I’m thrilled to be on the blog tour for Midnight’s Twins by Holly Race today. Many thanks to Faye Rogers and Hot Key Books for my gifted copy of the book!
Fern King is about to uncover a place that she could not have imagined in all her wildest dreams. Annwn is the dream mirror of our world, a place where Dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. An enchanted, mysterious place that feeds our own world – as without dreams, without a place where our imaginations and minds can be nourished, what kind of humans would we be?
But Annwn is a place as full of dangers as it is wonders: it is a place where dreams can kill you. Annwn and its Dreamers are protected by an ancient order known as the Knights – and when Fern’s hated twin Ollie is chosen to join their ranks, Fern will have to do whatever she can to prove she is one of them too.
But the world Fern discovers in Annwn, in this dream mirror of her London, is a fragile one, threatened by vicious nightmares. Nightmares that are harder and harder for the Knights to defeat. Something dark is jeopardising the peace and stability of Annwn, something that must be rooted out at all costs. And gradually, Fern realises that the danger lurking inside our sleep is more insidious and terrifying than any nightmare. Because if you can influence someone’s dreams, you can control their thoughts …
I really enjoyed Midnight’s Twins. It gripped me from the very start and I was desperate to see what happened, and to find out what had happened to Fern previously.
Even though Fern and Ollie had their flaws and problems, I found them both really relatable and could understand where they were both coming from. I also loved their character development. I think they read as a little bit older than they were supposed to be – the book starts when they’re 15, but I found it difficult to remember that’s how old they are. That’s true of the other characters who become their friends too, especially Ramesh. However, given the circumstances they find themselves in, I guess you could expect them to grow up quite quickly.
I enjoyed the magical dream world of Annwn a lot. Alternative London and urban fantasy is very much my thing, so a London where fantastic dreams and nightmares stalk the streets is definitely up my alley. I loved St Paul’s as Tintagel too and I hope future books in this series allow us to see the other thanedoms around the country and what they use as their castles!
I would have liked to see more of how a life in Annwn affects your life in Ithr (our reality). We know that all the knights have real world lives, but does spending your nights in Annwn mean you don’t get a proper rest? Are people tempted to live in Annwn permanently? I think there’s a lot more to be explored there and I would love to see it in a future book.
As for the plot, I don’t want to go into detail because I don’t want to spoil anyone, but it absolutely raced along and easily took me with it. I found it very hard to put the book down, which was unfortunate as I had a lot of other things to be doing! Some of the plot was pretty predictable but it was told so well I didn’t really care, and there were still a couple of turns that took my breath away. I should probably warn you that there is a body count and it is quite high, but i actually liked that. These characters are fighting a war, and there would be casualties. I was impressed at how much I cared about those who died though.
Overall then, Midnight’s Twins is a fast-moving, young adult, urban fantasy, with two main characters who grow and develop over the course of the book. I really enjoyed it, and I’m already looking forward to the sequel!
4/5
Midnight’s Twins is released today, 11th June, by Hot Key Books.
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