Where's the Bite?

Book: Midnight Covenant by Amelia West

Reviewed by Books and Bad Ideas (Jamie)

Rating: 3/5

𝘏𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘱 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘴, 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘳 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥.
𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘯, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘥.
Thank you to the author for the chance to ARC review this title.
Midnight Covenant by Amelie West is book one in a duology retelling of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Set up as a dark romantasy that places Mina Murray at the center of the Dracula tale, Midnight Covenant looks at what the story would be like if Mina, instead of Jonathan, had been left in Transylvania, alone with the Count among the foreboding mountains and dangerous creatures-- including her new husband.
Those of you who know me, know that I am passionate about two things in academia: the 19th century and monsters. I taught Dracula to my undergraduates when I was teaching intro to composition courses-- both the Francis Ford Coppola movie and the original novel-- and have a deep love for it myself because it is among the original western vampire novels. As such, I probably wasn't the ideal reader for this novel, if we're being honest with one another. I know the novel well. I've written about it, talked about it, studied it relentlessly... And retellings are usually more enjoyed by those with a casual appreciation for a text rather than a career-focused near-obsession with it.
Even if I were to remove the fervor of my love for Dracula by Stoker, this book felt largely derivative in a way that did not feel welcoming and interesting, but rather kind of flat and a bit boring. Even if the novel was meant to draw more from the source text of Dracula, I could see the influences of the film on the way that certain characters-- Mina and Lucy in particular-- talked. Winona Ryder's Mina said "of course" like it was the only thing she was scripted as being allowed to say. In addition to this, the book took all of Mina's badassery and made it into something less impressive. Mina Murray in Stoker's novel is ahead of her time-- a proto-feminist. She knows how to use a typewriter and is the sole reason the reader has the text of Dracula in their hands. She is the one who compiles the heroic narratives into a cohesive whole-- not her husband, not Dr. Seward, not Lord Arthur Holmwood. So for her to be poised to be this hero and to still need rescuing by men was a big let down. I was hoping for more from this version of Mina.
Beyond this issue, it was interesting to see how the narrative changed in making Mina into the direct protagonist, rather than a side story that occurs only due to her connections to Jonathan Harker. Unlike the romance in the movie, the Count in this rendition only appears charming and kind in order to gaslight Mina into believing that she can't trust her own mind. While I was hoping for a different kind of antagonist that did not rely on old stereotypes of foreigners as a threat-- a very British Gothic kind of trope-- I could have been on board with the Count remaining the villain if we had spent more time with him. As it stands, he was a very absent kind of villain. He's bad because we're told he's bad and then he does a few very sudden, cruel things in view of Mina to convince her that he's both evil and in total control.
If you love Dracula and aren't married to the idea of every FMC needing to be a badass, then I would consider picking up this book. It's a relatively short read and you may find it enjoyable.

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