What do you think?
Rate this book
Harlan Vampires
Midnight
Samantha Clark has always known she was different. Brought up in a loveless household, she can almost forgive herself for turning to an abusive boyfriend to help give her the roots and love she desperately needs. But that solution turns violent, and Sami is on the run, turning to a college friend who offers her a new hope at 'family'.
Finding the place where she now lives abhorrent does nothing to foster Sami's recovery from the former abuse. Even her friends strike her as an oddly reclusive bunch, except for their unofficial mentor. With Michael, she feels a real bond. But as her relationship deepens with the entire group, she begins to wonder at their odd ways.
Set in rural Kentucky in 1985, Midnight eschews the typical cardboard cutouts of the old Dracula image. Under the careful tutelage of her friends, Sami awakens to her vampiric nature and also sheds her past perceptions of who she thought she had to be. Midnight is the inward journey of Sami's self-loathing, self-reflection, and eventual self-acceptance.
Finding the place where she now lives abhorrent does nothing to foster Sami's recovery from the former abuse. Even her friends strike her as an oddly reclusive bunch, except for their unofficial mentor. With Michael, she feels a real bond. But as her relationship deepens with the entire group, she begins to wonder at their odd ways.
Set in rural Kentucky in 1985, Midnight eschews the typical cardboard cutouts of the old Dracula image. Under the careful tutelage of her friends, Sami awakens to her vampiric nature and also sheds her past perceptions of who she thought she had to be. Midnight is the inward journey of Sami's self-loathing, self-reflection, and eventual self-acceptance.
218 pages, Paperback
First published May 19, 2014
453 people want to read
About the author
Mari Adkins
5 books41 followersAn Appalachian Gothic fiction writer for adults and teens, her works reflect a love of literature and music flavored by the darkness and magic residing in the Appalachian foothills.
She lived four years in the black heart of Harlan County, a place mired in coal, ash, and blood, a land of coal seams and rhythmic discord that breed amity and illusion, all of which birthed the Harlan Vampire stories.
Mari is known to dance with fairies and ghosts beneath full moons and wade barefoot in creeks and wild rivers.
Midnight, her first novel, was published by Apex Book Company in May 2014.
She lived four years in the black heart of Harlan County, a place mired in coal, ash, and blood, a land of coal seams and rhythmic discord that breed amity and illusion, all of which birthed the Harlan Vampire stories.
Mari is known to dance with fairies and ghosts beneath full moons and wade barefoot in creeks and wild rivers.
Midnight, her first novel, was published by Apex Book Company in May 2014.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 4, 2019
** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **
“Maybe he could help her, give her sanctuary for a few days.”
Surprisingly Midnight is the second book I’ve read lately that had the same atmospheric that was so prevalent in the HBO show True Blood. I had shades of it recently when I read Husk, but I found throughout Midnight I was expecting to see some of the familiar Bon Temps characters.
Adkins throws us right into the mix with the arrival of Sami in her high school love Steve’s shop. She’s fled her abusive relationship and with nowhere else to go, she’s turned to the person she trusts and loves the most.
From the outset, I could see some things that would obviously occur, but Adkins didn’t stumble over them, in turn, the characters and situations were allowed to play out. At times I found it to be a bit drawn out. I even commented at one point on Facebook that chapter one was 13 minutes long on my Kindle, but chapter two clocked in at 90 minutes. I found there was a lot of extra fluff at times, reading through details that were unnecessary while I was waiting for something to really ramp up.
Things do start to really occur with the introduction of the mysterious character Michael and as Adkins gives us bits and pieces to digest, we learn more about Sami and her ‘abilities’ and watch as the plot unfolds. If you watched True Blood then you’d see the parallels with Sookie here.
I enjoyed the layout of each chapter taking place in successive months in 1985, and the placing of the story in that year/decade is great because it removes any of the usual issues with “well if they would’ve just texted or called on their cell-phone then that could’ve been resolved.”
At the end of the day, I didn’t mind the story but I think this is more a case of the wrong reader for the book. I’ve typically been trying to reduce the volume of books that follow this narrative as well as Zombie based books lately, but I wanted to give this one a go.
I think if you’re looking for a character-driven story where we get to see Samantha transform from a broken-down person to one who grows and blossoms with confidence then this story will be right up your alley.
“Maybe he could help her, give her sanctuary for a few days.”
Surprisingly Midnight is the second book I’ve read lately that had the same atmospheric that was so prevalent in the HBO show True Blood. I had shades of it recently when I read Husk, but I found throughout Midnight I was expecting to see some of the familiar Bon Temps characters.
Adkins throws us right into the mix with the arrival of Sami in her high school love Steve’s shop. She’s fled her abusive relationship and with nowhere else to go, she’s turned to the person she trusts and loves the most.
From the outset, I could see some things that would obviously occur, but Adkins didn’t stumble over them, in turn, the characters and situations were allowed to play out. At times I found it to be a bit drawn out. I even commented at one point on Facebook that chapter one was 13 minutes long on my Kindle, but chapter two clocked in at 90 minutes. I found there was a lot of extra fluff at times, reading through details that were unnecessary while I was waiting for something to really ramp up.
Things do start to really occur with the introduction of the mysterious character Michael and as Adkins gives us bits and pieces to digest, we learn more about Sami and her ‘abilities’ and watch as the plot unfolds. If you watched True Blood then you’d see the parallels with Sookie here.
I enjoyed the layout of each chapter taking place in successive months in 1985, and the placing of the story in that year/decade is great because it removes any of the usual issues with “well if they would’ve just texted or called on their cell-phone then that could’ve been resolved.”
At the end of the day, I didn’t mind the story but I think this is more a case of the wrong reader for the book. I’ve typically been trying to reduce the volume of books that follow this narrative as well as Zombie based books lately, but I wanted to give this one a go.
I think if you’re looking for a character-driven story where we get to see Samantha transform from a broken-down person to one who grows and blossoms with confidence then this story will be right up your alley.
May 15, 2014
Midnight by Mari Adkins
The story takes place rural Kentucky. Samantha "Sami" Clark goes there to stay with her college friend. She never knew her parents and always felt different. Once there she meets a mysterious young man named Michael and soon she begins to find out exactly why she felt different all these years.
A fast paced original story. Sami is very unique she has her good qualities and her weaknesses. I liked the story line, it did have some surprises overall I liked the originality of it.
The story takes place rural Kentucky. Samantha "Sami" Clark goes there to stay with her college friend. She never knew her parents and always felt different. Once there she meets a mysterious young man named Michael and soon she begins to find out exactly why she felt different all these years.
A fast paced original story. Sami is very unique she has her good qualities and her weaknesses. I liked the story line, it did have some surprises overall I liked the originality of it.
June 10, 2014
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review as part of LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program. Brief plot spoilers may follow.*
Brief summary: Sami flees her abusive boyfriend Adam after a particularly brutal beating, seeking solace with her old friend Steve after a couple of years apart. The Steve she remembers and the Steve she meets now are quite different, however, and so is the town that he lives in. After arriving, Sami struggles to reconcile herself with her past and move on from her relationship and in the process she learns to rely on Steve and two new people he brings into her life. These new people, Jeremy and Michael, have a significant effect on her life and as Sami comes to a place of self-healing, she discovers a lot about herself and those around her.
I took quite the trip while I was reading Midnight. When I first started reading this book, I didn’t like it. Towards the middle of the book, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Within the last 30 pages or so of the book I had an “ahhh, now it’s beginning to make sense” moment. Now that I’m finished with it, I’ve realized that I still don’t feel one way or the other about it. There were still a lot of things that didn’t make sense to me, but seeing as how this is the beginning of a series these things will probably be cleared up in the next installments. The book in general was very abrupt in a lot of ways and I didn’t really get clear transitions from scenes, emotions or characters at all. I don’t have too much to say about any of the characters; I didn’t get to learn a lot about any of them in order to have a definitive opinion. I can say that after awhile Sami’s mood swings, irrational/contradictory emotional responses and crying started to wear on my nerves and I felt she was being extremely greedy with both Steve and Jeremy. Didn’t like that at all. I’m not sure how correct I am with this theory (probably not correct at all lol) but the first half of the book, when Sami was either sleeping, crying, drinking or smoking, the book did not flow well at all, and seemed to parallel Sami’s muddled state of mind. Towards the end, when she finally gained a bit of clarity about her situation and what her next couple of steps would be, the book finally began to make some sense to me, earlier situations began to clear themselves up and it wasn’t so hard for me to understand what was going on. I still have an issue with how the book flowed in general; it just didn’t have a fluid progression. I found myself questioning exactly what was going on and trying to make sense of things just as Sami was because for the longest time, there were no answers, the book seemed to jump from one spot to another, and I couldn’t put very much together. It was towards the end that I realized how much of this was about Sami awakening and embracing her chance at something new, on a number of levels, and many of the things I had found confusing earlier now made sense. If it was intentional on part of the author, I really liked that as Sami discovered and felt new things, so did the reader. I found myself growing infuriated with the three men as they continued to withhold information from Sami, I found myself curious about the mysterious objects they all seemed to have in common, and I was just as confused about what it meant to ‘awaken’ and what Sami needed to do.
The supernatural and magical elements had their place in the story, but strangely enough they didn’t overwhelm the rest of the plot. In fact, I think the lessons in the story and the growth that took place as the book progressed could have all occurred without the supernatural and magical. To me, Midnight was largely about growth and when I stripped away the supernatural elements, it was still about growth. Normal life situations, like loving, mending fences, learning to rely on others as well as self, were all explored in this book and something I liked was that learning these lessons was not entirely dependent upon the presence of supernatural abilities. I won’t go as far as to say the supernatural/magical parts were an afterthought, but they certainly weren’t at the forefront. I saw more of the magical parts of the book than I did the vampire parts. So if you’re looking for a vampire-based book like many of the others that are out there, this isn’t the book for you. Even though vampires are part of this story, you don’t get the typical situations that you’d expect from a vampire novel, which isn’t entirely a bad thing. They were much more ‘human’ than you’d come to expect if you’ve read a lot of supernatural novels and come into the book with an idea of what you’d be reading.
I wasn’t a terribly large fan of the book as a whole, but I’m open to reading about more of Sami’s path to self-acceptance and how things go in her life now that her awakening has begun. I’d like to see if she really does grow or if she continues to require coddling, all the while saying she doesn’t need it. I’m also not a fan of the cover art but that’s neither here nor there. Lol If I had any suggestions, it would be to get the book to flow just a little better and not be so over the place. It’s fast paced, but because it’s fast as well as a little disoriented in the writing style, important details can be missed as a result.
Brief summary: Sami flees her abusive boyfriend Adam after a particularly brutal beating, seeking solace with her old friend Steve after a couple of years apart. The Steve she remembers and the Steve she meets now are quite different, however, and so is the town that he lives in. After arriving, Sami struggles to reconcile herself with her past and move on from her relationship and in the process she learns to rely on Steve and two new people he brings into her life. These new people, Jeremy and Michael, have a significant effect on her life and as Sami comes to a place of self-healing, she discovers a lot about herself and those around her.
I took quite the trip while I was reading Midnight. When I first started reading this book, I didn’t like it. Towards the middle of the book, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. Within the last 30 pages or so of the book I had an “ahhh, now it’s beginning to make sense” moment. Now that I’m finished with it, I’ve realized that I still don’t feel one way or the other about it. There were still a lot of things that didn’t make sense to me, but seeing as how this is the beginning of a series these things will probably be cleared up in the next installments. The book in general was very abrupt in a lot of ways and I didn’t really get clear transitions from scenes, emotions or characters at all. I don’t have too much to say about any of the characters; I didn’t get to learn a lot about any of them in order to have a definitive opinion. I can say that after awhile Sami’s mood swings, irrational/contradictory emotional responses and crying started to wear on my nerves and I felt she was being extremely greedy with both Steve and Jeremy. Didn’t like that at all. I’m not sure how correct I am with this theory (probably not correct at all lol) but the first half of the book, when Sami was either sleeping, crying, drinking or smoking, the book did not flow well at all, and seemed to parallel Sami’s muddled state of mind. Towards the end, when she finally gained a bit of clarity about her situation and what her next couple of steps would be, the book finally began to make some sense to me, earlier situations began to clear themselves up and it wasn’t so hard for me to understand what was going on. I still have an issue with how the book flowed in general; it just didn’t have a fluid progression. I found myself questioning exactly what was going on and trying to make sense of things just as Sami was because for the longest time, there were no answers, the book seemed to jump from one spot to another, and I couldn’t put very much together. It was towards the end that I realized how much of this was about Sami awakening and embracing her chance at something new, on a number of levels, and many of the things I had found confusing earlier now made sense. If it was intentional on part of the author, I really liked that as Sami discovered and felt new things, so did the reader. I found myself growing infuriated with the three men as they continued to withhold information from Sami, I found myself curious about the mysterious objects they all seemed to have in common, and I was just as confused about what it meant to ‘awaken’ and what Sami needed to do.
The supernatural and magical elements had their place in the story, but strangely enough they didn’t overwhelm the rest of the plot. In fact, I think the lessons in the story and the growth that took place as the book progressed could have all occurred without the supernatural and magical. To me, Midnight was largely about growth and when I stripped away the supernatural elements, it was still about growth. Normal life situations, like loving, mending fences, learning to rely on others as well as self, were all explored in this book and something I liked was that learning these lessons was not entirely dependent upon the presence of supernatural abilities. I won’t go as far as to say the supernatural/magical parts were an afterthought, but they certainly weren’t at the forefront. I saw more of the magical parts of the book than I did the vampire parts. So if you’re looking for a vampire-based book like many of the others that are out there, this isn’t the book for you. Even though vampires are part of this story, you don’t get the typical situations that you’d expect from a vampire novel, which isn’t entirely a bad thing. They were much more ‘human’ than you’d come to expect if you’ve read a lot of supernatural novels and come into the book with an idea of what you’d be reading.
I wasn’t a terribly large fan of the book as a whole, but I’m open to reading about more of Sami’s path to self-acceptance and how things go in her life now that her awakening has begun. I’d like to see if she really does grow or if she continues to require coddling, all the while saying she doesn’t need it. I’m also not a fan of the cover art but that’s neither here nor there. Lol If I had any suggestions, it would be to get the book to flow just a little better and not be so over the place. It’s fast paced, but because it’s fast as well as a little disoriented in the writing style, important details can be missed as a result.
September 14, 2014
This review was written on my blog:
Midnight is Southern Gothic fiction set in 1980's rural Kentucky. The story entails the struggles of Samantha Clark in getting away from an abusive boyfriend and dealing with some major emotional issues.
The synopsis on the back of the book says: "Samantha Clark has always known she was different. Brought up in a loveless household, she can almost forgive herself for turning to an abusive boyfriend to help her give her the roots and love she desperately needs...Midnight is the inward journey of Sami's self-loathing, self-reflection, and eventual self-acceptance."
While that is the over arching story, it is also a love story and has vampires. Yes, that's right...vampires! (I love vampires)
Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed the book. It was hard to put down at times but also hard to follow...here's the why's of it all:
The book is written a bit differently. While it isn't from Sami's point of view, it's written in the same emotional state that Sami is in. The first 100 pages were fuzzy and confusing because Sami spends her days in a haze of marijuana smoke and wine intoxication. It starts out with her feeling battered physically and emotionally. You're really meant to be confused and disoriented from her physical and emotional traumas.
Moving to Harlan County has its own difficulties as Sami is aware of the strange energies in the area. She's not sure of what she is sensing partially because she is in such a strange emotional state and far from clear headed. Energy is actually a major plot device in the book as it has many Pagan elements with lots of discussion on manipulation of energy and spell work.
Sami is really seeking a place to belong and she thinks that is with Steve, an old friend from college. They have such a tumultuous relationship and can't seem to figure out if they want each other or not. Along the way she meets Jeremy and falls in love unexpectedly which brings in even more emotional issues. Then there's Michael (I think I'm in love with Michael). He's this mysterious yet familiar person to Sami and she spends most of the book drawn to him yet unsure of why.
All in all, Sami is trying to find a place to belong with home and a family. Yet she can't handle the emotions of finding 'family' in Steve, Jeremy and Michael, as she consistently whines about them all abandoning her. It takes her most of the book to get herself under control. Some will find her flip flopping back and fourth between Steve and Jeremy familiar. I think we all have felt drawn to two people but didn't want to choose which one to be with.
I'm not even going to try to discuss the vampire side of the story. It was pretty original and different but hard to grasp as the vampires don't even know the how's and why's of their situation. They just sort of accept it. This is reminiscent of the Blood Opera Sequence by Tanith Lee as her vampires are vampires genetically but not much else is revealed on the why. I would love to learn more in the sequels (I hear this is to be a trilogy) and I think the whole story has lots of potential to grow!
All this being said, I found some of the dialogue a bit hard to get through and repetitive. I know there were secrets kept for reasons but this was reiterated several times. I just wanted answers darn it!
If you do read this book, know that there are mentions of things that didn't actually exist in 1985. The afterword didn't really explain why the author did it but did list the anachronisms in the story; I really wanted to message Ms. Adkins and say "Hey! Brandon Lee didn't play Eric Draven until the 90's" and am glad I held my tongue! ;) She did bring in a lot of local colour to the story from living in Harlan County herself. I really enjoyed knowing most of the places she talks about as I've been all over that part of Kentucky.
All in all, it was an interesting story and fast paced read. I was drawn in for most of it (the fuzziness at the beginning really threw me) and liked the direction it seems to be going. There are several plot points that were touched on but never returned to so I'm hopeful for a sequel. Again, I need answers!
Midnight is Southern Gothic fiction set in 1980's rural Kentucky. The story entails the struggles of Samantha Clark in getting away from an abusive boyfriend and dealing with some major emotional issues.
The synopsis on the back of the book says: "Samantha Clark has always known she was different. Brought up in a loveless household, she can almost forgive herself for turning to an abusive boyfriend to help her give her the roots and love she desperately needs...Midnight is the inward journey of Sami's self-loathing, self-reflection, and eventual self-acceptance."
While that is the over arching story, it is also a love story and has vampires. Yes, that's right...vampires! (I love vampires)
Let me start off by saying that I enjoyed the book. It was hard to put down at times but also hard to follow...here's the why's of it all:
The book is written a bit differently. While it isn't from Sami's point of view, it's written in the same emotional state that Sami is in. The first 100 pages were fuzzy and confusing because Sami spends her days in a haze of marijuana smoke and wine intoxication. It starts out with her feeling battered physically and emotionally. You're really meant to be confused and disoriented from her physical and emotional traumas.
Moving to Harlan County has its own difficulties as Sami is aware of the strange energies in the area. She's not sure of what she is sensing partially because she is in such a strange emotional state and far from clear headed. Energy is actually a major plot device in the book as it has many Pagan elements with lots of discussion on manipulation of energy and spell work.
Sami is really seeking a place to belong and she thinks that is with Steve, an old friend from college. They have such a tumultuous relationship and can't seem to figure out if they want each other or not. Along the way she meets Jeremy and falls in love unexpectedly which brings in even more emotional issues. Then there's Michael (I think I'm in love with Michael). He's this mysterious yet familiar person to Sami and she spends most of the book drawn to him yet unsure of why.
All in all, Sami is trying to find a place to belong with home and a family. Yet she can't handle the emotions of finding 'family' in Steve, Jeremy and Michael, as she consistently whines about them all abandoning her. It takes her most of the book to get herself under control. Some will find her flip flopping back and fourth between Steve and Jeremy familiar. I think we all have felt drawn to two people but didn't want to choose which one to be with.
I'm not even going to try to discuss the vampire side of the story. It was pretty original and different but hard to grasp as the vampires don't even know the how's and why's of their situation. They just sort of accept it. This is reminiscent of the Blood Opera Sequence by Tanith Lee as her vampires are vampires genetically but not much else is revealed on the why. I would love to learn more in the sequels (I hear this is to be a trilogy) and I think the whole story has lots of potential to grow!
All this being said, I found some of the dialogue a bit hard to get through and repetitive. I know there were secrets kept for reasons but this was reiterated several times. I just wanted answers darn it!
If you do read this book, know that there are mentions of things that didn't actually exist in 1985. The afterword didn't really explain why the author did it but did list the anachronisms in the story; I really wanted to message Ms. Adkins and say "Hey! Brandon Lee didn't play Eric Draven until the 90's" and am glad I held my tongue! ;) She did bring in a lot of local colour to the story from living in Harlan County herself. I really enjoyed knowing most of the places she talks about as I've been all over that part of Kentucky.
All in all, it was an interesting story and fast paced read. I was drawn in for most of it (the fuzziness at the beginning really threw me) and liked the direction it seems to be going. There are several plot points that were touched on but never returned to so I'm hopeful for a sequel. Again, I need answers!
July 3, 2014
It took me a while to catch on to what the author was doing here in her work and I thought I was going to have to be negative about this review. In reality, Ms. Adkins has put a new spin on the world of vampires. This tale is told by a 22 year old woman who is in the process of deciding whether to become a fully "turned" vampire herself. We experience her doubts and confusion through an alcohol and marijuana haze. She has been severely abused by a former love and was abandoned as a child into the hands of grandparents who died when she was still too young to care for herself. With no real family or friends she falls into a family of vampires and their culture and must decide whether to become one of their kind. These are not the vampires of Hollywood or the original literature. It is a difficult read at the start until you realize what is happening to this young woman. My thanks to the author and LibraryThing for a complimentary copy.
August 3, 2014
I received a pdf-version advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review
I was not impressed with Midnight, but it isn’t the type of book I generally enjoy. I don’t think I would call it a romance, supernatural, or a fantasy; all words used to describe the book on the author’s website. While magic and vampires are a part of the story, they are not integral to the main ideas. This is a story of a twenty-something learning about her roots and her family and getting to know her own mind. The style moves from scene to scene, incident to incident, a bit roughly. A large portion of the story is thoughts of the main character, who is more than a little neurotic. Some of the incidents seem a little repetitive. The ending is abrupt.
I was not impressed with Midnight, but it isn’t the type of book I generally enjoy. I don’t think I would call it a romance, supernatural, or a fantasy; all words used to describe the book on the author’s website. While magic and vampires are a part of the story, they are not integral to the main ideas. This is a story of a twenty-something learning about her roots and her family and getting to know her own mind. The style moves from scene to scene, incident to incident, a bit roughly. A large portion of the story is thoughts of the main character, who is more than a little neurotic. Some of the incidents seem a little repetitive. The ending is abrupt.
April 16, 2014
I received a copy of this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This was not the type of book that I usually read. Vampires and magic are part of the story. The main character is running from an abusive relationship to a friend for help. She begins to learn about her roots and remembers things from her past. There is a surprise near the end of the book. The story ended abruptly with many unanswered questions. I felt that the author ended it too abruptly without fully developing the characters. This was not one of my favorite reads.
Read
August 28, 2019Read an excerpt of Midnight at the Apex website:
www.apexbookcompany.com/blogs/frontpa...
I hope you enjoy it!
www.apexbookcompany.com/blogs/frontpa...
I hope you enjoy it!
May 14, 2019
An enjoyable story which was undermined a bit by the main character forever bursting into tears, she also had a tendency to keep running into the arms of two different men. That Sami was continually referred to as a strong woman but then displayed such weak behaviour, plus a tendency to bury herself in wine and pot was an annoying oddity. However, once I'd got it into my head that this is a YA story (and I read a lot of this in my role as a librarian in a secondary school), my attitude changed a bit and felt that for that market it was a good fit. Teens will enjoy the romance and the 'sparkly' vampire element. Although this book is supposed to be about vampirism, that, in a way, is a subsidiary theme as it is more about self-discovery and finding out who you truly are.
June 18, 2015
So many things in this just did not make sense - almost-inappropriate relationships, cappuccino machines in a small town mid-80s grocery, an bizarre love triangle or two - but the biggest problem was the plot was just not engaging. It was hard to follow and lacked a sense of cohesiveness.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews