The Girl at Midnight

Debut author Melissa Grey's The Girl at Midnight is the first book of the series of the same name.

Beneath the streets of New York City live the Avicen, an ancient race of people with feathers for hair and magic running through their veins.  Age-old enchantments keep them hidden from humans.  All but one.  Echo is a runaway pickpocket who survives by selling stolen treasures on the black market, and the Avicen are the only family she's ever known.

Echo is clever and daring, and at times she can be brash, but above all else she's fiercely loyal.  So when a centuries-old war crests on the borders of her home, she decides it's time to act.

Legend has it that there is a way to end the conflict once and for all: find the Firebird, a mythical entity believed to possess power the likes of which the world has never seen.  It will be no easy task, though if life as a their has taught Echo anything, it's how to hunt down what she wants... and how to take it.

But some jobs aren't as straightforward as they seem. And this one might just set the world on fire. 

The Breakdown:
1. I am in love with this book.  The world that Grey creates with the Avicen and their foe the Drakharin is wonderfully creative.  The way they are part of our world, but hidden just makes it all the more fascinating and frankly really sparks my imagination.  The story is engaging from beginning to end, and the characters are so well developed.

2.  Think my favorite thing about this book is the relationships between the characters.  Grey not only writes wonderful romantic attractions between characters, but she develops so many other relationship beautifully in this story including both friendships and animosities.  The friendship between Echo and Ivy, dislike between Echo and Ruby do so much for the story, and go a long way to really making Echo a well rounded character.  Then there is Caius and the tensions in his relationship with his sister, Tanith, and his friendship with Dorian.  Plus the relationships between different characters are continually evolving throughout the story making them feel real and alive.

3. So Echo is amazing. She is courageous and smart, both street and book.  She lives in the New York Public Library, which may in fact be the coolest thing ever. While she is a thief, and a damn good one at that, she has moral compass that is hard to argue with.  She would doing anything for those she cares about.

4. Other random things: The cover of this book is gorgeous, and works so well for the story.  Kudos to Grey to LOTR and Robert Frost references, among other things.  I love that the title has significance multiple times in the book, and that Echo name really has a deeper meaning, because names have power.

To Read or Not to Read:
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