Sunday, July 29, 2012

Review: Midnight City by J. Barton Mitchell


Midnight City by J. Barton Mitchell.
Release Date: October 31st, 2012
Page count: 336 pages
Publisher: St. Martins Press
Format: E-book - advanced copy. (Big thanks to St. Martins Press!!!)
Who I'd Recommend it To: Fans of sci-fi & people who like the show, Falling Skies.
Rating: ★★★★


Synopsis from Goodreads
In a post-apocalyptic world controlled by alien invaders, two teens and a young girl with mysterious powers embark on a dangerous journey. What they find will change everything...

Earth has been conquered. An extraterrestrial race known as The Assembly has abducted the adult population, leaving the planet's youth to fend for themselves. In this treacherous landscape, Holt, a bounty hunter, is transporting his prisoner Mira when they discover Zoey, a young girl with powerful abilities who could be the key to stopping The Assembly. As they make their way to the cavernous metropolis of Midnight City, the trio must contend with freedom fighters, mutants, otherworldly artifacts, pirates, feuding alien armies, and perhaps most perilous of all: Holt and Mira's growing attraction to each other.

Midnight City is the breathtaking first novel in the Conquered Earth series, and a stunning work of imagination from debut author J. Barton Mitchell



                                                                                                                       


Review: 


As soon as I saw the words "post-apocalyptic" and "aliens" together, I was in! Midnight City is a refreshing young adult novel. It was nothing like I had ever read before. And it was awesome. The world that the author has created is seriously frightening. The gang (Mira, Holt and Zoey) are faced with new danger everywhere they go. The world is just chaos! It only took me a short time to really get into the story and I was sucked into this horrific world completely. It was thrilling, action-packed and full of surprises!


As I said before, I really liked the world the author had set up. It was pretty complex, with all the different factions people were in, and all the different aliens and the artifacts but I eventually got my head around it all. The prose, pacing and plot were all really great. The writing flowed really well, the plot was fast-paced and barely ever slowed down and the plot was just really exciting.


Although it was very much a plot driven novel, the characters were a delight to read about. All were seriously bad ass in their own way. I really liked Holt, Mira and Zoey. Holt and Mira were both strong characters, yet very broken. There was a lot of fantastic character development with these characters and I loved how their relationships slowly grew as well. Zoey was completely adorable and the way she called Holt's Dog Max "the Max" -- so cute! I'm totally excited to see more about her powers in the next book. Still kind of confused about what she can and can't do though. The characters we met along the way were really interesting to read about, as well! I'm really excited to see if some of the supporting characters come back in the next book.


My only gripes would be that sometimes it felt like too much was going on and at first I had trouble picturing everything (maybe that's just my lack of imagination, though..). 


In short: Midnight City is an action packed adventure that sucks you right in. With fantastic characterization, a fast-paced plot and great world building, this book is a real page turner. Awesome on so many levels. Sci-fi fan or not, this book has a little something for everyone!

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