Book Review | Helm of Midnight

In a daring heist, thieves make off with a dangerous magical artifact: the death mask of Louis Charbon—imbued with the spirit and knowledge of the notorious serial killer. Now a copycat killer stalks the streets, replicating Charbon’s signature calling card by arranging his victims into “blossoms” … albeit with their own unique twist.

Regulator Krona Hirvath is in a race against time to try and find the perpetrator, and in the process, she uncovers terrible truths.

The Helm of Midnight by Marina Lostetter has a lot going on. It’s an ambitious, genre-defying novel that blends steampunk, crime procedural, and epic fantasy. The worldbuilding is innovative and intricate and it also has a darn cool emotion-based magic system to boot.

However, all this comes as a bit of a double-edged sword. This is the first in a trilogy and it did very much feel like an introduction and like it was setting up for a much grander story. It was very lore and exposition heavy, so the actual murder mystery component of the plot gets lost in the muddle at times.

Imperfections aside though, this book presents a unique psychologically-driven fantasy that deals with family and trauma and I’m excited to see the rest of the mystery unfold.

Thank you, NetGalley and Tor, for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Book Details:

Publication Date : April 13, 2021
Publisher : Tor
ISBN : 1250757053
Pages : 464

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