WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT
Author: April Genevieve Tucholke
Genre: Young Adult, Mystery
Goodreads Score: 3.42
My Score: 4
Things I Disliked: Plot could be confusing at times.
Things I Liked: Voice, voice, voice.
Review in a sentence: Watch as poor, sweet Midnight tries to find out what the fuck is going on.
From Goodreads
“Every story needs a hero. Every story needs a villain. Every story needs a secret.
Wink. Poppy. Midnight.
Two girls. One boy. One summer.
One bad thing.
What really happened?
Someone knows. Someone is lying.”
(From book flap)
I’m interning at two different jobs this summer. One is for a small publishing press, and the other is a book scouting position. Because of this, I am constantly submerged in all things books (living the dream!), and as a result, my TBR list has grown to be about a million miles long.
However, while WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT wasn’t actually on my list, the cover (a colorful mix of icons against a black background) and title intrigued me enough that I read the first page. I bought it immediately.
April Genevieve Tucholke writes with such a distinctive voice–clear and eloquent, not overly verbose, but somehow melodic. The book is first person narration told from the alternating viewpoints of the three title characters (yes, Wink, Poppy, and Midnight are the names of the characters, not some strange code) and each character is written with a strong, clear, very Them style that you can immediately recognize. I was hooked from chapter one, and continued to be hooked.
That was the highlight of the book.
The plot itself was strange. Which doesn’t mean bad. Just…interesting. Essentially, we have a total mean girl named Poppy who likes to play people just for kicks. Poor Midnight, so sweet and clueless, has been in love with Poppy for a long time, and she alternates between mocking him and sleeping with him. Towards the beginning of the book, Midnight moves from Poppy’s neighborhood to a house next to Wink, who is the local oddball. Midnight starts to shake off Poppy’s nefarious clutches as he becomes closer to Wink, but Poppy does not approve. The not-so-love triangle comes to its peak one night in the forest, in an abandoned house rumored to be haunted. There, something happens…but nobody knows quite what.
From the cover, we know that there’s a hero, a villain, and a liar in the book, and as the book is told in first person, it’s clear we have a classic case of the Unreliable Narrator. This provides tension as we wonder who has the nerve to be lying to us in their own thoughts–or, if not lying, at least deflecting the truth.
But when truths start to be revealed, I was left doing the whole ‘wuuuuuuuh’ thing. Not in an ‘oh my God, wait WHAT, WHAT, WHAAAAT. AMAZING PLOT TWIST’ sense. More like in an ‘I’m so confused, but ok, cool. That’s fine. I’m fine’ way.
In a sense, the blurry surrealism of the plot mimics the eccentricities of the characters, and after the book I was left feeling thoughtful, torn, and ready to find another one of Tucholke’s works.
Have you read WINK POPPY MIDNIGHT? If so, what’d you think? What books are on your TBR lists? What are you favorite books with unreliable narrators? Let me know in the comments below!
Currently Reading: STAR-TOUCHED QUEEN by Roshani Chokshi and COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas
Recently Finished: NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman
Raised Reading 
I also gave this book four stars. Yes, it was a little confusing at times, but Tucholke’s writing was superb and I loved how vivid she wrote her characters. Nice review!
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Thanks! I agree with you completely…the characters really popped off the page, and her writing just reeled me in. What did you think of the ending?
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I finished the book and just sat there for a while, wondering, “What did I just read?” I think a part of me is still reeling. What did you think?
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I immediately went back and started re-reading certain parts, trying to merge the knowledge with my first reading of the book. I think it did make sense, I just hadn’t been expecting the motivation behind everything AT ALL.
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Everyone’s personalities took an unexpected shift. I knew something unexpected was going to happen, but I also didn’t forsee what did in fact unfold.
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I’ve read varying reviews about this book. Mostly that it’s an odd duck. I don’t know. As much as it sounds nice, my reading tastes tend to be simple. So this one might just be out of my reach.
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Hmm, it is definitely unconventional, but that’s story wise. The writing itself isn’t experimental, so maybe you’d still enjoy parts of it!
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