*Spoiler Free*

“What did she know about the Black Forest? Only what she’d been able to glean from the maps in the library and from Luc’s fairy tales: Castles hidden in glens. Trees as tall as city buildings. Wolves and stags and bears. Mad princes who drowned in lakes. None of Mada Vittora’s books described an ancient academy deep in the woods, a place where it always snowed, where girls wanted magic badly enough to die for it.”

It had been awhile since I finished the first book in this duology (Grim Lovelies). I think I much preferred the first one, but the writing in the one was equally beautiful.

Midnight Beauties starts off a little after the first one, with our main character Anouk attempting to find her way to the witches school in the Black Forest. This could mean her life could end once she goes through the trial the school imposes on those dead set on becoming witches.

I loved the introduction of the newest characters in this one as well as many of the older character. They all had interesting back stories. The interactions between characters was equally interesting and at times so sad.

One of the main reasons I chose to give this a 4/5 was the fact that a love triangle was introduced. It was too back and forth for my tastes and honestly quite unnecessary.

I will be keeping this on my shelves regardless because it belongs with its predecessor.