tweetybugshouse
Written on Oct 28, 2020
Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.
Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.
Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.
But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.
- ISBN10 0349002142
- ISBN13 9780349002149
- Publish Date 28 April 2015 (first published 1 January 2015)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
- Imprint ATOM
- Edition Digital original
- Format eBook (EPUB)
- Pages 80000
- Language English
Reviews
Amber (The Literary Phoenix)
Written on Jan 11, 2019
melanchalina
Written on Jan 11, 2016
9 из 10
Перевод: официальный перевод
Экранизация: нет
Жанр: фэнтези, городское фэнтези
POV: от третьего лица, с точки зрения нескольких героев
Любовная линия: любовный треугольник (парень-девушка-парень) и дуэт (парень-парень)
Отличительные черты: рассказ с точки зрения нескольких героев, наполовину люди-наполовину птицы и наполовину люди-наполовину драконы, мифическая Жар-Птица, дружба врагов, нетрадиционная парочка
Рекомендовано к прочтению, если вам нравятся: Лэйни Тейлор "Дочь дыма и костей", Кассандра Клэр "Орудия смерти"
РЕЦЕНЗИЯ:
Молодежь считает себя неуязвимой, пока не убедится в обратном. И обычно это жесткий урок.
Не зря эту книгу сравнивают с «Орудиями смерти» и «Дочерью дыма и костей». Мелисса Грей определенно была вдохновлена этими двумя сериями: она взяла замечательный, легкий юмор Кассандры Клэр и общую идею Лэйни Тейлор. Сделало ли это «Полуночную девушку плагиатом? Копией одной из этих серий? Нет.
«Полуночная девушка» - это сказка. Старая, добрая сказка о Герое и Драконе. Небольшое, но захватывающее приключение о странниках, изгнанниках и поиске мира. Это любовь с первой буквы. И если книга вам понравится, то вы растворитесь в ней и проглотите буквально за вечер.
Главная героиня – Эхо, юная и дерзкая девушка, карманница, воришка. В далеком прошлом (по нераскрытым в первой книге причинам), будучи ребенком, она сбежала из дома и тайком поселилась жить в Нью йоркской публичной библиотеке. Там она встречает Птеру – одну из членов Совета расы птератусов. Птератусы – это раса полулюдей-полуптиц, на голове их растут перья, а сами они проживут в туннелях под землей. Так маленькая Эхо обретает семью.
Проходит время, Эхо взрослеет, меняется и мир. Незримо для обычных смертных, но ощутимо для птератусов и их злейших врагов дракхаров, людей-драконов. Эхо должна найти легендарное существо - жар-птицу и остановить войну, длившуюся столетиями.
Такую же цель поставил перед собой Повелитель Драконов – принц Гай. Но сконцентрировавшись на своей цели, принц упускает другое, а именно неконтролируемую жестокость и жажду власти своей сестры Танит. Эта ошибка стоит ему трона и изгнания.
Два героя в бегах. Одна цель. Связанная судьба. И небольшая разноцветная банда сообщников. Приключения начинаются!
Отдельно спасибо автору за грамотную и красивую любовную линию. И пусть она немного наивна и чересчур быстро развивается, зато диалоги и перепалки между героями вызывают улыбку и от них так уютно и тепло на душе.
Давайте немного познакомимся с главными героями поближе. Именно их глазами мы видим историю с разных точек и я просто не могу не рассказать о них.
Итак, что мы имеем. Воришка, свергнутый правитель, ученица лекаря, бывший начальник королевской стражи и мошенник, который служит и нашим и вашим. Что у них может пойти не так?
Эхо.
Ее гладкая кожа без ярких перьев, как у них, слишком живо напоминала, что она здесь чужая. Эхо не хотелось, чтобы на нее косились, давая понять: пусть она с ними, но не одна из них. А они постоянно бросали на нее косые взгляды, как будто ее присутствие нарушает естественный ход вещей. И даже если за эти годы они привыкли к Эхо, это не значит, что они ее полюбили.
Своя среди чужих, чужая среди своих. Юная карманница, она абсолютно упряма, умна и остроумна. Эхо обожает книги, коллекционирует слова и не может найти свое место. Преданна и готова на все ради своих друзей и близких. Считает, что жар-птица не существует, что это легенда, просто вымысел.
Гай.
Гай завидовал натиску волн, их неистовству, бешеному исступлению, с которым они так упорно пытались сокрушить твердыню. Он закрыл глаза и на мгновение представил себе капли воды на лице. Если бы он мог позаимствовать у океана хоть малую толику его мощи! Но Гай – не океан, а преграды, с которыми ему пришлось столкнуться, – не податливее каменных стен.
На момент начала книги – Повелитель Драконов. Лидер дракхар. По мере события благодаря родной сестре становится беглецом и изгнанником. Ищет жар-птицу, чтобы прекратить войну и восстановить мир в память о погибшей возлюбленной.
Дориан.
Шрам зудел. Так бывало, когда Дориан волновался, злился, в общем, испытывал любое сильное чувство. Или когда собирался дождь. Но сейчас шрам чесался явно не на погоду.
Алек Лайтвуд данной серии книг. Начальник бывшей стражи Гая. Мрачный, замкнутый воин. Всем сердцем и душой преданный своему Повелителю
Джаспер.
Джаспер был павлином во всех смыслах слова. Он отличался такой красотой, что никакая хмурая гримаса не смогла бы ее испортить. Потертые джинсы и простая белая футболка подчеркивали его изящество. Если бы Эхо платили доллар каждый раз, как Джаспер жаловался ей на то, что красота – его вечный крест, она бы уже могла закатить для друзей пир на весь мир.
А это аля Магнус Бейн. Самовлюбленный, самоуверенный птератус. Всегда и везде ищет выгоду, падок на ярких и красивые вещи… или дракхар.
Айви.
Из арочного прохода, ведущего вглубь Гнезда, послышался тихий смех. Эхо заметила знакомые белые перья и угольно‑черные глаза голубки и расплылась в широкой улыбке.
Лучшая подруга Эхо. Ученица лекаря. Милая, добрая девушка, полная состраданья, готовая помочь каждому. Очень тихая, но смелая и храбрая.
Пять героев. Пять историй и точек зрения. Каждый полон эмоций и чувств. Каждого героя чувствуешь. Кого-то любишь, кому-то сочувствуешь. Кто-то влюблен, кто-то влюбляется, но все немного напуганы и растеряны, и все они идут к своей цели... за Жар-Птицей и миром.
Моя оценка: 9/10
Мой-фан-арт к книге:
lizarodz
Written on Sep 3, 2015
I shan’t compare all the points, but let The Girl at Midnight stand on its own. The world building was impeccable from the beginning. The Avicien are an ancient race that are shaped like humans but have colorful feathers for hair. The Drakharin are descendants of dragons and both races have been at war for hundreds of years. Awesome, right?
Echo is our protagonist, she’s human, but ran from home when she was very little and was “adopted” by the Ala, a member of the Avicien council. Echo is brave, seems fearless, she’s a thief, she’s insightful, snarky, smart, cunning, and beautiful. She’s a book lover and lives in a library, how cool is that? She is fighting to make a life for herself in a world that doesn’t accepts her and sees her as an outsider. The Ala, her best friend, Ivy and new boyfriend Rowan are her family. When Ivy is taken by the Drakharin, Echo is desperate to find her.
“...I like to be around all these books. They’re very good at making you forget your troubles. It’s like having a million friends, wrapped in paper and scrawled in ink”
Caius is the prince of the Drakharin. His twin sister Tanith is b***, cruel and full of hunger for vengeance and deposes Caius. Caius escapes with his best friend, Dorian, and they take Ivy and Echo with them. They embark in a quest to find the firebird in order to save the world. Caius is selfless, patient, troubled, smart. He’s had such a hard life, I feel so sad for him :(
“So why? He didn’t ask what he really wanted to. Why are you being this kind? How can you be this kind?
“Because”, she said, reading for the tape on the bedside table, “there’s enough cruelty in this worked without me adding to it.”
All the characters are amazingly well developed. The writing is really good, I liked the dialogue and the banter between the characters. The story, the plot is compelling. I’m always a sucker for a love than endures lives and adversity. There is a budding romance, but I don’t want to spoil the story for you :)
“Letting out a small laugh, he said, “You know, we’re going to have to start trusting each other sooner or later.”
Echo smiled, just a little. “Baby steps.”
Overall, The Girl at Midnight is a fantasy story that takes place in the modern world. A story of two ancient races with a war that’s lasted ages with no end in sight. A story of redemption, of looking for one’s place, of following destiny and fighting for what’s right, of seeing beyond. Loved this one!This review was originally posted on Reading With ABC
inlibrisveritas
Written on Jul 1, 2015
This is one of those books that I’m glad I chose to listen to instead of reading. I’m pretty sure I would have enjoyed, but I’m also sure I would have enjoyed it a little less because of that. The writing style is gorgeous and poetic, and it would have taken me ages to get through it…but listening to it was completely perfect. It was a book meant to be read aloud and I hardly took breaks from it, even listening to it while I played story heavy video games. The pacing is sort of slow and overall not a ton happens within these pages, but it is a book that focuses on the characters and much of the time is spent within their heads as they break and re-write rules in order to survive and move forward. Added to all the awesome prose are some awesome little twists and turns that up the stakes and keep the characters running forward.
I’m not big on character driven novels, as they do take more time than normal however I love them when the characters are relatable and have actual problems to deal with. Echo is mostly a loner, but she’s well read, intelligent, and quick with a witty comeback. Add that to the fact that she’s slow to trust and open up, and this is a girl who speaks to me on different levels. It’s rare you run into a YA novel where the teen actually cusses, but when it happens I basically do a little thank you dance to the publisher. Now Echo isn’t a sailor in disguise so it’s not constant but it’s nice to see some realism when it comes to teenage vocabulary. We get to meet her boyfriend, Rowan, who definitely seems like a nice guy and their relationship is incredibly cute. Puppy love at it’s finest. My favorite characters are Jasper and Caius though. Jasper is an Avicen who is, for lack of a better word, sassy. He’s highly sarcastic and flirt with pretty much everyone, but oh how I shipped him and Dorian. So cute! Caius is Drakharen, a rather important member of their society at that, and finding out his closely guarded past while he let down his barriers was a focal point for me. Despite having a ton of reasons to be jaded and callus he remains hopeful about bringing an end to the war, and his painful past really tore me up.
Julie Whelan is an excellent narrator. She does accents so well I actually had to check to see if there were multiple readers, plus some people just have one of those voices that you want to curl up in and listen to forever.
Definitely a fantastic start to a series! If you like more character based fantasy and don’t mind a bit of mystery surrounding the history of people, then I definitely think it’s worth checking out.
Beth C.
Written on Apr 25, 2015
Melissa Grey does a fabulous job of world-building in this book, weaving the fantastic in with the normal. Moving from New York to a Drakharin prison, to the mundane merges beautifully with the extraordinary. Her characterizations were spot-on as well. Not one character within the story is "good" or "bad". They just ARE, and they have motivations that swing both ways.
There are a few formulaic elements within the story, but they are handled well and don't interrupt the overall flow. This is quite obviously not a stand-alone book. It could be read as such, and the ending is satisfying, but it is apparent when the last page is turned that there is more to come. I look forward to reading a sequel to The Girl at Midnight, and I hope that it is just as well done as this one.
Stephanie
Written on Apr 21, 2015
Kelly
Written on Mar 23, 2015
http://www.divabooknerd.com/2015/04/the-girl-at-midnight-by-melissa-grey.html
The Girl at Midnight was absolutely stunning. The magical prose was delicious and completely captured my attention from the very first page. Beautifully written, it's comparable to the fantasy of Daughter of Smoke and Bone, the sassy nature of The Mortal Instruments series, and the slow burning romance of Throne of Glass. Imaginative and taking on a whimsical quality, it follows the story of Echo and Caius respectively, along with their counterparts in best friend Ivy and Caius's royal guard in Dorian who are all searching for the mysterious Firebird. Some more reluctantly than others. I simply loved it.
The most striking aspect of The Girl at Midnight was the quality of writing, especially being a debut novel. It was absolutely immaculate. I loved the lyrical prose, it gave the magical storyline a romantic and whimsical flair.
The distant sound of a birdsong gave way to the gentle chirping of crickets in the dark and the lonely hoot of an owl in the distance. A chill was beginning to set in. It was late spring, but remnants of winter clung to the forest like a lover reluctant to say goodbye.
It made my heart ache with it's beauty.
Where flowers bloom, you'll find your way, through the darkness and the flames, but beware the price that you must pay, for only the worthy will know my name.
The Girl at Midnight is absolutely glorious. A mixture of adventure, fantasy and the whimsical. Not often does a book leave you completely spellbound, but Melissa Grey and her debut is a force to be reckoned with. Book two can't come soon enough.
Briana @ Pages Unbound
Written on Feb 18, 2015
The marketing plan has been to compare The Girl at Midnight to City of Bones and Shadow and Bone. However, readers will also see echoes of Daughter of Smoke and Bone (What’s with all the “bone” books?) in the way travelling magic works and parallels to Avatar in the character of the Dragon Prince. Like Zuko, Gray’s prince has conflicting ideas about the best way to lead his people and a complicated relationship with the protagonist that has the opportunity to fall into either friendship or enmity. He also happens to have an insanely violent sister who can wield fire and is bent on fighting him for the throne. The characters are not straight transplants of Zuko and Azula, but Avatar fans will certainly call them to mind.
Echo comes across as more original in her characterization, but not in her dialogue. The majority of her speech is composes of cliché expressions, literary quotes, and literary allusions. The author’s goal was most likely to convey the sense that Echo is an avid reader. Unfortunately, however, so little of Echo’s speech is her own that it is hard to read her as either a sincere character, or as one with serious thoughts about the world. Her character often exudes the sense she is just being carried along for the ride, even when she is ostensibly making active decisions about how her life will go.
Other characters, however, nicely round out the two protagonists and add a bit of diversity to the book. The Dragon Prince has a loyal guard who is a bit more in love with him than his position allows. Echo is friends with a flamboyantly criminal Avicen. Other friends are more quiet and introverted, but not less useful to the plan to save the world.
Plot-wise, the book is well-paced and offers readers variety of schemes and locations. The Avicen can travel by magic dust, and have passed the secret on to Echo, who can romp freely about in America, Paris, or Japan, as she pleases. There are also some great museum adventures, which are sure to appeal to many readers. A sense of Grey’s love of literature, history, and learning pervade the book.
Unfortunately, the conclusion is somewhat lacking. Of course, this is partially due to the fact that this novel starts a series. The result, however, is that absolutely nothing is resolved and the big reveal is underwhelming. The role of the firebird is overstated, and though arguably it is because the characters misinterpret that role, the feeling of the novel is really that the narration itself is misdirecting readers about the firebird for the sake of interest and suspense. The Girl at Midnight would benefit from having a stronger story arc, instead of pretending it has an arc for most of the book, then suddenly pulling back at the end and saying, “Wait, actually you have to wait for the sequels for anything to happen! This is just an opening scene.” The fact that The Girl at Midnight is book one is a series does not mean it must feel quite as incomplete as it does.
I received a copy of the book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.