The Midnight Witch

Shadow Chronicles #2

by Paula Brackston

‘The dead are seldom silent. All that is required for them to be heard is that someone be willing to listen. I have been listening to the dead all my life.’

Lady Lilith Montgomery is the daughter of the sixth Duke of Radnor. She is one of the most beautiful young women in London and engaged to the city’s most eligible bachelor. She is also a witch. When her father dies, her hapless brother Freddie takes on his title. But it is Lilith who inherits their father’s role as Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven. And it is Lilith who must face the threat of the Sentinels, a powerful group of dark sorcerers . . .

Lilith knows the Lazarus secrecy and silence. She has spent her life honouring the code. But then she meets Bram. With him, she must not be secret nor silent. Despite her loyalty to the coven and duty to her family, Lilith cannot keep her life as a witch hidden from the man she loves – yet, to tell him will risk everything.

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction, Witches, Fiction, Paranormal, Romance, Magic

350 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 25, 2014

About the author

Paula Brackston (aka PJ Brackston)is the New York Times bestselling author of The Witch's Daughter, The Winter Witch, and The Midnight Witch(2014).

Paula has an MA in Creative Writing from Lancaster University, and is a Visiting Lecturer for the University of Wales, Newport. In 2007 Paula was short listed in the Creme de la Crime search for new writers. In 2010 her book 'Nutters' (writing as PJ Davy) was short listed for the Mind Book Award, and she was selected by the BBC under their New Welsh Writers scheme.

https://www.youtube.com/c/PaulaBracks...

Paula lives in Wales with her partner and their two children.

Reviews

[Jenna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin Press for the advanced copy

In short: Lilith is a young witch who has been thrust into leadership over the Lazarus Coven after her father dies. Almost immediately she is challenged by the dark side who have come to reclaim their elixir and gain their power back. In the midst of adapting to her new position and fighting off the demon spirits, she falls in love with a mortal man (she is already engaged to a fellow witch).

Okay...I started off really liking this book. I mean, I was excited about it. At around 15%, I thought, wow this is so intense and so early on...but nearly the moment that the thought surfaced, I wanted to take it back. Here are my reasons:

1. Her father taught her of "Faith in Silence"...

"If you do not speak your secrets aloud, others will not have the chance to betray you with them. Keep the faith, and keep silent. It is what I have been trained to do all this time."

She meets and falls in love with a mortal and after being together for a short time, she spills the beans to him. This is the woman who is the Head Witch and she is breaking the creed and carelessly! It comes across that she has no respect for her followers or their safety. She also proves this when she is challenged during her induction. She doesn't have to accept the challenge thrown at her, but it is almost like she has way too much pride and puts people close to her in harms way.

2. She tries to come across as self-righteous by doing things that goes against the coven and choosing a name that translates to Lucifer to her fellow-witches. I mean if she came off as someone who went against the coven for good reason, then I would understand, but it seems she is always making decisions that are unwise and usually costs others their lives. She seems more reckless than rebelliously wise. For instance:

a. She reveals the covents secret to a mortal that she "scarcely knows".
b. She conjures up her father's spirit to rub it in his face.
c. Instead of preparing the coven of what she has done, she goes for shock value and introduces him to her fellow witches without warning, at a gathering, no less.
d. Not only does she cheat on her fiance, but then expects him to work with her new beau to bring her back to life when she has once again made poor decisions.
e. The WHOLE situation(s) with her brother
f. The list grows...

3. She is a hypocrite...example:

"There is a price to pay, I understand that. And I will see that nothing is taken that is not paid for. I will not give away the Great secret, and I will see to it that no one is harmed through my actions."

This is when I started to loathe the main character. She is all over the place and I hate it when characters say one thing and do another. She gives away the "Great Secret" and people close to her DIE because of her actions.

Also, what I have a hard time with in this book is how the witches are guarding their elixir, when in truth, they stole it from the Sentinels. Yes, they were bad people, but stealing from them doesn't make them any better, especially when they somewhat taunt them with it. They should just get rid of it or something. I don't know.

4. At one point Lilith mentions that the Sentinels don't have any female members because they believe that when it comes to matters of the heart, that women are weak.

I really would have loved for Lily to have proven that women are NOT weak when it comes to the matters of the heart (her name is Lilith, for God's sake), but I felt that she failed me when the first sign of her heart fluttering, she blabbed it all. Not only that, but she went against other's wishes, didn't discuss IMPORTANT decisions with her peers, did spells that she was forbidden to do, and put others at risk for the matters of her heart. Meh.

I don't like writing unfavorable reviews, but when I don't like the main character of a book, it really grinds at me. There were parts that I liked about the book, but I grew to resent Lilith, unfortunately. Maybe now that she is the "Queen of the Night" there is hope that I could look past what I just read and give it another chance. If the next book in the series is good, then I will chalk this one up as she was just immature and luckily some people survived, but if she continues to be a hot mess, then I will give up. So, I guess I am still in to try the next book...

[Magdalena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lilith takes over as Head Witch for the Lazarus coven after her father's death. The coven is threatened by the Sentinels, a group of sorcerers who want the from the Lazarus coven the Elixir that can bring people back to life. Lilith also meet Bram a painter whom she falls in love with even though she is engaged to another witch.

For me, this book didn't work. The witch part was ok, in the beginning, but the love affair destroyed for me any chance of enjoying the book. It was so boring, so predictable, so annoying that I loathed every scene with Bram. If Paula Brackston had focused on the witches and their struggle with the sorceress it would have made the book better, well a bit better, the story was quite predictable and boring also in the end. The mole in the coven? I wasn't surprised a bit when he was reviled.

I skimmed the last part of the book just to get through with it and to be able to move on to something better. I loved the cover and the blurb was interesting to bad the book was so bad.

Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!

[[ J o ] · Rating 1 out of 5]

From almost the first page, you can see where this story is going. The narrator is fairly flat and tells the story through some very inane questions to herself. "Will this happen?" "Can I do it?" "How will I ever overcome this?" This is very bad storytelling and only makes the narrator-and protagonist-seem dull and unresponsive to anything happening around her.

The plot is fairly run-of-the-mill and nothing that happened was a surprise. There was too much cliché, too much of what you usually get in a story like this. It was written really well in a sense, which makes it even more a disappointment. There were, however, times when the point of view would randomly switch from first person to third person without so much as an explanation and the need for this is obviously that something pivotal needs to be told, but would be impossible to tell it via the first person narrative. That is the bad-but good and necessary-point of a first person narrative.

There are also too few things, except mentioning the date and some obvious era-related items dotted about, that convinced me of the date and location of the book. The dialogue felt forced, trying to be early 20th century but sounding like a modern mock-up. Execution was simply not done to a good standard.



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[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE MIDNIGHT WITCH is a tale of magic and good versus evil. Though the story combines elements of fantasy, historical fiction, and romance, overall it fell a bit flat. As the new High Witch of her coven, Lady Lilith has A LOT to learn. Some of her choices and actions were questionable at best. The supposed grand romance between her and Bram felt forced. The world building was interesting, including the mystery surrounding the coven's precious Elixir. In the end, I did wonder what the point of their magic truly was. The pacing was slow, though I think listening on audio made the story more entertaining.

Audiobook | Library

[Kathylill · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not sure if I'll ever write a full review for this as I did not finish it.

First reason: the writing.
It's like trying to walk through thick molasses. Especially in the beginning everything is described so fucking detailed I was honestly bored out of my mind. Then the author switches between past and present tense, first and third person narration and different point of views which renders the book into one gigantic annoying read. It's as if neither author nor editor have proof read it. The use of present tense narration always irritates me.
Also I kind of expected more a historical romance novel set in the early 20th century with some supernatural witchcraft / ghosts elements. But the dialogues, described etiquette and even the names do not contribute much to historical accuracy. It was all so very much uninteresting. I'd rather watch the Titanic sink again and Leonardo di Caprio drowns than finish this book.

Secondly: The romance:
it's kind of the same as in Titanic. Super beautiful, super rich, super fancy witch with a super fiancé falls in love with an artist from the poor / wrong / non magical / non aristocratic part of the society. Yawn ... Have I mentioned Titanic? The movie was awesome in comparison to this. At least Leo drowns and I still cry some tears when the mother tells her two children a story while the ship is running full of cold water.

Third: the magic part
They are all so damn powerful necromancer and then nothing. We are told they are. Actual zombies: none. Ghosts? Nope, none of that either. The whole mystical element is more like the secret meetings of a secret cult where everything is more about power struggle than magic / necromancy.

This book is a waste of time if you ask me. There are better historical novels, there are much better romance novels and there certainly are better fantasy novels out there.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Won via Goodreads First Reads contest

I really wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. I've read Brackston's first two works, The Witch's Daughter and The Winter Witch, and while I wasn't a huge fan of the former, I thought the latter showed great improvement in writing and storybuilding. I thought that her third book likely follow the same pattern and be even better, but unfortunately it seems to suffer from a lot the issues that plagued the other two.

Essentially, the problem is that Brackston doesn't seem to have a natural talent for writing. Reading her novels is actually somewhat frustrating because her diction is often quite awkward and unnatural-feeling. It reads as though it's written by someone who has a lot of education in writing but just doesn't have the ability to make the words flow in a way that makes her books compulsively readable. Additionally, it often seems like she's changing tenses - one paragraph will be in the present and then then next four will be in past, and then she'll switch back, and it really throws me off.

Then there's the fact that...well, her characters and stories just aren't very believable. Like the names of her characters. Lady Lilith Radnor is not really the kind of name that the daughter of a duke in the early 20th century would realistically have. And of course Lilith is absolutely perfect in every way. She's incredibly beautiful, slim, graceful, powerful, wealthy, etc. Flawless character. And of course she's engaged to the dashing Louis, son of an earl, but she falls madly in love with a lower-class painter and has to defy the rules of society and her secret coven to be with him. Yada yada yada. Cliche much? And the dialogue is so weird too. Literally everyone calls each other "darling" at least once per conversation, and they use vocabulary that isn't especially accurate for the time period. And again, it's just really unrealistic. I always think to myself that this is not what a real person would actually say.

And the plot itself is pretty weak. After her father's death, Lilith becomes the Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven, which doesn't really seem to have a purpose except that they meet underground and look spooky and sometimes talk to dead people. But they're POWERFUL necromancers and DON'T MESS WITH THEM but they don't do anything impressive whatsoever. And then there's the evil rival group whose purpose is to steal the magical elixir that brings people back from the dead, which is basically the whole reason the Lazarus Coven exists, except they aren't actually supposed to use the Elixir because that constitutes Infernal Necromancy which is BAD but they're POWERFUL NECROMANCERS, so what exactly are they supposed to be doing? It doesn't make a lot of sense. And the evil rival group decides that (gasp!) they're going to use people Lilith loves to try to get her to give them the Elixir plus the secret to getting it to work, which only she knows (again, how can you have a coven of necromancers with only one witch who knows how to actually raise the dead?) Add to that a slew of secondary characters who contribute pretty much nothing to the plotline, and there you have The Midnight Witch.

But Brackston is also pretty inconsistent with her own (admittedly already shaky) rules. In the very beginning of the book, Lilith struggles to summon a demon, which she has been taught to do, but has very little trouble raising someone from the dead later on (which is basically the biggest and baddest magic). And Louis, who has not received any training in raising the dead, is also able to do so pretty easily at one point. And Lilith remarks to herself that the person she raised is going to have to take numerous doses of the Elixir to stay alive, but the person Louis raises has no such need. So yes. Inconsistent.

Honestly, this isn't the kind of book I would expect a bestselling author to put forth. I had friends in high school who wrote better fanfiction. But I'm giving it 3 stars because I liked the premise - it just suffered rather poor execution.

[Maja (The Nocturnal Library) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paula Brackston’s Witch series is actually a series of standalones, with each book set in a different time period, but united by a common theme: a young witch struggling to find her place. After 17th century England and 19th century Wales, Brackston now takes us to visit the high society of Edwardian England.

At the center of the story is Lilith, a Duke’s daughter and a powerful witch. Lilith’s father just died, and while her brother inherited the title, Lilith inherited something much more important – his position as the Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven, as well as his backbone and his ability to keep the family together. Lilith is young, but she is both powerful and smart, level-headed and emotionally strong. One can help but admire her as she makes the decisions that affect more than just herself and the two men in her life.

At its very center, The Midnight Witch is a story about good vs. evil, but Brackston manages to turn this very basic concept into a truly captivating story. While there are admittedly some inconsistencies in the plot, there is emotional resonance from the opening moments of the story, and the characters are extremely relatable.

If possible, Brackston’s writing is even more elegant than before, combining deep emotionality and superb quality of prose. Even with third person multiple perspectives narrative, by far my least favorite, Brackston keeps a tight rein on her POV characters, never allowing them to take control or blend together. Her narrative mode almost takes us back to European literary realism, albeit with far stronger emotional attachments between us and the characters.

I don’t read historical fiction that often, magical realism or not, but if more authors wrote it like Paula Brackston does, that would change in a heartbeat. These books can be read in any order, so check them all out and see what sounds best, but don’t let them slip by you. They are not to be missed.

[Carol Storm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book that you absolutely hated -- but at the same time you adored reading it and you couldn't put it down? That's exactly what this YA friendly tale of witchcraft among the English upper classes during World War One was like for me. There were so many ingredients that I savored, and couldn't get enough of -- yet the flavor of the whole thing was a big, silly mess. I'm rating the book five stars, simply because I enjoyed it so much. But to be accurate about my impressions I want to do a split review, five star first and then one star.

FIVE STAR REVIEW: Bram the rugged young artist and beautiful, aristocratic witch Lilith were the most wonderful couple I've seen in a YA novel in a long, long time. I loved how Lilith was so much more powerful than Bram and how he just completely adored her for the very things that set her above him -- her wealth, beauty, class, and of course her enormously powerful knowledge of witchcraft and spells. Every scene they have together is sigh-worthy and I was so, so happy when they got together at long last. At the same time, I've never read a YA type novel where the supporting characters are so rich and vivid. When Bram comes to London, he boards with a very eccentric older man named Mangan -- and Mangan, his wife, his children, and even Mangan's sexy mistress Gudrun are all so real and funny and fascinating that they practically jump off the page. I would have been so, so happy if there had been no witchcraft at all and the whole story had been about Bran's adventures in the art world and if Mangan and Gudrun and their whole gang had been the focus of the story and not the witches and their problems. And that brings me to the next part of my review, the one-star review.

ONE STAR REVIEW: As authentic and meaningful teen romance, this book soars, but as a tale of horror, witchcraft, and macabre goings on it absolutely stinks up the joint. Where else can you see a vicious, deadly villain with supernatural powers prove what a threatening, menacing figure he is by . . . by . . . by wasting a squirrel at some old duke's funeral. That's right, Nicholas Strickland decides that the squirrel disrespected him when it ran by and kicked pine needles all over his blue suede shoes. And so he casts a spell. A mean, bad-ass spell that immediately causes the squirrel to go into cardiac arrest and die. Oh, but there's more! With the instincts of Poe and Lovecraft, Paula Brackston really zeroes in on the squirrel's face as he dies -- she lets us know you can see pain on the squirrel's face. And then fear. And then, I guess, acceptance? But the squirrel is dead. That's her idea of creating a chilling villain. A guy who kills a squirrel. With magic. How did Isaac Hayes put it? That Strickland is one bad -- (shut your mouth) -- I'm talking about Strickland!

Oh, but it doesn't stop with wasting a squirrel to beef up the villain's street cred. Every single thing about the supernatural in this book is either funny or stupid or just not credible. Luscious Lilith the teen queen belongs to the Lazarus Coven, an elite team of swinging upper class witches (male and female) who "serve humanity" by summoning up dead people and asking them random questions about the future of mankind. Okay. So the by-laws of the group apparently say that our yummy heroine *MUST* serve as head, boss, grand poo-bah, and that her silliness, teen girl love affairs, and general goofy goings on must *NEVER* be questioned by the adoring oldsters who live but to serve. In real life the other witches would have voted our teen queen out on her tail the *FIRST* time she bungles a spell. And she bungles a lot of them in this book!

There are so many heavy, heavy themes that Brackston introduces that make Lilith and her pals look silly and childish just when -- especially when -- they are supposed to be Witches With Soul. It was the whole World War One theme that really almost spoiled the book for me. I mean, so many questions are raised and never answered. There's a super dramatic moment when a helpful eight year old ghost fingers the whole coven and shouts "all your boys are gonna DIE!" And that was quite legitimate, I guess. But there's no follow up. If you imagine super powerful witches running all over London in 1914, you have to figure they could do stuff like melt machine guns or evaporate bullets or just put a spell on Kaiser Wilhelm to make him mellow out. At the very least, they could change all the paperwork so their sons all get orders posted to the rear. None of this happens. Instead the story just sputters and starts jumping whole years at a time, as if Paula Brackston just suddenly lost interest in World War One and decided to skip ahead for no reason at all.

I wish I could communicate how laughably stupid the plot was, with mean bad Strickland chasing silly, romantic Lilith all around over some secret elixir or something. And there are adoring ghosts who keep popping up to tell Lilith that she's, you know, an awesome witch! Because the Lazarus witches just don't tell her that often enough. And Bram doesn't adore her enough, except when he's painting her and bowing down before her powers. This girl is such a Mary Sue, and she takes herself so seriously that it's often inadvertently hilarious. "It took the war to awaken me from my privileged slumbers," she announces at one point, with total gravity, just because she's been working so hard doling out soup and bread to the humble, grateful masses. (So, no witch powers to create loaves and fishes? No witch powers to speed up the line or make her aching feet feel better?)

The fact is that magic and witchcraft just don't mix with the horrible realities of machine guns, barbed wire, and mustard gas. You don't see Lilith working spells to end the war, or even ease the suffering of the horribly wounded. No, she spends all her time worrying about whether mean, bad Strickland will steal her elixir. Or something. And agonizing over the ghosts who come to her with their problems. Only it's so funny, she never sees the ghosts of witches who were burned at the stake or torn in pieces by angry Christian mobs. You'd think that would be a thing, yet Paula Brackston never even mentions the fact that Christianity has not always been good for witches. Lilith works side by side with the nuns in the soup kitchen, and her admiration for them never seems to involve any knowledge of the past. Which is all the more annoying, given that Lilith's ONLY job as a witch is to talk to people who lived, you know, centuries ago. When witches got burned by Christians. A lot.

Oh, I cannot end the one-star section without mentioning Lilith's brother Freddy. All my Goodreads friends (and you know who you are) are huge romance novel readers, and we've all talked about how the useless brother is a time-honored romance trope. A good useless brother can highlight the heroine's guts, sass, and strength -- while at the same time pushing her into the hero's arms. Don't worry, none of that happens here. Freddy is the most under-written loser brother ever. He's totally weak and then about halfway through he gets it just like the squirrel. The only good thing is that he's named Freddy, so whenever he's mentioned you can visualize John Cazale in THE GODFATHER PART II and imagine how a real writer might have found the drama here.

FREDDY: I'm your older brother, Lilith, and I was stepped over!

LILITH: That's the way pop wanted it . . . though I'm not sure why.

FREDDY: IT'S NOT HOW I WANTED IT!

Isn't it kind of weird that the Lazarus Coven is co-ed, at a time when women couldn't even vote? And how come, if Lilith's *father* was the old head witch, they pass over the son for the daughter? Fredo deserves respect! And it's not like Lilith overcomes any sexism in this coven -- there just isn't any, because all anyone ever talks about is how totally awesome Lilith is, and how they must, must, be loyal to the young, green, untried girl who crushes on the first non-witch boy who smiles at her. And paints her picture. And worships her. Because really, who doesn't?

If you think about this stuff, you'll find that THE MIDNIGHT WITCH is a one-star read that drives you crazy. But if you just enjoy the love story, it's five-star YA fiction at it's best.

[Taylor Dodge · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not a witch story. This was a romance sprinkled with a poorly explained magic-system and convenient solutions to numerous problems. Not impressed by this one.

[Yzabel Ginsberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

[I received an ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. This not being a published copy, a few things may change in the final version of the novel.]

I had a bit of a hard time getting into the story at first, as the style felt a little too convoluted at times, and the whole present tense + 1st/3rd person POV shifts weren't needed in my opinion.

Contrary to what usually happens with such stories, I ended up liking the romance part better than the witches one. It wasn't particularly original—a young woman from a very conservative background, betrothed to a young man from an equally conventional background, falls in love with a a starving artist, and finds herself torn between what society dictates and what her heart truly wants. Though there's chemistry between Lilith and Bram from the beginning, I thought their relationship progressed in a believable way, and that their fears and questioning about said relationship were understandable, considering the place and time period. Again, it wasn't very original in itself, no surprises here, but it still worked, unlike too many romance plots I've seen in the past couple of years. Also, bubbly Charlotte wasn't an important character, but I liked her way of being. Same with Gudrun; blunt, haughty, yet to-the-point Gudrun.

The witches-related plot, on the other hand, made me roll my eyes several times, because I couldn't believe how the ninnies had managed to actually survive for so long. Here we have an ancient coven full of necromancers (nice ones, who only speak to the dead and don't try to raise them every Saturday evening), but they didn't do much, and didn't seem very organised. That part (i.e. half the novel) seemed to rest on inconsistencies and deus ex machina, and it didn't work for me at all. A few examples:
* When it's time for Lilith to officially become Head Witch, someone in the coven challenges her to prove her worth. The challenge, as per the coven's rules, is to summon then send back a demon, something that is considered as very hard and dangerous, and ended in the death of more than one witch in the past when the demon went on a rampage. For starters, why was this even a trial? Shouldn't a coven leader realise that stooping down to this isn't a very wise solution? Why was this rule still in effect, and not replaced by something difficult, but that may not end up with people dying?
* The challenger was a spy from the Sentinels, a group of enemy sorcerers. Everyone was wearing masks, and he had disguised his voice, so they didn't know who it was. The senior witches decide to investigate and see who joined their coven in the past years, to try and find the spy. Then... Nothing.
* At some point, Lilith learns the name of her enemy. At least another member of the coven knows, too, because said enemy tries blackmail on that person. Were the other witches ever informed? If no, why? If yes, why didn't they do anything?
* Very early in the story, Lilith finds herself haunted by a spirit. Why didn't the coven band to destroy it? Lilith only enlisted the help of ONE witch. As if that would work.
* A first hard strike against Lilith. Someone dies. Then the war happens, and the enemy... does nothing to press his luck and gain some more ground.
* The Elixir, the one that can resurrect people and that the Sentinels so badly want, is on the verge of being stolen. It's World War I: suddenly a bomb falls on the house. The thief and his acolytes die. Convenient.
* Lilith must keep the coven a secret from non-witches. But she reveals things easily enough to her lover. No wonder some deemed her unsuitable to be Head Witch.
There were other inconsistencies, and making a very detailed list would be tedious, so I'm going to stop here.

In general, I found the "nice witches" way too bland and passive. They had that whole coven, that power, they knew who their enemy was, they could've struck him, could've done, well, anything but they didn't. They just seemed to wait in the background, wait for something to happen, not making moves of their own. I couldn't understand why. (The matter of fragile balance or whatever else might have justified non-interference wasn't raised, so I assumed it wasn't an issue.)

I wish I had liked this novel more, but alas, it didn't happen.

[DodoReading · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't manage to finish The Midnight Witch, I was too disappointed with Lilith to continue reading the last half of the book. It was such a shame that Lilith's character was such a mess (reading other reviews I know I am far from the only one who has issues with her character). And it find it an epic shame that Lilith's character ruined the book for me because I really wanted to like this book! On a positive note the Lilith's character might be a mess but the actual literature isn't bad... 2 stars for The Midnight Witch.

[Fluffychick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to read this as I’ve had Brackston’s previous novels as audiobooks. I quite enjoyed The Witch’s Daughter, but was less enamoured by The Winter Witch. However, when I’m in the mood I like my witchcraft/ magical themed stories and so wanted to give the author another go.

Lady Lilith becomes Head Witch of the Lazarus Covern on the death of her father. Not only is she stunningly beautiful, rich and engaged to an equally gorgeous and talented son of an earl, she’s a powerful neocromancer. Romantic affairs and sinister witchy complications affect her otherwise perfect life.

Sadly, this one didn’t work for me. I didn’t like or care for any of the characters, Lilith in particular was just irritating. The whole point of her covern is the big secret she has protect at all cost and then she tells the rather random guy that she suddenly decides she loves. I struggled to finish the book, but I did felt I had to give it a chance to grown on me, unfortunately it didn’t. Not a lot actually happens, the whole magical aspect was unimpressive and by the end I didn’t really care.

Sorry, just not for me. Although I did like the cover!

Thanks to the publishers and netaglley for the chance to try it.

[jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The actual writing in this book was beautiful. It was eloquent and well thought out, but I just couldn’t get into the storyline. I liked the idea of the coven and the sentinels, but the way the story jumped around time-wise was a bit annoying. The romance was a bit of an insta-love situation with no real heat to it, and I found myself skimming over it at points. I also felt like the story dragged on quite a bit, and I had to put the book down at times because I was bored. Overall, a good book and I’d read more from this author if I was in the mood, but it’s not something that grabs and holds my attention.

[Albert · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston is another in the line of novels by Brackston that centers on the lives of witches and their survival in a world that does not accept them. I first read the The Witch's Daughter and found that novel well told and intriguing. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for this one.

"...The dead are seldom silent. All that is required for them to be heard is that someone be willing to listen. I have been listening to the dead all my life..."

The Duke of Radnor is dead and while his place in London society is now given to his son, it is his place as Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven where the true power lies. That position goes to his daughter, Lilith. Young, beautiful and engaged to the heir to a powerful witch family, Lilith must step into the role and take under power the secret of the Lazarus Coven. Not only does the Coven speak with the dead, they have the power to resurrect them as well.

But there is a threat to the Coven and they see the death of the Duke and the new young Head Witch as the opportunity to strike. They are called the Sentinels, necromancers who wish to take the secrets and the power of the Lazarus Coven to be their own.

Lilith knows she must be ready to face this threat. But she has her own life to care for as well. She begins to realize that the marriage that has been arranged for her will make her unhappy and even more so when she meets the artist she falls in love with. A very human and very non-witch artist. The Lazarus creed demands secrecy and silence. Lilith will find herself struggling to keep both as her brother and lover are threatened.

Late in the book, Lilith cries out to her lover and says something like, "...we have been tricked, I have been so stupid..." and that pretty much sums up her character. Lilith has one job as Head Witch. Keep the elixir that brings back the dead secret and keep silent about being a witch and the coven. It takes a kiss and a little attention from a guy and she gives up both.

Everything she is told not to do, by the coven and her dead father, she ends up doing but that is okay because she is in love and she is doing it to save her brother and her lover and ....and she is stupid. Almost everything that happens against Lilith in this book, she brings on herself. Her brother's death is a direct result of his opium addiction. Her reasoning to bring his back to life, against every rule of her coven, puts not only herself and her brother in danger, but the coven itself. She broke her covenant of secrecy and silence.

It doesn't take long to lose touch with this book. Not from the witchcraft or the supernatural aspect, but with Lilith herself.

The Midnight Witch is a good example of a YA book that relies upon heavily upon past successes and the popularity of witchcraft and the supernatural in romance novels. But if you are going to write and market a novel with a young strong lead female character, then make her a strong lead character.

Not a good read.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I started out enjoying this book. There were a few things right away that I overlooked in order to enjoy the story but they started out as small inconsistencies. It was half way through that I could visualize the stars falling off my review. By the last 100 pages or so I really had to push myself to finish this book at all.

What this book suffered from most of all inconsistency. I felt as if the author created many different plot lines and instead of expertly weaving them altogether, she randomly picked up one and dropped another. It felt more like jumping from one book to another instead of one story. If I never could anticipate what was about to happen it was because the author would cause abrupt and unexpected events to crash into the story or suddenly jump far into the future. The book just felt choppy with nothing holding it all together.
It was not just the plot that suffered from inconsistency but also the main character, Lilith. The only reason, I am willing to bet, that the other characters did not suffer from this was because none of them were sufficiently flushed out enough. While Lilith wavered between a few different personalities the other characters all stuck remarkably to the pigeon hole the author created for them. They never acted in any surprising or interesting ways. Even the main love interest felt woefully one dimensional and had very little out side of art and his 'unending' love for Lilith.
Lilith was one of those characters where the author tells you she is strong, practical, level headed, good leader, etc. but who never shows those traits. While I should say hardly ever. It is like one of those characters that 'never cries' but is seen weeping in every chapter. Lilith makes impulsive and rash decisions seemingly out of the blue or else spends all her time fretting over problems without taking in practical steps. I never saw evidence of any good leadership qualities that she should posses given her status both outside and inside the Coven.

And that is the final problem with this book. What an intriguing concept, witches in Edwardian England. I haven't seen witches in the time period before. However, despite it being a large part of the book the Coven never does anything. We are given a sketchy understanding of what the Coven is and how it came to be but mostly it just serves as an indistinct backdrop to Lilith. It was very disappointing. I felt like the author left things vague in order to allow herself to make things up as she went along.
By the end of the book nothing felt very well explained or resolved. It just sort of ended with all of the different plots loosely gathered together. Overall very disappointing.

[All Things Urban Fantasy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy

Downton Abbey by way of Anne Rice, THE MIDNIGHT WITCH is a touching period romance, set against a backdrop of a dying class system and a secret magical war over the ability to raise the dead. Though the exact purpose of the Lazarus Coven and their sorcerer rivals, the Sentinels, is vague, Brackston does an excellent job of painting Lilith Montgomery’s classic struggle between her duty to her craft and her heart.

Dense language coupled with present tense made the beginning a difficult read, and felt forced at times. After the first seventy-five pages or so, I caught onto the rhythm, and it was easier to step into the story and visualize the scenery. I particularly loved the descriptions of the Great Chamber where the Lazarus Coven performed their rituals, as well as the chaotic Mangan house where Bram lived, and, later, the sanctuary Lilith built for herself. Plot gave way to imagery in this novel, and there were a number of characters who left large impressions even in small roles, like Gudrun, Mangan’s German mistress, and Louis Harcourt, Lilith’s Unlucky Childhood Friend and fellow witch. With so much of the book dedicated to the year of 1913-1914, I wish Brackston had spent an equal amount of time exploring Lilith’s life during World War I, especially the way the high casualty rate affected her coven of necromancers. It seemed that their skills were in high demand, but the period was glossed over, like Brackston just wanted to skip to the end.

Though I wasn’t personally swept off my feet by Bram Cardale, the penniless, non-magic painter, I was moved by the way Lilith fell for him, the way she simply couldn’t help herself despite everything going against them. She knew that there wasn’t any way to make it work, but she dared to hope anyway, so I hoped with her. The conflict between one’s responsibilities and following one’s heart rarely leads to a happy ending. Brackston draws out Lilith’s conflict and maintains the tension of her ultimate decision throughout the novel, so that even by the end, the reader isn’t sure what outcome to hope for.

[Brittany · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved The Midnight Witch By, Paula Brackston. Taking place in London during the Edwardian era, The Midnight Witch begins with a funeral. The death of Lilith's father brings about a major change in her life, not just the loss of her father, but new responsibilities, one of them being becoming the new head of the Lazarus coven. Lilith tested and challenged throughout this tale with the; taking care of her troublesome brother, placating her mother, keeping a relic out of the hands of a nefarious group of sorcerers, dealing with a love triangle, keeping coven secrets, living a dual life, and becoming the woman her father would be proud of. She struggles between following her heart and doing what is 'sensible' and proper. The Midnight Witch doesn't disappoint, it's full of an array of different personalities from maleficent villains, and love struck artists, bohemian households, dubious spirits, and gallant fiancés. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that there weren't chapters, or breaks between which character I was with, but I received this book as an advance copy, so that probably will not be a problem when the book has been released. This was a very enjoyable read I highly recommend it.

This was originally published at:
http://cozycornerandcafebookreviews.b...

[Lynne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will admit right up front that I didn't finish this book. I quit about 140 pages in, and I don't intend to finish it. I bought this book because it was on a list of books recommended for people who liked "Outlander" but whoever wrote that list was asleep at the wheel; there are absolutely no similarities.

I'm not a fan of formulaic romance novels, which this one is. It's the story of two people who are inexplicably attracted to each other even though they know the love is oh so wrong and can never be. Been there, read that a thousand times. All the witch-themed trappings are just window dressing.

The odd thing about this book for me is that I feel that Ms. Brackston has some real talent. Though I haven't read anything else by her, I suspect that she can really write when she has a good story to tell. It felt to me as if she were wasted on this silly book. I would read other books by her, if only to see if I'm right about that.

[Amy Maddess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is like ‘The Addams Family’ meets ‘The Ghost Whisperer’ (w/ Jennifer Love Hewitt) meets ‘The Night Circus’ with some ‘Harry Potter’ mixed in. I’m in love, so in love.

[KassandraAllie · Rating 2 out of 5]

So very disappointing, I lost track of the number of times that I day dreamed about strangling Lilith, & Bram was barely any better... The concept and time period were so epic though, if only the main characters hadn't muddled it all up.

[Heidi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Two and a half stars: A book with a lot of promise but fell flat with an unbelievable romance.

Lilith stands quietly at the side of her father's grave. Her heart heavy knowing that her father is gone, but she knows she will see him again. She worries not only about her mother, but also her brother who stands to inherit his father's title of duke. Freddie is frail and has developed an opium habit. Lilith's largest fear is that she will secretly inherit her father's biggest legacy. She will become the Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven. A role she has been groomed for her whole life. As Lilith stands waiting for the service to end, a dark spirit assaults her mind. Questioning her ability to lead and her brother's sanity. This dark spirit begins speaking to her constantly and it is soon apparent that someone dark and deadly is after the coven. Will Lilith stave off danger and become a strong leader?
What I Liked:
*Early on, I was drawn into the story, intrigued by the secret coven of witches. I liked learning about these witches, their purpose, their rituals and how they functioned. I was completely fascinated by the spells and the ability the witches possessed to speak to the spirits of the dead. I liked everything related to the witches and their craft.
*In the beginning, I admired Lilith and her strong character. At an early age, she was taught all the secrets of the coven and prepared for the day she would one day ascend to the position of head witch. At her trial to become head witch, she is challenged by an unknown member and to prove herself worthy she must complete the difficult and dangerous task of summoning a demon. I was totally behind Lilith for the fist half of the book, and I loved her courage and how she stood up and protected those she loved.
*I enjoyed that this was an age old tale of good vs. evil. On one side there are the witches of the Lazarus Coven who guard the Elixir, which can bring back someone from the dead. Their arch enemies, the Sentinels, desire to take this Elixir and they will do anything to get it. Headed by the odious Stricklend, they are corrupt and evil and they are truly frightening.
*I liked the setting. The story opens in London 1913 on the eve of the World War I. The book later skips ahead and covers some of the terrifying time during the war and then the events that followed after the completion. I enjoyed learning more about how society changed after the end of the war. Maids and servants and the lifestyle of the wealthy slowly phased out.
*I was pleased with the resolution. After all the trials and upheavals, Lilith redeems herself and comes through. There is a final epic battle between good and evil, and everything resolves without a bunch of lingering questions or a cliffhanger. This is at this point a stand alone, which is nice.
*I enjoyed the writing. Ms. Brackston pays attention to detail and her style is lovely and detailed.
And The Not So Much:
*I so wanted to love this book, but there were so many things that put me off, that I struggled to finish it. The middle portion drags on and on and I found myself disengaging. Then things pick up and get exciting leading up to a terrifying event and a deadly confrontation, then the book skips ahead five years to near the end of the war. I didn't like the rapid jump in time.
*I hated the transitions. This book utilizes three points of view: Lilith, Bram and the villain Stricklend. I usually enjoy book with different voices, but I grew frustrated with the way it was done. There was no warning between the character switches. Sometimes the view point would switch in the same paragraph. I though the transitions were jarring and the made the read choppy. I read an ARC copy so this may be corrected a bit in the final copy, but I doubt it.
*The romance was unrealistic and unbelievable. Bram, the penniless artist, becomes Lilith's object of desire out of nowhere. It is apparent that Bram is infatuated with Lilith the first time he sees her in the graveyard, but Lilith doesn't care for Bram at their first few encounters as she holds some false prejudices. Then out of nowhere she is suddenly in love with him after he steals a kiss even though she is engaged to marry her life long friend and fellow witch, Louis. To be with Bram is against everything in her upbringing. I struggled with the rapid development of the romance and I never once got behind it as I felt like it was so unrealistic. I hated it! I firmly believe that she should have been with Louis.
*My biggest frustration stemmed from the change in Lilith's character. She starts out the book strong and dedicated to her coven. Then she starts making some rash and ridiculous decisions that go against everything she has been raised to believe. For instance, she is never to reveal the secrets of the coven to an outsider, especially as head witch, but before long she is telling Bram her secrets. I completely lost faith in her after some of her decisions, and I found myself disengaging from her. She went from someone I liked and admired to someone I didn't like or trust.
*There was a jarring thing at the end that left me wondering. Early on, I was led to believe that the witches of the coven were born with their powers and then at the end, there is the convenient insertion that says some of the witches were brought into the coven. What??? So if that is the case why wasn't Freddie, Lilith's brother part of the coven? Where did they get their powers then? This was a very puzzling issue that didn't set right with me. I think the author threw it in just to make it work with the romance.

The Midnight Witch was a book that I was excited to read, but unfortunately it ended up being a disappointment. The pacing dragged at times, the main character makes some ridiculous decisions and it has a romance that it is unrealistic. While I liked everything relating to the witches and the author's writing, it wasn't enough to save the read overall. This is a book I can't recommend unless you are a huge fan of the author or you want to take a chance. For me, it had so much potential but fell short in execution.

Favorite Quotations:
"If you do not speak your secrets aloud, others will not have the chance to betray you with them."
"If to be in love is to lose one's self then I am as in love as it is possible to be, for I am utterly lost!"

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review.

Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! I can't wait to get my hands on the other books by this author. Great story for people who are fans of magic and suspense.

[Lu Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love death and betrayal with a side of mystery!! This is a great exciting page turner filled with thrills heart pounding action!! If you love witch historical reads this is a book for you!

[Jules The Book Junkie Reviews · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Midnight Witch by Paula Brackston is her third book on witches, however, this is not a series. A young witch struggling to find her power/place does seem to be the common theme in the various books. The Midnight Witch takes place in the early 20th century (1913-1919). Unlike the previous books, the main characters occupy a higher socio-economic status.

Lilith Montgomery assumes the role of head witch of the Lazarus Coven after the death of her father. She takes on the leadership even though she is young and inexperienced, albeit the heir apparent to the role. She is immediately challenged by dark forces that want to reclaim their power through secrets the coven has guarded for centuries. While this conflict is boiling, Lilith must also deal with her family and her love conflicts.

Although I enjoyed The Midnight Witch, I didn’t enjoy it as much as Brackston’s first book. I loved that she toggled between POV of three main characters (Lilith, Bram and Sticklend). That choice in how the story was told allowed the reader to savor the slow introduction of information as characters presented themselves. The reader knows that the characters will somehow be connected, but it was a delicious wait to see how the pieces fit together.

Although Lilith may not have been a common name for someone of that time period, choosing that name as a nod to the “first witch” was very clever. I had a love-hate relationship with Lilith. She seemed naïve, untrained and hypocritical. I like that she wanted to keep the coven current, but many of her choices seemed not only self-serving but completely out of line with what would have been hammered into her as the future leader of the coven. I had a hard time believing that given her prior strict adherence to the rules that Lilith would have made the all decisions she did. I enjoy that Brackston’s witches are not all super powerful and able to control all elements and aspects of life and nature.

Incorporating WWI into the story was interesting. It allowed for some character growth, interaction and demise that I would not have anticipated. I did not care for the implication that the dark forces were tied to the start of the war since it wasn't developed how they would eventually get the coven secrets as a result. Illuminating why the dark forces thought that the threat of war would influence or have a direct impact on Lilith would have improved the story.

The use of a mysterious infiltrator who is not revealed until end of the story was superb suspense. Although it was not one of my favorite books by Brackston, The Midnight Witch was well written and kept me engrossed in the story. I’m sure that the author’s fans and fans of witch stories will highly enjoy this book.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

My full review is posted with Avid Reviews: www.avidfantasyreviews.wordpress.com

This new novel by Paula Brackston is a continuation of her series about witches, including The Witch’s Daughter and The Winter Witch. These works can all be read as standalone novels, but this new installment is sure to please those that are established fans of Brackston’s Witch series. The Midnight Witch, like Brackston’s other books, is about a young girl on the verge of womanhood struggling to find her place in the world, both as a woman and a witch.

The main distinction between the books in the Witch series is that each is set in a different historically accurate time period. The Midnight Witch brings us from the lavishness of high society Edwardian England, to the darkness and horrors of World War I. The protagonist is Lilith, a young woman who is the daughter of a Duke. This same Duke happens to be Head Witch of the Lazarus Coven, and when he dies it is up to Lilith to inherit her father’s position. Her father trained her in the art of necromancy from a young age, but being the Head Witch will be harder than Lilith could have ever imagined. She will have to face a group of sorcerers who seek to reclaim something from her coven (for dark purposes of their own), a fiancé she doesn’t love, and a young artist far below her station that she can’t help but have feelings for. Lilith struggles to balance the different obstacles she faces, while at the same time keeping to the Lazarus creed: secrecy and silence. But is it possible to hide what she truly is from the people she loves?

I enjoyed this book even though it read more like an historical fiction than speculative fiction. The pacing was slower than I usually prefer, but it seemed to match both the plot and the story’s setting. It might have been awkward, or more like an urban fantasy if there had been too much excitement in the plot, as Edwardian England was neither a time nor place where danger lurked around every corner for a girl who was part of high society. Lilith’s activities with her coven were enough to make me keep reading the story, but not enough for me to become completely engrossed in the story...

The full review is posted here: http://avidfantasyreviews.wordpress.c...

[The Lit Bitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fun read. I recently read Paula Brackston’s novel The Winter Witch which I absolutely loved so I was eager to read more works by her.

This novel lacked a little of the romance that The Winter Witch had for me. I liked the idea of lovers from different social circles and I hoped that it would have been a stronger, electric romance.

For me it took a little too long for Bram and Lilith to come together and I wasn’t entirely convinced about their romance. It seemed like they met, hung out a few times, kissed once and then boom they were deeply in love. I would have liked to see a little more sexual tension and had it not so drawn out.

Though to romance was a little lacking for me, it didn’t lessen my desire to keep reading. I was intrigued by the plot surrounding the Coven and the Sentinels.

I wanted to know more about the Sentinels and their powers and motives while at the same time I wanted to know more about the Lazarus witches and their coven. I thought there was a lot to love and hold a readers interest in that plot line.

Lilith’s character had great potential. She was likable and I think most readers would enjoy her. I don’t know that she had a great amount of depth, but I did enjoy reading her and could relate to her struggle between love and duty.

I actually enjoyed it very much. It was whimsical and fun to read! It was lighthearted and would probably make a great beach read. The Coven plot held my interest and I thought the story as a whole was well presented.

If you liked Brackston’s previous novels, readers will find many of the same things to love in this book–mystery, love, and a whole lot of witchcraft!

See my full review here

[Jennifer Koudelka · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed in this book. The beginning grabbed me so much but as the book continued on it just less and less exciting. Lilith wasn't as interesting or compelling of a character as I was hoping. She's attempting to prove herself as new head of the Lazarus Coven of Necromancers but I honestly spent most of the book thinking that no, she really shouldn't be the head. She's making horrifically bad decisions. If those decisions and her growth were the point of the book, showing her failures and her growth from them then that'd be different. But this book spends many pages making the reader try to sympathize and agree with Lilith's decisions, decisions I just thought were ill thought out.

A good portion of this book relies on the strength of the characters and their relationships with each other (Lilith and Bram especially) and that bond didn't come through on the page. I was told that they love each other, that they can't stop thinking about each other, and that was it. I read romance novels, guys. I should be eating up a forbidden romance where one person is a powerful witch and one is a struggling artist besmitten with his new muse. But their emotional range was so incredibly limited and I didn't believe any of their romantic intentions. When you combo that with her love of Bram being a reason Lilith kept making really bad decisions, I grew impatient.

I rarely give out 1 stars and this book definitely didn't fall that flat. But overall it was lukewarm and too weak tea: flavorless and bland and leaving you wishing for the original flavors and heat.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I generally like Paula Brackston books but I particularly love the historic backdrop she describes in this book. I also loved the dark nature of this story; velvety London nights, crypts deep below ornate rows of homes, and necromancy-practicing witches; fun, fun, fun. :)
I often felt that I wanted more from the characters than is usually provided in Brackston books- I've felt this across her books in general; as if I just don't know them(the characters) deeply enough to be as committed to their stories as I'd like to be. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this book very very much and if you love witchy fiction, it's a must-read.

[Justkeepreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a little heavy going for me. Not as magical as I hoped it would be but them it wasn't a train crash either. I always say you need to try something once to see if you like it.

[China Brinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

We are coming to the end of the year. A lot of us will start new challenges and read new novels/books. As my last novel for 2021, I decided to read The Midnight Witch. Not sure why I was hesitant on reading this novel. The author hasn’t disappointed since I started reading her novels earlier in the year.

The Midnight Witch is the story about a young witch named Lilith Montgomery. Lilith earlier in our story faces the loss of her father, who happens to be a witch himself and head of their coven. A coven that practices the art of necromancy.

Lilith has stepped out of her father’s shadow so to speak and finds herself being tested. Tested as a witch, tested a sister, friend and later lover. Not just the new head witch of her coven; which proves to be difficult, Lilith finds herself attracted to the young artist Bram.

However, difficult their love story. No matter how strong her nemesis she prevailed.

By the end, she finds herself. Not just as witch but as lover, and friend. This novel was one of the best I’ve read my Paula Brackston, and I’ve just about read all her books. Among them this is my absolute favorite. Definitely on my reread list!