Midnight Strikes

By: Zeba Shahnaz

Narrated by: Nikki Massoud

In this explosive fantasy debut, a provincial girl must work with an infuriatingly handsome prince to escape a nightmarish curse that forces them to relive the same night over and over.

"The time-loop fantasy you never knew you needed, where the fairytale ball is bloody and Cinderella is the Final Girl."—Gina Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Violet Made of Thorns

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.

©2023 Zeba Shahnaz (P)2023 Listening Library

Critic reviews

“Midnight Strikes is pure, high-octane fun. With whip-smart worldbuilding, spectacular twists, and the angsty romance of my dreams, Shahnaz’s debut is guaranteed to keep you up reading until midnight. A masterclass in YA fantasy.”—Allison Saft, New York Times bestselling author of Down Comes the Night and A Far Wilder Magic

"Intricate and swoony, Midnight Strikes is the time-loop fantasy you never knew you needed, where the fairytale ball is bloody and Cinderella is the Final Girl. I'd gladly follow Anaïs until the end of time."—Gina Chen, New York Times bestselling author of Violet Made of Thorns

"Shahnaz’s gripping debut is a twisty story...slowly unveiling a plot full of courtly intrigue with a determined lead character whose personal agency is the focus. Riveting, time-looping fun."—Kirkus Reviews

Meh

This is a difficult book to review. My feelings on it are complex and hard to articulate. But I’ll try my best.

This book was so boring. I barely made it through even on 2x speed. I love a “Groundhog Day” story line, but this felt tedious and repetitive. Even though it was clear the effort the author took to keep it from being so. No two days played out the same way and the author skipped days and just gave one or two sentences summaries of them. But barely any of them felt exciting or interesting. They all just felt like work to sit through.

It’s well written and well performed. It feels original in its own way, but still, the whole thing just fell flat. The characters felt like part of the background. There was nothing wrong with the MC, but I didn’t feel anything towards her. None of the characters were particularly interesting or worth rooting for.

The narration was pretty good. Some voices sounded lisp-y and were hard to get use to. But she didn’t add anything to the story.

I feel pretty indifferent in regards to the book. I’m bummed because it seemed like a fun story. It just lacked that oomph. That special something that makes a story good.

My only real beef with the book though is the random and completely unnecessary swearing. It was jarring. Im not against swearing at all. I swear like a sailor and f*** is a regular part of half of my sentences. But I know when and when not to swear. Here, it was so unnecessary in this book. It added nothing, but did take away. Each f-bomb and GD took me out of the story. They didn’t match the tone of the book at all. So just warning for those who hate swearing!

Loved!!

It’s so interesting it’s a time loop spin on a Cinderella story of sorts. Instead of the spell ending at midnight everyone dies and she wakes up on the very same afternoon dying over and over again at midnight with everyone around her while trying to discover who and why they are behind the massacre. It’s really cool! I was worried it would get repetitive or boring but it never does. The author does a good job of not repeating anything so there’s no redundancy but you feel the exhaustion of the MC still while enjoying every iteration and the new clues it uncovers. I really enjoyed it. Ate it up in one day.