The Midnight Test (Rite World: Lightgrove Witches Book 1) – Juliana Haygert

Synopsis

An unprepared witch. A mysterious human. And a quest that will test them both …

Hazel always knew she was one of the weakest witches of her generation. For a moment there, she even cared about that status.

Not anymore. She’s determined to live her life as a normal human—with exception for the occasional ghost hunting. What can she do if the damn spirits won’t leave her alone?

But when she finally settles into a new routine, Hazel receives a message that changes everything: the Lightgrove Coven, one of the most powerful witch covens in the world, grants her a rare chance to join them, but only if she passes a dangerous test on Friday the Thirteenth.

At first, Hazel wants to disregard the message. But who is she kidding? This is an opportunity she can’t say no to.

Everything is going unexpectedly fine until a human steps in Hazel’s way. Sean is mysterious, hot, and inexplicably alluring. Despite Hazel’s best attempts to ignore him, she can’t. And when Sean’s fate entwines with Hazel’s task, it puts everything at risk—not just her test, but also their own lives.

Author’s note: this book was first published in 2014 in the Midnight Kiss anthology. In 2015, it was published for free with a new title, Tested. This 2021 version is reedited and 50% longer!

Review

Hazel is a witch. All her family too, but they are weak. She is the weakest of them, so she has given up being a witch and decided to be a simple young woman. To achieve this, she got herself a scholarship to Towland University in New Orleans. Her only “witch work” is helping release ghosts that are stucked in this realm.

To make her mother happy, she accepted sending a request to the Lightgrove coven to join them. But her options were bad at best, and after 2 months of not getting any answers she had assumed failure, until one of her ghost hunting sessions is interrupted by Lenora, one of the Lightgrove coven council members, inviting her to a meeting.

“Students milled in the hallways and lobby of my building, probably planning on getting together for an early fun night. After all, we were in college in New Orleans. Who wasn’t partying? Me, that was who. Instead, I hunted ghosts and went crazy overthinking an upcoming magical test.”

The Lightgrove coven gives her a test that will change her life. But a book like this is not complete if we don’t have the love interest.

Sean is a (extremely handsome) bad boy that everyone thinks is absolutely broken, and he actually is. But obviously, he being a bad boy is only a facade. I don’t think I need to say more, I loved him ?.

“I nodded to myself, making a mental note to never mess with fucked up guys again. Lesson learned.”

This was a nice reading, really fast. It has (almost) insta-love, badass girl that doesn’t believe in herself, bad guy that is not really bad, ghosts (good and bad), a magical test, witch hunters and gowns. The last point may not be really important to the story, but I love balls ?.

Super recommended read. I love witches but haven’t found books that I really love about them, i hope this serie will be one that I truly love. My only critic would be that it was too short ?. I’m looking forward to read the next one. Also, Juliana has other series in the same world if you want to check them out.

Rite World-Free Novella:
- The Vampire Hunt
Novellas:
- The Hunter Path
- The Light Calling
- The Light Witch
Rite World:
- The Vampire Heir (Book 1)
- The Witch Queen (Book 2)
- The Immortal Vow (Book 3)
- The Warlock Lord (Book 4)
- The Wolf Consort (Book 5)
- The Crystal Rose (Book 6)
- The Wolf Forsaken (Book 7)
- The Fae Bound (Book 8)
- The Blood Pact (Book 9)
Rite World: Blackthorn Hunters Academy
- The Demons Kiss (Book 1)
- The Hunter Secret (Book 2)
- The Soul Bond (Book 3)
- The Shadow Trials (Book 4)
- The Immortal Vow (Book 5)
Rite World: Lightgrove Witches
- The Midnight Test (Book 1)
- The Midnight Spell (Book 2)
And more to come!