Probably the only take on Groundhog Day/time loop that actually gives what it promises. Midnight Strikes did everything right, its exposition, build-up, pacing was perfect and I'm very excited to see more from Zeba Shahnaz.

This book is like Happy Death Day mixed with Cinderella and I never thought I’d say those two things in the same sentence. Fairytales are my favorite genre. Time loops are fun. But a time loop plot WITHIN the fairytale genre is a rarity! This is like Cinderella on steroids. It has all the elements of a fairytale with the glittering ball, royal prince, snooty nobility, royal court drama, and fancy palace. Yet, combine that with the plot of Happy Death Day where an explosion kills everyone in attendance at the ball at the end of the night, only to wake up to it being hours before the ball on the same day again, and no one having any memory of this except our provincial heroine. Taking two things that are not necessarily original but combining a sci fi plot into a fairytale setting? I mean, come on. You’ve gotta be intrigued by that.

The best part of this book is the world building. It is explained so well and the magic system clear, but it is explained in a way that it doesn’t come out as an info dump all at once. The world building is phenomenal and paints a picture within the first chapter. This is marketed as a fantasy but it has elements of a fairytale as well. This book starts out with dazzling ball in a grand ballroom filled with shimmering chandeliers, voluminous gowns, and endless grandeur and I was eating it up. The writing style is absolutely stunning.

“Chandelier light hugs the hollows beneath his cheekbones as dearly as if they, too, were carved centuries ago by kings and princes long gone—an arresting beauty built for precisely this dripping-gold world.”

Now that’s talent!

Thank you to Netgalley for sending me an advanced copy in return for my honest review.

Groundhog Day! I LOVE time loop stories, so I was excited to get my hands on an ARC of this. MIDNIGHT STRIKES is a page-turner, a high fantasy timeloop thriller with some entry-level political intrigue. It’s YA, and at times it seems to skew young, but then there’s more strong language than I was expecting (excellent use of the f-bomb) and the expected strong violence - and some darkness (when the female main character has to reset the timer herself, so to speak...).

What could have used a little amping up was the romance, but I understand the restraints that prevent a more epic love story; the male main character’s memory is wiped out each day. Makes it pretty difficult to form a meaningful relationship.

I wanted more closure at the end. Only the main character has lived through all of these experiences; for the rest, less than a day has passed. She has no one to share these traumatizing memories with. That’s the nature of the genre, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want more between Leo and Anais after everything. Sequel or short story to wrap it up, maybe?

I thought this book was okay. I really enjoyed the time loop plot at first, I always think that's fun. But I just felt the story didn't do that much by the end. The main character, Anaïs, is going through the motions of trying to find a suitor in the lavish courts to please her mother despite facing hatred and racism at every turn because her family is from a people that are looked down on by the rest of the country. At a ball, she finds herself once again struggling to live up to what her mother wants for her, let alone finding what she wants for herself, when suddenly the world explodes around her and she blacks out. Before she knows it, she is waking up the morning before the ball, to relive the day all over again. She continues through the day over and over, and starts trying to find out who is responsible and how she can stop it and save everyone in the ballroom. It has an interesting plot in there and like I said, it is fun. But the days repeat so often and the resolution just felt okay to me in the end.

#MidnightStrikes #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out!

Loved it! A very well executed time travel premise, with a strong romance and plenty of court intrigue. Very accessible, a quick read that was hard to put down.

This felt like a novel version of Groundhog Day, and I just couldn't connect to the characters. The love story felt contrived.

***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

Great plot line and pacing. I throughly enjoyed this book,. The characters kept me engaged. The mystery of time loop kept me intrigued.

I like time loop stories, when they're done well. While I haven't seen a lot of books that do time loops, I have played plenty of games (visual novels) that use the trope really well, so going into this, I was ready for something with a lot of twists and a good ending. The author does a decent job at pacing, Anais' discoveries are spaced fairly evenly throughout the plot, and there's not a rush to overexplain things right away. There are parts where the story drags, and I felt like some of the parts spent saying 'oh, and she failed several more times, here's a vague review before we get to the more important run' could've been used less and a bit more wisely. It's interesting to hear just how long Anais was at this, but in this case, showing would've been better than telling. I liked the setting, and the worldbuilding was interesting, though I wish it was touched on a bit more. Anais makes for a good protag and I liked Leo, though sometimes the romance aspects were confusing and not wholly necessary. The time loop-having Anais die at midnight and reverse back to the following morning-was good, if straightforward, and I kept waiting for more twists that never really came. That being said, I really enjoyed reading this book, it was a fun read and kept my interest throughout.

I've been a sucker for time loop stories since I first saw Groundhog Day the movie, but I've never seen one done half as well as Midnight Strikes. This is the kind of book that keeps you up *way* past your bedtime.

Anaïs is the daughter of a nobleman whose people were conquered by an expansionist empire with different traditions and magic. Her role in life is to make a marriage alliance with one of those conquerers to secure her family's future at the imperial court. But things haven't been going too well at the start of the latest ball - this one to celebrate the anniversary of the magical dynasty that has controlled the empire for the last several centuries. Things go from bad to worse when she attracts the attention of the drunken younger prince, Leo, who lures her out into the garden and kisses her. Then everything explodes - literally - and she wakes up to find it's the afternoon of the ball all over again.

From Anaïs' attempts to understand what's happening to her - and WHY, a crucial mystery that is linked to the nature of magic itself - to her mental and emotional growth as she struggles to retain her sanity and save the day, this book is non-stop action, adventure, excitement, and intrigue. Mysteries unravel at multiple levels across the entirety of the novel, making this an exceptionally engaging plot with solid world-building and a great cast of characters. There's a little something for everyone - action, fantasy, romance, and mystery - without being beholden too much to the conventions of any one genre, which allows it to transcend the predictable patterns of each. It will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last pages with just enough of a conclusion to bring everything to a satisfying end.

~Contains some spoilers~

Overall, this was not a bad book, I do want to preface that I am not normally a fan of time-loop storylines, so I am trying not to judge the book unfairly in that aspect. That being said, I felt that the book was a little too long. Indeed, what Anaïs accomplished by the end of the book could have been done in less time with fewer failed attempts. Throughout the entire book, I found myself wishing that someone else (specifically Leo) retained their memory along with Anaïs. Had Leo and Anaïs both remembered what had happened every time that time looped, then they would have been able to come up with a better plan and forge a relationship that I think would have been highly enjoyable to read about. And speaking of their relationship, it was so odd how fast Anaïs fell in love with Leo. It seemed like they hardly knew one another one moment and the next Anaïs was suddenly in love with him. Had Leo also retained his memory every time-loop, that love would have made so much more sense and it would have given Leo the opportunity to love her back as well as work through some of his vices and issues. I was hoping that maybe at the end of the book, Leo would somehow get all of his memories back and realize that he also loved Anaïs, but that did not happen at all.

On the subject of the ending, I was pretty disappointed. I felt like there could have been a better solution to ending the time loop than the plan that Anaïs came up with. She went through the time loop over and over again in an attempt to save as many people as she could, only to have most of the people die anyway. What was the point of going back so many times if everyone was going to die anyway? She even seemed to realize that was what was going to happen halfway through the book, but she dragged us along with her as she kept going back and failing all over again. Finally, the very end of the book, Anaïs just decides to go home without trying to make something of her love for Leo. It was hinted that something may happen, but I would have liked more than a hint after everything.

Some of the magic in this book also felt random and a bit confusing, but the blood magic was an interesting concept. if you like time-loops, I'm sure you'll like this book, but if not, this probably isn't for you.