THE GIRL AT MIDNIGHT by Melissa Grey

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins. Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans. All but one. Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal. So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen. It will be no easy task, but if life as a thief has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants . . . and how to take it.

But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire.

 

 

As soon as I read the blurb for this book, I was intrigued. So when I was lucky enough to receive an ARC last week, I couldn't wait to get started.

 

Echo is a runaway, is very clever and has a sharp tongue. She's also a thief. Stealing and selling on the black market is how she survives. A lot of the things she owns are stolen, but they make up her personal and hidden home within the library. She does have another home beneath the city streets of New York. It's where Ala lives. The Avicen who took her in as a child and helped Echo grow into the person she's become.

 

Even if Echo never really belonged amongst this race--because so many resent a human knowing their secrets--they still became her family. Her best friend is Avicen, and so is her boyfriend.

 

The Avicen are a race of feathered beings with magic at their disposal and the advantage of being able to slip through the in-between to go all over the world. But they have been at war for a long time. Their enemies are called Drakharin, who instead of feathers have scales.

 

The birds and the dragons have fought many a bloody war, but the one they're heading into will turn everything upside down.

 

When Ala tells Echo that the only way to stop the war is to find the mythical firebird, she accepts the challenge and finds herself on a treasure hunt. Following an enigmatic map leads her from one clue to another, and she somehow seems to be connected to each item she finds. But this quest also leads her to the Dragon Prince.

 

Cauis might be the Dragon Prince, but he's sick of the fighting. While trying to also get his hands on the firebird, he ends up losing everything he's established, and gains a new ally in Echo.

 

Together, an unlikely group of Avicen and Dhrakarin hold the key to end the ongoing war. But for Echo and Cauis, this adventure is very personal and will change both of their lives forever...

 

Wow. It's very hard to summarise the awesome plot of this novel without giving too much away. I absolutely loved every single minute of this story. The hidden world of the Avicen and Drhakarin is amazing and magical, but it's also a dangerous and ruthless place.

 

The story is told in multiple POVs, which really helped move the story along and made me fall in love with these characters and their impossible plight. Echo's voice is the strongest. She's snarky and funny. She loves words and books, and shiny things. She was a great main character, and her POV was enhanced by Cauis. Not to mention that I'm a sucker for heart-wrenching love stories.

 

The Girl At Midnight is an amazing book! I absolutely loved this beautifully written story set in an intriguing, vivid world that exists beside ours, and is filled with memorable characters. The mystery contained within these otherworldly pages blows your mind once it's revealed, but at the same time makes perfect sense of everything. I didn't know what to expect with this book, but boy... I was blown away.

 

I can't wait to read more books by this author. And really want to know what happens to Echo and Cauis next.

 

Also, this was one of the prettiest ARCs I've ever received. 

 

You have to read this book. It's awesome! :)

 

And here's my nail art:

 

I call it Shadow Dust Leads into the In-between. :)

 

The Girl at Midnight, April 2015, ISBN 9780349002132, Atom