I always love tales about family dynamics, especially sister relationships, so I enjoyed that element of this, but found it hard to connect to much else.

I really enjoyed the descriptive nature of this book and found that it set the scene in a really immersive way which made for a wonderful reading experience

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I've been sitting on this book for about a year now, hoping one day I might get back to it, but it doesn't seem very likely, so I decided to write a short feedback here in NetGalley and leave it at that. I'm sorry I wasn't able to enjoy this book despite getting an ARC, but sometimes it happens.

The Light of the Midnight Stars caught my interest because a) hello historical fiction and b) the blurb said it was partly set in middle-age Hungary. Being a Hungarian myself, it's not every day I come across a book published by a big publisher set partly in my country, so I was curious. Interestingly enough, the inclusion of Hungarian phrases was what put me off of it in the first place. Every time I came across the word "nagmama" (the girls' word for grandmother) it took me out of the book because in modern Hungarian it should be "nagymama". Now, I'm not sure what our word for grandmother was in the middle ages, but the language didn't change all that much. Then again, there are regional versions and whatnot and I don't know why the author made the decisions she did. Still. It was something that kept bothering me, and eventually made me stop reading. But I guess I wasn't all that engaged to continue regardless.

The Light of the Midnight Stars has an interesting premise and I was interested to learn more about the Jewish culture and all the folktales, but sometimes you just have to admit if one book is not your cup of tea and move on.

A brilliant second novel that draws on folk lore & lyrical and whimsical prose to create a truly memorable story

I will not be continuing to read this book. The author is affiliated with supporting Israel and has shown extreme racist and prejudiced beliefs.

The Light of the Midnight Stars is a good read, I need to start with that, it’s a well written, intricately woven and powerful story, intelligent and beautiful, however I found it quite heavy going due to the folklore being listed out, it did feel more like a lesson than a story at times . That's not to say they weren't interesting because they were but I don’t think so many were needed. On the whole the story was sweet and moving but I think needed more editing (3.5 stars)

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Even if it's well written i found it a bit too slow paced and it didn't keep my attention.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is the story of Isaac & his family., primarily his three daughters. They are part of a religious group descended from King Solomon who live in peace in a small Hungarian town.
The main problem with this book was my expectations. The blurb does mention gifts of encouraging plants to grow and reading the stars but I was expecting this to be on a fairly minor scale as part of a historical novel. However, although the beginning seemed rooted in some historical basis the book quickly veered off towards the more whimsical before becoming a fairytale. I have nothing against adult fairy tales or fantasy books but I felt this book struggled to really decide what it was.
The characters of Isaac & his daughters are quite well defined in the book. The three girls characters are clearly defined as are their gifts. However, I did find there was less attention given to other characters as the book progressed.
I did finish this book though I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped. I felt the book struggled with its identity and consequently the characters and plot suffered.
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley.

The Light of the Midnight Stars had potential but I found Rossner's storytelling rather boring. It is more about evoking a certain fairy tale atmosphere than presenting readers with fully fleshed characters or a compelling story.

Thank you to Net Galley for my arc!

Unfortunately, this was a DNF for me. Rossner's writing is sublime and her gorgeous prose alone almost convinced me to keep going and finish the book. However, perhaps it's the wrong time for me to read this, or I'm just the wrong audience. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get into this book. I love magical realism, it is probably my favourite genre, but I felt that there was so much history and explanation left unsaid that nothing made sense. I didn't feel connected to the characters and ultimately I just always felt depressed when I picked this book up. I completely understand and respect that was a tone the book was going for, however, as I said perhaps during the current climate I just couldn't get in the correct headspace to take on such a dark tone.

However, I do think this could be some people's new favourite book. For the correct reader, I believe this could be a story they could melt into and fall in love with.

Rena Rossner’s second book reaches back into her Jewish heritage to tell a tale about survival and endurance, even when all hope is lost. It combines the stories of three sisters - Hannah, Sarah, and Levanna - with history, Jewish teachings, and folklore to tell an ambitious story.

Unfortunately, I think it ended up being too ambitious. Rossner weaves several fairy tales together, twining the stories with the stories of the sisters. It feels like she’s so eager to use these stories that the plots involving the sisters twist in unnatural-feeling ways to fit the fairy tales.

One of the issues for me was that the set up of the story felt under developed and lacking in atmosphere. There was some lovely description of the traditions the characters followed, but almost nothing about the town they were living in, or about who the individual family members were or how they related to each other. Important detail about Sarah, in particular, and her relationship with her father and why he wouldn’t teach her were glossed over in order to make the plot with Guvriel work. The story felt light on background and family detail for me.

I also felt that the love interests were not well developed. They showed up, fell in love with the sisters, and there was really not much else to them. The brevity and light touch with which Rossner treats these characters and their relationships with the sisters made me not really care about them, except to be annoyed at how quickly the lovers fell in love with the sisters.

I didn’t love the writing either, sadly. It did feel, at times, like Rossner was sketching out the bare bones, or that the characters and stories were archetypes, and so weren’t fully fleshed out. That’s certainly something you see in fairy tales, so it’s perhaps not surprising that we see it here. The problem, though, is that such sparsity doesn’t work for a a full-length novel. I feel like she perhaps tried to do too much and the novel would have worked better if she’d focused on one sister. It might also have been better if this had been a series of short stories. Story telling and telling multiple stories is such a feature of this book that I think trying to weave everything into one story made the depth of the story suffer.

The writing style aside from its sparsity didn’t really engage me either. I’m used to much more descriptive writing in historical fantasy, and that felt like it was missing here. The choice to tell part of one sister’s story in verse was something I found odd also. I didn’t feel like the circumstances of her story required that.

There is, at times, a bleak tone to this story, and I did think that was fitting for the religious persecution Jews have suffered through the centuries. The family’s sacrifices represented real sacrifices made by real Jews through the generations, and the sense of wandering and not belonging anywhere was well captured. I certainly felt that the tone was appropriate for the story, the feeling of endurance, never feeling settled, always looking for safety. I felt that the sisters’ lives and choices represented the need to survive, to endure, even if you have to hide or change to do so. I thought that was very powerful.

There is a lot of anti-semitism and violence against Jews (including sexual violence) in this novel. It is balanced by the celebration and endurance of Jewish customs and wisdom, which is nice to read. I do feel like the book is written more for those who would already be familiar with Judaism, though there is a glossary at the back of the book with definitions of terms for the less familiar reader. It’s good that there is a fantasy based on Jewish history and customs, as this isn’t something that’s common in fantasy, and the LGBTQ+ representation was nice to see also.

Over all, though, unfortunately, this one just wasn’t my cup of tea.

dnf after 100 pages

trigger warning
<spoiler> antisemitism, misogyny </spoiler>

This book follows three jewish sisters in 14th centure common era, in Hungary, who are growing up trained in the magical arts of their people and have to navigate growing up in a world that is very quick to lay blame at their feet.

I am torn about this. On one hand, I want to continue because this is the first ever jewish fantasy book I've had in my hands, and I want this genre to thrive. On the other hand, this book is simply not for me.
It's a characterdriven slow burn, and I need to be in the mood for that, which I am far less in these stressfull times than I'd normally be. What occurs in regards to plot have to do with romantic concerns, which don't interest me. I'm aromantic, and sometimes I can tolerate this plot and sometimes I am so overwhelmed because it's everywhere that I can't.
Since I don't believe my opinion would change, I decided to not read further 300 pages.
But again: This book didn't do anything wrong.

I was promised lesbian romance, but didn't get that far so there are no tags from me for that.

If all this sounds like it might interest you, go for it! It's out now, the cover is beautiful, there are many reviews so you can look if this might be up your alley. And if you think it will, go for it.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

I really struggled with this one. It sounded wildly interesting:
✨ Historical fiction
✨ Jewish folklore (which is very, very rare in books)
✨ Magic

And I should have been hooked, but if I'm being honest with myself, I really didn't want to pick it back up.

This is the story of three sisters: Hannah, Sarah, and Levana. Each with their own magic abilities which leads to someone dinging the witchcraft bell and sending the village into a tizzy. Fleeing from their lives, they need to leave behind everything they know including some of their culture.

Ok so things I found really, really interesting:

⚫ Judaism actually being represented in a book. I am not religious but I love learning about them and let me tell you - you will learn A LOT.

⚫ The characters are insanely well developed and I can see them floating around in my noggin.


However, this was a very heavy book. Trigger warnings everywhere (anti-Semitism, violent deaths, rape & sexism.) and perhaps it was just a little too much for me to handle. I am also one with a simple brain - this book comes at you from three different POVs so I was thrown off very easily and constantly found myself lost.

And lastly, there's a lot to take in. As I mentioned before, learning about Judaism was amazing but it became overwhelming to the point where I had to stop and Google what things meant. It became a bit like homework.

Would I recommend this book to someone with an excellent attention span? Yes, absolutely.
Would I recommend it to someone after Jewish representation in a fantasy book? Of course!
Would I try to read it again? Probably not.

My thanks to Orbit/Little, Brown Book Co and NetGalley for a review copy of this one.

This, like the author’s previous book The Sisters of the Winter Wood combines history, fantasy, Jewish folklore, and fairy tales (the previous book didn’t have a fairy tale but Christina Rossetti’s Gobin Market as its base). In 14th-century Hungary, in the small village of Trnava lives Rabbi Issac with his wife and three daughters, Hannah, Sarah and Levana; also the Rabbi’s old mother. They are Solomonars, descendants of a clan to whom Solomon had handed his secrets. Each of the family possesses certain powers—Rabbi Isaac can change form, his wife has healing powers and knowledge which she is passing on to Hannah who also has a way with making plants grow; Sarah can weave by magic and also can set fire to things, and Levana is absorbed in the stars. The Rabbi and his wife are training each of the girls in certain skills but Sarah in particular feels very dissatisfied and is rebellious for she feels she is not getting the opportunity to do the things she would were she a boy, in particular to study the texts that boys can. The story is told mostly in the narratives of the three girls with folklore and third-person sections tying them together.

The family are leading a relatively peaceful, devout life but a dark mist is creeping across the country and into their lives, something each of the girls can sense but don’t seem to share with anyone else. While their father and his students/disciples seem to be taking steps to keep this at bay, it spreads and ultimately brings tragedy into their lives as not only must they suffer personally, they are blamed for bringing the misfortune upon their village and must flee. In a new village, a safe place, they give up their heritage, their names and their past and start anew. But can they really be safe and finally find happiness or will trouble follow them in their new lives as well?

This was something of a mixed read for me. Starting out with the story, I found it very easy to get into the three sisters narratives, enjoyed their individual voices, and seeing events proceed from each of their perspectives. (Compared to the Sisters of the Winter Wood, where I felt I needed to get my head around some of the plotlines, and reading the basic story of Goblin Market made it easier to follow, in this book I didn’t face that problem). I felt for the family, for all that they lost, and that they had (as many other have) to live in constant fear, constant uncertainty, not knowing when they would have to give up their home, become unwanted again. Of the three girls themselves, I liked Hannah and Levana better than Sarah somehow (though Levana was rather strange compared to the other two). I felt Sarah, though one understands the reasons for her dissatisfaction, has a touch of nastiness, also of selfishness about her. Still all three girls are strong—have to face much, bear much, and give up much, still they carry on and keep trying. One can’t but admire them for that.

I also found I enjoyed the stories and elements of folklore that are interwoven in and between the different narratives. I liked reading those, and also following the lives of each of the three girls.

The issue for me in the book lay in the fact that I felt like the stories of the three girls, the paths they follow and where they end up, didn’t really fell cohesive like part of a single tale—they felt like different stories that could well have been complete in themselves and that were just put together. Also, while Hannah’s and Sarah’s stories involved fantasy elements and a bit of magic, Levana’s felt like it belonged to an entirely different realm than that of the other two even though the author has woven it in with their world.

So this turned out to be a book with many elements I enjoyed but one that didn’t quite seem one story over all. (The cover by the way, is once again absolutely gorgeous).

3.25 stars!

I enjoyed this book in the end but it took a while to get into it. The story of the three sisters was heavily interwoven with stories and tables from Jewish folklore, this made concentrating on the actual story quite difficult. That's not to say they weren't interesting because they were but not sure the book needed so much. On the whole the story was sweet and moving but not for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for a review.

I was a bit conflicted about it - I'll get to the why in a moment - but I decided it to leave it at 3.5 - 4 stars.

As soon as I heard it was about my people - Hungarians - and Jewish mythology, I knew I had to read it. Plus, I've read the author's debut, The Sisters of the Winterwood and really enjoyed it.

This one in particular is the story of three sisters. They're all unique, in their own way, with different gifts and abilities. They're descendants of King Solomon and, when tragedy strikes, they need to flee for their lives.

Let me tell you this: the author has done their research, for sure. Actually, the term 'Solomar/i' (i = plural, in Romanian) is not one I've encountered here, for the first time. Actually, there's a legend about the Solomonari, in my neck of the woods - and how, they're apparently, still around - so I was happy to read about it here. I was also happy when fate brought the three sisters and their family to my neck of the woods, albeit a bit South to them, in Wallachia. Though here's where I'd like to add some historical facts: Wallachia was the Southern part - plus other bits - of Romania, for about 500 years (from the 14th century to the 19th, when it joined Moldavia and became officially Romania, though not the one known today), so the author mentioning Wallachia and Romania is historically inaccurate, because the two didn't exist, at the same time.

I liked that she mentioned The Order of the Dragons (and not in context to Vlad Dracula - kudos!).

I loved that she included a version of a legend, a tale known by everyone living in Romania, that of Ana being placed into the wall by Manole (that's the name of the carpenter from the tale, I can't remember if the author used that or another), so as the castle wouldn't crumble. Loved that she included the tale of Saint Anna's lake.

I also absolutely loved the f/f story, with one of the three sisters. It warmed my heart.

So, all around, the above mentioned are why I gave the book 3.5 - 4 stars. Now, also the cons.

This is a standalone, yet it felt like I had read two or three books. Why? Because it felt like a lot. There was just too much, in my opinion and a lot of it was traumatic, heartbreaking stuff. And I hate that. I hate that, whenever I encounter a book about Jewish people, there's more bad than good. I know, we all know, what these people have been through, throughout history and I would have really liked there to be a balance, you know? Show me both, in equal measures if you will. Though really, I would have preferred an all-around happy freaking story because these girls deserved that and more.

But it was the author's choice and I have to respect that.

I hope to, one day, reread it and maybe change my mind, see it with different eyes - it has happened - because these past few months - more like year - have been challenging and I find myself gravitating toward the books that make me happy.

I do recommend it, however, for its richness in history and folklore and tales. I voluntarily agreed to read an early copy via Netgalley.

The Light of the Midnight Stars is a subtly-woven and impactful story, shrewdly intelligent and awash with sharp imagery. The narrative hits a number of high notes (and a handful of misses), handling magic, moral lessons and religious mores with mastery and neatly mixing rooted rituals and humble legends with a roundly researched hand. Its bright (if at times a bit confusing) commentary on Jewish convention and the crux of birthrights and its resonant representations of ceremony bring its lionhearted characters to life with lyrical charm, charting Hannah, Levana, and Sarah as they learn to command their capabilities and leanings and battle against the constricting banes of legacy and bigotry with barefaced courage. Above all, it is exceptionally evocative of Eastern Europe in that epoch, entrancing in its authenticity and affecting in the ethereal ambiance it engineers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK/Orbit for kindly passing on this arc! 💫

Now this was a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. It had the fairytale feeling that was promised, there was adventure, love, loss, grief and resilience.
I loved the style of writing it reminded me of a fairytale in the best of ways possible. Flowery without every being truly descriptive or overly descriptive of the feelings of the characters. It had the slightly detached feeling of a fairytale which was absolutely perfect for this tale about three Jewish sisters faced with adversary. I loved how each of the sisters had a distinct and unique voice that matched their characters. The fact that their respective parts were also written in a certain style each that corresponded with the character of the sister was also marvelously done. For example, Sarah was written traditionally, Levana our star loving sister had a more ethereal and poetry infused writing style and Hannah the family scholar was written in diary log form. This was an exceptional touch that just added to my love for the three characters.
The amount of folklore, myths and legends that went into this book was astounding and marvelous. It has opened up a whole new world of stories and histories that I am now dying to explore. The stories and history of the Hungarian based Jews is long and rich, being able to come into contact with even a sliver of this rich history in story format was a true treat. I feel like this was one of those books where after having finished it you are slightly altered, the way in which you look at the world is changed, this was because I was exposed to a stunning part of the world that I had previously never known about.
The story contains a lot of subtle symbols that speak to problems faced by these groups even in modern times. The hatred that people can feel for no reason was very well portrayed and honestly quite hard hitting. The struggles this family faced were immense, but these characters were a testament to the resilience of humanity and the love that one has for your fellow human.
The magical element that was also introduced didn’t hurt one bit. I loved seeing how the author combined the religious practices of the characters with the magic system intertwining the two to create a truly fantastical read. All in all, I found it beautiful, charming and lovely. It has inspired me to pick up her first book The Sisters of the Winter Wood and read up about the Jewish community in the Hungarian provinces during this period in history. It made me smile and made my shed a tear when it seemed like all was lost, but the ending had my heart soaring. Can’t wait to get my hands on any of her other books as well as a physical copy of this beauty , since I was kindly gifted an advanced copy by Orbit and NetGalley to review.

The Light of Midnight Stars blends Jewish folklore with a historical novel told from the point of view of three sisters. I was really looking forward to reading it as this would usually be right up my street. Unfortunately for me it completely missed the mark and I was having to psych myself up to pick it up again which didn’t make for a very enjoyable read.

I found it quite heavy going due to the asides in between the chapters where various stories from folklore were listed out, feeling more like being lectured at rather than reading a novel. Even the formatting of these portions was distracting.

For me this stopped the story developing as it should and the family’s story lost out.