Midnight Strikes is a unique entry into the time loop subgenre. In fact, I don't think I've read anything quite like it, as it sets itself apart with the inclusion of magic and royal intrigue. Shahnaz shines with creative and well-executed world-building and character development but significantly struggles with pacing. Like most time-loop stories, Midnight Strikes sadly falls victim to repetition and subsequently relies heavily on the intrigue surrounding the character motivations and continuous plot point reveals to maintain the reader's attention.

Midnight Strikes starts valiantly as a fantastical time loop story. At first Zeba Shahnaz does well balancing the night the reader relives and the nights we get a review of. But Shahnaz leaves one of the most emotional as a verbal retelling. This takes away from the emotion of the main character's reasoning for containing this deadly loop. The story then turns and her motivations change, so maybe it's unimportant. I enjoyed the magic and the history of the lands but the story drags and resets one (two, three?) too many times. By the time the tale ended, I sighed in relief. Especially when the consequences the main character is so concerned with are not personal.
Overall Midnight Strikes is a cool magic story but is too repetitive even for a time loop story.

"One night. You just have to Survive here one night."

In the tradition of princess-genre-bending books like Princess Academy and Caraval, this book takes a would-be princess and makes her journey a trial.

A little Cinderella/Beauty and the Beast/Ella Enchanted.
A little Groundhog Day and Palm Springs (which you should definitely watch).

Would you have the strength to keep going? Would it be worth it?

This book is worth the trip! Such a fabulous adventure!

I started and finished this book in 24 hours. I was captivated by the story! I really liked the characters and character development in this book. I think there was a bit too much repetitiveness, that could have been skipped and totally wasn’t necessary. I still enjoyed those moments. I was hoping for more romance and I wasn’t totally satisfied with the ending, but it didn’t prevent me from loving it!

Thank you for the ARC.
The book was a bit confusing and oddly paced. It fell short, but I sincerely hope the author continues their work and look forward to seeing their work in the future.

I was really intrigued by this premise, especially as both a fantasy and time loop. I don’t know if the story was not progressing fast enough for me or if I just wasn’t in the right headspace at the time I was reading it. Unfortunately I did put the book down but hope to pick it back up again in the future and give it a second chance.

I ended up really liking this book. Took me a little bit in the beginning to get into it but once I did I couldn’t stop reading. Anaïs has to endure soo much, time after time while she tried to figure out how to get out of the time loop. I like how it changes a little at a time as things unfold and I was surprised by who was behind everything. I’m going to be buying a copy for my son to read, definitely worth the read and good book for young adults.

Midnight Strikes is a time loop narrative that focuses on a noble woman who is destined to save her small part in the world. It’s unclear how many loops are made. After some time, in particular halfway through, it became tiresome with not much new being learned. In the end I was satisfied but felt more could have been established and followed through in with the love story.

The writing was very good and interesting, in particular how it repeated “chapter one” at the top. Overall a fun read but not something I will reread anytime soon.

Anaïs Aubanel is a 17-year-old member of a prominent Proensan family liviing in the Ivarean kingdom. Her people have been outsiders, considered the backwoods magic users of the kingdom, since the Ivareans colonized them, but her family presses her to make a good marriage match, bringing her to the royal anniversary ball to scope out her chances. At the stroke of midnight, bombs go off, killing everyone at the ball - and then Anaïs awakens in her own bed, sure it was a dream... until it happens again. Over the course of the novel, Anaïs must reconstruct each day and figure out how to stop the carnage before it begins; in doing so, she uncovers a nefarious plot with an unlikely puppetmaster pulling the strings. A rich fantasy, Shahnaz explores colonization and the intertwining roots of magic and faith. Anaïs is a character readers will cheer on; the supporting characters become more real with each moment revisited. A good choice for fantasy readers.

Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz is a captivating young adult novel that blends the elements of fantasy and time travel in a unique and refreshing way. The story follows Anaïs, a seventeen-year-old outsider, who finds herself caught in a deadly time loop that involves an explosion at the kingdom's anniversary ball. Despite her best efforts, Anaïs cannot seem to prevent the attack, which keeps happening over and over again.

The author has done a great job of creating a vivid and immersive world that is filled with political intrigue, power struggles, and complex characters. As Anaïs tries to unravel the mystery of the explosion and the people behind it, she discovers dark secrets and hidden agendas that threaten to tear apart the kingdom. The story keeps you on edge, with twists and turns that keep you guessing until the very end.

What I loved most about Midnight Strikes is the character development. Anaïs is a strong, determined protagonist who refuses to give up, even when things seem impossible. She faces a lot of obstacles and challenges, but her courage and resilience make her a character worth rooting for. The supporting cast is equally compelling, with each character having their own motivations and goals that add depth to the story.

Overall, Midnight Strikes is an excellent book that will appeal to fans of fantasy, time travel, and political intrigue. The story is well-written, engaging, and thought-provoking, with themes that are relevant to our world today. It's a book that will keep you up all night, eager to find out what happens next.

While the story line might not be original.....remember Groundhog Day.....Zeba Shahnaz has given us an original character to break the loop and save the entire community. The character of Anais will set a path to break the loop and not stop until the future is saved.

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: Midnight Strikes

Author: Zeba Shahnaz

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 5/5

Diversity: BIPOC coded MC and characters, Bisexual BIPOC coded character

Recommended For...: young adult readers, fantasy, time travel, groundhog day

Publication Date: March 14, 2023

Genre: YA Fantasy

Age Relevance: 15+ (racism, terrorism, violence, gore, alcohol consumption, cursing, sexual content, romance, suicide, death, grief)

Explanation of Above: There are moments of racism being mentioned or expressly said/acted upon in the book. There is a terroristic event that, because this is a groundhog day book, keeps happening over and over again. There is violence in the form of bombs, guns, and knives and there is a lot of blood gore. There are scenes of alcohol consumption. There is some cursing. There is some very vaguely referenced sexual content and a slight romance that doesn’t overpower the plot. There are a couple of incidents of suicide vaguely mentioned, death is shown and mentioned, parental death is said and mentioned, and there is a lot of grief.

Publisher: Delacorte Press

Pages: 448

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her.

The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster.

Not even when it happens again. And again. And again.

If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court's gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It's up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight.

Review: I really really liked this book! The plot of this book revolves around my MC who is attending a fancy ball that she’s not really looking forward to but participates for her parent’s sake. There it’s quickly seen she’s an outsider, her peers looking down on her because of her country of origin. She has a dance with the prince and things start to look up, when bombs go off. She’s quickly thrown into a terrorist attack and, after surviving the initial blast but then getting killed by other means, she wakes up in her bedroom and it is hours before the ball. Our MC finds themselves trapped in a Groundhog Day like scenario and makes it her mission to stop the terrorist attack before midnight strikes. The book was so well done and, having a love of Groundhog Day like media, I was immediately in love with the premise of this read. The book was extremely well written and an amazing read overall, with interesting characters, a not-so-steamy romance that didn’t overpower the plot, and political intrigue.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book is that it was a tiny bit confusing but I think that was because my book accidently wasn’t saved on the correct page and I ended up reading some pages over again. I was having my own Groundhog Day moment LOL.

Verdict: I highly recommend this book!

3.5 stars

This is one of the first time-loop fantasies that I've read and I definitely have a lot of thoughts! The idea and execution was quite interesting—I haven't read a time-loop fantasy before, so this was a first for me, and more the fun. but the issue I had with the book was that the little times it dragged. As a person who usually disliked narratives where some awry mistakes could be avoided easily (and I mean, mistakes that characters do, not ones concerned with writing), this one had a lot of them.

The book was an iteration of the same night, over and over again, with different scenarios. The pace was quick, and will keep you hooked if you're willing to wait, but sometimes, it just felt that the moments were building up with no clear end. But that's probably a very me thing, so i think many others might be able to enjoy this book much more than i did!

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Children's, for presenting me with an ARC of this book in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are my own.

This was such a great book! I love time loop books and this is one of the best that I've read. The romance is definitely secondary to the adventure, but it worked perfectly into the flow of the story. I will definitely be looking for more from Shahnaz!

Midnight Strikes is a really clever twist on the time loop novel. It has magic, romance, drama, and a mystery.

Anaïs is not excited for the anniversary ball, but knows that she must dance and socialize to help her family and her people. When a tragedy interrupts the celebration, she and everyone around her is killed. Except, she wakes up the afternoon of the ball like nothing happened. She finds herself in a loop, attempting to stop a tragedy before it begins and identify who is orchestrating the deadly attack.

I loved this book. The story is exciting and fast-paced, and I thought it was very well constructed. In some time loop novels we only get a loop or two before it uses a montage to move time forward. Instead, Midnight Strikes leans into the loop and allows us to witness Anaïs struggle to take control of her fate and break the loop. There are times where a loop or two are summarized, but I really appreciated how Zeba Shahnaz clearly thought out the plot and how to get there. Each loop became a thread, taking Anaïs to the tangled center of the mystery.

Brava to Zeba for writing an exemplary novel that captured my attention and kept me guessing. I loved this book so much, and the audiobook is also excellent. I highly recommend listening to this one if you can!

A fun and engaging time-loop fantasy. Imagine going to a ball and dancing all night only to be murdered along with the rest of the gathering as the clock strikes midnight. But then you wake up the next day and are the only person who remembered what happened. Then, you realize it’s going to happen again and again and again until you can figure out a way to stop it. Some of the parts were slow and there were maybe a few too many re-imaginings of the same night, but this was ultimately an enjoyable debut.

Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz
4/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

Anaïs has MANY problems. Not only are her parents attempting to marry her off to the highest ranking individual they can find, but she is also reliving the night of her kingdom's anniversary ball over and over again. Oh yeah, and at the end of the ball she and all her loved ones always seem to die due to an attack. Her only hope of stopping the time loop and saving the castle is to figure out who is trying to murder the royal family and stop it. With every reset of the clock, she learns a little bit more to fill in the gaps. With any luck, she'll make it past midnight with more than just her life - a plan for the future she wants.

Read this book if you like:
- time loops/time travel
- secret fairies
- tipsy princes
- heroines that don't need saving
- love at first punch
- sassy royals

Midnight Strikes was released in March and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Thank you to Random House for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

I think I’m still trying to process this book entirely. A weird version of 50 First Dates and Cinderella all rolled into one. I will say that the world building was lush without making you feel too overwhelmed. We got the details we while not pushing it over the ledge of unrealistic.

Moreover, the mystery, was fairly predictable as well as leaving you’ve read this YA dystopian book time and time again. The romance was lacking, mostly because the love interest couldn't remember why the main character was so important most of the time, hence the similarity to 50 First Dates. Added to the fact you couldn’t transfer the ARC to the kindle at times I could barely push through to the end.

I did receive this as part of a Book Subscription Box, and perhaps will give it another try when it’s a little easier on the eyes! Midnight Strikes wasn’t terrible but wasn’t my all time favorite.

I just reviewed Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz. #MidnightStrikes #NetGalley

I was anxious about reading a book with constant time loop, but the author added so much detail every loop that it never felt repetitive. Zeba Shahnaz forms poetry on every page. Anais is a strong willed, humorous, and likable character that kept you rooting for her. Don't let the length of the book scare you, this was an absolute page turner!

I love a good time loop story and the writing was vivid and descriptive. I really just wish that there was *more*. It felt kind of fast and abrupt.