Name: Almost Midnight: Two Short Stories by Rainbow Rowell
ISBN: 9781509869947

Rainbow Rowell

Almost Midnight by Rainbow Rowell is a beautiful gift edition containing two wintery short stories: 'Midnights' (previously published as part of the My True Love Gave to Me anthology, edited by Stephanie Perkins) and 'Kindred Spirits' (previously published as a World Book Day title), decorated throughout for the first time with gorgeous black and white illustrations.'Midnights' is the story of Noel and Mags, who meet at the same New Year's Eve party every year and fall a little more in love each time...'Kindred Spirits' is about Elena, who decides to queue to see the new Star Wars movie and meets Gabe, a fellow fan.

Almost Midnight: Two Short Stories by Rainbow Rowell

Andy Bayliss

super cute!
really enjoyed the second story, kindred spirits, it was adorable!

Actual rating: 2.5 stars


I was nervous picking up another book by Rainbow Rowell, even a short story one. I haven't decided how I feel about this author who seems to write with the intention of fluffy enjoyable stories but doesn't have a fantastic track record of sensitive representation.

If you don't know about the concerns surrounding her books, that's another story. This story was average. And that is honestly the best descriptor I have for it.



  
    "You're a kaleidoscope. You change every time I look away."
  



This 'collection' contains two short stories, Midnights and Kindred Spirits. Both were pretty boring in a cute fluffy way.

The first story is all fluff. It's a poorly developed romance that will make you feel warm in a tepid kinda way. I couldn't help but question the relationship between the MCs. With very little background of their relationship or lives, gauging the ship was difficult and kind of frustrating. 

The second story is long-winded. While the sentiment is there the story is just lacking by the time you get to the end. The MC in this book is Vietnamese but she has zero character development making the character inclusion feel tokenish (Full transparency that this is not a minority I identify with and therefore my opinion is just that: an outside opinion. I would love to link some #ownvoices reviews that discuss this point).



  
    "If you like someone, you should have to make an effort. You should have to work for that first kiss"
  



All in all this book is average. It has some entertainment value, but not much in my opinion.



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Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

This was so cute! I loved both of these stories, they were both so lovely.
Read on Christmas Eve (slash-until-1am-on-Christmas-morning) for my little #hashtagblessed readalong with Danielle and Laura.