The Girl At Midnight Review

The Girl at Midnight by Melissa Grey

Title: The Girl at Midnight

Author: Melissa Grey

Series: The Girl at Midnight #1

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Publication Date: April 28, 2015

Genre: Fiction; Fantasy; Romance; Young Adult

Pages: 357

Format: ARC

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Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.

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.

How to describe this book…A Mortal Instruments copycat? Sure. Honorable attempt turned epic failure? Yes. Boring? Definitely.

Echo is a self-taught thief adopted by the magical race of the Avicen, a.k.a. The Bird People. The Avicen has had a raging, violent war with their counterparts, the Drakharin, a.k.a. The Lizard People, for centuries. The only hope for either race’s survival is the Firebird, a mystical object with enough power to stop the war or destroy everyone in it, and Echo is tasked with finding it. Her seemingly impossible mission will bring unlikely enemies and allies alike, and Echo will have to decide who she can and cannot trust.

Looking back on it now, it even sounds ridiculous.

From page one, I’ve felt as if I’d read it all before. Nothing was new, including the characters. Take the Mortal Instruments: one female human, several non-human friends, one guy in love with another guy in love with another guy in love with the female human, and one non-human sister-brother pair. The Girl at Midnight was exactly the same. Exactly. No difference what-so-ever. If I wanted to read another Mortal Instruments novel, I would’ve just read the original. I would’ve been more entertained the second time around than I was with the first time of The Girl at Midnight.

The romance desperately needed something. A lot of something. I could see the potential, but it was never realized and all around just made me sad. The “snark” and “wit” of the main character was rudimentary and unoriginal. The setting was uninteresting, as was the plot. I was never totally clear on the exact plot/goal of the characters. I lost focus about mid-way and never found it again. Overall, a whole-heartedly one star disappointment. 

The Shadow Hour

April 7, 2016

Scorched Review

Scorched by Mari Mancusi

Title: Scorched

Author: Mari Mancusi

Series: Scorched #1

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Publication Date: September 3, 2013

Genre: Fantasy; Young Adult

Pages: 352

Format: Hardback

goodreads

Trinity
Don’t leave me here... It starts with a whisper. At first Trinity thinks she’s going crazy. It wouldn’t be a big surprise—her grandpa firmly believes there’s a genuine dragon egg in their dusty little West Texas town. But this voice is real, and it’s begging for her protection. Even if no one else can hear it...

Connor
He’s come from a future scorched by dragonfire. His mission: Find the girl. Destroy the egg. Save the world.

Caleb
He’s everything his twin brother Connor hates: cocky, undisciplined, and obsessed with saving dragons. 

Trinity has no idea which brother to believe. All she has to go by is the voice in her head—a dragon that won’t be tamed.

I finally decided to read this book when I saw it, just sitting there, begging for me to pick it up, in my local library. I was excited. I had expectations for this book, which honestly, I didn’t think it would meet. I was surprised to find that it was better than I originally hoped it would be.

Trinity is struggling with keeping her grandfather’s museum afloat and them together when an unexpected (and desperately unwanted) discovery changes their life forever. With money that was supposed to keep them above water for just a little bit longer, her grandfather buys what he believes is a real dragon egg. Trinity, devastated with her beloved grandfather’s decision refuses to believe in his fantasies. That is, until she starts hearing voices and a mysterious man claiming he is from the future trying to save to the world from a dragon apocalypse shows up at her doorstep and saves her life. Unknowingly, she is sucked into a world she only ever saw in the craziest of video games.

The writing was impressive. The witty humor and cynical sarcasm made me almost laugh out loud more than once. I loved how light and fun the novel felt. I couldn’t put it down until the last page. It was fast-paced, humorous and action-filled, all the things you could ever want in a dragon novel.

Things I didn’t like? The continuous video game references. I didn’t really see the point in how video games kept showing up in really random places. I’m not so much a gamer-girl myself, so I just didn’t get it, or relate to it. If I could take one part out of this book, it would be that.

Things I did like? The love triangle. Definitely. It was fun and kept me turning the pages, hungry for more. I’m sorry to anyone who feels differently, but Team Caleb. All the way. Forever and ever.

In all, this book was better than expected, not the best I’ve ever read, and an exciting fantasy book mixed with just a hint of time travel. I enjoyed it and would recommend to anyone looking for another dragon book besides Eragon (even though it is a way lighter read than the Inheritance Cycle). A must-read for fantasy lovers and dragon lovers alike.