I was really sad to have lost interest in this series! I loved The Winner's Trilogy and the first book in this duology was good but I just don't have the desire to keep reading. I just don't think I'll ever finish this one.

Unfortunately I was not a fan of this sequel, it didn't really hit what I wanted it to hit and I definitely enjoyed the first book more.

If you are a fan of The Winner's Trilogy, you will be pleasantly surprised at the amount of time we spend with Sid's family. If you were hoping for an opportunity to delve into Sid's perspective and explore her character after the first book in this duology, this book is exactly that. Marie's characteristic, gorgeous prose shine in this story, and the wordlbuilding, magic system, and descriptions of settings are stunning! The concept of compulsory heterosexuality is also explored.

I did not enjoy this one nearly as much as the first one. I think the focus on storytelling and what stories mean both to those who hear and those who stories are told about was brilliant, and I loved that it came up again and again. The stories we tell about ourselves to make sure that we remain the heroes in our own lives. The stories we tell about our loved ones that may be entirely wrong or too narrow or too vague, that then influence (for better or worse) how we respond to them. The stories we hear about the people we know, even if just in passing, and how that changes who we think they are and how they therefore must see us.

But, alas, so much of this book is just Nirrim being a very boring villain.

Sid was the real hero of this story as she confronted the things she'd always been told and what she assumed to fill in those gaps. She's the one who grows and makes a journey, whereas both Nirrim's and The God's perspectives both just... Take up space. Sid's POV is where we get to experience even just a taste of Rutkoski's skill with snappy dialogue, where we get to dig into the bloody history behind her parents' happiness, where we get to examine whether one should choose to be happy or safe and what that means.

But this just felt so much more... Surface level (as a whole) than The Midnight Lie.

This book was a beautiful follow up to The Midnight Lie, which is one of my favorite reads of the year. The Midnight Lie was focused mainly on Nirrim, this book is more Sid. I loved Sid’s character and was happy to get a more in depth look into her character. I loved the world built in the first book in this duology and was happy to see it expanded here. The magic system and the gods were very interesting. Overall, a wonderful follow up and conclusion to this duology. I listened to an audiobook of this and loved the narrator.

This book is a sapphic fever dream in all the best ways. It's about what happens when you lose yourself. Sid and Nirrim are back, and neither of them are the same people that they were in book one. Good luck everybody else! But for real prayer circle for all the citizens in NIRRIM'S kingdom. Do things get easier? Does Nirrim finally come to her senses? Does Sid get to play the hero she's always dreamt of being??? Come sit next to me and listen, and we'll find out. I will mildly spoil that this is very much Sid's book, as book one was Nirrim's. I adore that Sid is somewhere on the enby spectrum and completely related to her experience in regard to gender/gender presentation.

Content warnings for blood, gore, poison, executions

Thank you to NetGalley for a preview copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars
Marie Rutkoski's books are so hard to review without spoilers and a full on in depth analysis because there is always so much going on, but in the best possible way. I'll start by saying that I absolutely adore Marie Rutkoski's writing style. The number of callbacks, parallels, and moments of dramatic irony in this book was perfect. Additionally, I loved how many characters from The Winner's Trilogy had cameos in this, and that they were actually a part of the plot, not just there for the sake of appealing to old fans (aka me lol). (Side note: You don't need to read that series first to understand this one, but I would recommend it to enhance the experience). To explain with as little spoilers as I can, as much as I love them, I was initially a little hesitant to see Arin and Kestrel in this, as I was worried that (based off what we know about Sid's home life from The Midnight Lie) they were going to be retconned as homophobic. Luckily, they are still the characters old fans know and love. It was really interesting seeing them older and from a new perspective (albeit still a biased one - just in a different way). Honestly the whole plot line surrounding Sid's family life and fitting in was really well done, even if it had me a bit worried at first. On to Nirrim's character. Again, I don't want to spoil anything, but *chef's kiss*. As we know from the end of The Midnight Lie, Nirrim bargained with the gods and gave up her heart. This book did an excellent job with the "unintentional villain arc/villian who thinks they're in the right" trope, and I also really like the way this plot line resolved, although it was a tiny bit rushed. As usual with Marie Rutkoski's writing, this book had me really stressed at times, but the payoff was absolutely worth it. Overall, I really loved this book. It was the perfect conclusion to this duology, as well as this universe. Neither Nirrim or Sid were perfect characters, but they felt real, as did their romance. I also just really loved the overall plot of this book. Lastly, I think this book did a perfect job adding new lore and fantasy elements to this world and mixing in what reader's of The Winner's Trilogy are already familiar with. This duology is really the perfect example of expanding a world without either completely rewriting it or refusing to change anything. I really could talk about this duology (+ how it ties into The Winner's Curse storylines) for ever, but I want to keep this as spoiler free as possible, so I'll just end this by saying that I highly recommend all 5 books in this universe (The Winner's Trilogy and The Midnight Lie duology). They're incredibly underrated.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this as an audio galley to listen to for free in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for giving me access.

*Gets approved for audio galley....IMMEDIATELY BINGES*

I had to binge The Midnight Lie AND The Hollow Heart both in the same day. Ok, I mean, I didn't 'have to' I REALLY wanted to and I am glad that I did. The Hollow Heart picks up pretty much where TML leaves off plus, a healthy sprinkling of Sid's POV.

There was so much character growth while they were separated which made them more relatable. The only thing I wish is that we had more time with Nirrim and Sid together but this was still an amazing conclusion to the duology.

The Hollow Heart (Forgotten Gods, #2)
by Marie Rutkoski
the pantheon of gods have created children with their mortal loves. But their removal from the world have left the offspring of their lust reeling. The stories of these poor children, from exploitation for their powers, to the use of their blood to help the wealthy prosper. This book shows a great heroic adventure with LGTBQ characters and acceptance of understanding. The book shows how the changes of society can even change our ideal of ROF to be more including. Princesses, can love whom they love with out judgement.

4 Star! The Hollow Heart was a great conclusion follow The Midnight Lie! While I did enjoy the first book more I feel very satisfied with this final instalment. This Audiobook was great and I really appreciated the narrator’s varying voices for each characters. The Hollow Heart has a major mis-communication trope, which I enjoyed in this book! Overall I really enjoyed this duology and look forward to more of this authors works!

Spoiler Free: Fantastic conclusion to the Midnight Lie. The Hollow Heart develops Sid's voice and back story in this three-perspective sequel. While there is far less action than the Midnight Lie, readers will be satisfied by the detailed character study of Sid.

Spoilers Follow: My primary critique of the conclusion is that the reader was not given any window into the aftermath of Nirrim's destruction. Seemingly, she "lived happily ever after" despite committing murder against the citizens of her country. Seemingly, Sid's father (who went to war for Sid's safe return) "accepted" Nirrim's simultaneous surrender and proposal for marriage to his daughter. I would have preferred some more exposition following Sid's return from the realm of the gods.

I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook ARC of The Hollow Heart! Book 1 in this series, The Midnight Lie, left me kind of iffy about this new story and the characters, although the ending left me intrigued for more. I am so glad I continued onto book 2 though! One thing I loved about TML was Sid's character, and I was thrilled that we got Sid's POV in this second book. I loved that we went back to Sid's home and saw characters like Auren and Kestrel again, and I thought that Sid's character development in this one was really great as she works to be herself around her family and reconciles with her mother in particular. While Nirrim still wasn't my favorite character ever, I'll admit to be entranced with dark Nirrim who makes herself queen after she gives her heart to the God of Thieves and how she grapples with Sid's absence. It was a lot of fun seeing this drawn out of this character. Plots at home and across the sea draw Sid and Nirrim back to one another, but the question becomes whether or not Nirrim is too far gone. Rutkoski's lovely prose is once again shining through in this book, which is a story about fighting for lost love and being who you are with no apologies to anyone. I enjoyed The Hollow Heart immensely listening to it narrated as an audiobook and thought it was a really great sequel to TML.

4.5 stars rounded up

I have been WAITING for this book!! The Hollow Heart concludes this duology and while I didn't love it quite as much as Midnight Lie, I still liked it a lot and felt this was a very satisfying conclusion. Rutkoski delivers on a twisty plot, gods interfering with human affairs, and a fraught sapphic romance.

Also, for fans of the Winners Curse trilogy, you get a lot more crossover in this book with characters from that series! I don't want to spoil things, but this duology is set in the same world, about 20+ years in the future. It was cool to see how things have shaped up for the characters in that original series.

In this book Nirrim no longer has her heart and is heading a revolution while Sid returns home to her dying mother. This is full of court intrigue, violence, and difficult choices, as well as sapphic angst.

My only issue with the book didn't end up being a big deal for me, but might really bother some readers. A LOT of the conflict occurs because Sid is horrendously bad at communication- both misunderstanding what other people are trying to say, and refusing to communicate her feelings, wants and needs because of pride and assumptions of what other people want from her. This is definitely frustrating for part of the book because Sid willfully makes things harder than they need to be. I know some readers have zero patience for that, but I loved everything else enough I wasn't too bothered by it. Plus Sid does learn and grow through the book. If that's not a deal breaker for you, I highly recommend this duology!

The audiobook was pretty good and we get appropriately different voices for the two character perspectives. I received an audio review copy of this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own.