I’m so excited to be part of the TBR & Beyond tour for this book. Find the full tour schedule here.
About the book
Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy
Publishing Date: March 14, 2023
Synopsis:
In this explosive fantasy debut with a time-loop twist, a provincial girl must work with a roguish prince to stop an attack on the royal family and escape a nightmarish curse that forces them to relive the same night again and again.
Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her.
The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster.
Not even when it happens again. And again. And again.
If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court’s gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It’s up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight.
Book Review
This impossible to put down time-loop fantasy is Groundhog Day plus blood and magic.
Lady Anaïs needs to find a husband at the ball, at least according to her mother. But after dancing with a series of boors, she catches Prince Leo’s eye. His reputation as court flirt precedes him, so Anaïs shocks herself when she agrees to accompany him to the garden. She’s sure he’s not the husband she’s looking for, but when they return to the ballroom, bombs go off, killing almost everyone instantly.
Anaïs finds herself stuck in a loop of dying over and over again unless she can figure out what trapped her in the time loop and who’s attacking the palace. This time loop continued longer than I thought possible, with so many days and different scenarios!
I loved Anaïs and Leo’s chemistry. Whether he’s being flirty, moody or heroic, Prince Leo delights as the bad boy with a heart of gold. I love how they always seem to find each other and end up wanting to kiss in almost every storyline.
The magic is woven through these character’s lives, but some of them have more power than anyone knows. This ends in a spectacular clash of magicians as several sides struggle for control of the palace and the kingdom.
Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and TBR & Beyond Tours for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
About the author
Zeba Shahnaz writes fantasy full of political intrigue, twisted romance, and a healthy dose of existential angst. A proud Pakistani-American, she translated her love of storytelling into a graduate degree analyzing national identity, culture, and cinema in South Asia. She grew up in New Jersey, which she has yet to fully escape (though not because of a time loop). MIDNIGHT STRIKES is her debut novel.
Need more to read? Find all of my fantasy recommendations here.
