The Midnight Kingdom by Tara Sim – Review

Published: August 22, 2023

Publisher: Orbit Books

Series: The Dark Gods #2

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 592 (Paperback)

My Rating: 4 Stars

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Synopsis:
The second book in Tara Sim’s sweeping dark fantasy series, in which the four heirs to four noble houses—each gifted with a divine power—must defy their gods in a fight for the fate of the world.

A cataclysmic battle to save the city of Nexus has left the four noble heirs scattered across the four realms.

Taesia, the shadow-wielding rebel of House Lastrider, and Nikolas, the solider son of House Cyr, have been cast into Noctus, the realm of night. But they are not alone. The dangerous and unpredictable god of light has traveled with them, and he will do anything in his power to destroy Noctus once and for all.

Risha, the peace-loving necromancer of House Vakara, has finally found her way to Mortri, the realm of death. But she still cannot help the wayward spirits trapped in Vaega, nor does she have any idea how to get herself and her friend Jas home. All she knows is that no mortal can survive for long in Mortri. And the creatures that walk the realm of death don’t take kindly to the living.

Angelica, the stubborn elementalist of House Mardova, finds herself alone in Vaega. With the other three heirs vanished, it is up to her help keep the city of Nexus from unraveling. But Angelica secretly suffers from a sickness that her goddess left in her veins. And when she is sent on a delicate diplomatic mission, she knows that any sign of weakness will have disastrous repercussions for her family, her city, and her dreams of the throne.

All will encounter old friends and new enemies as they attempt to restore the balance of the world. But as the gods grow stronger, they’ll need more than their powers and their wits to survive.

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The Midnight Kingdom picks up immediately following the dramatic events at the end of The City of Dusk. Our main characters are scattered amongst the realms and are each facing their own sort of trials. Taesia, Julian, and Nikolas begin the story trapped in the transported remnants of the Bone Palace with Phos, the vengeful god of Light. Risha is in Mortri, trying to find a way to escape before she dies in the land of the dead. Angelica remains in the mortal realm, but she has political turmoil to deal with as the Mardova family tries to hold Nexus together. We also get chapters focusing on Dante and Brailee as they try to track down their traitorous aunt Camilla. 

I was surprised to find that my favorite chapters were those that followed Angelica as I thought she was one of the most shallowly developed characters in The City of Dusk. She’s given her chance to shine though I may be biased because her chapters were filled with politicking as she finds herself an ambassador and I do love that. Risha remains one of the most well developed characters and I love that we get to explore the realm of Mortri with her, though I wish more time were spent on the history and workings of the realm. Complexity was hinted at, but not that many details were given which was SUPER disappointing because there are four kings that reign over their respective cities and punish the souls in their own unique ways. Why WOULDN’T I want to know more about that!? 

Equally surprising was that the Lastrider siblings weren’t my absolute favorites. They are the edgy shadow wielders and I’m usually such a sucker for that kind of thing! I did enjoy their chapters, but on more than one occasion I found myself rolling my eyes a bit because of course nothing is easy and they have to suddenly plan a heist for magical artifacts. I did like the Noctan’s use of star charts and how they’re used to read a person (much like astrology). The Lastrider siblings are so stubborn and shady that they come across as very stereotypical YA characters, which I was in the mood for in the first book, but was apparently feeling less tolerant of this time around.

There’s a lot to like about these books in terms of plot and even accessibility for folks who might want to delve into the realm of adult fantasy after reading mostly young adult books. I mentioned in my review of the first book that I didn’t think the writing skewed more toward the young adult end of things as some reviewers stated. The content is definitely a little more brutal and bloody than some YA fantasy but…. I might rescind that statement. I enjoyed this, but I definitely had my favorite characters and some whose chapters I wanted to skim over because they were mostly there to fill in some little details. They were playing a support function and while they weren’t unimportant they weren’t exactly important either. I’ll most likely read the third and final book in this trilogy when it’s released because I’m invested in the outcome at this point! I must know what happens!