Title: The Tiger at Midnight
Author: Swati Teerdhala
Series: "Tiger at Midnight" #1
Genre: YA Fantasy
Page Length: 487 pages
Publication Date: April 23, 2019
Rating: 3.75 // 5 stars
*I was provided a free copy of this book by Wunderkind PR in exchange for an honest review*
I've been wanting to read this book since it came out so when I was sent a free copy so that I could participate in the blog tour for the sequel's release, I was so excited. I read this book in just a few sittings and it was definitely a wild ride.
To be honest, my expectations were way different than what we got. That's not a bad thing, but it did throw me off a bit throughout the book. I think I was expecting a grittier, more action-packed novel but what I got was definitely more of a game of hide and seek. That being said, I did enjoy this book quite a bit.
The characters are definitely what drove this story for me. I'm a big character-lover, so even if the plot isn't as strong, I can usually find a book enjoyable if I like the characters. We follow two main characters with alternating points-of-view: Esha and Kunal. Esha is a legendary assassin and Kunal is a solider for the other side. What I loved was getting to see this enemies-to-lovers situation and follow the character development throughout. It was such a stark contrast how much these characters had changed from the beginning of the book and I really liked getting to see their journeys. I also really liked the side characters that we got to see and I'm hoping that these side characters get more page time in the next book.
The world itself was fascinating. At times I did feel like we got a lot of info-dumps but by the end of the novel I understood the world and history pretty well, I think. I always find politics intriguing in books and, while we're not in a court or in a war planning room, we see the trickle-down effects of the politics and war throughout the novel which was interesting.
The actual storyline and plot was interesting to follow as well, though I did think the book felt rather long to me. While there was a lot of action in the beginning and end, the middle just felt like the same few scenes repeated over and over with small differences and a bit of new information thrown in each. One thing that I couldn't wrap my head around was if Esha is this badass, notorious assassin who has actual legends being told about her...why is she so bad at not getting tracked and caught multiple times? That frustrated me a few times throughout the book.
Overall, I did enjoy this book and the characters. I think that there were a few things that pulled me back from fully loving it but I do think that this series has potential to become a favorite of mine. All of this being said, I do think this book set up the second one quite well and I have high expectations for that one. I have an ARC of it for a blog tour, so once I finish this review I'm actually going to dive straight in and hopefully I will love it.
Thanks for reading!
xoxo
Lauren
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