I own two other Rachel Griffin books, regrettably I haven’t been in the mood to read them yet. I think I am now. I read Spells for forgetting shortly before starting this and the beginning had me thinking maybe the worlds were the same somehow, but they’re not. While this book is YA through and through, that shouldn’t put anyone off from reading it. Rachel Griffin shares her love of nature and the earth through Tana. I really enjoyed the way that Tana grows and learns slowly about the real world after living blind for so long. I definitely recommend this one.

I don't read much YA fiction these days, but I couldn't resist a new YA witchy read from Rachel Griffin since I loved her first two books so much. Filled with the lush, atmospheric writing I've come to expect from Griffin, Bring Me Your Midnight did not disappoint either.

Set on a small island inhabited by witches, this story immediately drew me in as soon as we learn that Mortana Fairchild, a young witch and the protagonist of the story, is preparing to marry Landon, who is the governor's son and who is also not a witch. It is an arranged marriage that is designed for forge an alliance between the island witches and the mortals who live on the mainland. Mortana is willing to go along with the marriage out of a sense of duty to her coven but she doesn't have any real feelings for Landon.

Over the years Tana's coven has alleviated the fears of those on the mainland by performing a ritual that releases most of their magic into the ocean during the full moon. When Mortana accidentally misses the ritual, she is afraid to tell her mother and so is at risk of dying, unless she can find someone to help her. That someone ends up being Wolfe, a handsome witch from a coven who practices forbidden magic. Mortana is not only physically attracted to Wolfe, but she's also very attracted to his forbidden magic and how powerful and alive it makes her feel. Wolfe not only opens her eyes to this new magic, but he also reveals to her that most of her life she has been living a lie.

I loved the chemistry between Mortana and Wolfd and I was completely rapt by this storyline. I couldn't stop turning the pages to find out how Mortana would react to her attraction to Wolfe and to this new knowledge that secrets and lies have colored her entire world.

This one is perfect for fans of:

Witchy Reads
Forbidden Love
Small Town/Island Settings
Atmospheric Writing

Tana Fairchild’s fate has never been in question. Her life has been planned out since the moment she was born. Only one things stands between her and her fate - Wolfe. Wolfe claims to be from another coven, a coven that practices dark magic. As the sea grows more violent, her coven loses control of the currents, a danger that could destroy the alliance as well as her island. Tana will have to choose between love and duty, between loyalty to her people and loyalty to her heart. Marrying Landon would secure peace for her coven but losing Wolfe and his wild magic could cost her everything else.

Bring Me Your Midnight is a deeply emotional young adult read featuring family and duty, magic and love and a desire to be something more. The atmosphere is brilliant, setting the perfect scene for a witchy and eccentric read - while the setting itself is described well and easy to understand. Tana is a wonderful FMC, making decisions for herself but also for her family. She is very likable and has great chemistry with the other characters in the book.

This would be perfect for you if you're a fan of finding young love, hidden islands and magic systems, arranged marriage and beautiful chemistry between the love interests. Bring Me Your Midnight is available now. Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Fire and Rachel Griffin for an advanced copy for review.

I absolutely adored this book. Rachel’s writing style charmed me immediately, along with all of the characters in the story. Tana is such a believable character who has to decide between duty and what she truly wants. She struggles so deeply with her decisions, finding out how she wants to live her life. I found myself reading faster than I imagined, and loving every second of it. What a remarkable book!

thank you to netgalley and sourcebook fire for providing me with an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review

dnf

i was very excited to read this book because i loved the previous novel by this author but this one wasn’t for me. i tried hard not to drop this book but i failed. the characters were uninteresting and the plot was nonexistent. big disappointment.

Personally not my cup of tea, There were redeeming parts of the story but I feel like everything happened a little too fast maybe. but the world building I have to say was interesting. I would love to see what happens next. It has potential

This book took my breath away and firmly claimed a place in my book loving heart.

It was cozy, and beautiful, and enchanting, and heartbreaking all at once.

Our FMCs struggle between duty and love, a destiny written by others and the possibility of a path she could choose for herself, is so beautifully written. You feel Mortana's fear and anxiety flicker to hope and love as her world unravels around her.

The supporting characters are also so well written, that you cannot help but smile when they pop up. Even through confusion and fear, the love of Mortana's best friend never truly wavers. Even as secrets come to light and as Mortana questions everything around her, making decisions that go against everything she has been raised to become, her parents still support her in the end.

There is so much I could say about this book, but I'll just stop here as it still swirls around my brain. I loved every bit of it.

I loved this one. Every Rachel Griffin book is a delight and I'm so glad the trend continues. I loved the forbidden romance and how she developed this witchy world. I was drawn in & stayed hooked the whole time. A for me.

Bring Me Your Midnight was enjoyable and easy to read, but it didn’t stand out for me.

With a strong premise and fleshed out world, Griffin brings forth a story where somehow no one is the true villain and yet there is a good conflict propelling the story.

While I loved the overall vibes of this book, it was a bit too simple for me. I acknowledge this is a YA book, but I think we don’t give younger readers the credit they deserve. They truly can handle more complex world building, characters and plots.

I wish there was more banter. Without giving too much away, there was potential for a strong lead up, tension and even conflict between certain love or potential love interests.

I wanted a stronger resolve at the end as well because the conflict felt all encompassing, so when the resolution came to light, it felt a bit anticlimactic.

It had all the aspects of an incredible read, but it fell a bit on the safer side and needed a little amplification in all aspects.

Great story line! Kept me engaged from the very beginning. Believable characters, with backdrop stories of their own… It would be nice to read more about Ivy. Or a prequel of the events that took place with their ancestors.

This fantasy will sweep you off of your feet and hook you from the very first page! I literally found it hard to stop

Thank you to NetGallery and Sourcebooks for this free review copy. All opinions are my own.

Rachel Griffin is an amazing author. She writes books that really immerse into the story and bring you along. I really love how there are some high stakes in her books, but a lot of is atmospheric and you are just alone for the ride.

The way she writes her characters and the way she creates worlds are brilliant. I was a bit concerned about the ending as I wasn't sure how it would go to the happy ending I wished for.

Really enjoyed this one, and plan to purchase a physical copy for myself.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

As a big fan of Griffin's other Pacific Northwest witchy YA novels, I went into this one very excited. Unfortunately, BRING ME YOUR MIDNIGHT missed the mark for me. The tropes were just too much... Tana being "not like other girls", Tana never practicing high magic before but seems to be a natural at it the first time she does (and potentially more powerful than any other witch), and our broody, kind of mean at first love interest being named Wolfe was all a little on the nose. There is a plot point reveal around the 80% mark where Tana learns something about her mother's past before she met Tana's dad that just... honestly gave me the ick. While the connection to that part of the Witchery's history was needed for the larger plot, it didn't have to be what it was to have still been impactful.

The whole arranged marriage between Tana and Landon as a way to save her entire coven... and that Tana is the ONLY person that can make this alliance happen was uncomfortable. Yes arranged marriages for political alliances are historical accurate, but in a novel with a somewhat modern setting (electricity, phones, vehicles) it just didn't sit well with me that this was supposed to be ok and that even Tana's best friend was pushing so hard for it despite Tana clearly struggling with it. With all of this Tana reads both way too young and way too old for the age she's supposed to be.

What Griffin does nail once again is the beautiful relationship between magic and nature along with giving readers a Pacific Northwest vibe and setting... I'd LOVE to visit the Witchery. I really enjoyed the concept of Tana's coven expelling their excess magic into the sea making a negative impact on the environment along with having space in the novel dedicated to acknowledging the issue and making a plan to fix it.

I went through a lot of emotions in regards to Ivy throughout the novel, but I'm happy with how that piece of the plot plays out. And even though I don't like that he was part of the whole arranged marriage situation, I adored Tana's dad.

Advanced Reader’s Copy provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! One of the first books in a while that managed to keep me up almost all night because I couldn’t put it down. Once I was done I wanted to flip back to the first page so I could read it all over again. There were parts that got me crying, parts where I was sure nothing was going to work out for our heroes, and so many parts that put a huge grin on my face.

When I first started reading this book, it was easy to draw parallels to many dystopian romance novels where the main character realizes that everything they thought they knew about their world was wrong. But quickly, this book managed to set itself apart with its deep nuance and the beautiful romance. The world building is so deceptively simple, I could talk about it for hours.

Keywords: enchanting, magical, witchy, atmospheric, emotional, passionate,

👍
+ Wolfe is such an amazing book boyfriend, he makes it on my top book boyfriends list for sure. He lives life so fully. He loves fully too. The way he loves Tana felt so pure and magical.
+ I loved the intricacies of the world building, how there wasn’t a clear wrong or right side, but these different communities that were all taught to fear the other, thinking they’re right for doing what they can to protect themselves. The discussions between Tana and Wolfe about their own perspectives on their lifestyle was really interesting, and was a great mirror for how easy it is for us to not be able to relate to others with different cultures or beliefs.
+ Not just the world, and not just the MCs but all the other characters are also flawed, and faceted. There are no true villains or heroes, everyone is just trying to do the best they can with what they know.
+ In the book the MC’s main struggle is a decision between doing something for herself or for her community. I loved how this was delved into from every aspect, how being selfish was framed as the difficult thing to do, and how the MC’s turmoil was handled so genuinely, switching day to day.
+ The imagery is so strong in this book, reading is a whole visual experience.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for this eARC!

Bring Me Your Midnight is a lovely book full of romance, Magic, and challenging long held beliefs.

I absolutely found this book to be not only beautiful but truly magical. Grifffin has a writing style that is so lovely and just had me hooked from the first few pages. I absolutely can not truly put into words her writing style without saying it is something truly magical and made me feel like I was reading art that would be displayed in a museum.

In this book I found myself trying to learn more about the mystery surrounding the discoveries made by Tana. As a reader I loved going on the journey of discovering the truth along with her, and at some points truly felt a sense of betrayal because I was so immersed in this world.

As the hopeless romantic I am, I absolutely loved every moment of seeing Tana and Wolfe’s relationship bloom like the moon flower that is prevalent and central to the story. It was an amazing journey to see them both learn that their held beliefs may not be as black and white as they thought. And through those discoveries they are able to learn more about the world around them and find love together. By moving past the prejudices they held towards each other’s covens they are able to not only fall in love, but find a way to save their island and bring the two covens together. In a lot of ways they are able to bring balance back to nature and the witches in general.

The Magic system is also extremely awe inspiring and well developed. I loved seeing the Magic all stemming from nature and how they two interacted together. I think it’s so incredible important that this books touches on so many things we see happening in nature in our own world. And while they are able to help solve some of the problems through their connection to Magic that comes from nature, I think it was an amazing reminder that we should all step in to find a way to alleviate the damage we have done to our own natural world. Plus I always feel like Magic and nature are intertwined in our world, and loved to see the two connected in this lovely world.

I would also like to say I love that Griffin touched on how fear can lead people to hide and make life altering decisions. It was such a beautiful way to show how much fear can be a driving force to things happening around us. Like the witches being attacked, the way the witches changed their whole world to appear less powerful, and of course a group in hiding due to the fear from both the humans and other witches. I just found the entire story to be filled with so many deep and meaningful conversations, while still feeling romantic and lush with its beautiful prose.

I know, I know, this is a little late but thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for allowing me to read and review Bring Me Your Midnight, which is out now. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

There will be spoilers ahead!

Rachel Griffin has a distinctive way of storytelling that I love. Her writing is like an autumn night by the fire with a blanket and a comfort read. It's warm, inviting, and atmospheric. Bring Me Your Midnight is Rachel Griffin's third novel featuring witches.

Mortana is a nineteen year old witch whose induction ceremony is coming up on her twentieth birthday and she has been betrothed to Landon, a mainlander/non-magical folk, to help better her coven and mainlander alliance. During what is called a 'rush', where the witches release an excess of magic into the sea, she misses this important ceremony and runs, literally, into Wolfe Hawthorne, a witch who is not part of her coven. She asks Wolfe to help her relieve the excess magic and she learns with every 'rush' it is damaging the sea, everything she thought she knew is wrong, and the coven has been lied to by Tana's mother, who is the leader of the coven.

For those thinking this has a love triangle, it doesn't. It is barely there. Landon is on page, maybe about 4 times throughout the whole story. He is upfront about this being a loveless marriage and doesn't make any promises except to treat Tana well. He is a cardboard cut-out in place for conflict. Wolfe is the main love interest and there are some swoony moments between the two but I also didn't feel the 'spark' like Tana did. Their romance felt like a basic formula for YA books. I enjoyed it but it is nothing remarkable.

The 'memory loss' trope is used here and my gosh I did not enjoy reading the book during those chapters. If you can find the page where Ivy, Tana's best friend, explains what happened with Wolfe, the conflict of the story, and then keep reading - you pretty much got the gist of what happened beforehand. I felt like I wasted my time reading about 250 pages just to be told a summary of what happened. Twice. There is definitely a repetitiveness towards the end of the book as Tana is trying to remember what happened with Wolfe, Ivy, and her family.

I had a problem with Tana because while I understood her situation I couldn't get behind her thought-process and how easily manipulated she was. She basically went through finding out a couple of 'plot twists' and revelations, said 'okay' and then willingly took a 'memory eraser'. Instead of the memory loss trope, I wish Tana reacted differently. Maybe write her as being angry and betrayed instead of becoming so docile and accommodating to those who lied to her. There was more emotion written from Ivy's view of things than Tana, and Ivy never had a POV chapter like Wolfe did.

I think Ivy would have been the better choice to align the Witchery and the mainland than Tana. I get why Tana was chosen but maybe it would have made for a better story if she wasn't the 'chosen one'.

While I was not wholly crazy about the execution of the ending, and the decision to use the 'memory loss' trope, I did find Bring Me Your Midnight an entertaining and engaging read. I love the way Rachel Griffin writes witches in general. I do look forward to reading more witchy reads from her in the future. Though, I am curious if she is able to write about other topics but I guess this is one of those things where if it ain't broke, why change it?

I do recommend Bring Me Your Midnight if you enjoyed The Nature of Witches, Wild is the Witch, and The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford.

3.5 stars

Absolutely could not put it down! The author created a world and magic that drew me in. The chemistry between Mortana and Wolf was there even when she couldn’t remember him. I hope this is the begin of a series because I need to go back to the Witchery.

Bring Me Your Midnight

By: Rachel Griffin

Publish Date: 1 August 2023

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire, Source books Fire

Sci-Fi and Fantasy/Teens and YA

100 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to thank both NetGalley and Sourcebooks fire for allowing me to read and review this book.

Good Reads Synopsis:

Tana Fairchild’s fate has never been in question. Her life has been planned out since the moment she was born: she is to marry the governor’s son, Landon, and secure an unprecedented alliance between the witches of her island home and the mainlanders who see her very existence as a threat.

Tana’s coven has appeased those who fear their power for years by releasing most of their magic into the ocean during the full moon. But when Tana misses the midnight ritual—a fatal mistake—there is no one she can turn to for help…until she meets Wolfe.

Wolfe claims he is from a coven that practices dark magic, making him one of the only people who can help her. But he refuses to let Tana’s power rush into the sea, and instead teaches her his forbidden magic. A magic that makes her feel powerful. Alive.

As the sea grows more violent, her coven loses control of the currents, a danger that could destroy the alliance as well as her island. Tana will have to choose between love and duty, between loyalty to her people and loyalty to her heart. Marrying Landon would secure peace for her coven but losing Wolfe and his wild magic could cost her everything else.

Book Review:

I really enjoyed this book and gave it 4 stars. I enjoyed the friendship between Tana and Ivy. No matter what happens they are there for each other. Tana family stands behind her even though her mom is the leader of the coven.

Tana has always known that she is supposed to marry the governor’s son from the mainland, and she has never questioned it. Then one night she sees a light in the sea and goes to find out what it is and meets Wolfe. Wolfe is from a different on the same island she lives on. She never knew of this coven. He upsets her world by telling her things that are the opposite of what she has always known. What does she do now? Does she believe him or her mom the leader of her coven?

This is beautifully written, and you don’t want to put the book down because you want to know what she decides. At some parts of the book, I was almost in tears because of how she felt and the decisions she had to make. She feels she needs to what her coven expects her do but she also wants too finally be herself.

I highly recommend this book.

Rachel Griffin continues to write the most wonderfully atmospheric novels that make you want to go to the settings she's inspired by.

I loved watching Tana learn about her magic and her world as her relationship with Wolfe developed. She was such a strong character and I loved seeing her already be in love with her magic and the sea at the start of the novel. Wolfe is passionate, loyal, and unrelenting in ensuring that Tana knows she has choices. I loved Tana's friend and the relationship Tana shared with her father, it was so special!

This book had me anxious, tearing up, and smiling with joy. If you're looking for a witchy book to get you in the mood for fall and spooky season, I absolutely recommend that you pick this book up!

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Bring Me Your Midnight by Rachel Griffin!