INTO THE MIDNIGHT WOOD

Two roommates contend with sinister forces both mortal and magical.

In small-town Ohio, in a cottage at the edge of the Midnight Wood, David Carew lives with his housemate Meredith Schwarzwelder. David, a no-nonsense 29-year-old accountant from Wales, and Meredith, a free-spirited, nonbinary tattoo artist nearing 31, could not be more different. And after five years of mayhem, mishaps, and making mental lists of Meredith’s most frustrating qualities (“He is a frivolous person, an irredeemable eccentric”; “Living with him makes any semblance of a normal, quiet life impossible”), David has started to wonder if it might be time to leave Midnight Cottage for good. He sees an opportunity when he learns that Meredith’s brother Florian is engaged to Adalynn Cartier, daughter of Maitland Cartier, who owns the company where David works. If David can ingratiate himself with the Cartiers, he might have a chance at the promotion he’s been eyeing. This proves more complicated than anticipated when David uncovers the truth of the Schwarzwelder family dynamics, a dark figure appears in the Wood with machinations toward Meredith, and the long-simmering tension between the roommates threatens to boil over. The relationship between David and Meredith—complete with sharp-tongued banter and a swoony will-they-won’t-they vibe—is multilayered and emotionally resonant. And while McCollum’s writing is strong, with realistic dialogue and complex characters, the mortal and magical aspects of the novel aren’t fully integrated. The story’s central focus remains firmly entrenched in real-world issues, including heavy topics like homophobia and familial abuse. It’s easy to forget that wedding planning and house hunting are occurring on the doorstep of witches, werewolves, and time-keeping mice. Magical references peppered throughout the book often read like afterthoughts, and the fantastical final face-off in the Wood feels ripped from another story entirely.

Memorable characters make this sweet, though unsure, romance worth reading.