A Love Triangle, Fantasy Book Review: The Midnight Throne

Author: Audriana Christian

Genre: Fantasy, Romantasy

Pages: 346

Release Date: March 9, 2024

Soren Kissinger has always been perfectly fine being human in a very non-human-centric world. By default, she has had a picture-perfect life in the Human Realm of Midengart. Soren has two parents who love her dearly, and she had a fantastic college experience where she met her best friend, Vana, and her toxic situationship, Willem. But on her 23rd birthday, Soren’s life as she knows it begins to unravel, thread by thread. In a twist of fate and the touch of a magical charm, Soren’s truth comes forth, and she realizes her entire life has been a lie. Soren was no human but a halfling. A prophecy outlines her fate and a dark one at that. The prophecy revealed three children who would change the world forever: A child born anew, A daughter of two worlds, and a child created. A dark queen and her even darker army have been hiding between the worlds, waiting for Soren to rise from her binding charm like a phoenix. The dark queen had turned the nine worlds upside down, burying the old gods as she went–and that was just the first part of her plan. Soren is the dark queen’s last key to taking control of the nine worlds, and the queen will not go down without a fight. Soren must face her fears, hone her newfound powers, and, unfortunately, be trained and guarded by the notorious and insufferable storm-wielding Rhone Hitori.

Rhone is loyal to no court, a warrior for whomever he sees fit, whenever he sees fit—a Royal High Fae castaway who likes to hide in the shadows, not accepted by his creature race for his violent past. So, it surprised the realms when he agreed to this implausible task. Soren and Rhone reluctantly work together, piecing together the hundreds of years old prophecy, discovering Soren’s abilities, try their best to ignore the chemistry between them and collect allies along the way: A Highland rebel spare prince, a forest nymph, and a long-lost cursed son of Odin whose secrets are more embedded into the prophecy than anyone could have imagined.

Every player is needed to fight the inescapable war dawning upon them, especially since Soren isn’t the only new creature bestowed upon the worlds.

Rising from Ashes & Stardust. Tied by the Fates. Tempted by Desire.

It’s a race to the end of the worlds. Who will get there first?

My Thoughts on The Midnight Throne

A lot was packed into this “shorter” debut and first-in-a-series fantasy novel, but in a good way! I always appreciate a fantasy book that can stay away from 600+ pages while still being great and telling a thought-out story. Though it does end on a big cliffhanger so beware!

One thing I loved about The Midnight Throne is that I feel like it’s a rare book where you actually know a lot more information than the main character because of the dual points-of-view sprinkled in – and it’s not super vague and filtered! A lot of the information is out in the open, and you’ll easily put things together quicker than the Heroine. And speaking of that, I feel like I could read this book again and pick up even more things I missed the first time and enjoy it!

The book introduces multiple new worlds/realms, so there’s a lot of info-dumping but it wasn’t boring or overbearing – it was told in an interesting way. The book also revolves around a prophecy that includes 3… so don’t be surprised if there’s a triangle of sorts…

I liked the characters – Soren was confident and a go-getter after she learned she wasn’t human, and she was involved with a dark, potentially world-ending prophecy. I always find the Heroine learning to fight and use newfound magic, in like a day, unrealistic, but we must get the story moving somehow, we’ve got an evil Queen to fight!

Rhone is our shadow daddy in the book – he can wield storms, and he’s a loner with no allegiances in the magical world. But he’s trusted by her dad and owes him, so Soren is sent off to train with him. Soren is instantly interested him, and they both feel the chemistry, but Rhone is pretty cold towards her when it comes to a possible romantic relationship. To be honest, I hope they aren’t endgame.

Soren also has a kick-ass support system. Her parents are great and care about her, which I feel is rare in fantasy novels. They gave up so much to hide and protect her. Her best friend is actually a nymph who has also been protecting her for a very long time – which I find sweet but also a little deceiving.

I also loved the addition of Cal – he’s a rebel Highland Prince. He provides comedic relief and friendship to both Soren and Rhone, and it’s special to see. Someone has to make Rhone live a little.

And lastly, we meet Niklas. I told you there was a triangle! He’s cursed, he’s hot, he’s powerful, he’s the one for me – I mean Soren. I love him. He comes with his own secretive baggage and Norse mythology which honestly went over my head, but I don’t care.

Overall, this was a fantastic debut novel. I loved that it was a shorter fantasy, moved quickly, and explained a lot – as a reader, I wasn’t in the dark the whole book, which I loved. We’ve got a strong Heroine, and some dreamy, strong male leads. I can’t wait to see what happens in Book 2 after the wild cliffhanger!

Farewell Thoughts

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