Book Review – Midnight’s Twins

Hello hello and welcome or welcome back to my little corner of the internet. Today I’m bringing you my review of Midnight’s Twins by Holly Race, and first in the Midnight’s Twins Trilogy. The second book, A Gathering Midnight, was recently released, and so I decided it was time to finally dive into this dream world, ready to read it. My thanks to Hot Key Books for copies of both books as part of my role as a Hot Key Ambassador.

Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Londoner Fern is about to uncover a place that she could not have imagined in all her wildest dreams. Annwn is the dream mirror of our world, a place where Dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. An enchanted, mysterious place that feeds our own world – as without dreams, without a place where our imaginations and minds can be nourished, what kind of humans would we be?

But Annwn is a place as full of dangers as it is wonders: it is a place where dreams can kill you. Annwn and its Dreamers are protected by an ancient order known as the Knights – and when Fern’s hated twin Ollie is chosen to join their ranks, Fern will have to do whatever she can to prove she is one of them too.

But the world Fern discovers in Annwn, in this dream mirror of her London, is a fragile one, threatened by vicious nightmares. Nightmares that are harder and harder for the Knights to defeat. Something dark is jeopardising the peace and stability of Annwn, something that must be rooted out at all costs. And gradually, Fern realises that the danger lurking inside our sleep is more insidious and terrifying than any nightmare. Because if you can influence someone’s dreams, you can control their thoughts …

Review
I read the first couple of chapters of this book when it was first coming out through Readers First, but when I didn’t get a copy of the book I completely forgot I wanted to read more. At the time I thought the beginning was striking but not particularly strong, and I felt the same when I came back to it this time. However. The difference is, this time I could keep reading, and what a difference that made.

The amount of imagination that has gone into creating this alternative world is simply brilliant, and there were so many moments that kept me guessing, made me gasp, and had me on the edge of my seat. Sometimes all three at once. Mainly, though, it made me smile; this wonderful alternative world that is utterly beautiful, and utterly leathal. So often it’s only one or the other when in reality brutality is always the other side of beauty, and I found it wonderful to see that reflected in these pages.

The story is so much more complex than it first appears, and has so many layers to it to slowly peel back. Right up to the last pages, these shock revolations were coming, and I thought that was absolutely brilliant. It was a wonderful book to get lost in, and I read it over the space of twenty four hours, not able to let it sit on my bedside table for very long, even when I was supposed to be napping.

After how this left off, I’m so excited to get started with book two, and I’ve got that as part of my plan for my July reading for Path or Pantheon, so you can be sure I’ll be back with an update soon!

So there we have it, my review of what was read number 66 of the year. I’ll be back with another post tomorrow, so be sure to check back in soon!