Monday 16 May 2011

Born At Midnight

Born At Midnight by C.C.Hunter

Publication date: March 29th, 2011
Published by: St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: YA Paranormal
Rating: 4/5
Eligible for Debut Author Challenge 2011
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…

What a pleasant surprise Born At Midnight was! For reasons unknown, I didn't have high hopes for this book, but I'm here to tell you it was not bad at all!

BAM is such a fun, entertaining read! Although it's not a short book, Hunter's writing made it very easy to read, kept its pace fast throughout, and added so many details and many different little things, that there's never a dull moment in it.
The story was interesting enough. Combining all the supernatural elements together, vampires, witches, ghosts, weres, it has a little something to suit everyone's tastes.

Characters were…I said fun already, right? I don't know why, but writing this right now puts a big smile on my face because Born At Midnight was exactly that for me: a light, amusing read. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean frivolous. I just very much enjoy a book that for once doesn't have an impending doom or IL(instant love). Yes, there is not a BIG BAD in BAM, which doesn't diminish the story's value in the least. In fact, it's a very welcomed change.

I think I was talking about the characters somewhere way back…
So, Kylie, the protagonist, is a nice enough girl who comes from a broken home. I liked the fact that she wasn't a whiner or a moaner or a complainer. Granted, she may have misjudged some people but that doesn't make her annoying or a bad person. Let's not forget that she is 16 years old.
I liked her self-assurance and the way she didn't make a big deal out of being chased by 3 guys simultaneously(yep, I'm not lying). She completely owns it without being obnoxious. 
Her friends, Miranda the witch and Della the vampire, were OK I guess, although I would have wanted to learn more about their background, where they come from, how they came to be who they are.
As for the guys…the hottness level was so off the charts, that by the end I still couldn't decide who I wanted Kylie to end up with. Well OK, that's a lie. I like Lucas a lot more than I like Derek, but Derek is swoon-worthy too!

An abundance of hot guys and a great story to go with it? I'm sold!
Born At Midnight is a quick, easy but very cleverly constructed read that will definitely keep you interested till the very end!
Looking forward to book #2 which is called Awake At Dawn and comes out October 2011 by St. Martin's Griffin.

I received an ARC of this book through the First Reads program.
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