The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski

“This Sapphic fantasy is gorgeously imagined with a romance that is swoony as it is painful, prepare yourself to be devastated by Rutkoski’s The Midnight Lie and hope something rare and beautiful comes out of the ashes.”
Sheaf & Ink

The Story

From the Publisher:

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 colors. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences.

Nirrim keeps her head down and a dangerous secret close to her chest.

But then she encounters Sid, a rakish traveler from far away who whispers rumors that the High Caste possesses magic. Sid tempts Nirrim to seek that magic for herself. But to do that, Nirrim must surrender her old life. She must place her trust in this sly stranger who asks, above all, not to be trusted.

Review: The Midnight Lie

Illusions and certainties, lies and truths, by the end of this book, readers will be enraged, heartbroken, and wondering how will this story end.

For readers who have read Rutkoski’s Winner’s Curse series, The Midnight Lie takes us about twenty years after the third book. Where we traverse the map of Rutkoski’s world to a secret island with an oppressive caste system, where those at the bottom are accustomed to the phrase “It is as it is.”

But for Nirrim, she’s had enough. Enough of the lies. Enough of believing that what she’s been told is truth. That there is something more. Something hidden that she desperatly wants to discover.

And when Sid gives her that chance to discover the murky underbelly of a city who would keep Nirrim held captive and submissive, a new world is open up to her. Sinister as it is magical, Rutkoski hooks readers in with her lush worldbuilding weaving a vividly new chapter in her storytelling.

A Few More Thoughts

Truths wrapped in lies to mislead, The Midnight Lie and its ending will have readers in an upheaval, desperate to know what will happen next.

My hope is that Nirrim has a major transformation, one similar to Sabaa Tahir’s Helene Aquilla in An Ember in the Ashes. Because to me, Nirrim’s character was a bit to passive and needy. She seemed to only be on the surface, her depth not fully envisioned. There were glimpses, but noting that made a lasting impression. A transformation that is as staggering as the metamorphosis of a butterfly.

I think that’s why the ending was jarring and that the next book will be one with a reckoning.

Fingers crossed, there’s two point of views in The Hollow Heart (Book 2).

Happy Reading ̴ Cece

RATING: – Satisfyingly Inked

Pub Date	ISBN	Page Count	Publisher	Age Group	Review Posted Online
March 3, 2020	978-0-374-30638	368	Farrar, Straus and Giroux	14+	July 24, 2021