A Midnight Dark and Golden

Midnight's Twins Trilogy #3

by Holly Race

In a darkening city of dreams, can the light return? For Londoner Fern King, Annwn is her second home - the dream mirror of London, the city she loves. An astonishing world, a world where Dreamers walk in their slumber, their dreams playing out all around them. And Fern, along with her twin brother Ollie, is a Knight, a trusted guardian and protector of those Dreamers - and every night is spent in Annwn, fulfilling that previously only-imagined destiny to guard those who sleep. But Fern is struggling since the loss of her extraordinary powers - and her nemesis Medraut, who seeks to control and to ruin Annwn is gaining ever more control. Annwn is a dangerous place to be for the Knights, with Dreamers recruited to be Medraut's personal army, the Knights' stronghold Tintagel starting to crumble and the last of the Fay slowly being lost. Fern, and the Knights', only hope is to retrieve Excalibur, and find the Grail - but will Fern find herself equal to this, and can she save the world she loves and see hope, imagination and wonder restored to Annwn?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Mystery, Action, Young Adult

272 pages, Paperback

Published June 23, 2022

Reviews

[Alina · Rating 5 out of 5]

ooooh my goooosh
I’m so speechless
I was at my workplace and almost ugly cried because of the end
It was so heartbroken and so perfect and so brilliant and I cannot handle this end!

[Marylou Aimée · Rating 5 out of 5]

This trilogy was full of ups and downs, and I am glad I came across it. The end though… I hate it

[Gary Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m an emotional mess right now
What an incredible final book to this amazing series
❤️💛💙💜💚🧡

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this urban fantasy book: great characters, solid plot, fascinating world building, and excellent storytelling.
It's the excellent final book in a great series.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Kat Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Action, heart, political intrigue, and a showdown worthy of the fantastic build-up. This was the perfect end to the trilogy!

[Rebecca❀°✶•. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

I definitely enjoyed this one more than the previous one! It was fast paced and decently action-packed, and the ending was a perfect - but sad - conclusion to the trilogy!

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

'You told me you were going to kill him, didn't you?' she asks mildly.
'Your dad?'
She nods.
I check we're not being overheard before replying, 'Yeah.'
'Why is he not dead then?'
There's no malice or complaint in her voice - just curiosity.
'Do you still want him to be... dead, I mean?'
'Yes, please.'
The simplicity of her statement, coloured with a desperate sadness, shakes me.

Again, I don't have a lot to add here. It does feel as if, overall, the quality of the books has gone downhill a bit. There is more stress on love and romance in this book, which was, up to now, still doable in the first two stories. Personally, I don't give a shit about Fern + Samson or Ollie + Kieran/Easa, so that was annoying, especially since it now comes up rather often. Character-wise, I also felt that some people were a bit harsh on Fern one time. Okay, she did something stupid, but it wasn't the end of the world. Their reaction just seemed a bit over the top.

There were also several smaller and bigger plottwists that didn't really come as a surprise to me. I wouldn't go as far to say that I saw them coming from miles away, but I had a hunch what was going on several times beforehand. Sometimes, that doesn't bother me too much, but in A Midnight Dark and Golden - love that title! - it does.

Many people will find this a minor thing, but: I'm not really a fan of the cover either.

However, I did like the entire set-up with Charlie, as we now know her. She's a very interesting character, and the relationship between her and Fern evolves nicely. Fern's dad - Angus - also has one or two surprises in store.

But the ending didn't really appeal to me either; it reminded me a lot of Veronica Roth's Divergent series, which has never been a favourite of mine due to the way it ends and the ease with which you can see that ending coming from literally hundreds of pages beforehand. This book isn't as bad as that one, but still, it didn't feel entirely unexpected. And it's not that I'm unhappy with the final pages, but it's more that, due to the ending as it is, the reader doesn't have a clue what's going on, there's hardly any closure. There's no way to know what happens with the characters.

7.2/10
Average rating for the series: 7.83/10

[Pui Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh god, I was not prepared for that ending, even though I knew that there was no way I was going to get the happy ending I wanted. I'm in tears as I type this, and I just really want to applaud the author because the formatting of the final paragraph before the book ends just hits home HARD.

It is so, so amazing to see Fern's growth from that whiny loser kid to someone who loves Annwn and her friends so fiercely. I have loved reading from her perspective ever since book one and really, her perspective in this book is so, so mature. She's lost her Immral, and she's definitely jealous of Ollie, but she manages to keep her attitude in check. She befriends Charlie again and introduces Charlie to Tintagel, according to how Fern herself would have wanted to be introduced. She becomes jealous of Charlie's relationship with Lord Allenby, but again, she keeps her attitude in check. She remembers each and every friend who she has lost on her journey, which makes their deaths more significant, even if some of them died in book one, which feels like a long time ago.

Apart from the mature tone throughout the book, there's always this underlying tone of sadness mixed with hope in Fern's POVs as she reminisces about how beautiful Tintagel used to be. No matter how Medraut keeps having the upper hand, Fern still maintains the hope that she can save Annwn. Most of all, Fern literally cherishes every single moment that she gets to spend in Annwn with her friends. That is so wholesome, which makes the ending hurt so much.

I honestly would have loved to have an epilogue chapter because dang it, Fern has so many relations and I think everyone who has known her is going to be traumatized and so lost.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and I procrastinated on finishing it because I don't want to say goodbye to Annwn and Fern. I've been hooked to this world that Holly Race has created, I always daydream about being able to visit Annwn and being a knight there based on Fern's descriptions and adventures. I have waited eagerly for each book and I'm honestly at a loss now because the series that has brought me so much joy has just ended!

[Dylan Ormesher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Midnight Dark and Golden. The final in this really great consistent trilogy by Holly Race.
The story continues for the battle for Anwwn and the characters are here again and really consistent and the ending is bold and emotional.
I also respect the author for making this a trilogy and not letting this series out stay it's welcome it's such a fun read.

Story continues were the second left off with Fern now lost her powers of Immral and having to discover what kind of Knight she is without it.
And now, with Merdraut in power as prime minister and his influence has grown.
This is a great final book in the trilogy and ends the story in a great way in my personal opinion.

Theres some really interesting new ideas in this one i especially like the idea of Ollie giving Fern his Immral and the twist with how they got the power is really interesting.
The Sluaghs are also a very interesting idea. But the highlight for me is the character development for Lottie her relationship with Lord Allenby was really well handled in my opinion and for me she was the standout in this Novel.

There's some interesting twists along the way and my God that ending was really emotional and Bold and ended the trilogy in a way that I really enjoyed and thought it was actually a nice way to end Ferns character development and it seems she finally found herself it was very emotional though.

My only issue with this one was the fact they brought in this whole story of them finding the Grail which could of been like them finding Excalibur in the second which I would of enjoyed but then we get the twist that the Grail doesn't exist and is more of an idea I get what they were going for and it really adds alot to the end of the novel.
However, it makes most of the beginning of the book kinda pointless and that took me out of the story a little. I like the idea of The Grail and how it ties to the ending just the execution felt a little odd for me.

Verdict ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. A great finale to this very consistent trilogy it definitely as its issues but the ending and characters are really well handled and this is a fitting ending to the character of Fern.
Some issues with the story but a great read.

[kayla ⋆₊˚ † · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘ill always be with you’

this book. i would rate it above five stars if possible. i dont even know where to start but i haven’t hysterically cried over a book for so long. but this.

my highlights of the book were :
1) charlie and fern becoming friends. at first, silently, through sitting together and holding eachother. i found the fact fern could be friends with charlie, medrauts daughter, so fascinating because i understand that there would be some form of animosity, and yet fern never let it take ahold of her
2) ellen planting the root in the wrong place for fern. without ellen doing this, fern may have been lost and became a snake herself, and anwyn would be long gone. i think while ellen did things that weren’t necessarily redeemable, she really did deserve the death she wanted, and i would argue she deserved better. it wasnt her fault that una robbed her of one of the most important emotions. una may have done it under a front of care, but it was selfish.
3) clemmie coming to her senses after multiple books of devotion to medraut, and protecting both ollie and even kieran from the riots. this was a highlight for me because she had a problem with their relationship, yet chose to save both at the risk of her life
4) the plot twist that ollie and fern were not blessed with immral, it had been given to them by sophia. i hated una for this, to be honest. basically condemned fern to death.
5) lionels funeral, where samson and fern give speeches as well as people like ramesh and sachi’s parents.
6) miss d returning as a knight after saying she was done prior to the final battle, as well as andraste coming back and staying with fern till the very last moment.
7) charlie coming back to the right side and attacking the snakes through holding lionel’s ghosts hand
8) fern and ollie’s last words to eachother being ‘i love you’, the first time these two spoke the words the entire series.

[Sifa Poulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is how you finish a trilogy that has a reputation for brutality to its characters. In a series where no one is safe, you have to follow through and deliver on that all the way to the end, making the victory cost so much it doesn't entirely feel like a victory, and Holly Race does that.

The whole book is brutal in a terrifying way that feels too real as you see the effect of Mordraut in government. It's not just Anwnn that's breaking apart and dangerous, but Ithr (our world too.) And every time it feels like either world is broken beyond repair and it cannot get worse, Holly adds another layer of devastation.

Ollie and Fern's relationship also goes through more of the thicket of brambles surrounding them. The fact that Ollie has their Immral (special powers) and Fern doesn't adds more complications to work through, both together and personally. Not to mention the tangle of their love lives, particularly Ollie's. Their relationship with their parents (alive dad, dead mum) also gets all the more complicated in this book, as well as with the sort of parental figures. Some relationships are resolved in the book, but not all of them. That messy not-really-ended/resolved feels so much more realistic than if they'd just been all neatly tied off with bows.

I have loved this series' incredibly inventive take on Arthuriana - all these well known elements (Arthur, the round table, Merlin, Excalibur, the grail, etc) taken and used in such a new way. You recognise them (and there are also a lot of little Easter eggs like Una Gorlois), but you can't really anticipate how they're going to be used.

In all, it's a very satisfying trilogy ender that pays off the tone and expectations of the previous entries.

[Beth Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

*The Author sent me an advanced copy. This has not affected my views*

A Midnight Dark and Golden is an outstanding finale. As Sebastien Medraut, power enhanced having seized Excalibur at the end of Gathering Midnight, enforces his power and drains dreams and imagination destroying Annwn.

Fern, her twin Ollie, and their friends and Allies are determined to save Annwn and the people being turned into a mindless, vicious, bigoted mob as Medraut drives towards his idea of perfection.

We really see the progress both Fern and Ollie have made as characters in this book and I love Fern and Samson and the way they support each other and how Fern allows herself to be loved.
A lot happens in the story, Holly crafts a stellar rollercoaster of emotions and at the end I wanted to faceplant my parents carpet and melodramatically sob for a bit.

I didn't, I yelled at Holly and commiserated with @katharinecorrwrites instead.
This is how you write a trilogy. This is how you cap a finale. This is a feels massacre SJM could only dream of enacting.

If you haven't read this series or pre-ordered A Midnight Dark and Golden, fix that, now.

[Gina Blaxill · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Midnight Dark and Golden couldn't be a better conclusion to a trilogy which I found utterly absorbing, tense and moving. Unusually for me, this was a series I wanted to read slowly - partly to recover from the emotional intensity, but also to absorb the wonderful world building fully. Holly Race has cleverly blended an alternative London with Arthurian myth in a way that feels both rich and original. It's a brilliant canvas for the events of the finale to this trilogy, which, without spoiling, hit that enviable sweet spot of shocking me but also leaving me feeling like it was aboslutely the right conclusion. I'll be sorry to say goodbye to Fern, Ollie and the other characters I've become fond of, but excited to see what Holly writes next!

[Rebecca Dee Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

This picks up from the events of book two - A Gathering Midnight - so some minor spoilers for that but none for book three

Fern and Ollie are still serving as Knights and are coming to terms with the loss of Ferns powers, and Olly is struggling with the use of the same

Medraut continues to get more and more power, affecting the dreamers in Annwn but also the population in the real world and this is becoming very dangerous to anyone even remotely different

Their only hope in defeating Medraut lies in finding Excalibur and the Grail, with or without the powers of the twins

Can Fern, Olly and the Knights save both worlds and the people they love, and if so, at what cost.....

Amazing conclusion to the trilogy! Makes me excited for what Holly does next!

[Sarah Rice gallego]

A midnight dark and golden is the final book in the Midnight Twins trilogy. It tracks Fern and Ollie's final journey to overpower Medraut.

This was a wonderful ending for this trilogy. It's a book filled with a unique fantasy world. I really liked the rollercoaster journey of the main characters. So much happens in this novel. It's action packed and gets every emotion. The narrative flows well and there is fantastic character development in this final installment.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel.

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was wonderful to see how the relationship between Fern and Ollie has changed and grown over the three books, as well as how they individually have grown. And I was really interested in the revelations into their mother's past, finding out how things came to be the way they were.

This was such a thrilling end to the trilogy. After being almost completely destroyed by book 2 I was pretty nervous about how this would end (and I was right to be!) but it was definitely very satisfying. This trilogy is an investment well worth making.

[Nia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just couldn’t get the writing style as much as I tried within this trilogy. The ending was perfect I’m so glad that happened and it wasn’t a happily ever after ending or cliche ending and kind of left a cliffhanger too! The last chapter and the way it was written, the feelings coming from it was perfect and couldn’t have asked for any more. Overall not my favourite series, when I first picked up the books I saw Annwn and thought that there would be much more references about Wales in it. We can only hope to dream I suppose.

[Teri B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved reading/listening to the conclusion to this YA series that I loved from the first book onwards.

In its mix of Arthurian legends with the fae world and linked into the dreamspace of current humanity as living present day in London, it offers fantastic story arks, a twin relationship that goes through highs and lows as the two find their way through a lot of devastation and danger.

The ending is as it has to be and I loved it.

[Quetzali Figueroa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tanto desarrollo de personaje para nada. Los sacrificios de estos hermanos fueron totalmente inecesarios. Fue un libro Inecesario y final inecesario.

Frases destacadas

Cuanto más entiendo a las personas, más me doy cuenta de que cómo alguien se comporta con sus hijos es la marca de quiénes son realmente como persona
---
cuando estás acostumbrado a ser intimidado puedes darte cuenta cuando te están cazando.

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning ending to this trilogy. I couldn't put it down. Be warned that this is an emotional rollercoaster. It is full of action and suspense and yet also captures the introspection of what it means to discover who you are.

I feel like I need some quiet time to deal with it being over. That's how you know it's a good book!

[Yumiko · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel so depressed about the ending. I need to start another book to ease this heavy heart.
It had became gradually more hasher as the story went. Killing someone familiar maybe one way to make the story grabbing, but it seemed there were too many of those.
I think a happy ending could have left the same or better impact to the readers.

[Heidi Cottrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as good as the others. I didn’t like the monsters in this. The ending battle seemed quick. But I did like the end. I have overall extremely enjoyed this trilogy. I read all the books in a matter of weeks. The imagination is incredible.

[Caroline Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well I certainly wasn’t expecting that! Totally gripped especially the last few chapters. So glad Fern defeated Medraut but would have loved to see her, Ollie, Samson and the others rebuild Annwn and Ithr.

[Aria Harlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, great character development and a great storyline. A really enjoyable read that was hard to put down.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook version.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, such a shame.

[Jazmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant ending for a brilliant series

[Anika Vishwakarma]

The ending was tragic! Why did Fern have to kill herself for Excalibur? I get it like there had to be some sacrifice! But why protagonist?!?!

[elentiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

okay so this was something else entirely.

[elbarto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my god.