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A review by justinkhchen
The Midnight Feast by Lucy Foley
medium-paced
3.75
The thrilling last act made up for the dragged-out buildup, The Midnight Feast started off on shaky ground; while I enjoyed the luxury resort setting, and all the thriller must-haves (multiple POVs, multiple timelines, etc.), I found the character voices a little monotonous, and being constantly irritated by a particular writing choice. But in the end it did win me over with a satisfying closure, and the page-turning adrenaline I was seeking in a fun summer read.
The characters were intentionally unlikable—even the ones who turned out to be sympathetic were kept pretty aloof in order to spread suspicion. While this was a valid strategy to generate suspense, in execution Lucy Foley may have withheld some empathetic details for far too long, to the point I was not emotionally invested in the happenings, thereby dampening my desire to return to the novel.
Sadly The Midnight Feast also contained one of my pet peeve in fiction writing—using unrealistically detailed 'diary entries' as a storytelling device. These entries contained publication-worthy prose, documented every critical moment / dialog per verbatim—and supposedly written by a teenager. Intermixed between chapters, these poorly disguised flashbacks were the least successful aspect; would've preferred just a straightforward first-person or third-person point of view to get the information across.
To my (surprised) delight, the second half of the novel (particularly the last 30%) really ramped up on the action and reveal, and the connections mostly justified the glacier pace beforehand. Even though it wasn't difficult to detect plot holes aplenty (there was definitely a more civilized way to resolve the novel's central conflict), the melodramatic, unhinged chaos created enough dopamine-filled distraction that I was more than willing to disregard the lack of realism.
All in all, The Midnight Feast ended on a high, but preceded by a pretty uneven thriller experience. One's satisfaction will greatly depend on how one rate the payoff, but personally this is a step-up from The Paris Apartment, with better atmosphere, more well-rounded lore, and a better spread of character archetypes. Even though this hasn't quite made me a Lucy Foley convert, but it is moving in the right direction.
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**
The characters were intentionally unlikable—even the ones who turned out to be sympathetic were kept pretty aloof in order to spread suspicion. While this was a valid strategy to generate suspense, in execution Lucy Foley may have withheld some empathetic details for far too long, to the point I was not emotionally invested in the happenings, thereby dampening my desire to return to the novel.
Sadly The Midnight Feast also contained one of my pet peeve in fiction writing—using unrealistically detailed 'diary entries' as a storytelling device. These entries contained publication-worthy prose, documented every critical moment / dialog per verbatim—and supposedly written by a teenager. Intermixed between chapters, these poorly disguised flashbacks were the least successful aspect; would've preferred just a straightforward first-person or third-person point of view to get the information across.
To my (surprised) delight, the second half of the novel (particularly the last 30%) really ramped up on the action and reveal, and the connections mostly justified the glacier pace beforehand. Even though it wasn't difficult to detect plot holes aplenty (there was definitely a more civilized way to resolve the novel's central conflict), the melodramatic, unhinged chaos created enough dopamine-filled distraction that I was more than willing to disregard the lack of realism.
All in all, The Midnight Feast ended on a high, but preceded by a pretty uneven thriller experience. One's satisfaction will greatly depend on how one rate the payoff, but personally this is a step-up from The Paris Apartment, with better atmosphere, more well-rounded lore, and a better spread of character archetypes. Even though this hasn't quite made me a Lucy Foley convert, but it is moving in the right direction.
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**