @ Kimberly’s Novel Notes recently posted…June Wrap-Up
I want to read this one so badly. From some of the reviews, I feel confident that I will love it! From other reviews, like yours, I am not so confident. I will still absolutely give it a shot, but I guess that I won’t find out until I read it which side of the fence that I fall on! Thanks so much for your review!
Jaime Lester recently posted…Books that Coranne Did Not Finish
Great indepth review, it sounds like it reminded you of a lot of things. Haha I remember playing Maple Story back in the day lol! Too bad the romance didn’t really take off for you either.
Jeann @ Happy Indulgence recently posted…To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han Review: Cute, fluffy (fake) romance
Oh, it’s such a shame you didn’t like it much. I’ve seen really good reviews for this one, but it’s actually nice to see different opinions. I really like your review!
Kaja recently posted…Stacking the Shelves #8 and a Weekly Recap
Thank you for the honest review. It’s too bad the book didn’t turn out as good as I hoped it will be. The summary was quite promising too, which what had me interested in the first place. Not sure anymore if I’ll pick it up in the future.
I think I might skip this one….I don’t like predictability much either.
Thanks for the honest review. No love triangle, but okay chemistry. . . I think I may skip this one! Thanks again.
I think I’ve heard of Midnight Thief a few times before, but the cover of this book never caught my attention or impressed me. Yes, I’m that type of person/reader most of the time. Unless, the story overrules the cover would I read it. But this book doesn’t sound great at all. I don’t know…I think it’s just not for me. But I’m glad I know this now than later when it’s too late.
Great review! I’ve been very interested in this book! The synopsis appeals to me and the cover is super cool. But the reviews make me wary of spending my money on something I’m not sure I will enjoy. Some reviews give it nothing but praise while others can point out countless flaws in it. I will probably just put it on hold at the library and form my own opinion! :)
Such a shame–it has such a pretty cover! I was looking forward to this one, but I always carefully watch the new reviews that come out for upcoming books I’m interested in, because usually the more honest and (oftentimes) more negative reviews come out more and more the closer it gets to the release date. Not sure if I’ll still check this one out–I have too many books on my TBR to include one that’s lackluster like this. Thanks for the review! :)
Thanks for such an honest review. The cover is great but as they say- you can’t judge a book by it’s cover. I will wait to get this one for awhile.
I was pretty excited for this book too but some early review on GR put me off it. Most the re views had problems with the writing and the plot. Shame, the synopsis looks great and the cover is a killer… Loved the review.
You aren’t the first blogger that said their friends loved this book and then you ended up being disappointed by it…hmm :(
Jessica @ The Book Bratz recently posted…Review: Another Little Piece by Kate Karyus Quinn
Thank you for this review!!! The synopsis sounded promising. Too bad it didn’t deliver.
I can understand how the writing style bothered you. I’m not too keen on books with a certain writing style, usually forcing me to me to put the book down. :(
It took me three tries to finish this book… I had to get other bloggers to convince me to finish. However, when things picked up about 1/2 way through, I found myself enjoying it a lot more. That first half, I could not connect with anyone and didn’t really care about the characters at all. Luckily, the second half was more enjoyable (for me anyway!)
Jess @ Such A Novel Idea recently posted…The Dare by Hannah Jayne — A Book Review
Sorry to hear the book didn’t work too well for you! What I’m really glad to hear is that there’s not love triangle at all!
Thanks for a very honest review!
Pili recently posted…Friday Reads: Hexed by Michelle Krys!!
For some reason, this story sound really familiar, but I know I haven’t read it. I wonder if I’ve read a short story or something that was like it? Can’t remember. Great review, I really like how honest you were.
Lisa Mandina (Lisa Loves Literature) recently posted…Stacking the Shelves July 12th, 2014
I’m really sad that you didn’t enjoy The Midnight Thief. So far, all the reviews I read on Goodreads and on blogs were all very very positive and made me really excited to pick it up soon. Unfortunately the thing with writing styles is that that people have so many different tastes that sometimes, like in this case, people either really enjoy it or they don’t. From the excerpts you provided in the review, I see no problem with it, I actually like it. But as I said, everyone has their own preferences. I’m definitely going to pick it up myself in the near future and see how I like it :) Nonetheless, I really liked your honest review :)
Thanks for your honest review! Glad to hear there was no love triangle, because I really dont like those!
I’m really sad that you didn’t enjoy this book. Thanks for the honest review
This book has an amazing cover but I have heard so many mixed things. Sorry you didn’t enjoy it, and thanks for the honest review! :)
Amber s. recently posted…ARC Review: Dissonance by Erica O’Rouke
Huh even if it was average for you, I guess I’ll try the book, because everyone has opinions! ;) AND OMG MAPLESTORY. I actually liked BankaiStory (or something like that better) because they gave you like everything for free, UNTIL they got rid of it or something. :'( ANYWAY, thanks for the review! :)
This book has been on my TBR list for a while. Thank you for the review!
Alexandra Lavinyaa Pash recently posted…Review: Killer Instinct, by S.E. Green
I’ve heard so many different things about this book. Some absolutely went gaga for it and some went eh, I’ve read better. I’m reading it now and I agree with you mostly, it’s a bit disconnected in the reader character relationship aspect (I did not describe that well at all XD). Brilliant review!
Honestly still looking forward to reading the book, though I do understand the qualms you have. I guess that’s one of the downsides of reading reviews sometimes. But heck! And in a way I do love love triangles coz it adds to some element in the novel. Oh what am I saying. I’ll tell you when I liked or hated the book instead!
Jayvee @ Writer For Misfits recently posted…ARC Review: Coin Heist by Elisa Ludwig
I have to say that your rating system is lovely!
I didn’t know this book until I read your review, and I guess it didn’t exactly made me want to read Midnight Thief… it’s sad when books that have such a beautiful cover don’t meet up to our expectations. I guess it’s really difficult to find something completely original these days.
This book is on my TBR stack and I’ve been meaning to get round to reading it. I’ve heard mixed reviews about it so I am still debating to read it or not. I suppose the only way to get around this is to actually sit down and read it. Sorry to hear it didn’t do anything for you especially getting such a build up from your friends
This sounds like a good book to read, it’s going on my TBR list!!! :)
I was also looking forward to this but it seems to be getting very mixed, if not bad, reviews. I’m sorry it got so hyped up for you -.-
Aww it’s a shame that you didn’t like it. I was pretty excited for this book too, but the mixed reviews by other bloggers and on goodreads has put me off a little. Books like this cause a bit of a conundrum for me: I want to read the book so that I can judge it for myself, but at the same time, I don’t want to spend time reading a book that I’ll dislike when I have so many other books in my TBR pile.
Unfortunately, if the other books in the series have such beautiful covers, I might be suckered into buying them.
It’s always a bummer when you don’t love a book that everyone else loves. From what you said the summary misleads you. I’ve noticed this happening for a lot of books recently. It’s more than a little upsetting when you’re read something completely different that what you thought it would be.
I had already seen this book around but not as much as you had (it’s cool that you have book friends) though I had seen it on Goodreads it had never caught my eye enough for me to read the synopsis. It does not sound like my type of book to be honest. I don’t know about you but I hate it when I read a hyped up book and I don’t like it. Why do they always seem to put that the girl meets a very attractive guy? That really does not make me want to read the book more.
I was quite interested in this book when i saw this cover (good covers are always a plus haha), but then the blurb was too long and draggy for my liking. I did like a girl who wasn’t helpless, who was strong, talented in her own right and not because of lineage or anything. Like Celaena in Throne of Glass. But the reviews, many good and many bad have sort of put me off reading this.. But after reading your review, i think i’m going to just skip out on this one. :)
I don’t like the cover, it’s scary. But the summary is somewhat interesting. You may not like this book, but i guess i’ll try to read it myself. Who know that i may end up like it? :)
I had high expectations for this book but you said it best–something about the writing was off, you couldn’t connect. I liked the idea of the story and I actually liked the action scenes but when she tried to throw in other elements it threw the story off. It felt like to me she was only adding romance for the sake adding romance. I mean, don’t get me wrong romance is one of my favorite elements of a book, however; in Midnight Thief it felt forced, maybe even less. Like “meh”. It wasn’t horrible but as you said, it wasn’t impressive. Great review!
A lot of my bookish friends raves about how they absolutely loved this book. They praise it the same way as your friends. The summary has me intrigued though, so I might have to check it out and see for myself if it’s worth reading or not for high fantasy lovers like me.
Unfortunate to read that you were disappointed! The summary sounds really good and the cover is beautiful, but after reading your review, I’m not really impressed with the book either. I never know how to feel about books that have so similarities to other stories, especially if they’re from books that I absolutely adore. I always find myself comparing the books, which is something I try to avoid. I think I’ll give this book a miss, so, thanks for another great review!
This book has been super hyped up, so I’m happy to see a review that’s not 5 stars. I’m on the fence about this one, but I might still give it a try/
The book cover attracted me to read but from your review it’s not so good. But I will give it a try because of people who loved it.
I really love how you honestly review books! They’re so detailed without spoiling any detail. I watch out for your ARC Book Review because they help me find interesting books to read. You’re awesome!
Good review. Not sure if I will read it either. Don’t tend to enjoy books that jump all over the place.
Thanks for the review. I liked the first part of the summary but lost interest after. I will skip this book.