A review by galaxiesofbooks
Middle of the Night by Riley Sager

mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

i’ve had a fair share of riley sager’s books now and i can tell this one was unfortunately my least favourite by far.

the only character i loved was henry—he was such a cutie and intelligent boy, plus he loved reading which i immediately loved about him.

the others i didn’t manage to connect with at all surprisingly, given that i usually love sager’s characters. they were a little boring and mundane to me.

i did like present chapters more than past ones because it actually creeped me out what ethan was going through at his yard and house so i preferred that over past chapters, but even then, sometimes it was boring to follow either pov.

granted, it was creepy and unsettling at first but once you realise where the story is going, you just feel underwhelmed.

i really wish riley sager wrote a deadass supernatural horror book because he is good at creating this eerie feeling and i always find myself wanting more of that.

also at the end i was ready to be done with it, it dragedddd ngl 😩

the plot… not for me. i didn’t really care about any of it apart from the institute but even that we got only a glimpse of. i wanted to know more what they’d done there and why it was there and for what purpose. i was really invested in that but we didn’t get nearly enough which was a shame.

overall, i don’t think i could recommend this to my book besties, i’d recommend reading home before dark (even tho the main plot twist was also frustrating but the creepy vibes were spot on), house across the lake or the only one left. i think these were definitely better than this one. sadly, middle of the night just didn’t work for me. 🤷🏻‍♀️