The Midnight Strike #1

ARC provided by NetGalley and Simon and Maverick via LibroFM

Author: E. Salvador

Narrators: Frankie Corzo and Oscar Reyes

Thanks, @netgalley, @simonmaverickaudio and @librofm for the copies. 

Josefine and Danny meet at a traumatic moment: she’s about to jump off a cliff and end it all on Christmas Eve. That’s when Danny begs her: Please Don’t Go.  From there, a strange friendship develops. Danny’s also going through severe trauma that he hides under a smile and a playful demeanor. 

One post-it note at a time, Danny and Jos start developing feelings. But their souls need to heal before they can truly be there for each other. 

When a story lets you know in the first scene that you’re going to have your heat broken, you buckle up. This one doesn’t hit you with trauma after trauma but it shows what it’s like to deal with unresolved issues that eat at your soul. A former Olympian and a MLB sure thing  dealing with (or rather not dealing with) monumental grief. 

Josefine is lost and Danny shows up at the right time. But Danny is equally adrift in life, hiding behind a happy go lucky façade. You feel so much for both of them and Danny is made of the stuff of dreams – swoony, with a heart of gold and handsome to boot. 

I have to say that my only gripe is that this goes on for too long. I opted for listening to the audiobook and it helped going through the almost 15 hours because the narration is outstanding. Narrated dual style by Frankie Corzo and Oscar Reyes, who shine here. Frankie’s soothing voice and incredible performance make me want to look for her other works.  I joke that Oscar cornered the market for ‘sad. tortured boys’ and he excels here, especially with Danny being the greenest of flags. Oscar’s voice fits him to a T. 

It’s incredible how a ‘quiet’ book can make you feel so much.

Representation: MCs are second generation Mexican-Americans

Content notes (including but not limited to): grief, loss of loved ones, PTSD, depression, panic attack on page, thalassophobia/aquaphobia, attempted suicide, toxic relationship with a parent

Story

Narration