Review | Midnight Beauties by Megan Shepherd
Ever since she discovered her affinity for magic, seventeen-year-old Anouk has been desperate to become a witch. It's the only way to save her friends who, like Anouk, are beasties: animals enchanted into humans. But unlike Anouk, the other beasties didn't make it out of the battle at Montélimar in one piece.
With her friends now trapped in their animal forms, Anouk is forced into a sinister deal involving a political marriage with her sworn enemy, a wicked plot to overthrow London's fiercest coven of witches, and a deadly trial of fire to become a witch. The price for power has always been steep in the world of the Haute. Now, it will cost Anouk everything.
I really enjoyed this book, but I can’t believe it’s the last in the series. There are two main reasons for this: 1) I liked it enough that I want more; and 2) it felt a little unfinished. I’m going to do my best to explain both of those things without spoilers.
First up, the things I enjoyed. I love the magical creatures and the magic system. They’re really nicely put together, in a way that isn’t idealised or twee, which is something that regularly annoys me in YA Fantasy novels. By this, I mean that there are parts of the magic system in this book that are gross, or unappealing, or ugly, or cruel, and that feels more convincing to me that something wishy-washy and pretty. It also works very well with the type of characters this book has. They all have proper character arcs, nicely realised, with (mostly) satisfying conclusions. I also really appreciate the aesthetics of the characters, which complement the magic system nicely, and which I guess I’d describe as punk-goth-grunge. It’s really fun and I love it.
I also full-on loved the love triangle. I love love triangles. I know many people hate them, but they are one of my very favourite tropes. For the first half of this book, I was a very happy reader on that score. Sadly, I think things went downhill a little after that, and I enjoyed the rest of the book a little less because the relationship dynamics changed, and honestly this is one of the things that felt unfinished about the book to me. I did read an advanced copy, so perhaps the ending has been tweaked in the final version, but the way the love triangle finally resolved felt abrupt to me, so I was disappointed. It feels like there’s a lot more mileage in it, as though it has been cut short. This doesn’t feel like the end of the love story, and yet apparently it is.
I felt the same way about some other aspects of the story. There were two large continuing storylines that were teased (war with the royals and finding more beasties), which left me convinced that this wasn’t going to be the last book in the series, because there was more to explore. And yet it is.
But, look, this is all basically me whinging because I enjoyed this series enough to want more of it and there is no more. I am sad. Diagnosis: book hangover. Cure: start a new series. So that’s what I’m off to do now.
Recommended for: those who enjoy darker fantasy, and a good love triangle.
Disclosure: The Gin Book Club received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. The Gin Book Club has received review copies from this publisher several times over the past couple of years. This in no way affects the content of this review. This review is provided voluntarily and contains our honest opinion.
