The Midnight Before Me (Fantasy)

Hi guys, I hope you’re well.
Today, I’m reviewing The Midnight Before Me, by Elizabeth Lo.

About

The Midnight Before Me, by Elizabeth Lo is a fantasy novel filled with magical tragedy. Set in the country of Galviton, Midnight Thunder wants only to die, to be free from her power of regeneration that keeps her coming back, when she is called upon to save her country from a terrible curse.

The story follows several points of view, the most significant being of:

-Midnight Thunder
-The Queen, Gloria Frost
-Lafayette Falcon (a colonel.)

Characters

Midnight Thunder, the girl who can’t die is brave and yet deeply troubled. It was great to see a heroic character’s fear below their surface appearance. Having lost her brother, she seeks only to die, but the world has greater things in store for her. Despite the hand life dealt her, she rose to the challenge and was a character I came to love.

Queen Glorieux Frost is a complex, destroyed soul, one to have lost all hope and joy in life. Desiring freedom from control, she herself is driven mad, committing atrocious acts that all lead back to the monumental pain she feels deep down. Despite her evil intentions, I couldn’t help but pity her, for the lack of control she had over her own life. It’s a feeling I know all too well and so, her character really resonated with me.

Finally, Colonel Lafayette Falcon isn’t quite what he seems. A closed off, secretive type, it was hard to read him at first. However, the change I witnessed in his character over the course of the story made me happy that I rooted for him from the start.

Likes

The world-building was fascinating. In Galviton, magic is common, but comes in differing strengths. There are three main families, each spreading out across the land with different magical capabilities. Midnight’s ability is the rarest of all, making her a sought-after, and at times shunned commodity.

The story was an emotionally intense experience for me. I really came to care for the characters, especially Midnight and, oddly enough, Queen Glorieux too. What made this all the more powerful for me was the idea of the masks each of us wear as people: of the performances we put on for the benefit of others, so that we may hide our true selves. This felt like a crucial point to be explored and I’m glad the author decided to delve into it.

Quotes

This tale had so many meaningful quotes.
In the end, I managed to settle on these three to share with you:

1) ‘You’re a living being- you’re not perfect, but it’s up to you to own up to your mistakes,
or at least to admit to them, or ask for help instead of suffering through it silently.’

2) ‘Everyone’s absorbed in their own little worlds, it seems- control over life is an illusion.’

3) ‘I suppose it’s trained into us all at some point- to listen to instructions, whether it be because we respect someone, because we have a goal to achieve by doing what they say, or simply because we don’t know what else to do.’

Overview

The Midnight Before Me is a powerful tale of life and death, and control vs freedom.
Each chapter held me captive in a world that, although brutal, I never wanted to leave.

I would thoroughly recommend giving it a read if you love the fantasy genre.
My rating: Easily 5 stars.

Than you for joining me for today’s review.
If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving a comment below, or share the post via social media.

To learn more about The Midnight Before me, please visit its Goodreads page.
To learn more about author, Elizabeth Lo, please visit her author page.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.
Take care, Ellie. xoxo