The Midnight Lie

Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules, and society’s pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colours. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences. {goodreads summary}

The Midnight Lie is a wonderful New Adult fantasy from Marie Rutkoski, creator of one of my very favourite fantasy series - The Winner's Trilogy. It is filled with magic, romance and so many twists. Here are three reasons I enjoyed this story:

1) Nirrim's voice captivated me throughout The Midnight Lie. There was a sense of detachment, of regret, that was really interesting, especially with a first person narrator. 

2) In a similar vein, I really liked Nirrim as a character. Her naivety and her foibles, her inability to see the truth due to her desperation to believe people are good. I liked the very relatable way in which she made herself believe that everything was her fault and that the people around her had her best interests at heart - and I loved her eventual realisation that this was happening, and the steps she took afterwards. Nirrim felt complicated and real. Sid was equally superb, but in a completely different way. Imagine a lesbian, female Nikolai Lantsov and you have Sid: arrogant, flirtatious and irresistible.

3) The way the world connected to the universe of The Winner's Trilogy - the small hints and larger twists - was very clever. I hope there is more interplay in the next story, and possibly appearances from some of my favourites, although so long as Nirrim and Sid are still taking centre stage, I'll definitely be preordering book two.

I was provided with an eARC of this story through NetGalley.