Hey there, Germ readers!

We’ve reached our first check-in of the month for Melissa Grey’s The Girl at Midnight. I hope you’ve all read through chapter 20 and are ready for our discussion questions!

In the video below, I talk about my overall thoughts on the book thus far, and then I get into our questions, followed by my personal answers.

Here are the questions we’ll be discussing:

1) Names hold power within the Avicen culture. What do you think is the significance of Echo’s?

2) What do you think of the way romance is handled in the book through Echo and Rowan?

3) If you could harness the power of the firebird, what would you do?

Don’t forget that you can answer these questions on any social media platform. As long as you’re tagging #GERMreads, we’ll be able to find and connect with you. If you’re a little more long-winded, as I clearly am, you might consider joining our Goodreads group, which allows for more lengthy answers. Or, you could even make your own video, or you can comment right below this article. Your options abound.

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Here are my answers:

1) I really love the idea that the Avicen children choose their own names because I agree and have always believed that your name does hold a certain power — it’s a huge part of your identity. And even comparing Echo’s name to the Avicen’s — Ivy, Ruby, Flint, Daisy, etc. — her’s really did seem to stand out. I think she chose it because she is stealthy and a thief; she moves through the inbetween world and goes pretty much unseen. I think it’s also worth noting that she has left behind her own people and culture, so she’s kind of only an echo of who/what she was.

2) To be honest, I’m usually not a huge fan of romance in novels. It gets to be fairly melodramatic or tragic or what-have-you, and that tends to bug me more than anything else. That being said, I actually like the way their relationship has been handled. I like that it was pre-existing and that it feels real. It’s awkward and a little uncomfortable, but that’s just how new relationships are a lot of the time, especially at that age. Rowan really proved himself worthy for me when he sprung Echo from her jail cell. He so easily could have betrayed her, which I fully expected, but he didn’t. So, for now, I’m definitely good with their relationship within the story.

3) I would like to think that with the power of the firebird, I would use it for “mass good,” for lack of a better term. I would probably want to do something like eradicate world hunger. But, remembering what Ala said towards the beginning that the firebird can do “great things,” but that doesn’t necessarily mean good or bad. It’s neither good nor evil. That makes me think that I would have to treat it like a genie wish and be crazy specific. Because I can imagine trying to eradicate world hunger, which would mean that no one is ever hungry again. Then, we would all stop eating and then starve to death — basically resulting in the exact opposite of what I was trying to accomplish. Overall, it’s probably a power that I would hesitate to take on.

I can’t wait to hear from all of you, and if you have questions of your own, please shout them out and keep the discussion going!

We’ll meet back here on Saturday the 20th to discuss chapters 21-40. See you then!