#midnight strikes

[lao-01]

I know how bad roblox is doing right now. BUT MY HYPERFIXATIONS ARE NOT HELPING ME IM ROLLING ON THE FLOOR WITH A HYPERFIXATION CRISIS AND DRAWING THE MOST RANDOM THINGS KNOWN TO MAN. IM CURRENTLY HYPERFIXATING ON PHIGHTING BUT NOW I DRAW 7n7 FROM TERM PROT I CANNOT IM AAAAAAA(Crash out)

anywyas wanted to post this cuz i liked the render i did :) ENJOY!!!! :D

[bookishlyvintage]

unread book box stack of shame

[moondustbooks]

February JOMP Day 6 - Red Books ❤️

[books-n-vibes]

Midnight Strikes

by Zeba Shahnaz, 2023

[richincolor]

Audrey's 2023 Favorites

I always like digging through the books I read at the end of the year to decide which will claim a spot on my favorites list. Even though I've decided to crown just four with the title, I'm pretty pleased with the variety of genres represented. If you haven't had a chance to check any of these out yet, I'd encourage you to add them to your wish list or local library's wait list!

This Time It’s Real by Ann Liang Scholastic || My review

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin’s essay about meeting the love of her life unexpectedly goes viral, her entire life changes overnight. Now she has the approval of her classmates at her new international school in Beijing, a career-launching internship opportunity at her favorite magazine…and a massive secret to keep. Eliza made her essay up. She’s never been in a relationship before, let alone in love. All good writing is lying, right? Desperate to hide the truth, Eliza strikes a deal with the famous actor in her class, the charming but aloof Caz Song. She’ll help him write his college applications if he poses as her boyfriend. Caz is a dream boyfriend -- he passes handwritten notes to her in class, makes her little sister laugh, and takes her out on motorcycle rides to the best snack stalls around the city. But when her relationship with Caz starts feeling a little too convincing, all of Eliza’s carefully laid plans are threatened. Can she still follow her dreams if it means breaking her own heart?

My Flawless Life by Yvonne Woon Katherine Tegen Books || My review

At the most elite private school in Washington, DC., whenever anyone has a problem that they need to go away, they hire Hana Yang Lerner. Hana is a fixer. She knows who to call, what to say, and how to make sure secrets stay where they belong—buried. She can fix anything. Except her own life, which was destroyed when her father, senator Skip Lerner, was arrested for an accident that left one woman nearly dead. Now Hana’s reputation is ruined and her friends are gone. So when she gets a job from an anonymous client called “Three” to follow her former best friend, Luce Herrera, Hana realizes this might be her way of getting back her old life. But the dangerous thing about digging is that you never know what you’ll unearth. As Hana uncovers a dark truth about her supposedly flawless classmates, she’s forced to face a secret of her own.

Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz Delacorte Press || My review

Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her. The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster. Not even when it happens again. And again. And again. If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court's gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It's up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight.

She is a Haunting by Trang Thanh Tran Bloomsbury YA || My review

When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She’s always lied to fit in, so if she’s straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised. But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound, while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don’t belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can’t ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves her cryptic warnings: Don’t eat. Neither Ba nor her sweet sister Lily believe that there is anything strange happening. With help from a delinquent girl, Jade will prove this house—the home her family has always wanted—will not rest until it destroys them. Maybe, this time, she can keep her family together. As she roots out the house’s rot, she must also face the truth of who she is and who she must become to save them all.

[wannabe-british-fangirl]

~ books read in 2023 ~

#23: Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz

One night. You just have to survive here one more night.

Rating: 4/5

[just0nemorepage]

Midnight Strikes || Zeba Shahnaz || 448 pages Top 3 Genres: Fantasy / Young Adult / Romance

Synopsis: Seventeen-year-old Anaïs just wants tonight to end. As an outsider at the kingdom’s glittering anniversary ball, she has no desire to rub shoulders with the nation’s most eligible (and pompous) bachelors—especially not the notoriously roguish Prince Leo. But at the stroke of midnight, an explosion rips through the palace, killing everyone in its path. Including her.

The last thing Anaïs sees is fire, smoke, chaos . . . and then she wakes up in her bedroom, hours before the ball. No one else remembers the deadly attack or believes her warnings of disaster.

Not even when it happens again. And again. And again.

If she’s going to escape this nightmarish time loop, Anaïs must take control of her own fate and stop the attack before it happens. But the court's gilded surface belies a rotten core, full of restless nobles grabbing at power, discontented commoners itching for revolution, and even royals who secretly dream of taking the throne. It's up to Anaïs to untangle these knots of deadly deceptions . . . if she can survive past midnight.

Publication Date: March 2023. / Average Rating: 3.73. / Number of Ratings: ~550.

[ezool]

ive been eating up Midnight Strikes by Zeba Shahnaz almost all day today this book has been so intriguing. and then to find out this is a debut novel blows my mind it's so well written and has me turning the page wanting more.

and then i find a listing of the beautiful Owlcrate special edition on pangobooks like YES, GIVE ME PLEASE

for those curious, imagine if instead of Cinderella's carriage turning into a pumpkin at midnight, the grand ball is attacked by armed intruders and explosions and everybody dies, with the added fact that Cinderella wakes up from dying at the ball in a Groundhogs Day time loop that she's the only one to remember. that's Midnight Strikes in it's most basic summary, but there's so much more.

the main character is also so realistic in like her reactions and stuff to having to repeat this deadly ball, and you can't help but root for her because she's also like an outsider at the ball so no one would even believe her if they wanted too. so there's a lot of intersectionality to the obstacles in her way of figuring out what the fuck is going on and why SHE'S the one stuck with this burden. and it's just so realistic. i love Anais so much.

i'm like a third of the way in, so here's hoping it sticks the landing by the end!🤞