What Happens After Midnight (eARC) — 3.5 ⭐️

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 —
✌️Second Chance Romance
📺 Real-Life Pop Culture References
🔍 Scavenger Hunt
🥰 Feel-Good Story
🎓 School Romance
🔐 Closed Door Romance

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 —
👩‍👧 Lorelai and Rory Vibes
💖 Taylor Swift Lyrics
🃏Heists and Clues
📓 Private HS Drama
🩺 Diabetes Rep

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: I thought this was a really cute YA romance with a fun twist of senior pranks! Being so far removed from high school, I feel like I didn’t connect with the characters, but I still think the story was well written. It was especially fun picking out the Taylor Swift lyrics, which were subtle but well done.

𝐓𝐖: sexual content, profanity, medical content

Thank you, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire, for providing me an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This was a good contemporary YA novel that I would recommend to those who think it sounds interesting!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher

I simply adored this book. I had so much fun searching for all of the Taylor Swift references, and Taggart made my heart so happy. Lily is a great main character, strong but vulnerable. I love this author and will read anything she writes.

DNF @ 27%. It’s not you; it’s me. I’ve got nothing against YA; in fact, I usually enjoy YA. But these characters were so immature that it was annoying. I found myself annoyed more often than I was enjoying the book, and I’m a firm believer that books deserve readers who enjoy them. If you like Gilmore Girls-esque fanfic and just a how-many-references-can-I-get-away-with-in-one-book level of Taylor Swift allusions, you might be one of those readers.

Thank you to Netgalley for the e-arc !
The Summer of Broken Rules is one of my favorite books that I read in 2022 so I was ready to read K. L. Walther’s new book. I can’t tell you how happy I was when I was able to get an arc <3
This book is so cute !!!! All you need to know is second chance + boarding school senior prank + friendship. I loved reading and I was as curious as Lily to know what prank they would pull, what clues The Jester created and how they would manage to do everything after midnight !
All the references made me fall more in love with the book, there are tons of mentions of Taylor Swift and Schitt’s Creek ! And I can’t forget to tell you how beautiful and amazing was to read the relationship between Lily and Leda (Lily’s mom) and also Josh!
I hope everyone loves Lily and Tag just like I did <3

I really enjoyed the summer of broken rules and I was really excited for this one because of it and it didn't dissapointed!!!!

I really wanted to be part of this group and jump right into this book.

Also the taylor swift references?
LOVE IT

What Happens After Midnight introduces Lily Hopper, who attends an upscale boarding school in Rhode Island, because her mother is a faculty member. Each year the student body taps a "Jester," who masterminds an elaborate prank. This year Lily is mysteriously invited to join the Jester's pranksters to steal and hide the annual yearbooks, which are scheduled to be handed out by class president Daniel Rivera, Lily's prom date. When she finds out the Jester is Tag Swell, her ex-boyfriend, whom she still loves, she almost backs out. Tag has planned a complicated scavenger hunt for Daniel to complete in order to find the yearbooks. Hiding the clues requires the use of her mother's keys, which Lily reluctantly steals. Of course, the pranksters set out at midnight to steal the yearbooks and hide the clues. As Lily and Tag work together, they revisit their two-year relationship via flashbacks. They dodge school security, faculty members and fellow students who are also out after midnight. Tag's Type 1 diabetes is woven into the story, creating complications in completing the prank. Old feelings resurface and Lily realizes that the biggest obstacle to their happiness was Lily's insecurity about other girls vying for Tag's attention, and that he was only marking time until he could convince her to give him a second chance. Swift action and near misses in getting caught, as well as the "will they, won't they get back together" question, make this a real page turner.

What Happens After Midnight is the perfect one-night mystery for fans of second-chance romances and boarding school antics.

I thought that the plot and storyline were really interesting, and not something that I’ve seen very often in Young Adult novels. Despite the majority of the novel happening in one night, there was still a very full story and it worked well for the length of the novel. With that being said, I do think the main prank was a little drawn out, and too complicated. We don’t actually get to see the aftermath played out in full, which was a little disappointing.

The romance between Tag and Lily was sweet, but I had a lot of questions that were left unanswered, and because it does take place over a short period of time, the romance happens very quickly. There’s a history that isn’t really mentioned which makes it difficult to pinpoint the reason for the breakup.I don’t think the romance needed to happen, as it would’ve made sense for them to stay as friends during the course of the novel, as it would’ve led to a similar outcome anyway.

Because it was a very in-depth prank to pull for their senior year, and the main plot of the novel, I feel like it could’ve been better. I do think that it was funny and made sense, but I wish we could’ve seen more and learned a little more about the characters in the process. There are a few characters who you suddenly learn a lot about, and I felt like it was very rushed. I also have mixed feelings about the pop-culture references, namely Taylor Swift and Schitt’s Creek. Some of them were well used, and others felt a bit like a quota that needed to be filled and were very repetitive.

That being said, it was an extremely easy read, and very enjoyable. I would definitely bring this on a vacation or recommend this as an introduction to teen mystery.

Thank you to NetGalley, SOURCEBOOKS Fire, and the author for allowing me to read an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

2.5 stars.
Lily joined the year-end prank group without knowing that the mysterious leader is none other than her ex. The ex who she still has feelings for. But it’s too late to back up, so the only option is to get through the midnight shenanigans hiding prank clues across campus.

There’s A LOT of Taylor Swift lyric references, some fit well, some felt forced. And it’s clear that that's intentional, not from the author herself because I spotted none Midnights lyrics. I guess by the time the album comes out, it’s too late to add them to the draft. Zero score for originality. The romance also felt… just so-so. It was fun, and that’s it.

This book was adorable! I absolutely loved the fun and cuteness of this book. Lily is adorable. I found myself routing for her throughout the book. The story of Tag and Lily is cute and I loved the prank idea. I did think the book could have been shorter. I found myself a little bored halfway through the book. The Taylor Swift references kept me wanting to read ♥️♥️

This was a fun, sweet YA romcom. I really enjoyed the banter, the relationships between the characters as well as the lovely mother-daughter relationship, and the swiftie references throughout. However it got kind of long and repetitive after a while and felt like it was being dragged out a bit by the end.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

3.25🌟 i loved the summer of broken rules, so i was super highly anticipating this book! i think KL Walther writes such fun, unique YA plots that feel so summery and youthful and this one is no exception. the setting of pulling off a complex senior prank with your ex-boyfriend is the perfect recipe for a second chance romance.

because this takes place over the course of a week-ish, i do think this relies a lot on the second chance element to do the heavy lifting on their relationship. it focuses mainly on the plot with small interludes to let us know that they never stopped loving each other. also, at times i felt like this was a taylor swift mad-lib. i don't know if it would be as obvious to someone who doesn't know her music, but as someone who does listen, i even felt like there were too many direct lines included. overall, this is a fun, quick read, but not my fave by this author!

*thank you Sourcebooks & Netgalley for the eARC!

This was cute and fun, maybe a good vacation read for a young teen. The Taylor Swift and Schitt's Creek references kept me going, plus the Rhode Island prep school setting, but otherwise the plot and the pacing were meh. I should have guessed that this basically all takes place in one night, with teens sneaking all over campus to play a prank. I would have recommended Today Tonight Tomorrow as a more exciting one-night romance involving a secret mission.

I enjoyed book 1 with all those games and fun activities but this one felt so plain and repetitive. DNFed at 50%

This was a sweet second chance rom-com! It’s getting to be the end of boarding school, and Lily Hopper is so excited. However, the senior class has not pulled the prank yet. Every year a Jester is picked to conduct the senior prank, and this year, it’s Lily’s Ex-boyfriend, Taggart Swell. When he taps her and some others to help him, she doesn’t know if she can be around him. On top of that, there’s so many rules that they are breaking.

This was so cute, and it brought me back to my high school days of senior pranks! I love the creativity of the prank, and the cast of characters that were picked to help carry out the prank.

Then there’s Tag and Lily. They seem so good together, but why did they break up in the first place? I won’t tell you that. Walther was able to make them seem seamless. You could tell that they had their own language, that they were once super comfortable with each other, and that it was them against the world at one point.

I even loved Lily’s mother. While at times she was your typical mother, there were other times where she was “cool.” She and Lily were obviously very close and it made me jealous. I hope that I turn out to be the cool mom!

I really enjoyed this one and I think those who enjoy romance will too!

This one is so sweet and wholesome. I love the dynamic of the school and Tag and Lily. It's very relatable and sweet to read about their story,

When a book uses phrases like “dousche canoe” “for f*cks sake” & uses Schitts Creek/Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm references you know it has to be good, right?!

W͟h͟a͟t͟ I͟ e͟n͟j͟o͟y͟e͟d͟:
•mother/daughter relationship
•mystery & romance-ish
•banter, some lol moments
•overall storyline/senior prank
•atmosphere

W͟h͟a͟t͟ I͟ d͟i͟d͟n͟’t͟ e͟n͟j͟o͟y͟:
•Way. Too. Longgggggg!!!
•YA not my cup of tea
•Tag
•Nicknames were cringe
•Everything you need to know is in the synopsis

If you enjoy a YA romance/mystery then definitely check this one out. I’m glad I gave it a chance and not every book is for everyone. Thank you for the advanced copy NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire!

This was a fun little romp into pulling pranks, but make it set at a boarding school. Walther tends to write stories set at boarding school. I read "If We Were Us" by Walther and I had some icky feelings about that book so I wasn't sure if I would like this one or not. Thankfully, this book didn't have any of those icky feelings (no forced outings of characters) so I found I enjoyed it significantly more.

Lily is wrapping up the final weeks of boarding school before graduation when she is roped into helping with the senior class prank. Unfortunately for her, the Jester is her ex-boyfriend, Tag, which brings up a lot of unwanted feelings.

While this book is full of lots of ya tropes that may make some readers roll their eyes, there are enough other redeeming qualities about this book that will keep most readers coming back for more. I liked how the senior prank wouldn't actually hurt people and didn't cost money. It was fun to experience the campus with Lily and Tag and see them reconnect after time spent apart.

A fun young adult novel!

With so many Taylor Swift references and beautiful setting descriptions, this book is a favorite of mine. I loved the relationship between the characters and I love a good found family, and this was perfectly executed. The plot was interesting, and something I have not seen before, and the setting was beautiful. I loved this book & it’s one of my favorites of the year!