Synopsis
Fern King 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 …
Book Information
Title: Midnight Twins
Author: Molly Race
Release Date: llth June 2020
Genre: YA
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Hot Key32 Books
Rating: 3.5
The Review
Hello and welcome to my stop and the final stop on the blog tour for Midnight Twins by Holly Race. When I was asked if I wanted to be apart of this blog tour I was so excited, fantasy books are where my heart lies and I was very intrigued about a world like that existed when we were soundly asleep at night, a world created by our imaginations and in our dreams. It is a very interesting concept and one that was portrayed wonderfully – it was well-written, very imaginative, and I am not lying when I say that I had goosebumps 90% of time reading this.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed this book, I did have a few issues with it. One of the major one being that it did has a few plot holes/story lines that just didn’t really make sense. I thought that in some aspects the main characters, Fern and Ollie were a little unobservant as obvious things would be present but i’d take them a while to figure it out – this may be because they are only 15, but sometimes you couldn’t help but think, “really you didn’t notice that until now?” This also applies to a lot of the characters, wherein if they just thought a little outside of the box or thought a little harder then everyone’s problems would be solved much easier and much quicker. Additionally, one aspect of fantasy novels, that occur frequently, that I am not a fan of at all is when an ordinary person is thrust into something spectacular and completely unimaginable and they seem completely ok with it after a short while and not astounded by this recent discovery.
Despite these issues, I did overall really enjoy this book as I was able to overlook the things that niggled at me as it was so jam-packed with action. This book is in the genre of YA but it introduces aspects of so many more – it is a mixture of fantasy, adventure and mystery. I adored the urban-fantasy setting and the alternative London of Annwn and how key monuments and buildings were weaved into the setting, such as St Paul’s Cathedral being the base for the Knights – the people that protect us from our nightmares and the things that could kill us in our dreams. If I had read this book when I was a lot younger, I would not sleep easy at night. I was very intrigued by Annwn and left me longing for more information on the place, eager to see how people’s imaginations have shaped the world we know, hopefully we get more in the sequel.
Fern and Ollie are twins and are very different people. I couldn’t quite decide whether I liked either of them – they both had major flaws and had a long list of problems, but that is what makes them so great. In most books the protagonist is flawless, yes they may have made a few mistakes over the years but overall there is nothing overtly bad about them. Fern and Ollie on the other hand, they’ve made mistakes, they have a few shit personality traits, they’re impulsive and at some times selfish, but that is what makes them human and like a real life actual person. You could see that there was so much more to them that what they was displacing and revealing and in enticed you to read more and discover more about them. We wasn’t just taken on a journey through the story line but also through emotion.
I really enjoyed the juxtaposition between Ollie and Fern. Ollie being the cool, handsome twin who everyone adores and Fern being the ‘odd’ looking one with no friends and a total outcast in the real world, but once they enter Annwn, these personas are almost switched, shoving them into each other’s shoes and it was really fascinating to read and see how their personalities developed by these alternate experiences.
A major aspect I enjoyed whilst reading this book is that the plot took me to places I didn’t think it would. Yes, some aspects you could’ve guessed, but it was so well written that I enjoyed it just as much if it was a surprise. A slight warning though, this book is not for the faint-hearted, some times it can be very gruesome and deals with very important and present topics such as corrupt politicians, death of a parent, bullying and isolation. It highlights what it’s like to be an outsider, unlike the people around you and the emotional and mental toll it can take on you, which I think is very important for people to be aware of and include in books and those of us who do feel like an outsider, it reminds us that we aren’t in fact actually alone, there are others like us out there.
I’m not sure whether or not this was intentional, but I felt like, at times, this book got very political and I loved it. It highlights how those in power put on a facade, pretending they’re like us and that they care, but behind it all they are all simply power-hungry. This is exactly what the antagonist of this novel is and does – he pretends he is for the people, with his charm and elegance, but inside, just like every politician, he only cares for himself. This book really does highlight privilege of both status and power and considering this is a book aimed at young adults, I think it is very important to convey this message and make them aware.
Is this book perfect? No. Are there issues with it? No doubt. But did I enjoy it? You bet I did. I had my duvet pulled high the entire time despite the warm temperature as I was constantly covered in goosebumps. I thoroughly enjoyed the adventure, the mystery and the fantasy throughout this entire book; it always revealing something more exciting and spectacular along the way. I have many questions regarding many things but I am so excited about what is next to come. This book had my name written all over it and I am honoured to have been a part of this blog tour!
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