September Book Club Pick: Until the Clock Strikes Midnight

August is almost over, which means it is time to prepare for diving into our September book club pick, which is Until the Clock Strikes Midnight by Alechia Dow–a queer YA fantasy romance that remixes the classic fairytale formula!

Darling is the most talented—and unusual—Guardian to get a chance at winning the coveted once-in-a-generation Mortal Outcome Council mentorship. Getting the spot would mean having the opportunity to shape the future happiness of all mortal realms—if she succeeds at her first assignment, Lucy Addlesberg. Darling thinks it’ll be an easy razzle-dazzle job… until she actually meets Lucy. Her life is a complete mess, from her failing bookshop in her downtrodden village to her doomed flirtation with the princess of Lumina. But if there’s one thing Darling’s good at, it’s a makeover.

Calamity is the most talented—and arrogant—Misfortune of his class. It’s his job to save mortals from their own terrible decisions made in the pursuit of the mythical "Happily Ever After." When Calam is granted a shot at the Mortal Outcome Council mentorship, he thinks his dreams are finally coming true. But first, he must pass the test. It should be easy—Lucy Addlesberg has been unfortunate for years. All he has to do is continue her string of bad luck so she can finally come to terms with reality and settle for a safer, more logical path in life. Yet when he arrives, he finds that Lucy has a Guardian assigned to her too—a chipper overachiever who is as colorful as the magic pouring from her glittery wand.

To thwart each other, Darling and Calam insert themselves into Lucy’s life posing as a betrothed couple. As they try to guide her down what they each see as the best path for her, they start questioning their roles and ultimately what they truly want for themselves... and if those feelings of loathing they have for each other might actually be something more like love.

Casual discussion will take place all month long on Discord in the #until-the-clock-strikes-midnight channel. Usually, our live wrap up discussions will be the last Thursday of the month, however, I am going to be in Bosnia on a pilgrimage during that date this month, so I am tentatively pushing UTCSM wrap up to Thursday, October 1st, at 6pm pacific/9pm eastern. I say tentatively because that is the second day of school for me and as a new admit to my major, I don’t know what my orientation/welcome week commitments will be, so it may get pushed to October 8th, but hopefully not!

If you’re intending to purchase a copy of this book, you can purchase through Bookshop.org by clicking the tagged book on this post–I receive a 10% commission for that book and any other book you purchase after clicking that link, and some of your money will also go to Bookshop’s indie bookstore fund, supporting independent bookstores across the US! There are also a couple copies available on Pango, including a very reasonably priced FaeCrate edition that is simply gorgeous. If you’re a Western Washingtonian, the Seattle Public Library has several dozen audiobook copies currently available (also! Fun fact! You can get a free SPL card online in most Western Washington counties! I know for sure King, Kitsap, Snohomish, Island, and Pierce, but others as well).

October Voting Options

Voting for our September selection is currently live over on our Discord in #voting-and-announcements! As always, I like to land on our books around a month in advance to allow for library waits, shipping time, and extra reading time if you want to start early. The wrap up discussion for this one will be back to our standard last-Thursday-of-the-month, aka October 29 at 6pm pacific. This book will also be our last book club read of 2026! We’’ll be taking November & December off, because the holidays are always chaotic, not to mention I prep and then run Disability December, will be prepping Read Disabled 2027, end of year wrapped content, and finals! But we’ll be back in 2027 and better than ever :)

With that out of the way, let’s get to our October Voting Options!

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Genre: YA fantasy

Representation: chronic pain (lived experience)

In Rynn’s town, the dead don’t stay dead. When the risen corpses known as Bone Houses begin to attack with a ferocity that threatens her home and family, Rynn must team up with Ellis, a traveling mapmaker, to journey into the mountains to find the source of the curse and destroy 

A Little Less Broken by Mariam Schembari

Genre: memoir

Representation: autism (lived experience)

One woman’s decades-long journey to a diagnosis of autism, and the barriers that keep too many neurodivergent people from knowing their true selves.

Accidental Demons by Clare Edge

Genre: middle grade fantasy

Representation: type 1 diabetes (lived experience)

When a young witch keeps accidentally summoning demons every time she has to check her blood sugar, she and her sister devise a plan: summon a special demon to monitor her blood sugar like a service dog! But when the summoning goes awry, they realize they may have bit off more than they can chew.

Extracurricular by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Genre: romance

Representation: PTSD, anxiety (lived experience)

When Ramona leaves the pop-star spotlight behind and enrolls in college at 26, the last things he expects is A-plus chemistry with her recently divorced psychology professor, but when a crisis brings them closer outside of class, they begin a tentative friendship amid an undeniable attraction.

Triptych by Karen Slaughter (Will Trent #1)

Genre: mystery/thriller, crime fiction

Representation: dyslexia

In the city of Atlanta, women are dying—at the hands of a killer who signs his work with a single, chilling act of mutilation. As the police engage in a frenzied chase to catch the killer, but Will Trent, a loser ex-con who stumbled onto the killer’s way may just hold the key to breaking the case wide open.

https://youtu.be/a1dxeHziRjQ

Hey Everyone!

I have my first long form video on YouTube! You can only view it if you have this link, it's not public, so just for you guys. I'm learning how to film and edit with an actual camera here, so....yikes lol. But I think it came out pretty good!

I will be making these monthly for the tier, if you have any suggestions or questions or want to be involved let me know!

Jen

Thank you to Harper Voyager, and HarperAudio for the ARC/ALC. Here is my genuine review: 

⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌶️🌶️? (One scene, not terribly graphic but still open door) 

Audra has two conflicting prophecies and her decision will have major ramifications. 

I enjoyed the story that focused heavily on dark academia, classes, “trials”, magic struggles, etc. It is not heavy on romantic elements, really doesn’t get there until the end. 

I think this book would be great for those who love a dark academia, fae, magic systems, chosen one, conflicting prophecies/destinies, demon/underworld, and not everything is at it seems. This is a dual narration (not a duet), so while you get two POVs, you mainly only get Audra’s. 

However, and it PAINS me to say this as someone who fell in LOVE with the cover, helped with the cover reveal and looked forward to the release — this book didn’t do it for me. 

I loved the author’s previous work (Lore of the Wilds and Lore of the Tides) but this fell flat for me. While I appreciate the beginning of the story, it’s like her “previous” life / backstory doesn’t matter as the story went on.

There was a TON of inner dialogue that made me feel like the pace of the novel was very slow and dragged along. While I appreciate going on Audra’s journey, I failed to be wholly captivated. 

The romantic element seems lackluster to me. I do NOT need smut to enjoy romance, so that’s not the problem, I feel as if their “attraction” happened so late in the book that it didn’t get much attention to be fleshed out (Read: I was not given enough interactions to be invested or believe in this unconventional romance). 

I almost DNF’d but after seeing SO MANY people enjoy the advanced copy, and from encouragement from friends, I decided to press through. Unfortunately, by 50% I really wasn’t interested and I never gained a spark back as I completed the book (no seriously, this pains me more than you know to say this but I have to be honest and probably be the odd person out).

I do STRONGLY encourage those who are interested to pick up this book ASAP. I think I am an anomaly in my thoughts. Many of my mutuals were OBSESSED and absolutely GAGGED at the end (I was not). 

Thank you Harper Voyager, Analeigh Sbrana (and NetGalley platform) for allowing me to read this advance copy. I appreciate it and will still recommend this book to the right reader.