The Midnight Kingdom

• Author: Tara Sim
• Genre: Fantasy
• Publication Date: August 22, 2023
• Publisher: Orbit
• Series: The Dark Gods #2

Thank you to Orbit and Angela Man for sending me a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

CONTENT WARNING: gore, blood, violence, death, grief, torture

The second book in Tara Sim’s sweeping dark fantasy series, in which the four heirs to four noble houses—each gifted with a divine power—must defy their gods in a fight for the fate of the world. 

A cataclysmic battle to save the city of Nexus has left the four noble heirs scattered across the four realms.

Taesia, the shadow-wielding rebel of House Lastrider, and Nikolas, the solider son of House Cyr, have been cast into Noctus, the realm of night. But they are not alone. The dangerous and unpredictable god of light has traveled with them, and he will do anything in his power to destroy Noctus once and for all.

Risha, the peace-loving necromancer of House Vakara, has finally found her way to Mortri, the realm of death. But she still cannot help the wayward spirits trapped in Vaega, nor does she have any idea how to get herself and her friend Jas home. All she knows is that no mortal can survive for long in Mortri. And the creatures that walk the realm of death don’t take kindly to the living.

Angelica, the stubborn elementalist of House Mardova, finds herself alone in Vaega. With the other three heirs vanished, it is up to her help keep the city of Nexus from unraveling. But Angelica secretly suffers from a sickness that her goddess left in her veins. And when she is sent on a delicate diplomatic mission, she knows that any sign of weakness will have disastrous repercussions for her family, her city, and her dreams of the throne.

All will encounter old friends and new enemies as they attempt to restore the balance of the world. But as the gods grow stronger, they’ll need more than their powers and their wits to survive.

I was super excited to start this book, although I wasn’t sure where the story was going to go. The last book ended with a major battle, a cliffhanger, and all of the main characters scattered across various realms.

There are seven POVs in this book, spread across four realms. That leaves the reader with a lot to take in, but Sim excels at world-building. She did a fantastic job with keeping everything understandable and organized in a story that could easily have gotten bogged down with details or had readers getting lost, yet avoided those pitfalls. In addition, it wasn’t hard to keep track of all the different characters, with each of the seven POVs sounding distinct, which is quite an achievement.

Taesia and Nik are stuck in Noctus with Phos, the god of light. Taesia and Nik are forced to fight the god as he tries to destroy Noctus, and they’re up against what seems like insurmountable odds. Risha is trapped in Mortri with Jas, but it’s a place that the living can’t stay that way for long. Added to their danger is the fact that the beings that inhabit Mortri aren’t friendly towards the living, as Risha continues to try to find a way to save all the souls that are trapped in Vaega. Angelica is the only heir that remains in Vaega, and she’s got her hands full. She’s trying to hold the city of Nexus together, attempting to avoid the sickness that she suffers from and keeping it a secret, and then holding it all together while on an important diplomatic mission. Dante is another POV, and he’s working with his unlikely ally in helping to open portals to save the other heirs and return them to Vaega. There’s a seventh POV, but since that identity isn’t revealed until the end of book 1, I’m going to keep my mouth shut to avoid spoilers. Let’s just say it’s an interesting one.

I loved getting into the deeper aspects of the characters, especially once they’re all separated and we get to see them in life-threatening situations without their typical supports. While none of them is completely alone, they’re out of their comfort zone and thrown into dangerous environments without the benefit of their usual allies and resources, as well. This makes for some really good reading, and there’s no shortage of action and excitement in this story.

Overall, this was the follow-up that I didn’t even know I needed, but it was the perfect one for this series. It’s expansive, exciting, attention-grabbing, and immersive. The wide range of main characters keeps things interesting and makes this a surprisingly fast read, and it was also surprisingly easy to keep things sorted in my head despite the complexity of the story itself. It’s a welcome departure from her YA books, and she’s doing a great job of establishing a name for herself in adult fantasy.