A review by mjenae
The Midnight Orchestra by Jessica Khoury

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I like this one even better than the first one.

Reasons I loved it:

  1. Jai Kapoor, aka Amelia's best friend. He is funny, foolish, courageous, and the most loyal friend Amelia could ask for. He made me laugh multiple times.
    And his appearance in the rock band at the end was phenomenal.
  2. Miss Mott. Mood necklaces, meditation, yoga, origami. And amid it all, constant wisdom. Although she seems over-the-top, she actually knows what she's talking about when it comes to music composition.
  3. The emotion. Throughout the book, Amelia is struggling with facing her feelings about her father, who abandoned her as a child. Sadness, guilt, shame, and anger flow through her music and the pages of the book, fighting for attention. It makes for some impressive tear-jerking scenes.
  4. The chapter titles. The author chose to include the theme of music in (almost) every one (e.g. Going for Baroque, As a Meter of Fact, Give the Devil His Duet, Preventive Measures) and it worked so well for me. I thought it was very clever, and it usually made me laugh.
  5. The music. LISTEN TO THIS ON AUDIBLE. It's full of original songs, lilting softly behind the narration whenever a character plays a spell. And that final symphony—*chef's kiss.*

I do wish she'd write a third book. We never get a chance to see how Amelia deals with the fear of becoming like her father, or how it turns out for Mr. Midnight (who hopefully gets redemption—I didn't actually hate him). Miss Mott doesn't necessarily get a conclusion, either. I want to know what happens next.