This is the second, and final, book in the Midnight Beauties duology. I whipped through this rather large book in two sittings. I am not proud to say I neglected pretty much everything once I started reading this, but it was just that good! I enjoyed Grim Lovelies but I thought Midnight Beauties was loads better. I loved the fairy tale vibe, the adventure, the magic, and all of our wonderful beasties, Royals, and witches.

Anouk has decided she must become a witch so that she can save her friends. To meet this end she is forced to strike a deal with her greatest enemy and to journey and face tougher trials than she ever expected.

I could not put this one down! The writing is beautifully done with amazing imagery throughout. I loved all of the adventure and challenges that Anouk faces in this book.

I do have a couple small quibbles; I think the different ways magic works between beasties, Royals, and witches was a bit confusing throughout...it just wasn't well explained. At times the plot can get a bit ambiguous too. Additionally, the ending was a somewhat open ended...I am hoping we see some follow up books set in this world. These small comments aside, I love love loved this book!

Overall I absolutely loved this book. I would recommend to those who enjoy historical fantasy with a lot of adventure and magic. This book is just so engaging and beautifully written.

So, I loved book one.

I found it rich and lovely and oh so compelling.

Book two, I was with until we get to the end of a certain contest. After that, it all kind of fell apart for me.

The book begins to focus more on the romance than anything else. While there are still exciting scenes - and some so visceral and iconic they'll knock your breath out - these scenes are tempered by smoldering glances and simpering looks and just romantic weirdness that never feels right.

I found myself wanting more beastie warrior and less does she / does he / do I care???

Though I still appreciated the atmosphere and the author's gift for description - that black tears scene! - I found I much preferred book on

Midnight Beauties was a fitting conclusion to this spellbinding duology. The characters were complex and the world-building was very well done.

**3.5 Stars**
While I did not like Midnight Beauties as much as Grim Lovelies, I think it did an interesting job wrapping up the gist of the storyline. There were a few loose ends that felt as if another book could be written in this same world, but overall it felt like this was a conclusion to a very quirky and different duology. I will say that the ending of the story had a LOT going on, at times it was almost hard to keep up with, and there were a surprisingly large amount of deaths of main characters (at least characters I thought were important) so do not get too attached to anyone.

Pick up this series if you like all kinds or paranormal beasties, witches who use herbs to cast spells, creepy snow children who just want kisses, party ready goblins who roller skate and have outrageous outfits, made families, court intrigue and warring royal families, and a girl who is not quite a girl who wishes for so much more

MIdnight Beauties by Megan Sheperd is a great conclusion to the Grim Lovlies Series. So much fantasy, action, and magic!

Book Review for Midnight Beauties by Megan Shepherd!! Thanks @netgalley for letting me read this ARC!! 

Things I loved about this book: Loved getting to see all of my favorite characters again plus lots of new ones!! I loved getting to go on a whole new adventure filled with magic, trial, sacrifice, and the true strength of friendship! Anouk is my favorite character and I loved getting to see her grow and ultimately accept her true self through and through! 

Things I didn’t love about this book: First, I didn’t really understand a lot of the plot points chosen! Within the first chapter, Anouk agrees to something that she fought against for pretty much the entirety of the first book...So why in like the very first chapter does she agrees to something she was completely against?? It honestly didn’t seem like something her character would do! Second, the plot of this second book feels a little forced! I was honestly so excited about where the first book left off and I thought this book was going to be about Anouk's adventure in getting to this school and becoming a witch and then finding a way to bring her friends back! And that was a little bit of the story but not nearly as much as I wanted! I feel like if this would have been the main plot of this book it would have made so much more sense instead of creating a whole new evil or terror that needed to be vanquished! We already had our “enemy” or “bad guy” from the first book so I honestly felt there was no reason to create another one and do a complete 180 from the first book! 
Plus the ending of the first book left off with Anouk feeling strong and determined and I kinda feel like her character was forced to backtrack a little bit in this book so we kinda had to see her character grow all over again!

Overall, it was great seeing all of my favorite characters again! And there were a lot of aspects of this book that I absolutely loved! I just wish this book was a little more congruent with the first book in character development and plot points! But if you were a big fan of the first book I would definitely recommend reading this book!!

I received an advanced copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

This wasn't bad, I feel like the first novel was quite slow and developed; whereas this novel like took off running pretty much from where the last novel ended and it just seemed like a lot. Their were certainly parts that were super interesting and I really enjoyed and then their were other parts of this novel that seemed like it was quite long and the story just kept going on. It just seemed like too much at times, even to the very end. The story seemed to end and have resolution and then all of the sudden, BAM! Just kidding, this is the real villain and.....situation resolved within a couple of pages, umm, what?!

I loved the concept, the idea of this story and the fact that magic has been disappearing due to technology rising and that's really neat, but the execution seemed excessive.

I loved the first part, it was intriguing, a nice change and a nice twist on the story although sometimes a little bit confusing for me. The sequel continues where Grim Lovelies left off. After their battle Anouk is closed inside her townhouse, some of her friends being held captive by Rennar. Then in a twist of fate the prince appears and asks for help.
The story was fast-paced, interesting and captivating. Anouk making a deal wizh the "devil" surprised me, especially her failing to make her dream come true. This book has some serious twist and turns you don't expect comjng at you, and this can be very refreshing. Although I cannot say I am too satisfied with the ending. It left so many things open, and the romance... Why am I always on the bad side?...
Anyways all in all it was a fantastic read, perfect for young adults.

It's really refreshing to read a story that's not part of a long series. Two books, and you're done. For this reason, I feel that it will really appeal to reluctant readers as well as people not wanting to invest so much time into a completely story. Series and trilogies are so popular right now, but can be very overwhelming for some readers. This story is so unique, but with the second installment I wads't as impressed. Some of the magic was gone, and there was a larger emphasis on the romance aspect of the story. Many of the characters also changed, and did not have the same connection I felt they had in this first book. I'm glad I read this, but I'm also glad it's over now.

I received a free copy of the ebook from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

There were parts of this book I totally loved and other parts I found sorta boring. I loved the action... it felt like a lot of stuff crammed into the 3 or 4 days of the story line. I appreciated that not every situation turned out as i was expecting. I definitely liked this one better than book one. There's a weird semi sort of relationship triangle that does work itself out... there was a lot more development if the characters' relationships in this one, which helped. Still, some of the scenes seemed to take forever to build up to the crescendo point. The magic system seemed to make more sense to me this time around, and I'm not sure if that's because of the help of this book, or because it wasn't completely new, since I've read book one before. 

There are people who would enjoy this story. I'd recommend it to readers who enjoy very fast paced books. I didn't find it particularly deep, but it's not quite "fluffy" either. Someone looking for a quick but action packed adventure may find it here.

Struggled a bit with this one.  I enjoyed Grim Lovelies enough to continue with the second book, but this installment felt little uneven - don't get me wrong,  I appreciate a good romance, but not at the expense of the storytelling and the magic and the world building.  Shepherd is such a beautiful storyteller and world builder - but I felt like some of that was lost to compensate for the romance.

Like Grim Lovelies, this was another fun and unique story. However, I wasn't super excited about the additional romance as it distracted from everything else going on.  Also, I wanted to see more of Beau and Anouk together!

I was hoping to find here a book that my younger students would read that included themes the YA books did on our shelves. I think I found it, I don’t know if I did, I would like to test out how it works in the library before I review it to the full extent. 

The plot was good but sounded typical from other plots that I’ve read before. I did not go into it as excited as I wanted to be because the plot really just felt like it’s been done before (the first in the series) but I continued to read on and found the story to be something I enjoyed enough to test out with my students. When getting to the second book here I had to see if it was worth getting the second one for my students. The first was a semi-success with my younger students but could the second be much better then the first? 

As I got into reading the second book I actually felt more at ease with the story and felt that it held my attention just enough to finish. The characters were a little bit more developed in the second book which is GREAT because not always do the authors continue to work on the characters as the books come out. Shepherd did a great job in doing just this and I believe the students will work with these characters as they grow. 

The storytelling here in the second book is on par with the beginning of book one and I am indefinitely enjoying book two.

What can I say about this wonderful book?

The author is so magical and splendid that I feel inside her book with every word and scenario she wrotes. This is easily one of the best 2019 fantasy books, and as a lover of this genre I feel in the need of say that she's one of my favorite authors now.

I loved this first book, and for a second book in a series, this is good. I just had a harder time connecting to the plot and characters this go around. I did like the pacing a lot, I feel like it read a lot faster than the first book. The cover is stunning, and is equal to book One. I did appreciate the world building, and of course loved the Haute couture, that makes this series stand out amongst its peers. lol!

Midnight Beauties picks up right where Grim Lovelies left off, and like that book, this one is action packed. Anouk is still trying to become a witch and finds herself in a quest to save the world. There's a bit of royal intrigue, Rennar being a prominent figure, and a little romance too, but mostly it's about Anouk knowing and accepting herself in order to get the things she most wants. I'll miss the characters, but a biology was the perfect length for this story and I'll be looking forward to whatever Shepherd comes up with next. Review from e-galley

I liked Midnight Beauties more than Grim Lovelies. I really enjoyed the characters and I think they were much better written in this book than in the first book. 

I liked Anouk so much more in this book than in the first one. She stood up for herself a lot more and it was refreshing. I also really liked how quick and clever she had become. I think over the course of the two books she went through a lot of development and I really enjoyed it. My favorite characters were definitely Petra and Rennar. I also still think Beau is annoying and I disliked him even more in this book. 

Shepherd's writing wasn't my favorite but I don't think it was bad. I didn't really like the way she wrote her dialogue. It felt kind of stilted to me. Her writing wasn't the best but it wasn't the worst I've ever read either. 

I really enjoyed the way the book started. I thought it was a good place to start and I immediately felt drawn into the plot. I think the events in this book were so much more interesting than in the first book and I felt so much more connected and invested in the characters. I was actively rooting for everyone to be okay, even if that wasn't what happened... 

Overall this wasn't a bad book. I just didn't like it as much as I had hoped it would. I do think everyone should give it a chance though to see if they would like it.

I did enjoy reading this book. I love this take on Magic! However the book seemed very choppy to me. There didn't seem to be any kind of easy rhythm. And I didn't find myself drawn to any of the characters. I was hoping to find more attachment to the characters in this book, as apposed to the first, but it never happened. This might have something to do with the fact that they have no past. The imagery and adventure however was very good and kept me reading until the very end.

3.5 / 5

A satisfying conclusion to an enjoyable duology!  
Midnight Beauties picks up right where Grim Lovelies left off, with Anouk wanting, and needing, to become a witch so she can save her fellow beasties (animals who are enchanted in to humans) from being forced to remain in animal form.  Desperate times call for desperate measures and Anouk makes a deal that has her walking through fire (literally) to achieve her hearts desire of freeing both her friends and unlocking her true magical self.

I really enjoyed all the parts of this that took place in Bavaria where Anouk undergoes deadly trials to become a witch.  Really exciting to read and dove into the mythology behind this world which I found interesting.  Some parts of this novel moved a bit slow for me and the big twist at the end felt a bit unnecessary but all in all I enjoyed this and would recommend the duology to YA fantasy fans.

Great follow up to Grim Lovelies!  It was just as good as the first book.  Definitely need to look for more Megan Shepherd.