For awhile I wrote down the dreams I remembered right when I woke up and the more I did this, the more often I remembered more of my dreams and they certainly were doozies sometimes. It was quite fun. This story takes it one step further with the development of tech that can record dreams and official dreamers who share those dreams with a wide audience as a way to earn a living. Some are very successful, like Peri, and others are still trying to find their niche, like Maeve.

It was very intriguing at first, and I think it was cool to be able to record dreams, but then it kinda dived off the deep end a little to soon with the mysterious woman that kept showing up in Peri's dreams and her complicated stuff for wanting Peri's help. It got a bit convoluted but still nicely creepy with how no one really knows all the ins and outs of dreaming (though it is very important for mind health) and the twist this book had (especially with Maeve's very popular dream) was cool.

This story had some rough edges but I enjoyed it with all the dreams and consequences that new tech might have that are not discovered yet are real. So, a bit if thriller, a bit of dreamy, and a fairly good start to a new series as I do want to find out why Maeve's dreams are the way the are and if Peri, can find happiness after all that happened to them.

Thank you netgalley for the advanced preview audio book. I just love getting advance copies! This one lives up to the hype!

I would recommend this book to a reader who enjoys urban fantasy. This book pivots from the commonly used themes of paranormal fantasy to add more character development to the story. I felt like the plot could have advanced more quickly to create a more thoughtful timeline of events throughout the book instead of feel like the ending was rushed. If you enjoy a character-driven stories that almost read more like literary fiction in certain aspects, you may enjoy this very much.

The two main characters share their inner most secrets, their dreams, on an online "social media" platform in order to create community around dreams and engage their viewers for entertainment purposes. Those dreams start to carry over into real life creating suspenseful drama for the MCs. The description of the technology used could feel a bit overwhelming or clunky is someone isn't familiar.

I was sooo excited for this just based off of the premise, however this ended up being a DNF for me. I found myself very bored and just did not want to read. I think this book put me into a stump, so I don't think that I can widely recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the early e-arc.

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝔸 𝕄𝕚𝕕𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕊𝕠 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕕𝕝𝕪
𝗪𝗿𝗲𝗻 𝗛𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮𝗻
LGBTQ+ Thrillers
296 pages

Sʜᴏᴿᴛ Sʏɴᴏᴘsɪs
Maeve and Peti both record their dreams and share them on social media. Things take a turn when dreams and reality start to blend together.

Mʸ Tᴴᴼᵁᴳᴴᵀs
This plotline is so unique. The thought of recording your dreams and being able to watch what you can’t remember would be enticing yet eerie.

The story alternates between the POVs of Maeve and Peri throughout. Both characters were fascinating.

This was my first book with a character who used the pronoun they. It tripped me up until I got used to it, as I kept thinking it was talking about more than one person.

The dreams blending into reality was quite gripping. I think about how awful it would be not to know if you were in a dream or awake. That brings a bit of creepiness to the story.

I do feel the pacing dragged a bit, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

This is one of those books that has great potential, but perhaps just needed going through one more time.
The storyline itself was spot on, the characters were good but could have been explored a bit more. The biggest thing for me was the pacing of it, and the writing style in places. I really like to get into a book and feel carried away with it, unfortunately, this one was just too slow paced most of the time and I struggled to keep going.
I didn’t DNF as I was enjoying the plot, but with a bit of editing perhaps, I might have enjoyed it more.
Thank you for the opportunity to read.
2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved the whole concept of getting to record dreams and watch them back. I just feel like I was expecting more? I thought what was happening in the dreams would be a little deeper. I feel like it also took a bit for the story to get going and it was hard for me to pick up at first. I hope there is a second one that can dive deeper into it and really explain better what was going on and what will happen to their careers. I would also love for Peru to confront their parents.

I really liked the concept, but I found the execution mostly boring (a feat given how much was going on trough the book). And I didn't love the characters, tbh. I also think that the comparison to Leigh Bardugo is really misleading.

I really wanted to love this book, because the minute I read the fantastic concept I excitedly requested a review copy. But I think ultimately the marketing was extremely misleading. I would not characterize this as being anything like Leigh Bardugo's Alex Stern books except. for the fact that murder and trauma happen in both books, but that's a tenuous thread. This also made me think the writing style would evoke Leigh Bardugo, which it did not, or that it would at least be a bit more lyrical than it was. Overall it read a bit YA to me, with some underdeveloped concepts and characters, inconsistent/slow pacing, and an ending that wasn't as explosive as I thought it would be. There was a lot of potential in this one, but I think it needed further developing and streamlining, and I didn't enjoy it as much as I hoped I would.

Thank you to NetGalley and Parliament House Press for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

While the story was great it was really slow at times and hard to get through. It had a lot of potential but there was so much going on and some of the dreams and scenes were a bit confusing.

If you like cozy books you'll probably like this one. The stories of Maeve and Peri are relatable. I liked the representation in this novel. The dreams were cool however I wished the story moved a little faster. It took me longer to read because the pace was slower than I would've liked. It was a sweet book. Again, if you like cozy books with fantasy elements this one is for you.

I was super let down by this one. It had so many good reviews and someone personally recommended it so I jumped over to netgalley so fast to get a copy! I really liked the concept but the pacing was so slow and boring that I really struggled to get through it. I considered DNFing many times but thought that perhaps it was one of those with a mind blowing ending. Wasn’t a terrible ending but nothing mind shattering and with how slow the book was I think it needed more from the ending.

Though I haven’t read the specific book by Leigh Bardugo this one was compared too, having read other things by that author I expected the writing to be similar. I didn’t find that to be the case and left me a little disappointed.

I liked the concept a lot and I think it had potential but I really struggled to get into the characters and the writing seems a little under developed. Also some scenes I just found weird especially some of the dreams. Which you expect because dreams can be weird but it was just not my favorite. Best comparison that comes to mind is the movie Inception but it is not as complex and lacking the development. I think this reads more like YA than adult as well. I kept thinking these characters were younger than they actually were and it threw me off sometimes.

In short, the concept was interesting and had a lot of potential but the writing just needed more for me to enjoy it.

Thanks to BooksGoSocial and Parliament House Press for providing a review copy via netgalley. These opinions are my own.

I was enraptured with this book! When I’ve previously talked about Parliament House Press, I noted that their website promises urban fantasy but that two of the three books I’d read from them were not urban fantasy. That said, I found A Shot of Gin to be the most well-written. Well, my belief that they really need to continue expanding their urban fantasy offerings is affirmed with A Midnight So Deadly (although, yes, this one is also science fiction).

The book is a dual POV that follows Maeve and Peri. They are both dreamers, which is a new career that emerged after the development of technology that allows you to record and share your dreams. Peri is well-established in this world, while Maeve is on the brink of really breaking into the industry. Unfortunately, they both start to experience some odd and dangerous things, sending them into an entirely new world.

The set-up and build-up are both well-executed. Maeve and Peri are fully realized characters with clear personalities (although I did think Peri was older than Maeve). I understand their motivations and internal conflicts and sympathize with them easily. They are people who are easy to love and care for. As we are drawn deeper into the plot, every element of the book we’ve been presented with becomes relevant in different ways to the choices the characters make, each of which has consequences, good and bad. I loved the idea of being able to record dreams and the exploration of how that would impact society. The fact dreams were immediately monetized just makes so much sense to me and was kind of funny. Simultaneously critiquing this choice through the unintended ramifications was also a smart decision and gave the story bigger stakes than just the characters trying to figure out what’s going on with them individually.

My biggest critique of the book is that the ending did not land. While I do think that it was a fitting ending, it was rushed, and the explanation of everything that was going on was thrown at the reader so quickly that you don’t really have a chance to process every part of it before the book is over. Maeve and Peri are able to figure out solutions to all the problems set up in the book far too quickly. I like their solutions, and think that the consequences of those solutions make a lot of sense. I wish coming to those conclusions and enacting them took longer, particularly since Maeve and Peri had not been in the same physical (or dream) space for the entire book up to this point, so giving them some inter-personal conflict as they figure out how to work together would’ve helped start to establish their relationship (because I’m pretty sure this is going to be a series).

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking to get into the urban fantasy genre from a different angle than the more common paranormal fantasy as long as you don’t mind a bit of a rushed ending. If you’re a character-driven reader, then you’ll particularly enjoy this one too.

Great book! Very interesting spin on dreams and how to remember them. I found the story very good and very well written. Loved the little thriller put into the book!

This one wasn't for me. I felt like the author might have just been trying to check off too many boxes and the story got lost and muddled. The premise of dreams being streamed and connected was so interesting but there was just too much going on.

This book is the first in Wren's brand new series.

The artwork is what enticed me to this book as it is incredibly dramatic and is really eye-catching.

The concept for this book is incredibly interesting - two dreamers who become inexplicably connected in their dreams when a best friend's ex is murdered.

I really enjoyed the character development in this, and I absolutely adored Maeve. Peri was a little more complex to unpack, but eventually, I began to understand Peri.

This is an incredibly unique storyline, and it kept me guessing. There were lots of twists and turns, and it was also quite dark at times.

Wren also ended up making me think... like, what if this were true and we could meet people in our dreams? Are we currently in a dream, and when we sleep, we wake up? So I definitely thought-provoking!

A great start to this series!

I love a cozy thriller so I was very excited for this book, I loved the world of the book and enjoyed exploring the dreams of the wonderful characters.

The mysterious world of dreaming comes alive in A Midnight So Deadly. We all have dreams we wish we could watch again, right? Well ... maybe it isn't such a great idea after all. Dreaming becomes dangerous in this story, focused on characters who use advanced technology to make a career out of other people watching their dreams. These dreamers are flawed but relatable, trying their best to succeed in an unprecedented field. While I was looking for more twists in the plot, I enjoyed watching events unfold through the eyes of the dual narrators. I recommend this book for those interested in the power of dreams, who can also suspend disbelief and accept a world in which we can record, replay, and store dreams for public consumption.

Let's start by saying that I am a reader who dabbles in Sci-fi books, so the premises of the synopsis really intrigued me with this one. The idea of being able to go into a dream reality and record your dreams into visual recordings and be able to play them back was something that really interested me and prompted me to read overall. Whilst I did enjoy this book for the most part, I did find myself putting this book down and picking it back up at different points days later. I do think this largely had to do with the pacing with the POVs, and the narrative approach overall - for example the crossover off the POV's took a little longer than I'd like to get to, especially when it's after the 50% mark.

One thing that I thought was executed well was this 'blurred lines' feeling throughout, the uncertainty of what was a dream or whether real life was taking place. I think that was particularly crafted to make us feel uneasy at points. However, I do wish this book had gone into more depth about the dreamscape as I felt like we were often only touching the surface about it at several points. I did genuinely really appreciate how thoughtfully done the LGBTQIA+ representation was done in this book and how we explored several parts of each characters identity too.

Whilst the book focuses particularly on our dreamers Maeve and Peri, I think this book would've benefited from another POV. Particularly since we don't go deep into the dream people's motivations in the book, and I think that would've been a great opportunity to give us another perspective other than a dreamers perspective.

I'll be interested in seeing whether this book gets a sequel.

This sits between a 4 and 3 for me. So on this occasion I'll round it to a 4.

I enjoyed this book for the original concept. I usually read thrillers and this was more of a sci-fi or fantasy, but still a very enjoyable read. It also reads a bit like YA- which is fine with me even though I wasn't originally expecting that. It was told from alternating POVs of the two main characters. I enjoyed one more than the other so those parts seemed to go a little faster while the other parts dragged. I wish that the characters would have came together sooner in the book instead of near the end. The "dream people" intrigued me the most. I also liked how it seemed to be a very modern day story. Current movies and tiktoks were referenced which makes the reader feel more connected.