Book Review: Born at Midnight

Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1)

By: C.C. Hunter

Published By: St. Martin's Griffin

Page Count: 416

Release Date: March 2011

Buy it at Amazon or IndieBound

Source: Purchased by Reviewer

Audience: Young Adult

I was so excited to read this one. I LOVE the cover and it had received really high ratings on GoodReads and Amazon. However, I have to admit that Born at Midnight did not live up to my expectations. Hunter's writing style is solid, but there just isn't anything special about it. She writes like every other YA writer out there; nothing stood out to make her work more memorable than others in the paranormal genre. Furthermore, there wasn't any new twists on the supernatural beings in the story. They were all run of the mill and true to established myths. After reading so many paranormal books, I am starting to become really hard to please. I want to see new twists on old legends or really solid characters and relationships. 

Another reason I think this one fell short for me was that I was not a big fan of the main character, Kylie. She conjures up the dislike I felt for Bella Swan throughout the Twilight series. Kylie has the two amazing guys fighting for her affections and she just seems so wishy washy about the whole thing. She also repeats herself a million times which I found to be a tad bit annoying. If she had mentioned her dad's grilled shorts or her life resembling a toilet one more time I was going to throw my Kindle. Interesting situations and metaphors cease to be interesting when a character keeps beating the reader over the head with them.

I will say that I did enjoy the second half of the book far more than the first half. The beginning of this one was extremely slow and boring. Things really started to pick up for me when Lucas and Kylie took their hike off camp property. In spite of that - I am still frustrated that after investing my time in this book I still don't know what kind of supernatural being Kylie is - I know this is a series, but I hate that the issue was left unresolved. In the next book, I would really like to see the author make her story stand out from the plethora of other YA paranormal options and work on making Kylie more likable.

One thing that I did really enjoy about this one is Lucas and Derek. I think because I liked them better than Kylie her indecision bothered me more. I honestly couldn't figure out what either guy saw in her. There is one of the hottest kissing scenes I have read in YA in this book - that scene alone is worth giving this read a try. I will read the rest of the series, but I won't be clamoring for it to come out. This is one of those that I will get to when I have time, but I won't lose any sleep over if it takes awhile.

One Last Gripe: I want to know how the issue with Sky's sister was resolved. I hope this is in a future book. I feel like the whole thing surrounding her was just left up in the air.

My Favorite Thing About This Book: The story behind Army Dude

First Sentence: "This isn't funny!" her father yelled.

Favorite Characters: Della, Lucas, Derek

Least Favorite Character: Fredericka

Summary:

One night Kylie Galen finds herself at the wrong party, with the wrong people, and it changes her life forever.  Her mother ships her off to Shadow Falls—a camp for troubled teens, and within hours of arriving, it becomes painfully clear that her fellow campers aren’t just “troubled.”  Here at Shadow Falls, vampires, werewolves, shapshifters, witches and fairies train side by side—learning to harness their powers, control their magic and live in the normal world.

Kylie’s never felt normal, but surely she doesn’t belong here with a bunch of paranormal freaks either.  Or does she?  They insist Kylie is one of them, and that she was brought here for a reason.  As if life wasn’t complicated enough, enter Derek and Lucas.  Derek’s a half-fae who’s determined to be her boyfriend, and Lucas is a smokin’ hot werewolf with whom Kylie shares a secret past.  Both Derek and Lucas couldn’t be more different, but they both have a powerful hold on her heart. 

Even though Kylie feels deeply uncertain about everything, one thing is becoming painfully clear—Shadow Falls is exactly where she belongs…