The Midnight Garden - YA for Adults

Silver Shadows: review

!!!! was the only reaction I had when I finished Silver Shadows a few days ago. I’m still smiling about it, because Richelle Mead is in fine form in the fifth installment of her Bloodlines series, which features an engrossing story, well-written action scenes, swoony romance, and exciting–OH SO EXCITING–plot developments. As the book begins, we find Sydney in captivity. The Alchemists don’t approve of her involvement with vampires, so they’ve taken her to a “re-education” center, where the methods of controlling the residents are so extreme that Adrian is unable to use spirit to contact her. Sydney’s state of mind, physical trauma, and the day-to-day workings of this awful environment are detailed in a convincing way, as are the quietly clever, methodical ways she works to stay mentally strong,… Read more »

Midsummer Romance with Katherine Longshore + giveaway

Historical fiction can make the past come alive in a way that a textbook never could. When I first heard that there was a series about the Tudor era, and specifically, books focusing on the women in Henry VIII’s life, I was pretty intrigued. We all know how his wives fared, so to pull that off for a young adult audience is no easy feat! We’re pleased to welcome author Katherine Longshore to The Midnight Garden today as part of the Midsummer Romance Blog Tour. She’s here to talk about Brazen, a hefty book focusing on Mary Howard, Henry VIII’s only daughter-in-law. At the center of it is Henry Fitzroy, the king’s illegitimate son–and in the author’s eyes, he’s no dusty figurehead, but an attractive, vital young man. I bet… Read more »

Classic MG Discussion: All-of-a-Kind Family

Hello, friends! Welcome to our Classic YA/MG Readalong Discussion. This month we’re chatting about All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor, the first book in a series about five sisters who grow up in a poor, predominantly Jewish neighborhood in the early 1900s. Looks like it’s just me this month, so I thought I’d just talk about the things I love about it, as well as general observations and questions. Would love to chat with you all in the comments! I have very little interest in history as far as facts and figures go, but I am fascinated by how people live. Books like All-of-a-Kind Family stay with me because they bring to life specific time periods in our history in such a vivid way, which also speaks to the impact that… Read more »

Discussion: Favorite Fictional Foods!

When we talk about how books make us feel, we mostly refer to the emotional–the swoons, the sighs, the weeping and the rages–but what about the physical pull fiction can have on us? Have you ever read a passage about food and found your stomach growling right along with the characters? Found your mouth watering at some bit of lusciously described food? We have. It’s amazing how prominent the role of food is in our bookish lives here at The Midnight Garden–in fact, we even have a tag dedicated to food in books in the sidebar, and Friday’s classic readalong discussion book All-of-a-Kind Family has quite a bit of food porn in it, too! All of us cook or bake to some degree, and we’re all fans of tasty dishes… Read more »

Child of a Hidden Sea: Review

This is the story of a lost girl. Both literally and figuratively. Sophie is adrift in the course of her life, stuck in that sort of early 20s purgatory, and living in the shadow of her adopted family’s academic genius. On a mission to track down her birth mother Sophie gets more than she bargained for when accidentally stumbles upon on an assassination attempt with people from another world. When Sophie accidentally travels back with them she discovers there’s more to her history than she ever thought possible. I enjoyed the plot. The political machinations and the mysteries at the heart of the story are twisty-turny and thoroughly absorbing. This is fun political fantasy. And even though this is actually an adult book it has such a spirited MG feel…. Read more »

Everything Leads to You: Tour Stop

I am so happy to be hosting the tour stop at The Midnight Garden for this hazy, dreamy, lovely summer read. I’m not one for contemporary usually, but this book has such a fantastic almost fairy tale like feel in its telling. It makes sense when you think about it. Isn’t love itself a sort of magic? And there’s so much more underneath the surface. Love lost and and love found. There is both tragedy and blessing. This book encapsulates it all. And, of course, I love, love, love seeing female/female relationships being explored in YA. Even better, this isn’t an “issue” book, and Emi’s sexuality is never approached as a thing. It just is. I really adored how normally and matter of fact her lesbian relationships are portrayed. For queer… Read more »

All Four Stars: Review

Warning! Do not read this book while hungry! You will just end up grumbly and resentful at all the delicious, delicious food inside! But perhaps not as sad as poor Gladys is after her parents ban her from the kitchen for one measly little accident with a blowtorch. Worst of all, they’re terrible cooks and only order super gross takeout from their town of East Dumpsford. Gladys is a food wizard and her parents are simply food Muggles. What’s a little foodie to do? A surprising amount, actually! Goodness but this book is charming. The writing is unbelievably cute. It has that faint irreality and sense of wacky adventure that is common in MG and employed here to great effect. You might think this entire scenario to ludicrously unrealistic but… Read more »