Title: Born At midnight
Author: C. C. Hunter
Series: Shadow Falls, (Book 1)
Pages: 416
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Published: March 29, 2011
Format read: Audio
Goodreads Synopsis:
Don’t miss this spectacular new series that will steal your heart and haunt your dreams, Welcome to Shadow Falls camp, nestled deep in the woods of a town called Fallen…
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, shapeshifters, 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…
My Rating: ☆☆
Ok… This is rough… I am giving my first public two star rating! But I feel it’s warranted, and I’ll explain why!
Born At Midnight really does not have the best writing in the world. Maybe I’m a hard critic since I’m an aspiring author who loves to pick apart writing, but it just seemed to me like the whole flow of the words needed a couple more rounds of edits before it hit the market! It certainly wasn’t horrible, and it definitely shouldn’t make you not read the book. It just seemed to me like the writing style was… let’s go with simplified. By that I mean that the writing style made it seem like the book was meant for middle grade readers, but there was some content in there that definitely was NOT meant for middle grade minds! It really just did NOT blend well, and it got my attention enough for me to mention it here. There were also a few descriptions of character actions, dialogue, and body language that just didn’t seem right. I was cringing a bit whilst reading it because it was just SO awkward for the characters involved in the scene that the awkwardness carried over to me… I mean, there is a certain degree of awkward that is good to have in a book, BUT come on… Enough’s enough! This kiss is getting gross and will probably be the thing that makes the two kissers avoid each other for the next thirty pages! And I’m blushing! Yeah, that’s another thing. The romance is a little weird, and it kinda takes over the plot a little instead of being just a subplot, but I think it might shape up to be better in the next book. I don’t care about your guy troubles; I care about figuring out what on earth you are so I can get on with my life!
WOW! That came out harsh! I’m going to reiterate that the writing should not stop you from picking up this book after reading my review, and that I am somewhat of a hard critic when it comes to writing style and words. I also listened to the audio book, so it tends to really draw my attention to writing style issues when I hear the words rather than reading them myself. I reeeeeally like where the plot is going, and I will honestly probably finish the series because I want to know how it ends. To me, it kind of seems like one of those pointless but ridiculously entertaining TV shows that you turn on for mindless entertainment after a long day.
I do like the characters a lot! They aren’t your stereotypical vampires, witches, werewolves, shifters, and fairies. There’s a really cool spin on some of them, and I want to find out how they develop over the course of the series. The main character seems a bit flat to me, but that goes back to the writing. The whole point of the book is that the main character gets sent off to this camp for supernatural creatures, and everybody knows what type of creature they are except for her. She sees ghosts, which really resonates with me, but she isn’t quite like the other creatures who see ghosts. She’s trying to determine her identity, and I love that theme. I have the other audio books, and I am planning to finish them, mostly because of that addictive TV show vib I mentioned! The plot did thicken at the end thankfully, so that’s enough to keep me going. Hopefully the writing will improve too, and I’ll be sure to post my reviews!
What Do You Think”
Have you read Born At Midnight? Are you planning to read it? Did my review turn you away? Let me know your thoughts in the comments or through any of my social links! I love to chat!
From cheyenne 🙂
Cheyenne Raphael Writes 