Perfect book for Covid-fatigue. Light, well written with a decent plot and a HEA. ( )

I wonder if this book was written before Polk's first trilogy and only picked up for publication once those were successful? It's definitely not as thoughtful as they were. Still good---if you like Austen and other stories about women navigating baroque social rules, you will probably like this. It was genuinely stressful to read at many points. Unfortunately the ending went on too long and a few too many wishes were fulfilled all in a row. Could've left the solution to collars to another book; having the solution dumped on the reader in a rush felt unearned.

I didn't read the description closely before I picked this up, so of course I assumed that Ianthe was a tall dark handsome dyke, based on the name. Nope, all het. Sigh! ( )

Magical



I am so behind on telling you all about the lovely books I read that as much as I love reading I need to learn to love writing about what I am reading. This came to my attention via a booktuber I watch. Kayla from Booksandlala read this and the way she described it made me curious enough to pick it up. When you think of marriage you think of forever in love all hearts and flowers, right? Not in this book and not for our main character. In Chasland, marriage means a warded collar that stifles a sorceress’s magic to nothingness, all in the name of protecting the woman. You might be thinking what's the big deal like I did when I first started, according to their laws an uncollared married woman could be pregnant and the child could become ensouled. Beatrice wants to be a mage, but her family’s survival depends on her marrying well. Without a favorable marriage, the mortgage her father took out will come due; When you have to choose between happiness and love or duty to your family what do you decide? I loved Beatrice and her sister Harriet and I loved the balance between duty, love, and magic that took place. What I love most are the feminist feelings it develops both in the story and in the reader without being preachy.

The story is beautiful a search for a book of magic spells and a journey that leaves you wanting to find a way to have it all without hurting and sacrificing what you want. If you don’t love the supporting cast and the spirit Nadie go ahead and start over you missed something because it fits together beautifully. I won’t spoil the story I will just say that this is worth every minute that you will lose in sleep. Four stars all the way I hope that the next book I pick up from this author is wrapped in this much magic and fun.
( )

Actual rating 3.5/5

The Midnight Bargain is a charming, easy read, tackling themes of gender equality and power through a Regency-esque fantasy. Beatrice Clayborn is a powerful sorceress in a world where women are not allowed to practise magic and are locked into a marital collar that cuts off their powers. But Beatrice is determined to not let this become her fate, even as her family pushes her to marry to lift them out of the severe debt they have fallen into.

I really liked following Beatrice as the main character. She is powerful and knows it, and she is ready to challenge the whole of society for her right to become a mage - even if she has to do so in secret, risking everything. I wasn't too keen on the magic system itself, which seems to be strongly based in the mage being possessed by a spirit. Women learn magic from coded grimoires hidden in plain sight, and we get a fair bit of insight into how the magic works by following Beatrice as she conjures a luck spirit, Nadi.

Nadi was by far my favourite part of the book. I absolutely adored her and would totally take her with me everywhere and give her lots of cake. Nadi was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise quite predictable plot and character development. The rest of the cast is frankly quite forgettable, and the love interest, Ianthe, was quite bland for my taste. I also couldn't forgive the instalove and, even though I tried to look past it to enjoy the rest of the book, it bothered me to no end that Beatrice and Ianthe would be madly in love after briefly speaking ONCE. Ianthe's sister (and aspiring sorceress) Ysbeta was honestly a much more interesting character and I felt more chemistry between her and Beatrice, to the extent that I would have greatly preferred seeing them as a couple rather than the usual, predictable romance.

Crossing magic with a period drama is a great idea, especially for someone like me who loves both those elements, so I did overall enjoy reading this book. However, it was not without its faults. The plot was quite thin, the magic system problematic and the romance disappointing - in many ways, it reminded me of my experience watching Bridgerton, which I also found entertaining but deeply problematic. And yes, I did imagine Beatrice and Ianthe like this every time a dance was mentioned:

[image]

I appreciated the effort to include a gender equality theme in the book, even though at times it felt more like reading a Feminism 101 guide disguised as a fantasy rather than a story seamlessly incorporating these themes.

Overall, The Midnight Bargain was a pleasant enough read, in no small part thanks to the author's excellent writing style. It had some serious issues for me (mostly the thin plot and overreliance on the instalove), but some charismatic characters and the never-ending charm of the Regency-like setting somewhat made up for those, leaving me mostly satisfied and only partly wishing that this book had dared go further to reach its full potential.


I received an e-arc of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way. ( )

Beatrice's family needs her to marry this season, and marry well, in order to restore the family finances. But magic is forbidden to married women, and Beatrice's only wish is to become a magician. She meets and falls for Ianthe Lavan, the season's handsomest and most eligible bachelor, and he returns her affection. But is she willing to give up the one thing she's always wanted, just for him?

Things about this book I liked:
- Familiar Regency-esque setting, but there's magic! Magic that is forbidden to women, emphasizing their lower status and lack of independence.
- The reason that women aren't allowed to learn or perform magic actually has a logical basis beyond just generalized misogyny. (There's still plenty of generalized misogyny to go around, but the magic in this world is performed by summoning and bargaining with spirits, and a pregnant woman runs the risk of a spirit permanently possessing her unborn child.)
- Noddy (Beatrice's minor familiar spirit) was adorable, especially as voiced by Moira Quirk.
- The magic-dampening collar that women are forced to wear from their wedding until they are no longer of childbearing age, while a touch on-the-nose literal, was described so well as to be thoroughly horrifying.

Things about this book that didn't quite work for me:
- I wasn’t crazy about any of the characters. Beatrice waffled a LOT without actively doing much at all for most of the book. Ianthe was charming, but that may have been because he was the only male character to even entertain the possibility that women are people, and it definitely seemed like there was a touch of insta-love between him and Beatrice. Ysbeta (Ianthe's sister), for all of her protestations of friendship towards Beatrice, just came off as spoiled and selfish, even through to the end. (Like I said, Noddy was my favorite character, and it wasn't even a corporeal being.)
- The pacing was sloooooow for 75% of the book. Lots of handwringing, and going on about the usual social activities of courting while secretly handwringing, and talking to the other character who is also secretly handwringing about similar problems but never actually doing anything. It picks up quite a bit towards the end, and the ending was well done, but it definitely takes its time getting there.
- What I thought was the most interesting aspect of the worldbuilding - how women acquire and disseminate magical knowledge in secret - was only barely touched upon. I wanted a deeper dive into that aspect of the world, rather than staying focused on the high society balls and who is paying calls to whom. ( )