Melissa Grey's The Girl at Midnight is about a human girl adopted by the Avicen, a secret magical race that has feathers for hair. Echo is a thief and when she finds a map hinting at the existence of the Firebird, which is prophesized to end the war against the Drakharin, she sets out on a journey. Old friends and new friends will collide in dangerous ways, as Echo sets out to steal the most important thing yet.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was very entertaining and it didn't take me long to read it. However, it also strongly reminded me of Daughter of Smoke & Bone and The Mortal Instruments at times. There were some very similar themes I noticed between them and I saw on Goodreads that some other people who reviewed the book could see the same similarities. I also didn't really like Daughter of Smoke & Bone though, so I thought The Girl at Midnight did some things better. Putting the similarities aside, here is what I enjoyed about this book.
Echo is a very loyal character and I definitely saw in her something everybody wants, the desire to belong. Since she is human, a lot of the Avicen refuse to accept Echo. This causes Echo to want to prove that she does belong and sets her on a quest that questions everything she thought she believed. Echo's best friend, Ivy, is an Avicen. I think she might be my favorite character because she is a healer and is probably the most kind person in the book. I don't remember the exact quote but she even said the world needed no more evil which is why she is so kind. I just wanted to protect her from anything and everything. I also really loved the development of her relationship with one character which I hope continues to grow.
The Avicen are in a ceasefire with the Drakharin, but both sides want to finish the war. In the book you can see from both sides' perspectives, which was awesome as you can see the good and evil in each side. I also saw some character development into the dark side, which I really hope is addressed more in the sequel, as I hate when main characters are still made out to be the perfect protagonist (The Vampire Diaries).
Random thing I couldn't visualize that annoyed me was how the Avicen had their feathers... At times I pictured the feathers looking like dreadlocks, but I think they're also on their faces and hands? I had no idea how to picture this. It was easier to picture the Drakharin cause they have scales, but I just could not for the life of me figure out the feather placements.
The Girl at Midnight officially comes out on April 28th. I enjoyed this book and I'm looking forward to the sequel to see if it branches away from Daughter of Smoke & Bone and The Mortal Instrument themes.
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