Midnight Girls: review

Alicia Jasinska is a fantasy writer hailing from Sydney, Australia. A library technician by day, she spends her nights writing and hanging upside down from the trapeze and aerial hoop. Her debut YA novel THE DARK TIDE is coming from Sourcebooks FIRE (US) and Penguin Random House Australia (AUS/NZ) in June 2020.

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Title: The Midnight Girls

Author: Alicia Jasinska

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: 12/28/21

Genre: YA fantasy

Pages: 338

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The Wicked Deep meets House of Salt and Sorrows in this new standalone YA fantasy set in a snow-cloaked kingdom where witches are burned, and two enchantresses secretly compete for the heart of a prince, only to discover that they might be falling for each other.

It's Karnawał season in the snow-cloaked Kingdom of Lechija, and from now until midnight when the church bells ring an end to Devil's Tuesday time will be marked with wintry balls and glittery disguises, cavalcades of nightly torch-lit "kuligi" sleigh-parties.

Unbeknownst to the oblivious merrymakers, two monsters join the fun, descending upon the royal city of Warszów in the guise of two innocent girls. Newfound friends and polar opposites, Zosia and Marynka seem destined to have a friendship that's stronger even than magic. But that's put to the test when they realize they both have their sights set on Lechija's pure-hearted prince. A pure heart contains immeasurable power and Marynka plans to bring the prince's back to her grandmother in order to prove herself. While Zosia is determined to take his heart and its power for her own.

When neither will sacrifice their ambitions for the other, the festivities spiral into a wild contest with both girls vying to keep the hapless prince out of the other's wicked grasp. But this isn't some remote forest village, where a hint of stray magic might go unnoticed, Warszów is the icy capital of a kingdom that enjoys watching monsters burn, and if Zosia and Marynka's innocent disguises continue to slip, their escalating rivalry might cost them not just the love they might have for each other, but both their lives.

Huge thanks to Edelweiss and Sourcebooks Fire for the galley.

Reasons to read: a unique plot centered around sapphic witches (always a draw for me)

Personal rating: I enjoyed this one a lot (usually there's something funny here, but man oh man I think 2021 is finally catching up to me because I. Am. TIRED.)

Not many books can top THE CROWN'S GAME in terms of plots with similar ideas BUT this one just broke the finish line. With its cat and mouse competition, it ranks up there with one of the most original plots I've read recently. I haven't read DARK TIDE (but it's on my neverending TBR) but this is a solid sophomore effort.

This is a dual POV book, for those who want to know.

What the book promises are rival witches with monstrous abilities vying after a prince's pure heart. And what you see is what you get and I loved it for that. So often do we get the promise of the "monster girl" and have her end up being some meek heroine who does nothing. Not only that BUT we get a hate-to-love dynamic that I simply adore in YA.

I did love both Zosia and Marynka and their opposites-attract relationship. They have very different personalities which make for some good tension. They are both morally grey which never really changes. You can definitely root for them both.

The wintery Polish fantasy setting takes the cake and I appreciated the Polish-coded characters and the tidbits of history.

In short, I liked the book a lot (as stated above) and I'll be picking up DARK TIDE as soon as possible.