I've heard many similarities between this, DoSaB (Daughter of Smoke and Bone) and The Mortal Instruments. However, since I haven't read DoSaB (I know, I know xD), this was a pretty solid fantasy for me. If you want the honest truth, this felt like a Percy Jackson novel. I know. Why? I don't know, really. It just had that sort of vibe. Except, obviously, PJO is much, much, MUCH better. Sorry :D 
 "Run when I have to, and fight to the end." -Echo, pg. 357 
 The blurb left me so confused, yet so intrigued. 
 From the very beginning, I thought that the enemy to the Avicen were humans. Blame my poor comprehension skills, but honestly. 
 "Are you flirting with me? Because you're cute enough, but you're not really my type." 
 I didn't like Echo. 
 Echo didn't work, for me. She was really reckless, and hated when anyone called her a little kid, when seriously, she acted just like one. Honestly, grow up. Her sarcastic tongue came up at the most RANDOM fucking moments. Sometime they would just make me lol out loud because they were just so hilarious. Also, she was the literal ONLY one who cussed. Which, I wouldn't care about if the other characters did it too, but Echo was literally the only one and the least mature. 
 HOWEVER. Books. Libraries. That's all I have to say. 
 "Finders, keepers, asshole." -Echo, pg. 128 
 Caius. 
 Everyone likes Caius. I find myself disliking most of the male leads these days. He was too quiet, and yes, he was brave, but dude, fucking STAND UP to your goddamned sister. And open your eyes. He literally could NOT tell that obvious crush that ____ had on him (read the book and find out). It was seriously so obvious, even I, the least romantic person ever, noticed. I also couldn't imagine Caius as being hot. I mean, that doesn't matter. But, I like to imagine these dudes before fangirling. I really must imagined Caius as a human with scales. And I imagine the Avicen as humans with feathers and black pupils, but that's what they are, right? 
 Secondary Characters. 
 I really would have appreciated more backstory on Ivy, or Echo's relationship with her boyfriend. Grey really only focused on Echo, and developing her as a character, leaving the rest of the characters boring and bland. 
 Pacing. 
 The pacing of this book was all over the place. The first half, I understand, was to develop the setting and characters and whatnot, but the second half. WHOA. The second half was freaking bomb. The action finally started happening. This might have made the book a bit rushed at the ending for me, but I enjoyed it. Thank god the ending wasn't a huge cliffhanger. Yeah, Grey leaves room for questioning, but she wrapped up the first book rather well, which I appreciated. 
 If you enjoy a good, solid fantasy, and you haven't read DoSaB, or don't care about originality, The Girl at Midnight would be a pretty good read.