The Midnight Star

The Midnight Star

Marie Lu

I am so conflicted and just generally confused about my feelings for this book.

I'm not sure if it felt too short or just too rushed, but there just wasn't enough bridging between the 3 books (in my opinion). The first book starts with Adelina finding out about her power and about the Elites and eventually being betrayed, the second book was about her move for the throne and revenge (with a very small portion dedicated to the Elites getting sick), and book 3 felt like it wasn't about anything but the main quest (SPOILERS BELOW)

By main quest I mean their attempt to fix the split between the mortal and the immortal worlds. I understand that the first 2 books kind of led up to this, but there just wasn't enough. Up until I started reading this one, I didn't care about the sickness or about what Gods the Elites align with. To be honest, I still really don't. The reason I loved the first two books was because of Adelina and her dark twisted mind and this book did not have enough of the darkness (other than the beginning). It just felt so separated from the points of the first two books. I realize that it's a great thing to explain why the Elites have power and to abolish that power in the mortal world to save everyone and the world itself, but I would have cared more if that was the main intent of the series from the beginning. Instead, it felt like it was suddenly thrust upon me and I would just have to accept it like everyone else.

I did enjoy the ending (I always love a martyr), especially after all Adelina had been through. Who would be able to live with themselves after all of that? She would have returned to a world where she was beyond hated, and now would have no powers to defend herself or the throne. I almost wish that there were another like 2 books in between that deal with the gradual sicknesses of those with powers and the mystery of trying to find out what's happening to them. Instead, it's like Rafealle knew the answer almost immediately, he knew exactly what was happening and how to stop it. I loved the journey of the first 2 books too much to feel like this is the proper ending of Adelina's story.