Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

 

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…

Source for picture and synopsis: www.goodreads.com

JC’s Review:

    So I read this book a while ago, and honestly, I have mixed feelings about it. Overall, I thought it was a good story, but there were a few aspects that I didn’t like so much. But that kind of happens with every book that I read; it’s rare that I’ll find a book where I thought that absolutely nothing was wrong with it and that absolutely everything was great. So let’s get over the bad things first--or should I say thing. I mean, there were a few things that bothered me, but the thing that I disliked the most was the love triangle.

You should probably know that I absolutely hate love triangles. I think they’re totally unfair to everyone involved, and they kind of just make me feel awful reading about them. But maybe that’s just me. Although I did enjoy reading about Lucas and Derek; honestly, I thought they are both really good guys and that Kylie is put in a difficult position. Though Trey . . . I honestly couldn’t quite see what was so special about him. So basically, although I wasn’t a big fan of the whole love triangle concept, I was glad that it didn’t make me dislike any of the characters too much. Except for Trey. Though that didn’t really have to do with the love triangle, more with the lack of character development.

Onto the good: I loved the writing. I thought that the author did really well in portraying all the different sides to some characters: for example, the main character Kylie could be emotional and vulnerable, but she also has a stronger side to her that makes her a much more appealing character. Della, her roommate and, eventually, one of her closest friends, came off as kind of rude and closed-off in the beginning, but the author clearly portrayed the softer, kinder side to Della that’s hidden behind her ruder exterior.

The book made me laugh more than once, like in the beginning, when Kylie’s mom barbecues Kylie’s father’s pants, and that was definitely a bonus. I did want to see a little more character development of Miranda because she didn’t seem to be quite as dynamic as some of the other characters, but overall, I thought that the characters and the plot were really intriguing, and I would definitely recommend it.

Kalee’s Review:

    I received this book as a birthday gift from JC around Christmas time and finally got around to reading it during Spring Break. I saw it once at the bookstore and made a note in my mind to look for it the next time I found myself at the library. The concept for this book is not anything too special, but it’s still pretty interesting. Our main protagonist, Kylie is a “let’s punch everything in the gut to fix it,” kind of character, which isn’t anything that unique in today’s day and age. She has her fair share of problems though that deals with magic. I won’t go into the details right now, because this review is suppose to be short; I’m failing on that right now. Kylie also has relationship issues. She’s torn between three (or is it two…) guys. A love triangle… or square… oh, gee. She does have an interesting relationship with each of them, but Kylie jumped from guy to guy so often each of them didn’t get that much development with her. (Speaking of character development, there was some for Kylie in this book, which I like) The relationships each had their fair share of feeling rushed. Each of the guys kind of just fell in love with her like the world was ending. But let’s stop with my complaining for now.

There were parts of this book that I like. Sarcastic characters. I have a thing for sarcastic characters and to me it makes the story more enjoyable and funny if the main character has (as I like to call it) an air of sarcasm. Hunter’s writing style is effective in more ways than one and she really can give you a good idea of what’s going on. I hate it when I’m reading a book and have no clue what in the world is going on. One thing the author does well is make it so the readers don’t know who Kylie will choose. Kylie is wishy-washy and can’t make up her mind; the author does a good job of leaving her final choice a secret.

This next part goes more into detail on the book. Read on if you liked the reviews. Though, we’re warning you: *SPOILER ALERTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!*

The Plot:

Kalee: Kylie is stuck at the weird school and has many mini goals that interrupt her quest for finding out what her magical abilities are. I can’t really find a big, overall plot that’s built up and has a good conclusion. What do you think?

JC: Well, I think that the overall plot is just that she’s learning things about herself that she’d never known before and trying to come to terms with it over the course of all these “mini goals” or whatever. I think she’s just trying to get a grasp on this crazy stuff that she’s just learned.

Kalee: In my opinion, the conclusion of the book should have built up to throughout the whole book. She does figure out who, “Soldier Dude”, is, but his identity is to say the least, not that surprising. There wasn’t much of a build up to it.

JC: “Soldier Dude” wasn’t surprising? Really? I mean, I was surprised. Guess you’re too smart for me. No, but seriously, I sort of agree that “Soldier Dude” didn’t seem like a huge deal until the end.

Kalee: Too smart for youuuuuuu

JC: WILL YOU STOP.

Kalee: I feel that it would have been more surprising if it was like her brother or great uncle, but not her dad. And why was she suddenly able to talk to him, when the lion got into her room?

JC: Seriously? Why is it not surprising? Like, that’s totally crazy to me that you could have predicted that Soldier Dude was her dad. Seriously. And . . . honestly, I think that it would have been kind of pointless for Soldier Dude to appear in the beginning and tell Kylie who he was from the get-go. Because then, there wouldn’t be as much surprise when his identity was revealed.

Kalee: Maybe it was because I wasn’t that interested in Soldier Dude. He just creeped me out with his crying blood and all (which is sort of good in it’s own way)

JC: Well, yeah. I think he was supposed to be creepy . . . to build up suspense? I don’t know. But I do agree that Soldier Dude should have been a more significant character.

Kalee: So overall what rating would you give the plot?  

JC: Maybe . . . 8 out of 10? What about you?

Kalee: I’d give it an eight, too.

Characters:

Kalee: What do you think of the main character, Kylie?

JC: I thought she was . . . like, pretty emotional, and she complained a lot. Though I did like how passionate she was and how she acted on her emotions a lot. I really enjoy characters who know how to listen to their hearts, even though it maybe doesn't lead to the most thought-out decisions.

Kalee: She had character development, so I was pretty okay with her. She was just so wishy-washy and changed her mind at the flip of a coin.

JC: That’s true . . . and I know that we both hated their little love triangle-square thing. Though I’m not sure if Trey really counts as part of the love-triangle thing because he seems like he’s pretty much old news from the start.

Kalee: *coughs* Love Square *cough*

JC: BUT TREY DOESN’T COUNT! I didn’t even get why he was such a big deal to Kylie. All she does is complain about how he’s moving on, and then he calls, all like, “I want you back, blah-blah-blah, that other girl doesn’t understand me, mope-mope-mope.” It was kind of annoying, honestly. And I didn’t really feel like he liked Kylie all that much, either.

Kalee: What about the other two boys, Lucas and Derek? I was more interested in Lucas, but he just popped in and out. That and he gave Kylie a cat; I like cats.

JC: Yeah, Lucas seemed more developed than Derek . . . Derek seemed like he was basically just a nice guy, with no other sides to him. And really? That’s what drew you to Lucas? Lol. Though I liked the whole cat thing, too. It was cute.

Kalee: I have soft spot for guys who give girls animals of any kind. I thought Derek was nice, but his falling in love with Kylie was sort of weird. It was like: Hey, she’s cute! I think I’m in love!

JC: Guys who give girls animals are the best. Except, like, animals that will eat you. Nope. Bad. And yep, Derek was nice, which made him a little . . . boring? To me, anyway . . . and yes, he did fall in love fast. No real development, with a sort of Romeo and Juliet kind of feel; all lust, no love, in my opinion. What’d you think of Della?

Kalee: Which one was that? I get Della and Miranda mixed up.

JC: DELLA WAS THE VAMPIRE. MIRANDA WAS THE WITCH.

Kalee: I don’t think Della and Miranda had really unique personalities. I mean I have a hard time telling them apart, haha.

JC: Mm, I agree with you on Miranda, but Della? I think she’s awesome! She’s so rude and, like, straightforward, but she’s actually super vulnerable and soft underneath, and I liked her. Though they did seem like complementary characters, like you couldn’t really have one without the other, but I think that that aspect kind of gets fixed in the later books. My overall rating on the characters is a 9 out of 10. What do you think?

Kalee: I’m gonna go with an 8.

Conclusion: *DOUBLE DOUBLE SPOILER ALERT!*

Kalee: The conclusion felt anti-climatic. I didn’t get what releasing animals from the zoo had to do with the rest of the plot.

JC: Yeah, the evil vampires were kind of uninvolved with the rest of the story. Though I did feel like Kylie discovered more about herself, which will lead to the plot of the future books.

Kalee: Did they ever explain how the lion got into her room?

JC: Um . . . well. I’m assuming thattt . . . it walked. And perhaps climbed? Or . . . maybe the vampires purposely put it in Kylie’s room?

Kalee: When you say the vampires put it in her room, I imagine vampires carrying a lion, which is an … awkward idea.  

JC: Carrying a GIRAFFE couldn’t make vampires seem not cool.

Kalee: What do you give the conclusion? I say … *strangled thinking noises* a 6. I’m sorry, author-san.

JC: I’m giving a 7. Adios, readers. :)

Overall Rating: 7.67 out of 10