This book really had me captured. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I loved how passionate Beatrice was for equal rights for men and for women, and that you shouldn’t have to give up your dreams to follow someone else’s. It’s a great book with a great message. Even though the ending felt kind of rushed, I liked the way it ended. It feels open at the same time as it feels like a closure.

The reason it didn’t get a full five stars is because I would have loved to know more about the world and the magic system. It seemed really intriguing, and I wanted to explore more of it.

The Midnight Bargain is the latest novel to come from C.L. Polk (famous for Witchmark and other novels). It's one part fantasy, one part historical romance, with the end result being such a unique experience to read.

Beatrice Clayborn was born to wield powerful magic. Unfortunately, she lives in a society that doesn't see it that way. In her world, women with magic are branded and cut off from their magic – to protect their future children.

That isn't the life that Beatrice wants to live. She wants to be a mage, true and proper. She doesn't want to meet society's expectations, or the expectations of her family, for that matter. Thus, she has devised a plan to forge a path to what she wants.

“The talent for sorcery in women is a curse when it ought to be a blessing.”

The Midnight Bargain is a shockingly intense and fascinating read. It is a fantasy novel, yes, but the addition of many other elements brings it to an entirely new level. The inclusion of historical romance added tender touches, while the debates surrounding rights, treatment of women, and societal expectations weighed down the novel – rightly so.

It has been a long time since I read a novel so rich and detailed. The Midnight Bargain well and truly got to me. So much so that I actually felt a strong hesitation to finish the book – some part of me wanted to stop before Beatrice's actions hit the point of no return. I feared for her, and feared the emotions her story would bring about in me.

That's how you know that a book has truly sunk its teeth into you, as opposed to the other way around. For that reason alone, I think that The Midnight Bargain is going to linger in the forefront of my mind for quite some time.

“This was everything she needed. No man would have a woman with such an alliance. Her father would see the benefit of keeping her secret, to use her greater spirit to aid him in his business speculations. She would be free. A mage. This was her miracle.”

There are plenty of curiosities in this world. From the magic, to the spirits summoned within, and the reactions to those with power. I was truly surprised by the depth found within – how hard Beatrice and other women like her fought for the right to be who (and what) they are.

In a way, it almost reminded me of Little Women. Endearingly so, if I might say so. The determination, the drive, and even the resistance all felt achingly familiar. Though perhaps I am the only one that walked away with that impression, it's hard to say. I would love to hear other inputs on the matter.

One thing is certain, I greatly enjoyed The Midnight Bargain, even if it did cause a bit of emotional distress during the reading. Likewise, I sincerely cannot wait to see what C.L. Polk comes up with next (and yes, Witchmark is already on my TBR list!).

I found the concept and the magical world of The Midnight Bargain extremely interesting. The pace was a bit slow at the beginning, which allowed me to get immersed in this fantasy world where women's magic abilities are taken away from them when they marry. Once the story picked up the pace, I was absolutely addicted to this unusual mix of romance and fantasy.

This book was the perfect blend of Regency era-esque courtship drama mixed with fantasy and magic and I loved every bit of it! This was such a cleverly done story and I really enjoyed Beatrice as a main character and her development over the course of the book. The magic system was also really interesting and I thought the world building was well done - it never felt too overwhelming while also giving just enough relevant information. The side characters were also really well done and were written very complexly. Overall, I thought it was a really solid fantasy story that also felt tinged with historical fiction in a super cool way. A great story all around!

Although I tried many times, I just could not get into The Midnight Bargain by CL Polk. The characters seemed one dimensional and although the setting was rich, the characters by contrast were not. They did not hold my interest and I could not struggle through the novel. I hope that others had a better time with this novel than I did, I never got past 22%.

Thank you to the author, Erewhon Books and NetGalley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

"The Midnight Bargain" is a beautiful blend of original fantasy and regency tinged romance with a backbone. At once an engaging tale of romance, magic, and an examination of women’s lives under a patriarchal society, "The Midnight Bargain" will sweep you away.

All Beatrice Clayborn has ever wanted is to become a Magus. She has a strong gift and the dedication to study, but women aren’t allowed to practice the higher magics. Ladies with the talent must marry. And in this world, marriage means being locked away in a collar that will suppress a woman’s magic for the rest of her child bearing years.

Forced to take part in the Bargaining Season, Beatrice is determined to track down the secret grimoires that can teach her how to become a Magus before her father completes a deal for her hand in marriage. Things quickly get complicated when another sorceress snatches the very tome Beatrice needs from her hands - and introduces Beatrice to her brother. Torn between her only chance at a life of magic and a man she grows to realize she may love, Beatrice finds herself in a quickly closing trap that will save her family but spell the end of her study of magic - and her freedom.

Female empowerment is an often neglected theme in fantasy novels, more frequently books casually support male dominated societies that are a reflection of our own. "The Midnight Bargain" chooses instead to examine what it means to be a woman living under the thumb of her father or husband. What freedoms must be sacrificed for a family when women’s lives are a black or white choice? Why are women the ones who have to make this sacrifice? Isn’t there a better way? Placing this examination against a familiar feeling background with rules any woman who grew up on "Pride and Prejudice" will recognize, makes that argument hit harder. This is a society with rules we understand because it’s so close to that of our own culture’s past.

Written in an open engaging style, "The Midnight Bargain" is a fast paced novel that draws a reader in and keeps them turning the page. That’s not to say it is entirely without flaw. The plot is often predictable and hits all the expected beats. However, while more creativity in plotting would have served this book well, it is still an enjoyable storyline with interesting world building that is a satisfying read. Once started, you’ll want to see it to the end.

Spoiler free review posted on Instagram and Goodreads October 12. With spoilers review will go on my personal blog October 15.

Gifted eARC from NetGalley and Erewhon.

I was so looking forward to reading this book. The regency romance and magic combo is so rare to find (I haven't seen one come across my radar since Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer).

Chasland is a fantasy, England inspired island, set in a Georgian like time period. Every year, women who are looking for a husband have their Bargaining Season. Their portraits are hung in the gallery to let bachelors know that they're looking for a marriage contract. Women with magic abilities are especially desirable, for a sorceress will pass her magic on to her male children.

And there's the rub. In Chasland, both men and women are born with magic, but only men are allowed to practice it. When a woman is married, a silver collar is placed around her neck by her husband, and the collar cuts off her access to magic. The magic system relies on bonding with spirits, and if a woman is pregnant, a spirit will enter the unknown child before its soul takes root, thus creating a Spiritborn. Spiritborn children are magic and have no sense of humanity or morality as they come into their magic, often killing people as they please. When a Spiritborn child is found, both the child and mother are burned to death.

But the father isn't. He is socially disgraced but not punished physically. He doesn't go to jail either. He gets to just carry on living his life.

And if you think that's unfair, then get ready, because this book is full of emotional cutting where everything is so horribly unfair to women. It makes you think that our world maybe isn't so bad, until you realize that the story is a critique on reproductive rights.

The world building and magic system is wonderful. The author really built up the glamor of the season and fashion. I had trouble following the various countries and languages so I have high hopes that the finished edition will include a map.

Most of the characters are well developed, from our plucky heroine Beatrice, her new friend Ysbeta, and (my favorite) Lesser Spirit of Fortune Nadi. I could never guess what was going to happen next, though the story was a slow build.

My critique is that most of the characters are so awful. They're so vile that Beatrice’s romantic interest is hardly surprising, because in a world of horrible men he is literally the only one we meet who is worth a damn. The narrative fails to really address class structures. Though Beatrice finds her happy ending, I can't really feel happy for her because the rest of Chasland, her mother included, is still left without agency. And the story only works because her love interest is insanely wealthy. Would the story have worked if they were poor? Maybe, but that's not the story we got.

Overall, though the ending left me pretty dissatisfied, I was charmed by the story and in suspense of what Beatrice would decide to do.

It's a solid 3 out of 5 stars. I think it would be good for fans of THE NIGHT CIRCUS, but be prepared to be constantly infuriated by most characters.

But damn, her father did not deserve to be forgiven so easily, nor did it seem in character for him to give way after what he did to his daughter, and his wife for that matter.

For women, options for the future are limited, and Beatrice wants more out of life. Mainly, she wants to keep practicing magic. Why can’t she become a mage like men? If anyone can find a way, it’s her, she’s sure of it. While she’s thrown into the bargaining season to find a husband, she finds brother and sister, Ianthe and Ysbeta Lavan. Ysbeta’s dreams run parallel to hers, and Ianthe seems open to at least some of her desires. How will she reconcile her dream of retaining magic while still trying to save her floundering family?

At times, Beatrice was maddening. She would make decisions that had you banging your head against a wall. She didn’t always know how to spot a good thing, even when it was right in front of her. The spirit she hosted, Nadi, made a good balance for her. Nadi helped to push Beatrice into trying things she might never do. Enter Ianthe, and it’s because of Nadi that Beatrice can get as close to him as she does. He’s a great character who is forward-thinking, and he’s willing to fight to help both Beatrice and his sister in their dreams.

For me, the ending was a bit rushed. There was a lot of build-up towards certain things for the women, and then we don’t get to explore it all that much. It would be fun to explore more of the smaller abilities that everyday people can do, and the magic after they become mages. This is a little more romance than fantasy, but still, a super fun read. Thank you, Erewhon Books, for sending this along.

Having enjoyed C.L. Polk’s Witchmark series and intrigued by the synopsis of The Midnight Bargain, I had high hopes for this novel. Unfortunately, the combination of one-dimensional characters, rampant sexism and misogyny that goes largely unchallenged, and an overwhelming focus on the political marriage plotline meant this was not my personal cup of tea.

I can appreciate the world building that went into this story—the political entities and families are well thought out, and I loved the magical elements when they were present (even if I didn’t love how both Beatrice and myself were reminded every other page, by family and friends and love interests alike, that magic isn’t for women). The Bargaining Season makes for an interesting arranged marriage plotline if those are your jam; it gave me Pride & Prejudice vibes in some parts.

The big miss for me is the insta-love nature of the primary romance in the book, particularly given that Beatrice’s options (as far as she knows) are to achieve her dreams of being a sorceress or get married and have children. In addition to the characters feeling flat, most of them are awful to Beatrice in my opinion, including said love interest. The non-romantic relationships between Beatrice and Ysbeta and Nadi respectively interested me far more than the romance plotline. The cast being overwhelmingly cishet when I’ve spent most of the year reading primarily LGBTQ+ books also stuck out like a sore thumb.

Overall, I think people who have an interest in political marriage romance stories with a backdrop of magic would enjoy this story much more than I did. However, the overwhelming heteronormativity of the universe and the lack of chemistry/buildup in the romance meant this one wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Erewhon Books for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This is genuinely a fantastically written book! I liked Beatrice's character so much and I really sympathized with her dilemma - to choose her own freedom or her family's wellbeing. The conflict not once wavered or seemed to lean drastically in one direction, and that kept my attention throughout the whole book. My favourite aspects were the very prominent female friendship and feminist themes. I liked that the dialogue about the sexist society felt natural, but never preachy. Overall, it was a very enjoyable story.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book.*

This was great! This was Jane Austen + magic + feminism! I loved it! If you enjoyed "Pride and Prejudice", but you also want sorceresses with a distinct feminist agenda, this book is for you. In this world, women have their powers taken away by a magic-killing collar when they are married, because spirits can possess their potential babies and make them dangerous. Thus, only men are allowed to do magic and women are very much limited in what they are allowd to do. During the Bargaining Season, Beatrice should do her best to find potential husbands, especially as her family is broke and all their money was invested in Beatrice's season. But Beatrice has other ideas, she is looking for grimoires to learn more spells, to make a bargain with a greater spirit and become a full-fledged sorceress. And yet, when she meets a kind and handsome (and filthily rich) young man and his sister (both also magic users), her conviction to never marry wavers.

Entertaining, feminist with all the drama and balls and clothes and problems of a period piece. Hilarious! I loved it!

5 Stars

Have you ever thought to yourself - gosh I wish I could read an Austenesque novel but with interracial relationships and sorceresses determined to smash the patriarchy?? Well, you better BELIEVE you've come to the right place!

Beatrice is a young eligible woman in a fictional country modelled after Regency England. She must marry to save her family from debt and disgrace. There's only one problem... Beatrice is a powerful sorceress and in this country, women must don a warding collar and give up magic upon marriage until menopause. Meanwhile men alone receive the education and freedom to become powerful Mages.

Our feisty protagonist plans to escape this fate, but then she befriends the Lavan siblings, learning that she has more in common with enigmatic Ysbeta than she realised, and finds herself drawn to her brother, the charming and thoughtful Ianthe..

Beatrice is faced with a choice - will she fulfil her responsibility to her family and give up her power? Or will she pursue her power at all costs, even at the cost of love....?

I LOVED this book!! The combination of Austen-era styled society with magic and sorcery was like my dream come true. I loved the fiery Beatrice and lovely Ianthe. I loved strong willed Ysbeta and the playful spirit Nadi. Was the feminist message perhaps a little heavy handed at times? Maybe, but it's a message I am so completely here for, so it didn't bother me at all. I am honestly kind of bereft that the book is finished. I will be looking up the author's other work for sure.

Thank you so much to Netgalley for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. I will be getting a physical copy of this for my shelf!

My thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't right for me. The young protagonist was smart enough to have figured out how to perform magic without formal instruction, but didn't have the critical thinking skills to analyze her own situation and figure out what to do. Sure, she was quite young, but it still didn't work for me. Siblings also know: Don't Trust Your Little Sister/Brother/Other, as they will not be looking out for you.

I did appreciate that the author managed to find a solution to the romance and magic dilemmas, but it was too little and too late for me.

2.75/5 (rounding up to a 3)

This was ... fine? The world is interesting and the setting is well constructed. Beatrice is a solid character. However, I think there's a lot lacking in terms of descriptive worldbuilding. Beatrice's motivations are defined by the constraints put on her related to magic. But when the magic itself and the point of it is not well defined, it makes her motivations read as singular and lacking much nuance. Everything hinges on the fact that the world is sexist, which is fine, but it lacks a lot of depth in terms of constructing how magic works.

This was still a fun read and I'd recommend it if you're in the mood for a lighter fantasy that is more oriented towards the romance. I think CL Polk is a talented writer of dialogue and descriptions. I just wish this had been a bit stronger with worldbuilding and thematic content.

I really like the concept of this book, however at times I had trouble connecting with the characters. I wish that there had been a little more depth in them but the story was interesting.

The world building of this book was both magical and terrifying. Girls over 16 years old are put "on sale" and they must secure a husband during bargain time. Bargain! And the husband will put a magic suppressor collar on the wives and they would literally own their lives. No more freedom. So of course our main character, Beatrice, doesn't want anything about it. But apparently women can't want things other than have children and be a good wife. Before they're owned by their husbands, they're owned by their fathers. I was seriously very infuriated by the whole situation.

I liked the world building with the magic, the grimoires and the spirits you can summon. I wish there was more magic, though. I feel like most of the book was spent with the getting a husband thing and not with learning more about magic in order to save her family and her future. I just wanted a bit more of the spirit bargain part, and a bit less of the wife bargain part.

The characters were all likable and it was well written, very easy to follow. I finished it very fast because I wanted to know more.

This book was eloquently and beautifully written. However...I just couldn’t connect with any of the characters. They felt very two dimensional and I couldn’t connect with the story because of it.

Definitely a 3.5 but I can’t make myself round up to 4.

I haven’t read any of the author’s previous books even though Witchmark has been on my tbr for a while now and I really wanna get to that trilogy. But when I saw the gorgeous cover of this book, I couldn’t resist and I was so happy when I got the ARC. And while I did find it entertaining, it also let me down a bit.

The writing is easy to breeze through, and the descriptions are quite beautiful, and once I put my mind to reading it, I could finish it in just a few hours. This maybe a fantasy world but it’s very similar to the Victorian England setting we are so used to reading in historical romance, with traditions like debuts, seasons, courting, attending balls, women’s fortunes and most of their rights being tied to either the father or the husband - all with different names and a slightly magical twist that women here are prohibited from becoming Mages and are collared as soon as they get married so that they can’t practice magic. And this is exactly where I felt let down. While the similarity of the setting was a comfort, the magic system itself felt like a plot device. We get to know some of the procedures and rituals involved in how to summon spirits and how people become Mages, but there’s absolutely nothing about how this magic is used in this world, what roles do Mages perform and what roles do the spirits play once they become companions - it all feels like an afterthought.

The characters are okay to follow along. I kept liking and disliking most of them at different parts of the story, but I mostly did enjoy getting to know them. Beatrice’s struggle in wanting to be both a sorceress and with the love of her life, Ysbeta’s yearning for freedom and knowledge, and Ianthe’s sparkling love for both the women, were all quite lovely to read about and also pretty relatable. But Ianthe was definitely my favorite of the lot because he was open minded and did what he could to protect both the women. I also loved the dynamic between Beatrice and Ysbeta because they started off on an antagonistic note but it transformed into such a wonderful friendship. But I definitely had problems with Beatrice and Ianthe’s instalove - I usually don’t have a problem with the trope but it came on too quick in this one and I couldn’t believe she was thinking about giving up her ambitions after meeting him only a couple of times.

The side characters didn’t really leave much of an impression, probably because I hated most of them. Except Nadi who was the best part of the whole book and I would love a delightful spirit companion like him too please, who would threaten to hex anyone who made me sad.

Overall, I did have a good time reading this book but I know it’s not gonna be a very memorable one. Maybe if it had a slow burn romance or if it had expanded on its magic system, I could have loved it more. But currently, it feels like a historical romance with feminist themes which also has some magic as an aside - and if that feels like something you’ll enjoy, do pick it up and have fun.

I found this book to be a bit slow going at first, but once things picked up it turned out to be a delightfully action-packed read. I enjoyed this tale of magic and feminism, and found the characters to be interesting as well as the story enjoyable.

If you are a fan of fantasy, you will want to give this book a try. I definitely recommend.

Thank you, Netgalley and Erewhon Books, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book takes place in a world that doesn’t let women have agency over their magic. When she marries, a woman has to give up her powers and wear a collar, so she can’t put her unborn child at risk. This book has feminist themes running through it, which I appreciated. The reader follows Beatrice Clayborn and Yesbeta Lavan, both powerful sorceresses, as they try to hold onto themselves in a world that wants their lives to be run by men. Beatrice’s family intends to marry her off to a rich husband so they can get money. And Yesbeta’s family also wants to marry her off, but Yesbeta wants to pursue her magic.

This novel is an adult Sci-fi Fantasy Romance, but it reads like YA. The characters are underdeveloped, and so is the world that the characters live in. The magic system is very lacking. For the characters to use magic, the characters make a bargain with a spirit that becomes apart of them. They summon the spirit by conducting a ritual. Many people will enjoy this book, but it would better if it were placed under the YA Fantasy Romance rather than Adult Fantasy Romance.