I received this book at no cost from the publisher
The Midnight Lie (The Midnight Lie, #1) by Marie RutkoskiISBN: 0374306389
on March 3, 2020
Genres: Fantasy, LGTBQ, Young Adult
Pages: 368
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Goodreads
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.
About the Author
Marie Rutkoski is the author of the YA novel The Shadow Society and the children’s fantasy series The Kronos Chronicles, including The Cabinet of Wonders, The Celestial Globe and The Jewel of the Kalderash. Her next project is a YA trilogy that begins with The Winner’s Curse, which is scheduled to be published in March 2014.
Marie grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois (a suburb of Chicago), as the oldest of four children. She holds a BA from the University of Iowa and a PhD from Harvard University. Marie is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance Drama, children’s literature and fiction writing. She lives in New York City with her husband and two sons.
REVIEW
The story is built upon lies and no one knows this better than Nirrim, who has the talent of remembering things hidden. The world of Herrath is richly developed and easily adapted as your own reality. The strict class system of the haves (full Kith) and haves not (half-Kith) are very familiar to those who have read the Winner’s Trilogy. The Middling where Nirrim lives and works has never thought about the wall dividing the her place and the high Kith. Until she is accused of a crime she didn’t commit and ends up in jail. Her previous secret life of forging passports for Raven were her “midnight lie”, small falsehoods told to help another escape the Ward.
When she meets Sid, who is traveling to avoid marriage, Sid opens her eyes up to what is really wrong with her city as well as her own sexuality. But is Sid’s truth just another “midnight lie”? Of course, the ending leaves you hanging. I love being back in the world of The Winner’s Curse trilogy but this is a spin-off in a similar place, but with all new characters. This is one book where the descriptions and the dialogue are perfectly matched and had me racing to get through it but then devastated when it ended.
