Review : Midnight Thief and Daughter of Dusk by Livia Blackburne

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Midnight Thief (Midnight Thief #1)
Author : Livia Blackburne
Publication Date :  July 8th 2014
Publisher : Disney Hyperion
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Growing up on Forge’s streets has taught Kyra how to stretch a coin. And when that’s not enough, her uncanny ability to scale walls and bypass guards helps her take what she needs.

But when the leader of the Assassins Guild offers Kyra a lucrative job, she hesitates. She knows how to get by on her own, and she’s not sure she wants to play by his rules. But he’s persistent—and darkly attractive—and Kyra can’t quite resist his pull.

Tristam of Brancel is a young Palace knight on a mission. After his best friend is brutally murdered by Demon Riders, a clan of vicious warriors who ride bloodthirsty wildcats, Tristam vows to take them down. But as his investigation deepens, he finds his efforts thwarted by a talented thief, one who sneaks past Palace defenses with uncanny ease.

When a fateful raid throws Kyra and Tristam together, the two enemies realize that their best chance at survival—and vengeance—might be to join forces. And as their loyalties are tested to the breaking point, they learn a startling secret about Kyra’s past that threatens to reshape both their lives.

In her arresting debut novel, Livia Blackburne creates a captivating world where intrigue prowls around every corner—and danger is a way of life.

Summary (from Goodreads) 

Title : Daughter of Dusk (Midnight Thief #2)

Author : Livia Blackburne

Publication Date :  August 4th 2015
Publisher : Disney Hyperion

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After learning the truth about her bloodlines, Kyra can’t help but feel like a monster.

Though she’s formed a tentative alliance with the Palace, Kyra must keep her identity a secret or risk being hunted like the rest of her Demon Rider kin. Tristam and the imprisoned assassin James are among the few who know about her heritage, but when Tristam reveals a heartbreaking secret of his own, Kyra’s not sure she can trust him. And with James’s fate in the hands of the palace, Kyra fears that he will give her away to save himself.

As tensions rise within Forge's Council, and vicious Demon Rider attacks continue in surrounding villages, Kyra knows she must do something to save her city. But she walks a dangerous line between opposing armies: will she be able to use her link to the Demon Riders for good, or will her Makvani blood prove to be deadly?

In this spellbinding sequel to Midnight Thief, Kyra and Tristam face their biggest battle yet as they grapple with changing allegiances, shocking deceit, and vengeful opponents.

Why should you check out the Midnight Thief duology?

1. Loveable main character
Midnight Thief and Daughter of Dusk have some very endearing characters. The protagonist, Kyra, especially was a character I loved from the very start. She was feisty, fearless, but also had vulnerable sides to her. Perhaps the best part about her character though how she was not this perfect fantasy heroine who got everything right. She actually made mistakes which was so much realistic to me than having this perfect badass character who is able to face any obstacle without ever falling into traps. She often found herself regretting some of her decisions and I liked that a lot. Besides that, Kyra was also kind-hearted and cared for others, especially street children known as the "gutter kids". She looked out for them and her bond with two young girls, Lettie and Idalee, was sweet and lovely to experience. There's nothing more I enjoy in books other than strong female relationships. 

2. James- good or bad?
In Midnight Thief, Kyra was hired by a mysterious leader of the Assassin's guild. Completely enigmatic, James was such an interesting character from start to finish of the series. While we get snippets of why he was the way he was, we never really got a complete grasp of his character, which I think worked really well in this case because he wound up being so memorable for me. He also straddled the line between good and evil and you never really knew what his intentions were when it came to his guild's goals. It was an interesting experience trying to figure out who he really was and I liked that even by the end he was still this huge question mark. I think it made for an intriguing character for sure.

3. Complex and twisty politics and world building 

With a fantasy world full of assassins, thieves, knights, corrupt powerhouses and Demon riders, there was no doubt that the world building in both Midnight Thief and Daughter of Dusk was exciting in every way. It was rich, solid and very well-developed, which is all I look for when it comes to fantasy world building. There were also lots of themes of poverty and corrupt politics that I really enjoyed reading about, especially because they could be reiterated into the real world. Livia Blackburne did a fantastic job at crafting her world from the bottom, making sure to explain every nook and crook that existed. I know some people shy away from fantasy books because the world building tends to be complicated, but this isn't one of those books where you can't figure out the world. It's well-written and easy to understand. It was definitely a highlight of the duology for me.

4. Realistic relationships
Kyra forged many relationships in this book and they were all pretty memorable for me. Her relationship with Flick was I one that I particularly appreciated. Theirs was a relationship that never swayed from friendship. I love that the author decided to show this platonic relationship between a boy and a girl, that never once moved into romantic territory. The romance in this duology was between Kyra and Tristam, a Knight. I can't say that the romance was a huge part of this series - it was more of something that developed in the background. I liked the slow pace however, and enjoyed the sweet moments between the two of them as they got closer to one another. 

Minor Quibbles 

5. Same old fantasy plot
I did wish that the plot in both Midnight Thief and Daughter of Dusk went beyond the "try to take down the corrupt leader" storyline. Livia Blackburne wrote in an entertaining way that still made the book stand out despite the plot being rather cliched, but I also feel like she could have gone a bit beyond that and explored a different area to make this unique. 

6. Loose ends in conclusion
While the conclusion to the Midnight Thief series was pretty solid and I was for the most part satisfied with it, there were some things I wish the author had delved more into, such as Kyra's relationship with her new-found father and her past with her mother was something I would have liked to have learned more about. Despite that though, I thought the ending was good. 

Overall Thoughts 

I enjoyed binge-reading this series back to back. I preferred Midnight Thief a bit more than Daughter of Dusk because I thought the plot was a little tighter in that one, but I enjoyed watching everything come together in the last book. This is certainly a series that I think is worth reading because the characters, world building and the different relationships between the characters were all phenomenal. I look forward to reading more from Livia Blackburne. 

Rating 

Covers : 4/5
Plot : 3/5
Characters : 4/5
Writing : 4/5

**Overall Rating : 3.5/5**

Midnight Thief : 4/5
Daughter of Dusk : 3.5/5

Thank you to NetGalley and Disney Hyperion for the e-ARC of Daughter of Dusk.