Midnight Thief by Livia Blackburne

Let me start by saying YA second world fantasy is my most favourite book genre ever, and there just aren’t enough YA second world fantasy books. We’ve had some pretty great books in this genre recently (Throne of Glass, Shadow and Bone) but it just doesn’t beat the fact that there are hundreds of more dystopians out there compared to a teeny tiny number of high fantasies. So this might explain why Midnight Thief was one of my most awaited books of 2014, and while I really really liked it, it just didn’t live up to my expectations

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Don’t get me wrong, Midnight Thief was a great book. It had some unexpected twists and there was always something going on. But I just put this book on a really high pedestal and it was disappointing when it did not fulfill my gajillion hopes and expectations.

Kyra was an amazing character. I loved seeing her mature through the course of the book. In the beginning she’s headstrong and naïve but by the end she’s become considerably more cautious and weary. I can’t help compare her to the protagonists of Shadow and Bone and Throne of glass and, to tell you the truth, Kyra’s just way cooler than either Celaena or Alina. Those two are too ‘’speshul’’ for my taste. Celaena’s chosen by the elf queen for a mysterious task which the safety of the entire world depends upon and Alina’s some kind of light bringer to the Darkling. (I know that’s not entirely accurate but, give me a break, I read them a long time ago)

The book utilized some familiar fantasy tropes like the main character being an orphan and a loving, motherly character(Bella)  but it also deviated from the traditional in that it is the first second world fantasy I’ve ever read that doesn’t mention kings/queens/princes. Yes, I’m telling the truth; no handsome princes, evil kings, jealous queens at all! This was honestly kind of refreshing. But don’t worry I’m 90% sure the sequel will introduce a love triangle with the heir to the throne.

Everything in the book was likeable and all but I had a serious problem with the world building. I mean, second-world fantasy is all about the world building! I wanted an awesome fantasy realm with a rich culture, exotic creatures, odd customs and an interesting history but instead I just got this processed and packaged medieval fantasy world. Not even an actual world, just a city, Forge. The only thing I can recall about this fantasy realm is that there’s Forge and two other cities called something like Padma and Patel (no, they’re not actually called Padma and Patel. I just can’t seem remember their original names, but one of them did start with a ‘p’). I’m sure the sequel will amend all this, but still it would’ve been nice to find out a little more about the world.

Anyways, I have a lot of hope for the sequel. I just can’t wait to read more about Kyra and her awesome adventures. And I also have a feeling that this series, which started out kind of mediocre, for me, is about to get really epic.