I've never read anything like this book before. Fairy tale retelling plus time looping whooo! The mystery elements of it were great. And I absolutely loved the way time looping was explored. The characters were also awesome and developed throughout the book (and the time travel played into the development as well which was super cool.) However, I didn't think the magic system was super well explored or explained.

I feel like this type of story of looping time is a very interesting idea but it can be very hard to execute because it's repetitive. But the author did such an amazing job here! This is one of the chunkier books I've picked up and I could not put it down! Anaïs is such a great character to follow and I love how proactive she is. Every time she loops back felt important and I loved the mystery/investigative portions. She took steps I didn't expect and the revelations took me by surprise. Definitely enjoyed this one!

I thought this was a great take on groundhog day! Anais is reliving the same few hours over and over, and over again. I liked how even though Anais lived through the same day many times, it didn't get repetitive. Sometimes around we get the full scope of everything she did, and other times we just get a short summary. Each time she does something different and talks to people she might never have had conversations with otherwise. She learns so much about the people at the ball, including the Prince. She sees every side to him and falls in love with him over and over, while each new day erases all his memories, and she must start over by trying to explain to him, and everyone else what is going on. Thankfully more often than not they believe what she's saying.

I thought this book was fun and entertaining, I really rooted for Anais to save the day, and for finally getting a relationship with Leo. I loved the magical system and the explanation of how it came to be, and I really enjoyed trying to solve the mystery of who was behind everything and getting to know all the different sides of all the characters.

Thank you TBR and Beyond Tours for the chance to read and review Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz! I’m so happy to be on this book tour for a fantastic female Pakistani-American writer!

Most of us have encountered the time loop trope because of the movie Groundhog day, where a man relives the same day over and over again. Zeba Shahnaz’s story, told from the point of view of Anaïs, a young woman from a marginalized community from the edge of the kingdom, makes brilliant use of this device to illustrate the trauma of living and surviving catastrophic events.

There are many things to like about Midnight Strikes, we have interesting magic systems and even better characters. As Anais travels back to that night and meets them over and over again, sometimes having conversations she would never have had otherwise, she gets to know them and even love them differently. It was heartbreaking to see her at the end with Leo, she has fallen in love with all the sides of him she’s seen; this prince who believes when no one in their sane mind would.

I also want to talk about the arranged marriages in the book because it’s so intimately a brown girl problem. Anais makes it clear she isn’t looking for love and romance and all the things we should, ideally speaking, hope for. She’s just looking for someone bearable. Someone who can maybe turn out to be a friend in the long run. This theme also continues with Clara and her marriage; her father loves her, and his begging at the end made me feel like she would have been forgiven, regardless of all the havoc she wreaked. But despite all that she is, her worth to him and the kingdom, he tells her only after her marriage is arranged, as though she is a bystander and not a main component.

There are also more familiar themes; money isn’t all, breeding and nobility matters just a bit more. People want more than a police state, but that’s all this kingdom knows how to give them.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this e-ARC. I loved the premise for this book, I haven't really read any "groundhogs day"-esque books, so this was a breath of fresh air! I loved the pacing and characters, I blew through this in an evening! Formal review will be available on GoodReads, socials & Amazon.

4/5

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review- thank you Random House and NetGalley!

17-year-old Anais just wants to make it through the season intact. Her family is viewed as second-class because of their nationality, and all she dares hope for is a husband who respects her. During the grandest ball of the season, hosted by the haughty and pompous royal family, she (and everyone else) dies in a terrorist attack. From that moment on, Anais is forced to relive the day leading up to the ball, the attack, and her death over and over again. She must enlist her friends and enemies alike to answer three questions: why is she stuck in this time loop, who is behind the attack, and what can she do to stop it.

I had a great time with this book! I really enjoyed the premise and the execution was unlike any other time loop stories I have read. Spoilers from this point on.

Things I liked:
-It was so easy to root for Anais. She was instantly likable, always brave, and very funny at times.
-The relationship with Leo was so interesting. The dichotomy between Anais falling for him over the course of her time looping and him not knowing who she is with each new (old) day was as heartbreaking as it was beautiful. I also liked that their relationship at the end open to the interpretation and hopes of the reader. I choose to believe that they eventually found their way back to each other.
-I did not see the twist of who was behind the attacks coming. It made the plot much more interesting than I thought it was shaping up to be.
-The themes of living a life that you are proud of and learning to live with your mistakes were evident in the storytelling without seeming preachy. It felt like the best version of a metaphor, in that I could both enjoy the story on surface level and be aware of the deeper meaning at the same time.
-The writing was beautiful. It felt like a modern day fairy tale and was very easy to read. I found myself completely sucked into the world.

Things I did not like so much:
-The many casual descriptions of Anais having to die by suicide or force someone to kill her was jarring. The trauma she was amassing was briefly mentioned a couple times but never specifically dealt with. I would have liked this to somehow be addressed in the ending.
-The middle third of the book felt much, much too long. The conflict of her figuring out how to get everyone to help her and all of that could have been cut at least in half.
-Even though I thought Anais falling for Leo while he couldn't remember her added a really interesting aspect, I also would have liked for him (or anybody really) to be time looping with her and be going through everything with her. It would have made her experience a little more bearable.
-I think that Anais loneliness and desperation were necessary to a degree, but it was extreme at times. I felt really really sorry for her past the point of it adding to the story. It felt a little like a trauma dump.
-The fairy ancestry felt a little thrown together. That's fine and all to explain Anais' magic, but what about the royal family's? Did I just miss that part? I honestly can't remember if it was ever explained, which bothers me.

Overall, I was so pleasantly surprised by this book. I went in with no expectations really enjoyed it. I do think some of it could be triggering, so some trigger warnings would be a good idea. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it gets a blanket recommendation to everyone from me, but I'll definitely be telling people I know would like it to give it a read.

I went into this book expecting non-stop action, a fun thriller-mystery, and maybe even a cute romance, but got hardly any of the above. In fact, after about 100 pages I felt bored and it took me just under three weeks to finish the remaining 300-odd pages of this book.

I think the problem with this book is that it falls into the major crutch that a time-loop story has to get past to succeed: making progress in spite of being stuck in time. There needs to be some variability or break-through on behalf of the main character so that the viewer/reader doesn't feel like they're reading the same day over and over and over again with no change. Sure, the minor events of the night change (i.e., what Anaïs does at the ball, who she interacts with, etc.), but nothing significant even happens until you're almost three-fourths of the way through the book.

Additionally, the mystery, although enthralling at points, was fairly predictable if you've read any YA dystopian book. The romance was lacking, mostly because the love-interest couldn't remember why Anaïs was important most of the time. Nobody wanted to believe Anaïs despite all the evidence to the contrary, which --considering the political tensions the author describes-- I found fairly unbelievable.

Time loop books are more often a miss than a hit for me, not because I don't like their concepts, but because they're so difficult to keep interesting. I really hoped MIDNIGHT STRIKES would be an exception, but even though I definitely liked a lot about it, it wasn't as engaging and gripping as I hoped it would be.

I do think Zeba Shahnaz has a lot of potential as an author, so I will be looking out for more books!

#MidnightStrikes was such an amazing book! Almost similar to a Cinderella retelling and yet wildly different. What do you do when you know that death is coming for you and all those that you love at the stroke of Midnight? Easy, you die over and over again repeating the same night relentlessly trying to find a way to put a stop the whole thing. Having to explain weird goings on and phenomena to a royal court and uppity noble people is not an easy task.

I want to thank #Netgalley for giving me the chance to read #MidnightStrikes in exchange for a honest review.

Zeba Shahnaz's MIDNIGHT STRIKES is basically Groundhog Day meets Cinderella, but more political intrigue and explosions. I never felt super drawn to any of the characters, but I was also surprised by who the true villain of the story is. The pacing drags at times, which I think is because the time loops continue a little too long. The ending isn't too abrupt, but does leaves things a little open. The only way I can really describe how I feel about the story is that it's like a movie you can watch on the airplane. Is it entertaining? Sure. Is it necessarily going to be your favorite? Probably not. But will you regret reading it? No. That being said, this is still a creative take on Cinderella, even if it's a super loose retelling.

great book and such great characters. I enjoyed the mystery and some romance. I also enjoyed the journey of the characters. I didn't know what to expect with this book but I enjoyed it .

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.

This book had such an interesting premise that I was instantly intrigued. The setting was easy to picture and I was able to insert myself into the story easily. I enjoyed seeing the plot unfold through the eyes of Anais and how each time the day restarted she learns a little more about the plot to endanger the king, his family, and those in attendance of the Anniversary Ball. She is a strong, female lead that while struggling with her inner turmoil & her wants, she ultimately puts her country and others before herself. She is willing to make whatever sacrifice necessary to ensure that the others survive the night.

I did dnf this one. I don’t know what it was but I just couldn’t get into the plot. I made it about 20 (????????) pages in and my brain literally shut off and I was going ‘huh?’

It’s a great premise and the finished product probably looks very different but I just couldn’t do it.

3 Stars

I like seeing how Anais approaches the situation each time — it’s a great way to develop the world and side characters giving them the needed depth to keep the reader engaged. She explores that she doesn’t have to follow what’s been written out for her since birth. I really enjoyed Anais’s determination and ability to adapt as she tries to save people’s lives while also escaping the time loop. The commentary on the position of women and how often time they are seen as inferior, forced to make decisions for others rather than themselves, is done quite well. I really enjoyed how at the end the author connected Proensans' and Ivareans’ magic. It shows the growth and how two groups of people can work together regardless of their backgrounds.

While I liked the potential of the relationship between Leo and Anais, its borderlines the “falling in love at first sight” trope and seems unrealistic at times. I enjoyed how this story took a more grim and darker tone — this often isn’t seen in Young Adult literature, so I appreciated it here. While I did like the magical system in this story, I wanted more from it! The magic was defined vaguely as we aren’t explicitly told the limits of said magic systems. Oftentimes, it wasn’t clear how the blood magic worked and I found myself confused. I like the time loop concept, they became more repetitive over time. I feel like they needed to be longer, or Anais needed to make more progress each time she started over.

Midnight Strikes is a coming of age time loop novel. This debut novel of Zeba Shahnaz was provided by NetGalley.

Will Anais, at court to find a husband, continue to be willing to repeat the same day over and over? When the clock strikes midnight will everyone die again? Can she find a way to save herself and her country? Will she be willing to break the loop and live with the consequences?

All these questions and more are answered in this novel.

Tonight's the grand ball at the palace, and Anais' parents have pinned all their political hopes on marrying off their daughter to a rich & titled noble. Anais dutifully attends the ball, dances with potential suitors, and then dies in an unexpected rebel attack on the palace, bombs, guns, and blood galore. But worse than all the blood and death, is Anais waking up after to realize that she has to relive the same day, the same deadly ball, and die every night, over and over and over again.

I loved Mother of Learning, which has a similar kind of Groundhog Day/ second chance plot, and this book has a lot of similar vibes in its own very unique fashion. Anais keeps repeating the same day, each time trying to find a way to stop the deadly attack & the deaths of everyone she cares about. Each life, each new iteration of the day, changes depending on Anais' choices and actions. Each retelling reveals new secrets, slowly peeling off layers of political intrigue to reveal the culprit behind it all

I was afraid this would be a romance heavy book, given that it's set at a royal ball, Cinderella reminiscent midnight, and all that. I was really happy to find Anais wasn't a moony-eyed lovesick teen. She was refreshingly normal. She could admire men's looks or despise them, all while remaining cognizant of her goal. That's not to say there's no romance. While there's only so much she can do in a single night, it also gives her the chance to be more daring, & to get to know more than one man. After all, anything Anais does won't be remembered by anyone but herself.

There's great character development here. Anais slowly learns more about the politics and potential threats, where she'd been very sheltered and unaware until now. She also gets to know her friends and acquaintances better. More than that, Anais starts off wanting to save the royal family and all the nobles from the revolutionaries, but over time and multiple restarts, Anais starts questioning her own beliefs. Is the royal family worth saving? Why should she want to save the selfish nobles who all look down on her for being from a backwater farming province? Maybe the anarchists are right in seeking equality for all.

Someone wants to kill the royal family and all the politically powerful people at the ball. For reasons Anais has to uncover, she is the only one able to relive the same day and deadly night over and over. While she tries to discover who's the mastermind behind it all, and how the magic of her repeating night works, Anais also needs to answer questions about herself: how does she want this night to end, and does she want to move on to a future where her mistakes have permanent consequences.

Groundhog Day meets Cinderella in this time loop fantasy about a teenager stuck at a ball until midnight when revolutionaries kill everyone. Every day Anais wakes up determined to prevent another horrific death even as her investigation thrusts her into the middle of courtly intrigue. The book questions the desire for power, sensitively handles overwhelming isolation and grief, and emphasizes finding your own path. Disney princesses can’t hold a candle to this complex heroine.

When a series of bombs go off at the kingdom’s anniversary ball, Anaïs, along with everyone else in attendance, is killed. Then she wakes up a few hours earlier. Nobody else remembers what happened, or knows what’s going to happen. Unless she wants to be stuck in an unending loop of death and destruction for the rest of eternity, she needs to figure out who’s behind this attack and stop them before they can kill her, and the rest of the court, all over again.

I liked Anaïs! She starts the story as a reluctant ball attendee, being pressured by her parents into finding a husband despite knowing that nobody there wants to marry her and she doesn’t want to marry anybody there. Her initial reaction to being caught in the loop, and all her initial floundering, was very believable, as was the progression of what she found herself willing to do in order to try and break it. I really liked how she developed over the course of the story. I enjoyed seeing her building desperation to find a way out, her growing willingness to do increasingly audacious and at times deplorable things to try stopping the explosions, and her determination to find the right solution to the whole situation. As will be familiar from other well known time loop stories, being stuck in a time loop brought out the best version of herself, as well as maybe some elements of the worst version of herself.

The story does get dark, and a decent amount of this darkness stems from the fact that the loop is triggered by Anaïs’ death. If she wants to try the night again, she has to die. There were some loops that she may well have survived if she’d prioritised herself above all else, but the destruction and death toll aside from her was so high that she wanted to try again anyway, and that meant she had to find a way to die. Deliberately dying over and over in order to save the lives of others isn’t something that many people would be able to bring themselves to do, and it speaks volumes about Anaïs that she chose to help rather than run even though it would cost her like this.

Prince Leo was a really interesting character! Half the time he’s playing the role of the drunken younger prince with no responsibilities to speak of, but it becomes apparent that this is largely an act and a defence mechanism. He believes Anaïs more often than he doesn’t, which was a relief. Being stuck in a time loop is such a weird thing to lie about that if someone claims to be in one it’s always a better idea to believe them and skip the hassle, and he mostly does this well. The moment he’s given some kind of purpose for himself he drops all the acts and shows himself to be intelligent, down to earth, and at times downright heroic.

The development of the relationship between Leo and Anaïs is an interesting one. Leo doesn’t remember the loops, and so doesn’t remember Anaïs, so the most he can feel for her at the end of any given night is respect and maybe a crush. At no point is he in love with her. In contrast, Anaïs has a very long time to get to know Leo. I thought the jump between her realising that Leo was someone she could trust to her being in love with him was very quick and I wasn’t wholly convinced by it. However, I really liked how their relationship was written after this point! With every loop she’s not just giving up another chance at her own survival, but she’s giving up whatever dynamic she and Leo have managed to build that time around. She knows him, and she loves him, and she also knows that as long as the loops continue he’s never going to feel the same way about her. That’s something she just has to accept. There’s nothing she can do about it. This disconnect and mismatch in relationships is something that hits hard in time loop stories, and this was no exception. It’s tragic, and that’s the whole point.

In general, the emotions of Anaïs’ loop were well executed. Aside from the things I’ve already touched on, such as the growing disconnect in her relationships and her growing desperation and willingness to do things she ordinarily wouldn’t dream of, another thing this book addresses about the loops is the possibility of Anaïs getting so caught up in them that she deliberately and unnecessarily keeps herself in them indefinitely. If you theoretically have the power to manipulate events so they go exactly how you want them to go, at what point do you stop? At what point do you say you’ve done enough and let time resume its proper course? I thought the eventual resolution was an interesting one, and it’s one that I ultimately fall on the side of liking.

There’s an attempt at an anti-colonial message in here, but it felt incomplete to me. It didn’t quite land.

The reason why I wanted to read this book in the first place is very simple: I love stories involving time loops. If I had to list out my top five pieces of media across all formats, three of those five involve time loops. I LOVE time loops. And, because I love time loops, I have high standards for them. A big part of what makes them so cool is the butterfly effect of it all, the only things that should be changing from loop to loop should be changing as a direct result of the actions of the person(s) at the centre of the loop. Unfortunately, this book emphatically doesn’t tick that box. I was convinced for a solid chunk of the book that Leo could remember the loops as well because he kept acting so drastically differently from loop to loop for no reason that him remembering the prior attempts was the most reasonable explanation. But no, he didn’t remember anything. He wasn’t the only one acting differently across loops with no explanation but it was most noticeable with him. If you’re not already a big lover of time loops then this might not bother you so much, but I am and it bothered me enough that I honestly nearly dnf’d the book over it. If the loops aren’t rewinding time but are putting her in slightly different alternate universes then just say that, y’know? That would be fine. But she never even considers the possibility. I fully acknowledge that this is a me problem lmao, as I said I have very high standards.

If you’re looking for a unique take on a glittering court fantasy with darker elements then you’ll probably enjoy this one! If you’re looking for a well executed time loop story then you might find that here, depending on how high your standards are and what your priorities are for them. It definitely hits on the emotions of a time loop, and that’s arguably the more important thing.

Midnight Strikes is absolutely incredible. I have loved time loops ever since the movie Groundhog Day came out, and the one in this book is brilliant. To solve the time loop, the main character, Anais, has to solve an extremely important mystery. Along the way she learns a lot about herself - really lifechanging things. Despite everything she goes through - and she goes through A LOT - she stays strong so she can save the day, even though there are many, many reasons that she shouldn’t.

Midnight Strikes is my favorite book so far this year. I can’t wait to read more from this author.