Monday 15 June 2020

Blog Tour- Midnight's Twins


When Fern King starts being saved from her nightmares by a mysterious woman, the last thing she expects is for her to be real. Fern soon finds herself in Annwn, a dream world parallel to our own, where dreamers create both beautiful and terrifying things. However, Fern soon discovers her hated twin brother Ollie has also been recruited, and after they are both made knights, they have no choice but to work together. However, things are about to get much worse, as the twins discover that something much more terrifying than any nightmare may be responsible for their mother's death, and the twins are next on its list. Fern and Ollie must set aside their differences and work as once if they are to ever get out of Annwn alive!

Today is my stop on the Midnight’s Twins blog tour! I thought I would share my thoughts on the book, and I have a lot to say so portal on over to a squishy chair and grab a snack!

The book follows Fern King, a 15 year old girl who is a bit of a loner. As Fern got bullied in her previous school, she is reluctant to let people into her life as she assumes the worst. I actually related to Fern, as when I was her age boys would dare each other to ask me out so they could laugh at me, or someone would talk to me while their friends mocked me from a distance. Like Fern, I came to believe people were only being kind to mock me or because they felt sorry for me, and even now I question why people are talking to me. I was definitely able to empathise with Fern, as I’ve always been made to feel like I’m the odd one out. I loved how even though Fern’s school life didn’t change, she eventually came to trust her new acquaintances in Annwn and allowed them to befriend her. It was heartwarming to see such a shy girl who had been through trauma open up to people, and see that not everyone was bad.

Fern initially despises her twin brother Ollie, who is everything she’s not. Charismatic, good looking and popular, Ollie shares non of her struggles, or so she thinks. As the book is told from Fern’s point of view, we don’t really know Ollie’s side of the story until much later in the book, so we are initially led to believe that Ollie helped Fern’s bully to tie her to a tree and light a fire, leaving Fern with a disfiguring burn scar on her face. I loved how although we initially believe Fern’s story and hate Ollie, we start to see the truth unravel as the twins are forced to spend time together in Annwn, and work together to discover the cause of their mums death.

I can’t talk about everything just because so much was happening in this book, but I do of course have to talk about Annwn, the dream world. I loved the idea of there being a parallel world where we go when we’re asleep, and I adored that it was based off Welsh folklore. As a Welsh person I love finding anything like this in books! As Fern lives in London, that is where she is based in Annwn, and I loved seeing it from the dreamers imaginations! There
was so much going on and it made me want to be a thane so I could experience it all. However along with the good dreams come the bad, and Fern soon discovers that the lore she is put in have the job of protecting dreamers from their nightmares, which if extreme enough are able to kill them both in Annwn and the real world. It was a little bit like a cross between Sword Art Online and Nightmare on Elm Street so I of course loved this idea!

The one negative thing I have to say about the dream world is that I just didn’t understand some of the lores well enough. I was especially confused about the Harkers, who’s main job seems to be talking to knights who are on mission and guiding them. It wasn’t made clear just how the Harkers were able to see everything that was happening, and my mind jumped from security cameras everywhere to something similar to the marauders map. If there was an explanation I completely missed it, as it irked me to the point I went back in the book to see if I could find an explanation but found non. I felt as if the other lores would have been clearer if Fern had actually made friends with anyone outside of the knights, as I felt like I was lacking knowledge on practically all the lores except the knights.

Something I wasn’t expecting was the murder mystery part! Fern and Ollie have always believed their mum died in her sleep, but they soon find out she was actually murdered in Annwn by a treitre, a terrifying creature with metal skin. I loved how Una’s murder was slowly unravelled, and even though more clues were revealed, it still took me by surprise when it was finally revealed who was behind everything! I always love a good plot twist, especially when they manage to take me by surprise.

I thought the main villain of the book was brilliant and well thought out. In our world, Sebastian Medraut is an up and coming politician who is gaining followers for his party, One Voice. I thought his party name was really clever, as although it initially gives an idea of unity and togetherness, the real reason behind the party name is much more sinister. Sebastian’s real goal is to remove free will and take away the voices of the people so they will follow him without question. As a side effect, Annwn will fall into chaos as dreamers lose their imaginations. As we have seen for ourselves, politicians often get away with doing terrible things, and Sebastian is no exception. I won’t spoil what he does, but there is no denying he must be stopped. I loved how Fern was constantly comparing her morals to Sebastian’s and finding similarities. The twins are far from perfect, and can even be labelled as anti-heros, as although they are trying to save the world, their way of doing things is not always 100% ethical. For me this made the twins more interesting and made me wonder how far they would go to win.

There’s still so much more I could talk about, but this review is already getting too long so I’m going to end it here. Although it was a little confusing at times, I really enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the rest of the series! 


Midnight's Twins is now available to purchase!

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