Midnight Thief

by Livia Blackburne

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

This is my second read through of Midnight Thief and being perfectly honest, I still enjoyed it. It isn’t perfect, though, so lets start with one of the things I didn’t like.

For one, there’s a very clear love triangle forming. Kyra grew up with Flick, who helped get her out of the gutter and develop her trade. But then there’s Tristam, the sweet, good-hearted young knight from a noble family. Kyra doesn’t spend a lot of time harping over, “Oh my, fellas, whoever shall I kiss?” but the tension between the boys is definitely there. I imagine this will develop further in Daughter of Dusk, which I haven’t read yet.

There’s a twist in the middle of the book about Kyra herself, which I didn’t expect the first time I read it. Obviously now that this was a re-read, the twist was familiar, but I remember being floored the first time, as I was so caught up in other aspects of the plot, I hadn’t even considered the possibility. I will still give Livia Blackburne points for her plot twist, because it was memorable to me.

Within that plot twist, though? Character reactions were far more accepting as a whole than I felt were realistic. Now, it’s one thing to have some people understand, but thus far there’s been no pushback or fear about the revelation, and it just seems so unlikely to me. Books are always more interesting to me when there’s a bit of struggle, and Kyra didn’t have very much in this aspect.

The characters themselves are… fine? I don’t think they’re quite deep enough to be impressive, but they aren’t so shallow that they are entirely forgettable. Kyra is the best of the bunch, but I would like to see more of Idalee and Lettie. The boys are pretty forgettable, though, which makes the romance that much more unappealing to me? But the romantic aspects (which are minor – this is still developing) are fluffy and that will appeal to a certain readership. The villain, James, I felt had a lot of wasted potential because he was a good character with something more clearly beneath the surface, but I felt his part was played too quickly and ended too cleanly. Whether we’ll know more in Daughter of Dusk, I don’t know, but I would like to
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One of the things I liked best about Midnight Thief is sort of spoilery – ack, which is the worst when you are trying to write a review? Livia Blackburne chose a particular paranormal element to include in this story that I enjoyed because even though it’s easily recognizable, it’s not commonly found (in my experience) and I think that was part of what I liked about the plot twist.

While Midnight Thief is not so memorable that I would give it five stars and read it over and over again, it’s still an enjoyable read and I found myself falling into the world every time I picked it up. Recommended for any fan of YA fantasy including girls who defy the odds and boys who are kind and cities that are possible corrupt.