#the midnight kingdom

[aroaessidhe]

2024 reads / storygraph

The Midnight Kingdom

book 2 in a high fantasy trilogy based around a city at the nexus of multiple realms, following the heirs to four noble houses

the heirs are scattered across the realms, trying to survive, keep their city together, and find a way to defeat the gods

necromancy, fire magic, magic controlled by music & dance, shadow familiars and god possession

bi, lesbian, demi, ace MCs

[tarasimauthor]

I’m so happy to reveal the cover for book 2 of the Dark Gods trilogy: THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM! (Design by Lisa Marie Pompilio)

In The Midnight Kingdom, each heir walks a dangerous path, attempting to undo the damage the gods have wrought across the four realms. But they live on borrowed time. The divine will have their war—and not all of them will survive it.

Preorders are now available here!

[aurorawest]

Another reading update

Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell - 4.25/5 stars

Surprise queer love story at the end! Also made me regret that we didn't stop in Tombstone, AZ, when we drove by it on our vacation to Arizona last year.

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem - DNF at pg 18

Prince and Assassin by Tavia Lark - 5/5 stars

This book was A DELIGHT. I didn't expect to love it so much because I've been burned by so many Rainbow Crate selections, but goddamn this one was good. I ordered the next five books in the series from the parking ramp where we watched the eclipse, lol.

Briarley by Aster Glenn Gray - 4.75/5 stars

The gay, WWII retelling of Beauty and the Beast you didn't know you needed. Really lovely novella.

New Adult by Timothy Janovsky - 4.5/5 stars

Time travel! Crystals! I'm a sucker for books where the main character realizes that their career isn't everything (clearly, since my debut novel is about that). I love Timothy Janovsky. He's so good at writing characters who are deeply unlikable but who you root for from page 1 to get their shit together.

Stars, Hide Your Fires by Jessica Mary Best - 3/5 stars

A Glorious Mess by Kennedy Sutton - 4/5 stars

This is a prequel to a series I haven't read, but I really enjoyed it!

The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim - 4.25/5 stars

This is another high fantasy where I was like, okay, what happened again in the first one...? It slowly came back to me, haha. I love Tara Sim and this book was just as good as the first in the series. Definitely excited for the conclusion.

The Body in the Back Garden by Mark Waddell - 4/5 stars

Cozy mysteries aren't really my thing, but I really liked this one. There was enough violence to keep it from twee overload.

The Bookseller's Boyfriend by Heidi Cullinan - 4/5 stars

The Path by Ariel Tachna - 4.25/5 stars

Aka, now I want to hike the Inca Trail. This was a great book about two guides on the Inca Trail in Peru (and if you know me you might know I have interest in guiding). Not only was the book just good, but I loved the exposure to a country that I don't know much about.

The Bachelor's Valet by Arden Powell - 5/5 stars

Hello????? This book is so good???? If you loved Freya Marske's The Last Binding trilogy, give this series a shot. It's very lighthearted, and I loved dumb, kindhearted Alphonse with all my heart from the first sentence. Also the cover is super pretty, I had to keep taking breaks to stare at it.

Assassin by Accident by EJ Russell - 4/5 stars

Tramps and Vagabonds by Aster Glenn Gray - 5/5 stars

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Okay so I knew I'd love this book, because I went feral for Honeytrap, which I read last year. God this one was so good too. It's about two young men who ride the rails in the Midwest during the Depression. James is homeless and Timothy has parents he could go back to...except he's in love with James, obvs. If you're a fan of Cat Sebastian's mid-century books (We Could Be So Good, The Cabots), PLEASE read this. Gray deserves to be much more widely read.

The Kingdoms by Natasha Pulley (reread) - 5/5 stars

Here's my copy after rereading:

Those are all the spots that were particularly emotionally devastating. This reread secures The Kingdoms as my favorite Natasha Pulley book. Maybe my favorite book, full stop. Missouri and Joe, god be still my heart.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 3.5/5

Book Blurb: In this “glorious tapestry of magic and murderous gods” (Buzzfeed News) each heir walks a dangerous path, attempting to undo the damage the gods have wrought across the four realms, but they live on borrowed time—and not all of them will survive.

A cataclysmic battle to save the city of Nexus has left the four noble heirs scattered across the realms.

Taesia, the shadow-wielding rebel of House Lastrider, and Nikolas, the reluctant soldier of House Cyr, have been cast into Noctus, the realm of eternal night. But they are not alone. The dangerous and unpredictable god of light has traveled with them, and he will do anything in his power to destroy Noctus in his bid for cosmic control. 

Risha, the peacekeeping necromancer of House Vakara, must navigate her way through Mortri, the realm of death. But still she cannot help the wayward spirits, nor does she have any idea how to return home. All she knows is that no mortal can survive for long in Mortri. And the creatures that prowl the realm of death don't take kindly to the living.

Angelica, the stubborn elementalist of House Mardova, is on her own in Vitae, trying to keep Nexus from unraveling. But Angelica secretly suffers from an illness that her god left in her veins. And when she is sent on a delicate diplomatic mission, she knows that any weakness will have disastrous repercussions for her family, her kingdom, and her dreams of the throne.  All will encounter old friends and new enemies as they attempt to restore the balance of the universe. But the gods grow stronger. And their descendants will need more than their magic and their wits to survive the war that is coming... 

Review:

The sequel in The Dark Gods trilogy, picking up where the first book left off with the heirs of the kingdom fighting off against manipulative gods, each other, and trying to restore peace before the gods destroy everything and war breaks out. In a world where there are gods and their descendants hold powers, the gods wait in shadows manipulating and scheming against one another and their descendants must find a way to save each other from being possessed and to save their loved ones and the world from the impending war that the gods would bring about. Taesia is the shadow-wielding rebel of House Lastrider and Nikolas is the reluctant soldier of House Cyr, both of them have been cast into Noctus, the realm of eternal night and forced to battle off against the dangerous god of light who will do anything to have cosmic control. Thankfully there is Julian there with Taesia, the hunter who has a beast lurking beneath the surface. Risha is the peackeeping necromancer from House Vakara who has to navigate her way through the realm of death, Mortri. She finds herself traveling with the spirit of Jas, and has to find a way to survive the realm inhabited by dangerous spirits and she has no way of figuring out how to get out alive. Angelica is the elementalist of House Mardova and has to keep Nexus from unraveling while dealing with the fact that she is ill. All of these heirs will have to find a way to work together to stop the gods from starting a war and possessing them as well as saving each other. I really loved the first book but this one ran into the same problem as the first one for me, it felt really slow and dragged out, this was over 500 pages and honestly could have had 100 pages or more taken out. The entire book felt a bit lackluster in plot progress and really didn't feel like much was happening. The first one had better pacing and this one just didn't move as much. Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the overall story and am looking forward to how the last book ends, I just felt that this one was a bit slower and lacked a bit of action. Overall it was a fine continuation of the first book but I am looking forward to how everything finally wraps up in the last book.

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books, Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[drastrochris]

Thoughts on the end of The Midnight Kingdom.

My first thought was: "Yay! Everybody gets a good ending. Except Taesia. You don't get a good ending. You do need a therapist, though."

Then, I considered what's going to happen when The Gang gets back to Nexus.

Fin: Hey! Good news, everybody! I'm the son of the king! Nik: And I'm going to marry him! Rian: And I'm going to be best man, given that I am in fact, not dead! Hey, Mom and Dad! The crowd: If he's the son of the king, who's his mom? Dante: My aunt! But don't worry, I killed her! Saya: I helped! The crowd: Weren't we going to execute you? For crimes? Like murder? Dante: No, my aunt did that too. Brailee: Oh, also? We need a new governor for the south. The crowd: Two? Dante: Yeah, I consider the third more of an accident. Adela: Angelica, how are you here? We received notice that you'd killed everyone and were to be executed! Angelica: Nope, that was a mix up, but don't worry, I saved The Empress and The Real Empress! And then we traveled through the planet! In lava! With my new friend, Deia's Ancient Wyvern! We're going to kill the gods! Risha, standing to one side, still completely drenched in blood, holding what can only be called The Type of Fucking Weapon You Bring With You To Kill Gods: Everybody shut the fuck up. He's king now, get your shit together, we're going to kill the fucking gods. Rath: 😵

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The Midnight Kingdom | Author: Tara Sim | Publisher: Orbit (2023)

[signourneybooks]

Midnight Kingdom | Book 2 of The Dark Gods | ARC Review

Thank you to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway. Book: The Midnight Kingdom (The Dark Gods 2) by Tara SimRelease Date: August 22nd 2023Tags: Fantasy | High Fantasy | Dark Fantasy | Gods | Trigger/Content Warnings: Violence | Murder | Torture | Eye Removal | Sacrifice Other books in this series I…

[beckysbook5]

The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim - Book Review!

A cataclysmic battle to save the city of Nexus has left the four noble heirs scattered across the four realms. Taesia, the shadow-wielding rebel of House Lastrider, and Nikolas, the solider son of House Cyr, have been cast into Noctus, the realm of night. But they are not alone. The dangerous and unpredictable god of light has traveled with them, and he will do anything in his power to destroy…

[biblionerdreflections]

ARC Review - The Midnight Kingdom

Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim, the sequel to last year’s The City of Dusk and the middle installment of The Dark Gods trilogy. I’ve been looking forward to this one. So, let’s see how it stacked up against my expectations… Continue reading Untitled

[cuppajj]

THE NEOBEASTS

[rainingriversofyou]

Dorian, Manon & Abraxos - TOG 🩶 Artist: andieburky

[i-only-see-daylight]

Aelin: If I died-

Rowan, sharpening his knives: Death will not get you out of this relationship.

[tarasimauthor]

PREORDER CAMPAIGN! Order THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM through Books, Inc. to get a series of four exclusive character cards of my queer disaster heirs!

All preorders will be signed (plus any copies of THE CITY OF DUSK ordered with it).

Order here until August 20, 2023: https://www.booksinc.net/book/9780316458931

[luxmoogle]

"None of this…makes sense to me…I've been having these weird thoughts lately. Like, is any of this for real or not?"

1.1.2024 00:13

[acourtofquestions]

“If you were to ask me what Throne of Glass is about…

I’d say it’s about the epic journey of a teenage assassin in a corrupt kingdom.

But if you were to ask me on a deeper level, I’d say…

It’s about how small acts of kindness can change the outcome of the world.

Money to a barmaid, waiting an extra minute to shoot, a warning in a competition, a cloak in a cold dungeon, a message on a wall, sharing your lavender soap.”

[drastrochris]

Lilia + Kalen + Marcellus.

You will never convince me that they don't belong in a grumpy bickering OT3.