Sadly this one just was not for me. I was drawn in by the stunning cover art, and thought the dark academia setting would be perfect for the fall. I wasn’t able to connect with any of the characters and really struggled with the back and forth, unclear timeline.

“The longer you kept something hidden, the more it festered inside you.”

“The Midnight Club,” by Margot Harrison

Four friends are back together during a reunion. All still suffering from their friend Jennet death. One of them wants to find out the truth of why Jennet died by reliving the past. All of them have things they are hiding and none of them trusts the others.

Interesting story with possible time travel and butterfly effect issues. It’s a who done it but with mind games and memory problems. It was hard for me to figure out what was really happening and if it was supernatural or a lot of mental illness with what was happening, which was the point, the mystery of it. I liked the complicated and unique story even though it was confusing. 3 out of 5 stars.

Thank you for the ARC, Netgalley.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read and ARC of this book! This book is Margot Harrison's debut adult novel, and the first of her work I have read. It falls in the (sub)genre of Dark Academia, and I found it to be a very suspenseful and twisty thriller.

The Midnight Club is a close-knit group of college friends -- Sonia, Byron, Auraleigh, and Paul -- who are reuniting back in Vermont after 25 years. And its also been 25 years since the death of their friend Jennet by 'suicide' Junior year. The novel alternates telling the story between the past (their college days in the 80s) and the present (where they are adults). It turns out though, that their host has ulterior motives for their mysterious reunion -- to uncover the real truth about Jennets death.

Enter in a secret and extraordinary drug called Sog, which will "help" them to not only remember the past, but relive it. Sog allows them to travel through their memories, and bridge the gap between memory and reality. But of course, each of the 4 friends has secrets they don't want revealed; and will do anything to keep hidden. The more question they ask each other, the more they realize that the things they know and remember about their time at college, including the night of Jennet's death, aren't true.

I found this book both strange and interesting. I like the time travel aspect, but the actual concept of the sogging, and the timeline got a little confusing at times. The jumping between past/present/future made it a bit hard to follow, but worth hanging in for to solve the mystery of Jennet's death. It definitely kept me reading until the end!

I will be recommending this book as a book club pick for September/October. Fans of Dark Academia, and Sci-Fi /Fantasy Thrillers will love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!!

3.5 rounded up

A twisty new addition to the Dark Academia subgenre, this novel follows a cohort of uni grads who bonded over their literary magazine and a myriad of dark secrets. Meeting again for a reunion that quickly takes a turn for the worst, this novel mixes the melodrama and pretentious characters one expects with a gripping thriller.

Secrets have a way of undoing a group, if given the time and space to fester. Jennet has been dead for a very long time and her old friends have done their best to move on. Some things are better and others far, far worse; lies and memories swirl around the group as they struggle to keep up the appearance of successful adult lives.

What if the past was place you could venture back to?

Happiness may just be a figment of the past... good thing a local drug of choice offers a trip to another time. Embrace the pine. Experience memories of the past or a glimpse of the future. The young look forward with hope and trepidation, while the old long for days gone by.

This novel flips between 2014 when the cast are all fully adults and the late 1980s when they're uni students. Those who prefer a story set within a single time period be warned, a great deal can change over two decades... yet many more things remain the same. I find it exciting to piece together how a character has evolved or even fractured over time. The most seemingly inconsequential action can have such a resounding butterfly effect on the future.

If you are someone curious to tip your toes into Dark Academia and don't wish to read a lengthy backlog of classics to understand what's being discussed, perhaps check this book out? The layers of nuance revolving around class, secrets and loss are still present, if not as fully explored as others in the genre. I'd say this is a fairly decent introduction for fans of modern thrillers, as you get the window dressings of Dark Academia to test if you're interested in further exploration.

This book is decently crafted and engaging, yet a bit too 'thrillery' for my tastes. I would have prefered more focus on academia over general human darkness, if that makes sense? As this was pitched to me as Dark Academia, I'm going to review it as such. This novel is closer in themes and tone to "Sharp Objects" than say "If We Were Villains". Go into this expecting a thriller following uni friends not a deeper dive into the pitfalls of higher education, and you'll have a good time.

If this is somehow adapted in the days to come, I wouldn't be surprised, as the pacing is quite similar to prestige dramas.

I was looking forward to receiving this ARC because the synopsis sounded amazing, but unfortunately, it didn’t meet my expectations. The premise was fantastic — a second chance, past lives, and thriller elements with a unique fantasy twist called "sogging," where you travel to the future and past. However, the execution fell short. The fantasy concepts were poorly explained and often left me feeling lost.

The timeline was another issue: it was so disorganized that I frequently had to flip back to determine if I was in the past, present, or future. The lack of clear indicators made it frustrating to follow.

I was especially eager to unravel Jennet's death — this was the only aspect that kept me engaged. Unfortunately, the resolution was unclear and disappointing.

I decided to DNF this book at 16% through… I rarely don’t finish books, but I was not invested in the plot or the characters. The premise was also very similar to The Hitchcock Hotel, which I didn’t love, so I found myself not looking forward to continue reading another book like it.

I think this could be a good book for someone looking for spooky, fall vibes, but it’s not for me.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Books for allowing me to read this early!
Overall, this was an enjoyable story but I wish the world building and characters were a bit more fleshed out. While the plot was strong, I was left wondering more about the specifics of the Sog and how other elements of the story could have been different with just a little bit more detail. This is definitely a good read, but not a great one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Have you ever wanted to return to your past? Not only that have you ever wanted to wait to change it as well? Well, the members of the midnight club certainly have. Now a strange group of friends received an unexpected invitation to travel back to the Vermont town, where everything first began. The friends soon learn the true reason for the gathering, a chance to explore the past and solve the death of their beloved friend. With the help of a secret substance The Midnight Club begins to dive deeper into their past. The farther they go the more they see that they each have secrets that are best left hidden.
The idea of being able to travel to your past is very intriguing. I mean, who hasn’t had a moment in their life where they wish they could change something, or they wish they could relive, and of course who wouldn’t want another chance to get to see a lost loved one. The Midnight Club explorers and dives into these very thoughts. We follow along as The Midnight Club members Sonia, Byron, Paul, and Auraleigh gather for the 25th anniversary of their friend Jennet’s death. The friends are able through the use of a synthetic substance to “slog” into their past or future, allowing them to unravel what truly caused her death. I greatly appreciate the expiration of trauma and grief however the overall execution left me wanting more. The multiple POVs and time jumps were so prevalent and constant that it did not allow for much character development, making it difficult to truly connect to any of the characters which for me is a crucial aspect needed to fully enjoy a book. These jumps also created a disjointed pacing and overall lack of cohesion in the book as well. While I did enjoy the science fiction and mystery aspects of the novel especially the books unique version of travel overall I ended up feeling as if the book fell just a tad short of being anything more then just an okay read.
The Midnight Club comes out September 24th, 2024. Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing,Graydon books for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Graydon House for the advanced digital copy - all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Unfortunately this book just didn't work for me, I tried multiple times to try and get through it but it's just not holding my interest.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read this book for my honest review. Unfortunately I have to give it a 3/5, rounded up from 2.5. I think the idea for the book was really interesting and the summary immediately caught my attention, but there were several aspects that I found lacking. There was a very small amount of backstory given of the characters so I felt as though I didn't really know them at all. I think if i was emotionally invested I would have been able to enjoy it more. It took me a solid 8 chapters to even understand the direction. The introductions were really short and it wasn't enthralling me.
Overall it was not a book I would read again.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC of The Midnight Club by Margot Harrison in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3/5

I'm not always a fan of fantasy elements in thrillers, but I enjoyed the way people were able to relive the past. I was really looking forward to the reunion of former friends at a remote location, as I'm a big fan of Lucy Foley and similar books. However, I felt that the book lacked sufficient backstory for each character, which made it difficult for me to fully connect with them and understand the events that unfolded. It would have been more satisfying to have more insight into the characters' past before delving into their future. I did however like the premise and will be keeping an eye out for future books from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. Spoilers below!

You need to know that it took me 5.5 hours to read this book. I stopped in the middle of the day to grab lunch with a friend and spent the whole time wondering what was going to happen next. So to say this book gripped me is an understatement.

The premise of this book is what drew me in. And it delivered. Harrison writes in her acknowledgments that this book is 35 years in the making. I can feel the care she put into this novel. It’s unique, totally inspired, and masterfully written. Writing in two timelines could be tricky, but Harrison handles it masterfully.

She weaves the late 1980s with 2014 in a way that makes sense. There were maybe one or two places where my brain got a little addled, but she makes such a clear distinction between the two times that I felt like I was reading a cast of 11 different characters, instead of the 6 we see on the page.

And I really enjoyed the characters! (Except one. He was annoying. You’ll know when you know.) Sonia and Byron, our two POVs, are both strong and fleshed-out characters with their own motivations for solving the mystery of Jennet’s death. Harrison writes them with nuance and heart. I even liked Auraleigh—an easy-to-hate character—because I found the humanization in her motivations. I think it would have been easy to lose these characters in the plot, but the work put into them shines through.

And the plot. It’s so clever. I found my eyes drifting to the ‘percentage read’ at the bottom of my e-reader screen wondering how Harrison was going to write her way out of this twist and that twist and the other twist. And they weren’t cheap twists! They were well-thought out and so smart. The way she wraps up this complex, but rewarding, plot will keep you glued to the page until the very last word.

Overall, this was an incredible book. The plot, the pacing, the characters—all of it was so well done. This novel took her so long to right, but I think this iteration was nearly perfect.

I highly recommend this book.
Look for it on September 24, 2024!

2.5 ⭐️

I was so excited to get this ARC because of the synopsis but it's not so good 😭. The idea of this book was AMAZING but the execution was just POOR. It was marketed as a second chance-past lives-thriller kind of story wherein there's a fantasy element mixed into it which was called "sogging"—going to the future & to the past, you "sog" into them. All the fantasy elements such as this concept was messily explained throughout the book & most of the time I truly just felt lost within the story.

The timeline of the story was also very messy: I had to keep going back a few pages to realize what timeline i'm at: Past, Future, or Present. There weren't any clear indications of where you are at that part in the timeline which i didn't enjoy.

Lastly, I was mainly excited to solve Jennet's death (that was the only part that kept me going which says a lot) and it was not even clearly resolved which was very disappointing!

This is a beautifully written book that, like many introspective works of fiction, is difficult to categorize. It has time travel of a sort, but it isn't really sci-fi; it has a lot of personal conversations and confrontations, but it isn't really a drawing-room comedy. Many of the most romantic bits are with someone who doesn't currently exist, but it isn't really a ghost story.

It is a story about perception and remembrance and friendships from youth that persist.

(Also, be advised that it clearly does not take place at a college in Cambridge. *cough*)

Margot Harrison is a marvelous storyteller. I loved the premise. Would you change the past if you had the chance? Very atmospheric thanks to the author’s gorgeous descriptions. Many passages have stayed with me—Every moment counts. I also enjoyed the author sharing the story behind writing this novel. I look forward to seeing what she writes next!

I read this book fairly quickly and what a ride - there is a lot of back and forth, flashbacks, etc so you have to keep up and keep sharp! I went into it thinking it was a thriller type book? But while it does have a mystery feel as the characters are trying to find out what happened to their friend, it was a lot more fantastical than I had expected. I truly enjoyed the read. I like the characters, "sog" the time travel drug, and the overall cadence of the story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Graydon House for the ARC!

This is the kind of book that slowly sucks you in until you can't put it down because you need to find out how it's going to end. I love the take on dark academia, mystery and suspense, with magical realism/sci-fantasy ? Hard to put in a box because it traverses the different genres well. You aren't sure what's real or not, and I started to wonder, maybe none of it is? A little slow at a few points, dark throughout, totally intriguing.

"Being young is like being on drugs. The sky is bigger and the sunsets are redder and every new outfit you buy is gonna change your life. Every new friend you make is going to be your friend forever. Time is so deep you could drown in an afternoon."
Loved this quote!

What a whirlwind this read was! I loved every moment! Old college friends relive trauma through time travel. This was beautifully written and emotional!

Wildly atmospheric and deliciously thrilling. I'm a sucker for anything boarding school or college campus. If you are too, you won't want to miss this. I struggled with the pacing a bit in the beginning but once it picks up, it picks up! 3.75, rounded up!

I'll be thinking about this book for a long, long time!

I struggled with the pacing and the characters' friendships, but once I got into it, I did greatly enjoy this one. The idea of a drug that makes you relive your memories is fascinating, and I LOVEDDDD the progression of how the drug worked and how it affected the characters. I liked the end twist, but was definitely left wanting more.

All in all, this would be a great read for fans of slow-burn mysteries and magical realism.

All the thanks to Netgalley for the arc!