Published: July 8, 2014
Pages: 368
Source: For Review from Hachette Book Group Canada
Rating: 3 Stars
Growing up on Forge’s streets has taught Kyra how to stretch a coin. And when that’s not enough, her uncanny ability to scale walls and bypass guards helps her take what she needs.
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.
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.
In short: Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne is an intriguing plot-driven story, but it was lacking a bit too much in characterization and complexity to make it a stand-out read.
The blurb for Midnight Thief is perhaps a bit misleading. Here I was, excited to read a high fantasy about a girl who joins the Assassin's Guild and develops into one of those badass female assassins I love so much, but no. Midnight Thief tells the story of a girl, Kyra, who joins the Assassin's Guild and then sorely regrets it when she is asked to actually assassinate someone. Hey, I can definitely appreciate a girl with morals. But what on earth was she thinking was going to happen by joining an Assassin's Guild?? This is a girl who quails just at watching a person getting beat up, so this was not a bright move on her part. I don't mean to be so hard on the girl as she was very sweet, but it was hard not to compare her to Celaena and Ismae and of course she was found wanting BIG TIME.
The writing in Midnight Thief wasn't my favourite. As I mentioned earlier, the language, sentence structure, and description is kept simple, which definitely has the advantage of making for a speedy read. But I am a visual reader. I like DETAILS. Most especially when it comes to characters. As it is, I failed to form an emotional connection with most of the characters in Midnight Thief. Description is kept so minimal that I don't even have a good feel for what most of the characters are supposed to look like. I adore little insertions of descriptive words here and there to help bring characters and story to life, and I was sorry to find that Livia Blackburne's writing was lacking in this area.
I hope I'm not being too hard on Midnight Thief in this review because I did like it overall. It was interesting and quick and it's the kind of book that puts you at ease because it's so effortless and uncomplicated, which can be nice. But I don't think that readers who prefer character-driven stories to plot-driven ones will take to Midnight Thief. Ditto to romance lovers because the romance aspect in Midnight Thief was pretty lacklustre, as well. I'm still very intrigued about the twist introduced in this book though, so I'll be curious to hear what people make of the sequel when it is released.
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Well. I do have to wonder why she would think she could join an Assassin's Guild and not have to actually assassinate anyone. O.o I read the prequel to this book and really enjoyed it though, so despite the fact that Kyra isn't the Celaena or Ismae we might want her to be when we crack the spine, I'm still excited to read it. Thanks so much for your thoughts on this one Aylee!!!
ReplyDeleteShe joins under the impression that she could continue just doing the thief thing. But please! She should have known better, I think. At any rate, I would think that if you liked the prequel, you should like the actual book right? I'm definitely curious to hear your thoughts!
DeleteOh bummer! I was really looking forward to reading this one. I do remember a prequel coming out which I was reluctant to read only because I wasn't sure when the first full book was going to come out. I still plan on reading this but I guess I'll have to lower my expectations a little bit.
ReplyDeleteI had the opportunity to review said prequel, but passed it up because I'm not too keen on novellas. I'd be curious to read your thoughts when you do get around to it!
DeleteAwww, I was hoping this one would be a more solid read throughout. It's odd but I find a lot of Disney titles end up lacking in one respect or another - like, they never completely blow me away, regardless. It seems really silly that the MC joins as assassin's guild but can't even stomach a fight o.O I have to wonder how that right there would bother me...maybe I'd be ok but I can see being really frustrated by it too. That fact that it's such an easy and quick read definitely makes it worth checking out to me,not to mention the wildcats heh Thanks for the honest review Aylee, now I'll know what to expect when I start this one myself :)
ReplyDeleteI'm trying to remember if The Archived by Victoria Schwab is from Disney? Because I think it is and I absolutely loved that one! But otherwise... I think you might be right, I've yet to be hugely impressed by them. I guess I was more bothered by the fact that the MC was so soft and I wanted her to be stronger, as I would expect from her upbringing. But yeah the wildcats were definitely one of my favourite parts and I wish I could talk more about that, but they're involved in the aforementioned twist :)
DeleteI actually picked this one up last week and couldn't get into it at all, and now that I've read your review, I'm glad I put the book down, because I don't think I would have liked it anyway. For me, it was the plot was that was not interesting enough, and the characters seemed pretty mediocre and plain. I definitely see how the writing was rather too simplistic. And me? I'm a total romance fan so the fact that this one lacks in it makes me glad I DNFed it. I'm glad you enjoyed it despite some of the issues, thanks for your opinions, Aylee!
ReplyDeleteYeah, if I were the type of person to DNF books, I have to wonder if this one would've been dumped by me. But I'm not, I just can't bring myself. I guess I am glad I stuck it through still because I did enjoy it overall in the end!
DeleteSorry this one wasn't quite what you expected! The MC certainly sounds a bit "strange" if you will...joining an assassin's guild but not wanting to ASSASSINATE someone. haha I really like character-driven books too, regardless of genre, so I don't think I would really get into something like this.
ReplyDeleteLauren
She joins under the impression that she could continue just doing the thief thing. But please! She should have known better, I think. But yeah, I wouldn't recommend this one to character-driven book fans.
DeleteAw, hate it when the summary is misleading. I actually like the sound of the mc, but I def get what you're saying about the fact that she kind of should have expected that she would have to assassinate someone, what with it being the assassins guild. Sometimes simple can work, but I like descriptions in my fantasy. I was hoping for a good romance, so that sucks, too. I think I'll give this one a pass.
ReplyDeleteGreat review!
Misleading summaries have got to be up there in my biggest bookish pet peeves. And she joins under the impression that she could continue just doing the thief thing. But please! She should have known better, I think. And I agree that sometimes simple can work, but this wasn't one of those times because this is high fantasy we're talking about here!
Delete"I hope I'm not being too hard on Midnight Thief ..." No, you are definitely not being too hard :) I still need to write my review but I had similar issues with this one. It was hard to connect with the characters and the romance was pretty boring. Also, why on earth would you join the Assassin's Guild and not expect to do any assassinating?
ReplyDeleteOh good, phew! :) Now I know I'm not alone and someone else felt similarly. And YES, that was the one question that was running through my head!! I'll be curious to read your review now!
DeleteI had the same thing when I read the blurb. Those words alone makes me excited for a book; now they are combined in one story. HAHA, joining a group of assassins and then you don't want to kill someone? That's like.. becoming a book blogger when you don't like reading.
ReplyDeleteI will still read this book, but I make sure that my expectations are lower now :) Thanks for the 'warning'!
I was sad because the potential of the blurb!! It should have been so good. And yeah, she joins under the impression that she could continue just doing the thief thing. But please! She should have known better, I think.
DeleteOh no! I had really high expectations for this book, and I'm sad to hear that you were disappointed. I also agree about the whole joining the Assassin's Guild. How could you not realize you would need to assassinate people? lol it's right in the name. I'm really into character description too, so I'm not sure about this one now. I think I'll still read it, and hopefully I'll still like it. Great review, Aylee! :D
ReplyDeleteI know, I was sad as well because I had let myself develop some fairly high expectations for this one. And she joins under the impression that she could continue just doing the thief thing. But please! She should have known better, I think - it IS right in the name!! But yes, I do hope you like it more than I did!
DeleteYou sum up how I felt, perfectly. Writing wasn't detailed enough, MC lacked the personality of the BA assassins I've grown to love and story wasn't as cohesive as I would have liked it to be.
ReplyDeleteAww, I was hoping someone I knew would like it more... but so far, people seem a bit meh about it. And yeah, that sums up my thoughts exactly.
DeleteI like plot driven stories and I can usually look past writing that isn't very descriptive - but characters making choices that don't make sense is a big turn off for me. It would bug me through the whole book that she joins an Assassin's guild on purpose and then doesn't want to be an assassin....It's too bad. This one look so good. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteI can like a plot driven story, but I can't LOVE them. And it was the characters that kept me from loving this one, sadly. It's always a disappointment when your high expectations aren't met...
DeleteThis definitely sounds like it has a lot of elements I would like in a story, too, and if I hadn't read your review I probably would have added it to my tbr upon reading the elements it contained, but as it is I think this one might work similarly for me, so I'll keep an eye out for a book that would work a little better.
ReplyDeleteGreat review, Aylee! I hope you have an incredible next read! x
Thanks, Romi! I hope so too. And yeah it was really too bad because it had all the elements that I love in place, and yet it just didn't deliver for me, bleh
DeleteAw, I'm sorry to hear that this one didn't live up to your expectations! All the elements you mentioned also intrigue me and make me want to read this. But that makes me sad this doesn't seem to live up to its full potential.
ReplyDeleteAnd now I'm very curious to find out what this twist is!
I think I'll still read it, especially since I've read the prequel novella. But perhaps I'll go in with slightly lowered expectations, just looking for a fun, entertaining read.
Ah yes, well if you've read the prequel novella (and presumably liked it?) then you should give the novel itself a go. And I would definitely be curious to hear what you think! Actually, a lot of people have been liking this one so it's possible you'll fall under that category, as well!
DeleteI am not sure that I would have made it through this one. I like my books completely character driven, the plot has to be pretty fantastic for me to be okay with sub par characters (but if the plot is great, the characters usually are as well).
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review, Aylee.
Well the only reason I made it through is my complete inability to DNF books. But yeah, I never thought of myself as a character reader before, but I was definitely missing that connection here! Ideally, BOTH aspects would be present in full.
Delete