• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
FanFiAddict

FanFiAddict

A gaggle of nerds talking about Fantasy, Science Fiction, and everything in-between. They also occasionally write reviews about said books. 2x Stabby Award-Nominated and home to the Stabby Award-Winning TBRCon.

  • Home
  • About
    • Reviewers
    • Review Policy
    • Stance on AI
    • Contact
    • Friends of FFA
  • Blog
    • Reviews
      • Children’s / Middle Grade Books
      • Comics / Graphic Novels
      • Fantasy
        • Alt History
        • Epic Fantasy
        • Fairy Tales
        • Grimdark
        • Heroic Fantasy
        • LitRPG
        • Paranormal Fantasy
        • Romantic Fantasy
        • Steampunk
        • Superheroes
        • Sword and Sorcery
        • Urban Fantasy
      • Fear For All
        • Demons
        • Ghosts
        • Gothic
        • Lovecraftian
        • Monsters
        • Occult
        • Psychological
        • Slasher
        • Vampires
        • Werewolves
        • Witches
        • Zombies
      • Fiction
      • Science Fiction
        • Aliens
        • Artificial Intelligence
        • Alt History
        • Cyberpunk
        • Dystopian
        • Hard SciFi
        • Mechs/Robots
        • Military SF
        • Space Opera
        • Steampunk
        • Time Travel
      • Thriller
    • Neurodivergence in Fiction
    • Interviews
      • Book Tube
      • Authorly Writing Advice
  • SFF Addicts
    • SFF Addicts Clips
    • SFF Addicts (Episode Archive)
  • TBRCon
    • TBRCon2025
    • TBRCon2024
    • TBRCon2023
    • TBRCon2022
  • FFA Book Club
  • FFA TBR Toppers
    • Advertise Your Book on FFA!
  • Writer Resources
    • Artists
    • Cartographers
    • Editing/Formatting/Proofing

Review: The Midnight Lie (The Midnight Lie #1) by Marie Rutkoski

April 16, 2020 by David W Leave a Comment

49119428. sy475
Amazon
Audible
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository
Goodreads

RATING: 7/10

SYNOPSIS

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.

Set in the world of the New York Times–bestselling Winner’s Trilogy, beloved author Marie Rutkoski returns with an epic LGBTQ romantic fantasy about learning to free ourselves from the lies others tell us—and the lies we tell ourselves

REVIEW

“It’s a midnight lie… a kind of lie told for someone else’s sake, a lie that sits between goodness and wrong, just as midnight is the moment between night and morning.”

Thank you Definitely Books and Pansing Distribution for sending me a review copy of the Midnight Lie. This story is set in Herrath, whereby a rigid class system is employed by the Lord Protector to rule the city. Essentially, we have the High Kiths who exist at the top of the social system and live a life of pleasure, freedom and decadence. We then have the Half-Kiths who are at the bottom of social system and they are forbidden to travel out of the Ward. They were also treated cruelly by the High Kiths and are required to pay tithes (such as offering their blood, hair and etc.) as punishments for slight wrongdoings. Middlings are sort of like the middle class in the social system.

We follow the protagonist of the story, Nirrim, a Half-Kith with some talents, who yearns for an adventure and something new or exciting in her life. She then met Sid, a traveler, who managed to persuade her to seek out the “magic” and secret of Herrath, which seems to have been buried by the Lord Protector. They then sort of fall in love with each other. The problem of this story starts here. The plot is interesting, world building is well executed, but the problem with me, is the romance element in this story. I have no issues with LGBT romance, but the romance element takes up more than half of the book! As mentioned before, i generally dislike romance elements in a story, especially when such element overtakes the plot!

The story is very intriguing for the first 100 pages and last 100 pages of the story. And the cliffhanger at the end of the story makes me want to read the second book immediately. But for the romance element, the rating for this book may go up slightly. For now, its only a 7/10 star rating (rated for the plot and world building) from me. For those who really enjoy LGBT romance, you may opt to pick this up!

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: import

About David W

Believer, Hubby, Girl Dad. Owner/CEO of FanFiAddict. Works a not so flashy day job in central Alabama. Furthest thing from a redneck and doesn’t say Roll Tide. Enjoys fantasy, science fiction, horror and thrillers but not much else (especially kissy kissy).

Other Reviews You Might Like

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

Review: Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

Review: Shapers of Worlds Volume V edited by Edward Willett

Stay on the Line Audiobook

Review: Stay on the Line by Clay McLeod Chapman (Audiobook)

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored By

Use Discount Code FANFI For 5% Off!

FFA Newsletter!

Sign up for updates and get FREE stories from Michael R. Fletcher and Richard Ford!

What Would You Like To See?(Required)
Please select the type of content you want to receive from FanFi Addict. You can even mix and match if you want!

FFA Author Hub

Read A.J. Calvin
Read Andy Peloquin
Read C.J. Daily
Read C.M. Caplan
Read D.A. Smith
Read DB Rook
Read Francisca Liliana
Read Frasier Armitage
Read Josh Hanson
Read Krystle Matar
Read M.J. Kuhn

Recent Reviews

Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel
Stay on the Line Audiobook

Recent Comments

  1. Mark Matthews on COVER REVEAL: To Those Willing to Drown by Mark MatthewsJanuary 7, 2025
  2. Basra Myeba on Worth reading Jack Reacher books by Lee Child?January 5, 2025
  3. Ali on Review: Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav BarsukovJanuary 5, 2025
  4. Carter on So you want to start reading Warhammer 40,000? Here’s where to start!January 4, 2025
  5. M. Zaugg on Bender’s Best LitRPG reads of 2024January 3, 2025

Archive

Copyright © 2025 · Powered by ModFarm Sites · Log In