Midnight Rooms was absolutely amazing and I absolutely devoured it holy sh*t this was an amazing book. I absolutely love the way this is written; the way it completely absorbs you until YOU are Orabella, and you’re in this huge strange house where nothing makes sense and everyone has sharp teeth. I can’t wait to see more of this authors work, truly. 💗

Wow, I loved this! It was an ethereal, almost dream-like quality to the story and writing that I just could not get enough of. I loved the creepy, Gothic vibes and the overall sense of building dread from what was happening. Even though parts of this were a bit confusing, that only helped deepen the dreamy quality and made it even stronger. Loved it, this would be surreal to see on screen as a full movie!

I gave this a good try and I do enjoy a fever dream book but as this started out good it lost me in the second half. Not even sure what I just read.
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to read this
2/5

This was a wild ride. An Absolutely poetic, chaotic fever dream of a novel that left my spine tingling and my mind reeling. Orabella was an interesting character with a big personality. Pacing and plot was steady for the most part, and my interest was continuously peaked.

I loved the gothic feel of this story. I really enjoyed the suspense and the creepiness! I felt like there maybe could have been a more direct plot, but all-in-all, well done!

I love a good fever dream book. I actually love reading books where I feel like I'm walking through a dream or nightmare. This book hit the spot and the atmosphere was beautiful and spooky. You definitely feel like you've taken some hallucinogens. It's kind of like a trippy version of Alice in Wonderland, meets Jane Eyre, meets Snow White.

"Midnight Rooms" left me feeling disengaged and ultimately led me to set the book aside at 74%. Despite a chilling atmosphere and an eerie manor setting, the novel failed to capture my interest. The protagonist's passive approach to the unfolding mystery—simply reacting to events rather than actively engaging with them—rendered her character lackluster and unremarkable. This reactionary stance, coupled with a stagnant plot, made it difficult to remain invested in the story. While the unsettling vibe of the manor and its enigmatic family were intriguing, they weren’t enough to compensate for the unremarkable character development and lack of narrative momentum. I’d be interested in reading more from this author in the future to see if they’d be able to create a more dynamic protagonist.

Midnight Rooms by Donyae Coles is a mesmerizing YA fantasy set in a Gothic mansion that blurs the line between reality and madness. Coles skillfully weaves together elements of Gothic and fairy tale genres, creating a seamless and complementary narrative. The fusion of these genres enhances the story, allowing them to enrich each other rather than clash. I was intrigued from beginning to end with this one.

I was excited to read a new author and cleanse my literary palette with a different genre. Midnight Rooms was billed as a historical thriller steeped in horror, set in 1840’s England. I jumped in with great expectations.

The first third of the book started solidly, the characters were introduced with enough background and substance for me to like and understand their positions and enough mystery to keep turning pages. A young (and reluctant) bride, Orabella is betrothed to Elias, and once married, is whisked wavy to his decrepit estate. It does not take long to discover that things are not quite what they seem and Orabella finds herself physically bruised and compromised mentally and emotionally. It sounds intriguing; however, the story meandered and I never regained the same interest I had initially. By the third act, I just wanted to complete the story - which I did with questions remaining.

I suppose the “dreamy” episodes and creepy settings will appeal to fans of Gothic stories with a pinch of weirdness.

Thanks to the publisher, Amistad, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

In England in 1840, newlyweds Orabella Mumthrope and Elias Blakersby arrive at Korringhill Manor. Black, orphaned, and exchanged by a disinterested uncle for gambling debts, she has married Elias within 24 hours in the enticing opening chapter but now looks upon his stately home, sprawling ominously before her, with trepidation. Its gloomy interior hints at a former magnificence long-lost to history. Miserly light diffuses into dark hallways through filthy ivy-clad windows, gloomy rooms house ancient dust-grimed furniture, rotting floorboards and mushrooms lie in dank corners, all spectacularly drawn to pull the reader into an alarming sense of unease. The new bride’s room shows some attention. A fairy-tale wall mural is a touch of bright fancy in this decrepit mausoleum, where a rigid housekeeper holds sway. Orabella is dutifully bathed, dressed, fed, never left alone, coddled like a favourite pet, and forbidden to wander or leave the house. Her obedience is rewarded by her preternaturally beautiful husband, who showers her with gifts and sweeps her into irresistible carnal pleasure during his seductive nightly visits, which confuse her all the more.

Characters and scenes are drawn with grotesque and foreboding strokes—the mute doll-like sister-in-law, the terrifying skeletal patriarch, and a ghastly wedding feast, which fills the air with shrieking laughter from the Blakersby family, all experienced through Orabella’s eyes. Confused by what she sees and hears, she tries to be an obedient wife, but as she sways between reality and macabre dreams, and slowly learns to fight back against her horrifying circumstances, is there even one person she can trust? Expositional crumbs are scattered along the way, leaving the reader groping in the darkness for explanation, along with a courageous wife whose determination to defeat this ghastly nightmare is heroic and unusual. This is a relentlessly creepy, spine-chilling debut well worthy of its title.

This book for sure was what I describe as a fever dream. I felt like I would have totally been tripping if I was high while reading it.
It gave me Crimson Peak and Get Out Kind of vibes. I don’t think I was in the target audience cause I don’t really vibe with books that I have me seeing the main character slowly unravel and start to question everything they are seeing and hearing. It did have one scene that absolutely gutted me and that was the high point. After that I was kind of speeding to see how it would end. Which I guess is good thing.
Overall it left me feeling kind of in the middle. It was for sure a unique take on fae that left my mind spinning.
So about a 3 star read.
Would I recommend it? Hmm yes and no. If you like books that make your mind feel like it’s going in acid trip. You’ll like this book.
Thanks to the folks at NetGalley for a copy of this book. My review is a honest reflection of my feelings towards this book.

This is the type of read for the historical fiction girls that love a gothic theme. I like to think of this book as perfect for the whimisgoth lovers out there. Both meaning and relatable, this read is one you won't soon forget.

An incredibly atmospheric and haunting gothic horror! Buckle up. Married to an eccentric, wealthy man to pay off her uncle's gambling debts, FMC Orabella finds herself isolated in a dark and decaying gothic mansion full of odd noises and locked doors. I could not put it down even though I was increasingly full of absolute dread! Themes of isolation and control weave through an extremely well-executed story. Orabella's journey is harrowing, and the prose is darkly gorgeous.

Donyae Coles offers readers a fairy tale--of both the romantic and horrific variety--in Midnight Rooms, a chilling and fantastical work of historical fiction.

Orphaned at a young age, 26-year-old Orabella has long been in the care of her aunt and uncle, a wealthy Bristol family whose status in society is not enough to land their mixed-race niece an offer of marriage. Until one day, when a stranger appears and asks for her hand--an opportunity her uncle sees as an end to his gambling debts. Despite her reservations--she does not know this man, nor anything of his family--she sees no real choice but to accept. "What she wanted from her situation was secondary to the fact that it was her situation." Orabella is rapidly pulled out of her current life and into a new one, wed to the strange Mr. Elias Blakersby and off to his family's estate in the countryside within a day.

Up to this point, Midnight Rooms reads a bit like a work of historical romance: orphaned girl finds refuge in the arms of a kind stranger and sets out for a new life of happily-ever-after. But upon their arrival at the estate, Orabella discovers that her happy ending may not be so happy after all. "Korringhill Manor towered with an obvious prestige but lacked all pretense of leisure, of joy. Not a place that people lived in, instead it had the feel of a place that people couldn't leave." Her first impression of the place proves true across the following pages of Coles's gripping novel. Thrust into a lavish world, Orabella is plied with honey wine and wakes from dreams that feel impossibly real. She's surrounded by relatives of questionable humanity and never allowed to be alone except when locked in her bedroom each night.

In Midnight Rooms, Coles turns the typical fairy tale upside down and inside out and back again. The novel shifts to something like a fever dream, as Orabella's visions of her life in the manor dissolve inside what seems to be a "court of fairies and monsters." Therein lies the confusion of Midnight Rooms, and in it, a dark mystery unravelling across its pages--what is Orabella's imagination, and what is real? What is a memory and what is a dream? What can be believed? With vivid and gory detail, Midnight Rooms is a genre-spanning work of history and horror, fantasy and fairy tale, that pulses with a dark energy from start to unsettling finish. --Kerry McHugh, freelance writer

Shelf Talker: A genre-spanning work of historical fiction and horror imagines a fairy tale romance turned nightmarish terror as a young bride tries to understand the family she's married into.

This book is dark, spooky, and entrancing. This was definitely a slow burn horror. Very atmospheric, felt so eerie like I kept getting goosebumps. This was a hood book and enjoy it. It was slow at times and I had to push through.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.

Thank you NetGalley and Amistad publishing for allowing me to read Midnight Rooms early!
Beginning to end, this book had my full attention. Such a phenomenal, nail biting story. So many twists and turns, it will surely keep you on the edge of your seat! I was left reeling by the end and I fully intend on rereading too see if I noticed any little things early on.
A very entertaining read!

i fear this may be a case of a "me problem" and not a "book problem" so PLEASE take that into consideration before dismissing this book!

basically, i was confused the whole time. i'm normally down for a fever dream-esque book but this one never ended up "clicking" for me. the whole time i felt like i was trying to catch up and keep up with what was being said.

i loved the gothic and eerie feelings this evoked, but other than that i can't find much else to say

if you like weird and dark books, you should give this one a chance and if you're smarter than me let me know what was going on!!

2.5/5

In Donyae Coles' novel debut, Midnight Rooms casts a spell that is both terrifying and magical. The language and description evoke a fairytale-like sensibility that seduces as much as it enhances Orabella's descent into the chaos of her new home. Sometimes, the descriptions become repetitive, much like Orabella's inner dialogue, which may not be to everyone's taste. The final act gets ahead of itself with the arrival of one character, leaving more questions than answers in the wake. A similar note can be made about Elias's motivations in selecting Orabella, leaving him a tad underwritten rather than mysterious. That all said, the epilogue has a chilling effect that lingers and will have viewers guessing.

3.5/5 stars (won't let me adjust)

Orabella is sent off to her husband's estate after marriage, a whirlwind of change that is happening way too fast. Once arrived, Orabella learns that there is much wrong with this house, she just can't escape it.

The family themselves are quirky and mysterious, and the house is another story altogether. Dark, full of dust and decay, and in states of various disrepair...side by side with a gilded ballroom and fancy breakfasts. Nothing feels quite right.

This was interesting, uncanny and just so, so unsettling. I couldn't put it down because I had to find out what was going on!

I was drawn to this as a fan of Donyae Coles's short fiction and was fascinated to see her imagination at play over a longform work. Yes, this is very much in the gothic fiction category but is also quite weird. It may remind you at times of Jane Eyre, Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic, or the works of Angela Carter. It also reminded me a bit of Shirley Jackson's story "The Lovely House."

Loved reading it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a horrifying and also sometimes steamy gothic tale!