Book Review: Midnight Thief - Livia Blackburne

Title: Midnight Thief
Author: Livia Blackburne
Pub Date: July 8th, 2014
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Page Count: 376

Growing up on Forge’s streets has taught Kyra how to stretch a coin. And when that’s not enough, her uncanny ability to scale walls and bypass guards helps her take what she needs.

But when the leader of the Assassins Guild offers Kyra a lucrative job, she hesitates. She knows how to get by on her own, and she’s not sure she wants to play by his rules. But he’s persistent—and darkly attractive—and Kyra can’t quite resist his pull.

Tristam of Brancel is a young Palace knight on a mission. After his best friend is brutally murdered by Demon Riders, a clan of vicious warriors who ride bloodthirsty wildcats, Tristam vows to take them down. But as his investigation deepens, he finds his efforts thwarted by a talented thief, one who sneaks past Palace defenses with uncanny ease.

When a fateful raid throws Kyra and Tristam together, the two enemies realize that their best chance at survival—and vengeance—might be to join forces. And as their loyalties are tested to the breaking point, they learn a startling secret about Kyra’s past that threatens to reshape both their lives.

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Midnight Thief drew me into a world that interested me. I anticipated Kyra's every move with intrigue and excitement. - Nova @ Out of Time

The main thing that I enjoyed about Midnight Thief was Kyra, or all the characters in general. I felt they made sense to the story and also brought it to life. Even the characters that only had appearance in one scene made a difference to the other characters' lives and though that's how (I feel) it should be, not all novels are like that.
Kyra and I instantly clicked. I felt how undecided she was at her lifestyle but still needed to do it. She was constantly flipping between her morals and though that's usually something I get irritated at, I extended understanding towards her character. She wasn't stupid, no, but she made mistakes, had her faults and grew from them. That made her a very good heroine which suited this book. Although a lot of the book was focused on her development, the ending left a lot to be considered. I only hope there will be a satisfying sequel.

Something I was iffy with this book was its topic. When I first thought about this book, I thought it would be like a historic girl who gets involved with a gang story. And that was what I was prepared for. This story gave me that, which was great. However, I also got something that made me pull my eyebrows together.
The idea of "demon cats" was a bit much for me. I knew there would be a supernatural element, but it was introduced like 60% in the book and that didn't make sense to me. There was foreshadowing about the topic, but I felt like it was a last effort to make the book interesting. It seemed like a "half" story of sorts; where it lacked development and depth. If Kyra's meeting with the demon cats was quicker in the book, it would've left time for it to develop.

Just like with a lot of books, dark evil guys who have a certain allure are my weak spots. As with the Darkling (The Grisha Trilogy), I wanted James to redeem himself. I didn't necessarily ship him with Kyra, but I definitely didn't ship her and Tristam. The romance between Kyra and Tristam, though very little, wasn't needed. Why can't a guy and girl just be friends for once?

Midnight Thief made me question the morals in the book. It had interesting views on what was right or wrong, murder or survival and in such a harsh world Blackburne created, these questions have to be asked. I felt enlightened to be thinking of such things while reading about a kickass main character who (again), I loved! Overall, it was a great story with a refined prose that kept me turning the pages.

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1. I write fantasy.  Most often YA fantasy, but sometimes I branch out.
2. I was born in Taiwan, raised in Albuqurque, and spent my twenties in Boston, where I studied biochemistry at Harvard and neuroscience at MIT.
3. I started my debut novel Midnight Thief in high school, because writing a novel was the only way I could get out of the mandatory camping requirement.  I finished about 60 pages.  They were 60 awful, awful pages.
4. I finished Midnight Thief 12 years later, because writing a novel was the only way I could keep my sanity while conducting my doctoral research.  This time, I got to 370 pages, and they were much less awful than the initial 60.
5. I write a blog about psychology and neuroscience for writers.  You can check it out here.
6. Like every good Asian kid, I played the piano as a child.  I don’t do that as much anymore, but I still love to sing and dance.
7. I’m horrible at any sports that involve fast moving projectiles, and I dislike most sports that involve highly repetitive movements (running, swimming, biking, etc.).  This leaves basically dancing and martial arts.
8. When I wanted sweets as a child, my mother would give me one M&M.  I thought that was normal, and to this day, have very low tolerance for sweets.  One bite of chocolate bar, half a scoop of ice cream is about all I can take.
9. If I had to choose one author with the biggest influence on my reading and writing development, it would be Tamora Pierce.
10. Some of my favorite books:  Graceling by Kristen Cashore, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Plain Kate by Erin Bow, Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein, Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor, The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.