Review: Born at Midnight
Born at Midnight (A Shadow Falls Novel)
C.C. Hunter
Paperback, 416 pages
St. Martin’s Griffin
March 29, 2011
Amazon
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…
Review:
Maybe my expectations were too high but I was really hoping that this supernatural story, which takes place is Texas no less, would make for a much more thrilling read. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Kylie’s life is quickly falling apart. First, her boyfriend breaks up with her, then her Nana dies, then her parents announce they are getting a divorce. After a quick stop at a police station for attending the wrong kind of party, Kylie is shipped off to a summer camp for “troubled teens.” Unbeknownst to her, troubled teens is code for supernaturals.
As if life couldn’t get any better.
Shocked and feeling out of place, Kylie struggles to get a hold of who she really is or who she might be while racing against time to uncover the true of the strange events that have threaten to cause Shadow Falls so closed it’s gates for good.
The main thing that bugged me was the prose. It lacked focus and was a bit theatrical. I didn’t forget for a second that I was reading a story. The conversations between characters didn’t seem to flow naturally. And though I like the idea of a variety of supernaturals (vampires, werewolves, faeries, witches, shape shifters) sharing the same space and having to learn to live together, something about how it unraveled at Shadow Falls camp didn’t work as well for me as it did in Hex Hall.
Billed as a YA novel, Born at Midnight was a bit undeveloped in some areas for the classification. Many times I felt like I was reading a MG book, until I got the the parts where Kylie was grappling with her heated fantasies. Only then did I notice more, shall we say… spice?
Tried of the same old love triangle? Why not try a love square! That is what Kylie does with Trey, Derek and Lucas, seeing as they all can’t seem to resist her. And was it really necessary for Kylie to act like she didn’t approve of her roommate openly swooning over boys or of her best friend’s promiscuity only to have herself brush her breasts against every male in the vicinity and then talk about it at length? I’ve never known a female character to rattled on about her breasts as much as Kylie. They must be of the real and sensational variety?! (hehehe Seinfeld)
Though I didn’t have the same problem of picking a boy as Kylie had, namely because none were particularly memorable in their commonality and predictability, I should say that I did find the secondary characters much more interesting, mainly Kylie’s roommates. The friendship they formed in a short amount of time were heartfelt and their interactions were a much needed break from the boy issues.
I wouldn’t say that the story ended with a cliffhanger, but there are still a lot of unresolved issues and unanswered questions to be explored for the next book in this planned series.
Ultimately, not for me, but if you do decide to give Born at Midnight a go, I hope you enjoy it better.
Challenge(s): 111 in ‘11 Challenge
Posted at 9:26 am • Labels: 2 stars, 2011, ARC, Book it Forward, Book Review, paranormal romance, review copy, Vampires, werewolves, YA
Whoa!I was expecting a lot from the book.It's off my TBR now. I don't think I can handle a love square!
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Ick, I'm definitely not interested in love triangles or squares either. It's too bad because the cover is simply gorgeous making me want to be interested in the book.
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Off the list this book goes! Confusing prose, love square, girl obessed with her own breasts – definitely doesn't sound like my kind of read.
Great review though Missie
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Thanks for an honest review. What a shame, this book did sound interesting. I'll have to check it out, still, to see what I think. Thanks for the great review.
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I am so not a fan of the love triangle that I guarantee I wouldn't like a love square. I really wish authors would get away from that–there is plenty of anguish you can put into a relationship (especially in a PNR of any type) without introducing 2 love interests.
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Oh bummer! I was having high expectations of this one too, but your review is making me think otherwise. The love square sounds a little interesting though. Will still have to give it a try, but at least now I have a month to try to lower my expectations.
Great review though, I like how you give a brief summary of what went on and what irritated you most about this YA book with some MG moments.
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Shoot! I had such high hopes for this one! And can I just say, where o where is my love square? Ha, I made a rhyme. Clearly I'm a bit challenged today since I'm rhyming, but honestly, never have I been able to garner the attention of more than one guy, so I think I'll pass on this one due to the love square alone. If it was well done, maybe I'd give it a go, but it doesn't sound like it is and that on top of it sometimes reading like a MG novel is enough to take it off my list. Thanks for your honesty Missie!
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This sounds like grade D reproduction of House of Night to me. Not the book for me.
Loved your honest review of the book.
~Kelsa
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I completely agree. The romance didn't really seem real and the fact that it was a “love square” instead of a “love triangle” made me frustrated. Some of this book was good and funny though. Thanks for the honest review!
-Danna
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Ha ha…at least a love square is something different. Perhaps too different.
It's always disappointing when books don't live up to expectations. It's also irritating when a book seems to straddle MG and YA and not get either quite right.
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Uh-oh sounds icky!
Well hey thats a plus for me because I wasnt going to read this one and now I know I wont be missing out….:)
Great insightful review!!
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I really did enjoy this one, but I had no expectations when I got this one. I hadn't even heard of it at all. Perhaps that was the difference. I really didn't even know what it was about!
So, I had a pleasant surprise. I agree about the secondary characters. I really wanted to know more about them. I do agree with your assessment looking back at the book. Still… I want to read that second book so I can finish the first! 
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Aw, I'm so sad, I really wanted this book to be amazing. I am still going to check it out though, just to see. I'm just going to lower my expectations before I read it, hopefully that will make it better.
Great Review!
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Thanks for your honest take. Sounds like one I will pass on
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What a bummer! The premise of this book sounds totally amazing, so that really stinks that it didn't work out for you. Maybe I'll still give it a try.
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I've heard mixed things about this one, so I guess I'm gonna just have to read it for myself. Thanks for the honest review!
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Thanks for the honest review! I'm getting burned out on love triangles so I will probably steer clear of the love square -way too much drama for me.
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Ohhh really? that sucks! I had high expectations for this book. It looked and sounded so good =( off the TBR list it goes! Thanks for being honest
-KelseyAnne
http://kelseyannesbookblog.blogspot.com
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Well, I think I'll skip this one but I sure did enjoy reading your review! Very entertaining. And no, I really don't think love squares are an improvement on love triangles.
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Drats! I'm disappointed. Though this book wasn't on my TBR list, it did intrigue me. It was the cover and the idea of the supernatural camp. I love Hex Hall. That hilarious about a love square! I'm still laughing at that one. I might give this one a shot as a library read. Thanks for the honest review.
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LOL! Could you have made your review any cuter? No, I don't think so. I'm glad the main character talked about her breasts so much just so I got to read your commentary on that
I don't know if it's coincidental or not, but I've had terrible luck with authors who write adult romances now trying their hand at YA. I just haven't liked any of them and I've found the writing to be clunky and a strange mix of younger YA and steamier adult. I also have trouble caring at all about the characters. It seems like this book is more of the same there. How disappointing.
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