First of all thank you so much for approving me for this ARC, Rachel Griffin is my favorite author and i actually cried when i saw that i was going to be able to read this early. Rachel’s other books were so dreamy and Bring me your midnight is no different. The moody atmosphere of the island and sea pulled me into the story immediately. I love books about women with great power (especially witches) who need to learn to embrace their powder and trust themselves, Rachel does those kind of stories so so well. The love story was painfully beautiful between the two main characters i was crying ruining my makeup for work towards the end. I love how the author always ties it some way to bring awareness to climate change and how we need to protect and respect the nature world around us. I loved this book so much and will be recommending it to anyone who will listen to me.

Once again Rachel Griffin has captured my heart with her magical stories. I loved this book so much. It’s full of forbidden love, witchy vibes and nature.

Bring Me Your Midnight is deeply atmospheric and has gorgeous descriptive writing. Griffin truly put her entire heart into this book. Through her words it’s obvious how much she cares for the world around us. Especially when it came to the way Tana explains the love she has for her magic and the sea. It was beautiful!

Tana was such a special character to follow. After living through an experience that should have killed her, she starts questioning everything she believes in. She is torn between doing what is expected of her or following her own path. I think her story is one that a lot of people can relate to…I know I did!

Wolfe & Tana were perfect together. I really enjoyed seeing their relationship bloom. He saw her for who she really is and it was the sweetest thing ever!

Cannot wait to have this on my shelves!

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC! I love Rachel Griffin's books so much. The mix of witchy magic and nature is just perfect. The environments created in her stories are so good that I never want to leave. Bring Me Your Midnight is no exception. Griffin's descriptions of the beautiful Witchery island and all the lovely shops makes me want to move there. I love reading about these young women coming into their power, and Mortana's story is so full of push and pull that you are hopeful that she'll end up with the love of her life but never quite sure if it will happen. It's lush and romantic and wonderful.

Synopsis: Mortana has grown up knowing she was expected to marry the mainland governor's son to create an alliance. The Witchery - the island filled with witches where she lives - will be protected by the non-witch mainland and the mainland will have control over the amount of magic the witches can do. It seems set in stone until Mortana meets Wolfe and uncovers a world of magic she was told disappeared long ago. She falls in love - with the magic, with her own choices and possibly with the young man who isn't her betrothed.

I loved Wild is the Witch, and Rachel Griffin has some of the most beautiful books in the world, so when I saw this was announced I was so excited to add it to my collection. (Also it was right after Midnights was released, so it fit my Taylor Swift Midnights era perfectly.)

Tana Fairchild’s life has been planned out since the moment she was born: she is to marry the governor’s son, Landon, securing an alliance between the witches of her island and the mainlanders who see her existence as a threat. To appease the mainlanders, her coven has released most of their magic into the ocean for years. However 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 long forbidden 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 magic, making her feel powerful. As the sea grows more violent, her coven loses control of the currents, a danger that could destroy the alliance and 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.

This novel was a bit of a mixed bag for me, and I truthfully didn’t instantly fall in love with it the way I did Wild is the Witch. However, I enjoyed it. The background and the atmosphere were perfect, and I loved that the stakes were high and Tana’s choice was impossible.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author, and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Characters: 5/5
Setting: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Plot: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

“He comes alive in darkness, so darkness I become.”

I have NEVER read a book that is more Taylor Swift coded than Bring Me Your Midnight. This book is Written by a Swiftie, and I’m so here for it. Rachel Griffin is one of my all-time favorite fantasy authors, and this book is definitely her best work yet. Bring Me Your Midnight is one of those books that sucks you in and never lets you go.

This book follows Tana, the daughter of the coven leader. She is betrothed to a human boy named Landon, who she has never met, but is perfectly fine with this because it is what’s best for her family and her coven. At least, that’s what she tells herself. Then one night, she meets Wolfe. He’s a member of the old coven, which Tana has been taught to hate. But when he saves her life with no personal motivation to do so, she begins to question whether his dark magic is really something to fear, or if it might be the very thing that could save their beloved island.

Let’s start with the setting. I absolutely love the ocean, and this book made me feel like I was back on North Beach in Haida Gwaii. Everything about this book felt whimsical thanks to the exquisitely crafted magic system and dark, enchanting setting.

The characters in this book are absolutely phenomenal. Tana is chaotic and messy and sometimes misguided, but never unlikeable. Even when everything she knows about witches is turned, she maintains her bravery and morals. Her relationship with Wolfe was easily my favorite part of the novel. If there’s one thing Rachel Griffin is going to put in her books (aside from witches, of course), its banter so good you giggle and squeal like a kid in a candy store. Their romance was so easy to root for, even when they fought.

This is easily one of my top 5 reads of the year so far. It’s a cozy, lush, romantic fantasy. Like all of Rachel’s books, it feels like a love letter to nature.

Bring Me Your Midnight comes out August 1st!

Thank you for the opportunity of reading an arc, I liked reading Bring Me Your Midnight! There was so much tension from the start about the 'right and wrong' kind of magic and for me this was the central theme of the book. I loved how the story revolved around Tana's knowledge of magic, how she experiences practicing magic and how she feels about the effect of the rush on the sea and her island. This book made me want to be able to practice magic myself.

The love interest was okay, a little predictable. The shift in Wolfe's feelings for Tana was a bit sudden for me and I would have liked to know more about him and his coven. I really didn't like Ivy - at first she seems like a nice person and a good friend who always has the perfect cup of tea for every occassion. But she also came across as very nosy and controlling.

I was very interested in the history of the witches and why non-magic people were afraid of the witches. The parts about the 'outside' world didn't really get into that but I would have loved more background information as well as some more appearances of other witches in Tana's coven - apart from Ivy and their parents.

I cannot even put into words how excited I was to read this, everything Rachel Griffin writes seems to just be magical and enchanting. Her witchy words had me hooked and I could not stop reading... sleep became a distant memory and I didn't even care! She's done it again, read this NOW!

Bring Me Your Midnight by Rachel Griffin
This is my first book by author Rachel Griffin. I was immediately drawn to this cover while browsing Netgalley. I found myself coming back multiple times while scrolling through available titles. Once I read the synopsis I was excited to give this book a try. 
I am SO happy I found this book. It has been a long time since I have read a YA fantasy book this good. If you enjoy witchcraft, romance and a beautifully written story, this is a MUST read. 
Things I loved about this book:-The atmospheric writing style and celebration of nature-A love story to the sea and all it has to offer-The small island setting that reminds me of the pacific northwest-The description of the Witchery...dreamy streets full of witchy tea shops and apothecaries. -Tana, a young witch with a duty to her coven that discovers being loyal to herself is most important. -Wolfe, deeply romantic and patient.-A fun dynamic between Tana and Wolfe-Feeling a connection with the side characters in the story. 
I cannot wait to check out more books from this author.

4.5 This book is so dreamy and romantic, I love Wolfe so much. The only reason it’s 4.5 instead of 5 is because yet again, she’s a little lazy on the world building. There were automobiles but no other mention of any other tech so I was having difficulty setting a comparable decade to this fantasy setting.

Such a beautiful book though!

This book takes place in a fantasy realm. It is light on the world-building and is character driven. It is also a coming of age novel and a love story--with the suitable moral and personal dilemmas that add depth and some complexity to the story. It is not a heavy read, but not vapid either, so it is good for the summer. I think if I were to give it a hashtag it would be cottagewitchcore. Others have characterized it as swoon worthy and atmospheric and I agree.

Tana's coven has appeased those on the mainland who fear their power the island witch power for years by releasing most of their magic into the ocean during the full moon. But when Tana misses the midnight, which she has believes to be a fatal mistake―there is no one she can turn to for help. She decides to attempt to release her power independently and this is when she meets Wolfe. He practices old magic and lives secretly on the island with other families who are more powerful because they will not diminish their magic by releasing it into the ocean.

Tana learns that her mother has been lying to her--that the old magic is not dead and the dangers of their magic are myths created for political alliances. She also learns from Wolfe that the growing instability of the sea is due to these myths and their release of magic. Unearthing these forces Tana to choose between love (Wolfe) and duty (Landon her parent's political alliance), between loyalty to her people and loyalty to her heart.

Tana has always known her fate: marry Landon, the governor’s son, to keep the peace between the mainland and her coven’s island. The mainlanders have accepted the witches for a while now, but only if they agree to feed a portion of their power to the ocean each month and practice “low magic”. But when Tana accidentally misses that midnight ritual, she learns that their magic is causing dangerous currents in the sea—currents that could ruin any relationship the island has with the mainlanders. Then she meets Wolfe, a mysterious islander who practices a long forbidden magic and says he can help her. She’s discovering a whole new world that feels…right. But with her fate headed in one direction and her heart heading in another, which side will she choose, and how will it affect her beloved coven?

Bring Me Your Midnight is one of the most intriguing YA fantasies I’ve read in a long time! The magic system was so different and I loved the way it was interwoven with the sea. Tana is a quietly strong heroine and her relationship with Wolfe was so sweet. I loved seeing the familiar young adult/parent tension that had its own happy ending, as well as a wonderful portrayal of friendship with our side characters. As a stand-alone, the ending did feel a little rushed and “too perfect”, but it didn’t detract from my overall enjoyment of the story. I really hope to see a sequel!

Witchcraft, Grimoire's, spells, young love; what could wrong with a book like this?! Quite a lot, apparently.

Witch Mortana (Tana, for short) has been betrothed since infancy to a non-witch Mainlander, in an attempt to... well, not sure what. The Low Magic witches and Mainlanders aren't at war, they seem to get along great. Mainlanders love coming to the island the witches live on, buying their spelled teas and perfumes. So, right off the bat I was not believing the forced marriage hype.

Tana meets her intended and he is the epitome of milquetoast. He holds her hand, gives her a colorful piece of glass (which I thought would be sinister later. It isn't, it's just a piece of glass) and vows to try and like her. He is not evil His parents seem like perfectly lovely people. No drama there, at all.

But Tana wanders off one evening and meets Wolfe, who practices High Magic (or dark magic, as Tana calls it). He shows her that his magic is not the evil sorcery she has always been told it is. She discovers shes good at it and loves it. But she goes back to her parents' house and best friend and continues on with the arranged marriage preparations. Her mother is head of the Coven Council and is the one who has been feeding Tana lies all her life.

I got about 40% into the book and was SO bored I almost put it down in defeat. Tana is nice but naive. Her arranged fiance is nice but bland. His parents are pleasant. Tana's Dad is nice but doesn't stand up to his wife. Tana's Mom calls all the shots in the house and insists on the arranged marriage while keeping secrets from everyone. But in the end, she is... nice.

A little bit of excitement finally perks up the second half, but by the final couple of chapters we are back to boring. There is no evil to overcome, there is no bad guy to defeat. All the ribbons are tied up neatly, the end.

Witchy, beautiful and romantic. I loved every second of this story.

Our story follows Tana a 19 year old witch that lives on an island that uses magic for the benefit of non magical tourists from the mainland. Her life has been entirely mapped out for her and she is set to marry a mainlander in order to bring the two worlds together. However when a handsome stranger with strong magic appears in her life, she realizes not everything is as it seems.

I liked Tana and her love for her people and her magic, I also enjoyed her eventual ability to be open to change and knowing that when it comes to magic , it’s not good or bad but it is about intention. I also like that she realizes what truly makes her happy and what path she wants to take.

The world they live in is interesting but we don’t get too many major glimpses into the mainland but what we do get helps us understand why the union set up for our FMC could potentially be important. However , duty to one’s people should not include not being accepted for who you are.

I wish the Witchery was real because I would love to live on a beautiful island and swim everyday and use magic to make things like perfumes and teas. I connect with our FMC because she loves the ocean and swimming. Nothing beats the silence and stillness of being under the water.

Overall this book is magical and important to remind us all that we need to sometimes be selfish and that’s ok. We cannot make everyone happy but what matters is that we are happy.

4.2🌟 This was so good!! One of the best romances I’ve read in a while that is truly emotionally intimate and aligned. I loved this story so much! Rachel’s writing is so beautiful and I can’t recommend this book enough!!

Bind herself to her coven. Marry a mainlander to protect it. That’s what Mortana “Tana” Fairchild is prepared to do until one little mistake threatens to cost her everything. What was she thinking—following a stranger when she should’ve been rushing her magic into the ocean with the rest of her coven? Because with all that unused magic trapped inside her, Tana will slowly and surely die. No binding, no marriage, no safety. Unless Tana seeks out that mysterious stranger and convinces him to help her.

And Wolfe Hawthorne will. But it won’t be the kind of help Tana is expecting. What he proposes could threaten everything Tana believes in, but it’s better than dying. Knowing it’s a mistake, Tana agrees anyway—and winding up with more than she bargained for. It’s not just another kind of magic she’s been missing out on, but possibly even true love as well?
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Oh my god what a BEAUTIFUL book! Woven with magic and sprinkled with love, it completely captivated me from start to finish. I absolutely loved the predicament Tana gets herself in as well as how hard she worked to get out of it. Wasn’t expecting such a deep, heartfelt romance to be in the works but omg I loved Wolfe & Tana so much! Their journey was raw, angsty, sweet, forbidden, and so passionate!! They made me smile, cry, laugh, and cheer—literally ALL the feels! Literally the perfect magical love story that it shouldn’t be a surprise I recommend it!

I got this book early from NetGalley in exchange for a review.

What I loved:
The magic! The character's description of using magic and feeling it was beautiful. I loved the way the descriptions changed after she met Wolfe and then again later in the book. Magic is apart of who she is and this community thrives on their island. Even during the rush, she describes how it feels and the power that comes with it.

The love story. The entire book I was never sure which person she was going to be with. Landon, the prince from the mainland, or Wolfe, the wizard who does dark/high magic.

Her love of the sea. She describes it many times how she loves to be underwater for the silence it brings and the peacefulness. I have never thought of the silence and peacefulness that being underwater brings you but now remember this book when I dive down. I also loved the currents and how they were getting more and more dangerous.

The only thing I would say was lacking in this story is that it was slow through the beginning and some of the middle, so I found it hard to get through it at times. And didn't feel like it sucked me in.
Then the end, I could NOT put it down and went to bed at 3:30am to finish it.

All in all it's a magical world and such a beautiful book.

Bring Me Your Midnight
by Rachel Griffin
Pub Date: 01 Aug 2023


From the New York Times bestselling author of The Nature of Witches and Wild is the Witch comes a lush romantic fantasy about forbidden love, the choices we make, and the pull between duty and desire.

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.

I was swooning and bored...at the same time. Boroning? Swored?

I usually like a bit more violence in my fantasy romance, which is where this fell flat for me. The main conflicts were not the mainland and the Witchery (which still played a big role but more in the background), but Tana choosing between duty and herself...
"I want to leave, but for the first time in my life, I want to extend the night."

Tana choosing between two love interests...
"Or am I a secret you will cary to your grave?"

Tana choosing between two forms of magic...
"But I suppose we're meant to think the most dangerous things are lovely."

And since we're stuck in her head, it's all flowery introspection. Her narration does feel a bit mature for her age, but also fits in with how ignorant she's supposed to be.

I loved the setting, especially Mainstreet on the Witchery. I would give anything to walk down rows of shops with small bits of magic everywhere. Better than a Christmas tree farm in a hallmark movie.

I enjoyed about 60% of this book, up until I realized there would be no grand fight at the end, and the last three chapters dragged, teasing at smut only to give fade to black or "Let me love you until you're sure it's magic."

If you love romance with "magic so subtle, we'll hardly feel it" , you'll love this.

I did and didn't. I apparently crave violence.

I really enjoyed this one! Mortana is a character I liked from the beginning. She was like a free soul trying to live in a world that was already planned out for her.

The magic system was absolutely beautiful. I was so excited when we discovered more and more of the past. The side characters made the story flow and the love interest(s) bring tension and chaos into the plot.

The relationship that blossoms between Wolfe and Mortana is something I saw blossom from its roots. Although their beginning was a bit rushed, I still found myself rooting for their end.

I overall enjoyed this book but found it to be rushed at times and a bit too much at others. The plot, the characters, and the magic system were all five stars for me but I didn't find myself wanting to binge read in one sitting.

This is definitely a book I will be recommending to my witchy friends! Add this to your TBRs! Thank you NetGalley for an eARC for my honest review.

I’m not going to lie, but in the beginning I had a bit of trouble getting into the story. It felt a bit repetitive. After 3-4 chapters it was more than clear why Tana has this obligation to her people. But then Wolfe showed up… I was done and sucked right into the story. I.Fell.Hard.
I read almost the the entire book in 1 day and I loved that it’s a standalone!