Middlegame – LairOfBooks

Title: Middlegame

Author: Seanan McGuire

Pub. Date: May 7th 2019

Genre: YA Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Publisher: Tor.com

Pages: 528

🖤ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review 🖤

I think I’ve finally met my match. This book is like no other I’ve ever come across in so many ways but trying to summarize it is just not going to work. Clever, dark, multi-layered…this story will sink it’s claws into you & keep you until all hours of the night. One of my my all time favorite classics is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein & all throughout my time with this book I kept getting those mad scientist vibes. Alchemy is at the center of this story, we get introduced to Asphodel Baker who is a very advanced alchemist ahead of her time. Being a woman, Asphodel encounters challenges by her own peers & decides to take matters into her own hands in order to leave behind her legacy. She begins her work to try & bring into physical manifestation, the Doctrine of Ethos. The Doctrine holds the secrets of the Universe ultimately granting it’s keeper a lot of power.

Asphodel creates Reed in her lab; he is some parts human, creature, alchemy & magic. Reed is meant to outlive Asphodel and carry on her legacy which he does & then some. Reed splits up the Doctrine into two of his creations, twins Rodger and Dodger. One is gifted with all things mathematical knowledge & the other comes with a mastery of language. We watch these twins grow and mature via alternating points of view as they live separate lives. When the twins establish a connection via what can be seen as some sort of telepathy, it becomes clear that staying away from each other is impossible. They have no idea how powerful they are individually & how dangerous they can be when they come together.

This book is 500+ pages but its non-stop action & character development. It won’t be for everyone, it will demand your complete attention but it will also introduce you to some of the MOST unforgettable characters you’ll ever meet on the page. McGuire gives us alchemy mixed with magic, mad scientists, telepathy, math & words that form their own language for these twins and at its core a story about family & friendships.

Content Warning: Murder, suicide, torture, abandonment, mass murder, violence

Reed is Asphodel Baker’s greatest creation so much so he’s outdone his creator. Reed is a master manipulator, great at sitting back and observing before he strikes. Reed is only interested in one thing: world domination. He will stop at nothing to create the perfect set of twins that can embody the Doctrine & ultimately extract it from them for power.

Leigh is Reeds creation & honestly she inspired fear in me the MOST! even more so than Reed himself. In some ways I did feel Reed also feared Leighs detachment from humanity. Leigh loves taking apart (twins) the creations she keeps in her lab in the most grotesque of ways.

“Her bones were stolen from the graves and deathbeds of thirteen brilliant women- and if those deathbeds were made by a long-dead alchemist, rather than by natural selection, she has no sympathy for them”

Erin is Leigh’s creation & true to the understanding that the predecessor is more superior…Erin does manage to keep Leigh watching over her back. This character plays an interesting role because she’s used as a pawn with the twins and their development. Erin’s life is directly affected by the decisions made by the twins on any given timeline. Erin could quite possibly be the single most cold blooded TERRIFYING fictional character I’ve ever come across!

Rodger & Dodger- these twins hold within them a genius level of knowledge over language and mathematics. They have a sort of telepathic way of communicating with each other. An understanding that whatever happens to one, the other will feel as well. I loved seeing the twins develop from adolescence into their adult years. Their bond is strong and we get that depth through the years as they come into awareness of their power. They may just be artificially created however, I felt this sibling bond deep in my core.

This is one of those rare reads you come across every once in a while that I feel might come off as too smart or too complex when trying to understand the he science of it all. Personally, I enjoyed the characters the MOST & glad for it since this is a very character driven book. It’s not at all a easy read, oftentimes painful seeing these twins who can’t help but be driven towards one another but cause so much destruction in their union. I felt this on another level because Dodger was left with abandonment issues that played a major role in her growth & development. We see suicide attempts & anxiety rule over her life meanwhile Rodger tries to understand it all to be there for her. He is the #1 most important person in her life while also being the one to bring her the most pain. I may not have been a fan of the plot as a whole but I have a deep level of respect for these three dimensional characters. This book is hella dark & not for the feint of heart but ultimately it will keep its hold on you when given the chance. I’m SUPER curious now to read all of McGuire’s other books and would recommend Middlegame to anyone who loves sibling stories, sci-fi, twisted villains, and alchemy.

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WWW Wednesday is a meme hosted by Sam @ Taking On a World of Words and to participate all you have to do is answer the three W’s listed below. Once you’ve posted your WWW, drop a link to your post in Sam’s comments <3’s!

The questions:
1. What are you currently reading?
2. What did you recently finish reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

A little coffee along with the latest Grey’s Anatomy episode playing in the background sets the mood for a long overdue WWW Wednesday post. I don’t want to jinx myself but I’ve been reading non-stop & with that comes reviewing. I second guessed myself on being able to draft up a review since I’ve been on hiatus for a while but I was very happy to see it felt very much like coming home. This year I’m very focused on quality reading which I’m hoping means less meh & more awwwww shi**!!! haha! This also means, I will be making use of the good ol’ DNF if necessary. Something I’ve never done cause my personality often gets in the way, my mind says I MUST finish whatever I start but that’s just not realistic or fair to myself at this point. My last two reads were both 5 star reads motivating me to sort of (haha!) create a TBR which I may just post 😉

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett

Currently I’m 60% into this read set in Seattle, leaning towards 3.5-4 stars. It’s my first read by Jenn Bennett & it has stirred up interest in towards her other books. The romance in this one had to grow on me but it only gets cuter as the story progresses. There’s a LATINX side character I am ABSOLUTELY love! & the MOST creative first date ever that has me all in my feels. I’ve always been enamored with the idea of one day living in Seattle, this book reignited that dream 😍

Wicked Saints (Something Dark and Holy #1) by Emily A. Duncan

This book truly surprised me in the BEST deliciously dark way possible! 🖤 Confession that may get me in trouble: I was never a big fan of The Darkling in the Grishaverse…YUP! I said it! no backsies. The villain in Wicked Saints has been compared to the Darkling & I feel this villain is WAY more appealing while also being 50 shades of messed up. The last 30% had me in its clutches & I cannot wait for the sequel. The magic system is A+! I’d recommend to those who were fans of Children Of Blood and Bone by Toni Adeyemi. If you love the premise of a MC who is divinely protected by the Gods & can communicate with them, this is your book. If said Gods also happen to have a range of personalities on the page, this is your book. My 5 star review will go live tomorrow 4/25/19.

Middle Game by Seanan McGuire

“Godhood is attainable. Pray it isn’t attained.”

I was very blessed by the Book Gods to receive an ARC of Middlegame earlier this year (LOVE TOR!!!) & it’ll be my very 1st Seanan McGuire read. I don’t know very much about this book other than it featuring twins, one whois a genius with words and the other with numbers. That they aren’t necessarily human & that this may be somewhere between Fantasy & Science Fiction. It’s a pretty thick book that is set to release May 7th so I am making it my next beast to tackle. I’ve heard some mixed reviews but mostly that it is quite the odd read & I can dig that so fingers crossed I do hope I enjoy this one 🖤