Parents' Guide to

The Midnight Lie

By Carrie R. Wheadon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Same-sex love story drives compelling Winner's spin-off.

Book Marie Rutkoski Fantasy 2020
The Midnight Lie Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

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What's the Story?

In THE MIDNIGHT LIE, Nirrim lives behind the wall of her Half-Kith (lower class) Ward baking bread and forging passports for her caretaker, who runs a brisk business helping others escape the misery of the Ward. When an Elysium bird is seen swooping over the neighborhood, all the Half-Kith want to claim it. It's said to have wonderful magic. Nirrim is the one to spot it one night and climbs up a building to get it. A soldier tries to pull her down and she kicks him until he falls to his death. Suddenly, Nirrim knows what a danger it is to possess the bird and decides to hand it in. She's arrested and sent to prison anyway, and is held in a cell across from a mysterious and flirty stranger named Sid. Sid claims to be a traveler who hobnobs with the High Kith (upper class). That claim is proven when they both get released from prison early after Sid calls in a favor. When they part at the prison entrance, Nirrim won't let that be goodbye. She does something she's never done with her skills: forges a passport for herself and ventures beyond the wall into an unknown world of magic, beautiful clothes, and hallucinogenic parties, and finds that many secrets are being kept from everyone on both sides of the wall.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
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Kids say (1 ):

A mysterious and cruel class-divided society makes this Winner's trilogy spin-off compelling, while the romance between the two female main characters adds intrigue and heart. Sometimes the romance and the mystery don't mesh as well together -- especially near a somewhat rushed end -- but both pieces make the whole well worth reading. Much credit goes to author Marie Rutkoski's lyrical writing. Passages where Nirrim relays her earliest memories at the orphanage are both heartbreaking and beautiful. Rutkoski's reflections on what it would be like to have such a perfect memory when there's so much loss in life add another poignant layer to the story.

It's clear that Nirrim, of all her class, should be the one to escape the Ward first. But as The Midnight Lie marches rather quickly to the end, it's hard to tell what Nirrim's goal in her escape really is. She never says that she wants to be the savior of her people, just that she needs to know what happened to them. The discovery of her own magic also seems to come rather late in the story, and the shocking twist is so late that it's in the epilogue. But all together these elements add more layers of intrigue that beg for a sequel.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the lesbian main characters in The Midnight Lie. How many fantasy books have you read with LGBTQ characters in the main roles? How many as secondary characters? Why do you think that is?

  • There are deeper political themes to explore here. Do you find it easier to read about class differences in a fantasy? What nonfiction have you read that talks of castes and lost histories? How does fantasy tackle the topics differently?

  • Do you want to read more about Nirrim and Sid? What do you think comes next for them?

Book Details

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