Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1)

This review can also be found at http://fortheloveofbooksreviews.blogspot.ca/2017/03/born-at-midnight-by-cc-hunter.html

Kylie is dealing with a lot, including breaking up with her boyfriend, being stalked by a strange man, and her parents' divorce. After being caught at a party, Kylie is sent to Shadow Falls, which is a camp for supposedly troubled teens. However, once she gets there, she learns the truth: this camp isn't for troubled teens, but rather for young vampires, werewolves, fairies, and others to learn how to deal with the world and each other despite tensions and feuds.

There she meets some friends and some attractive "gifted" individuals, including Derek and Lucas. Derek falls for her quickly, and she remembers her secret history with Lucas. However, there's more to worry about than boys and crushes. She, and the others at the camp, are unsure of what kind of paranormal creature Kylie actually is. Having to deal with seeing ghosts complicates things, too. But Shadow Falls is in danger of being shut down, and when some start to suspect her and Lucas of having something to do with it, she must fight to figure out the truth before it is too late.

So one thing that I will say about this book is that there was definitely some rather cliche aspects to it. The love triangle felt a bit out of place, although it wasn't too major of an issue within the book. The feud between vampires and werewolves seemed a tad unoriginal, but that didn't really take away from the story as a whole.

My main issue with this book rested with the characters themselves. At times Kylie seemed really shallow. While the narration was not first person, the author did delve into the thoughts of the characters, especially Kylie, even while using third person. There were little things that made me dislike her, for example the long paragraph (on page 105 in my edition) where it is explained why Kylie "gets" the reason that Derek, who is half fairy, would prefer the term "fey". This reason is apparently due to the fact that "no straight guy would want to be called a fairy" (despite the fact that he is literally a fairy). Also notable is the fact that Derek is supposedly "overly female-loving male", whatever that means. I don't believe that books must remain politically correct or entirely inoffensive, because characters, just as real life individuals, aren't all going to believe the same things, they haven't all been raised the same way, et cetera. But because of my personal experiences, I found this to be something that affected me and my view of Kylie and the other characters, so I felt that it might be important to mention for other readers dealing with similar life circumstances or opinions. It seems fairly small, but as an LGBTQ person, it made me roll my eyes.

This wasn't my only issue with the characters. I feel like Derek fell for Kylie way too early in the book. It made his feelings for her seem superficial and I found this really annoying. I also don't really see what Kylie saw in Derek, to find herself attracted to him so early on as well? He seemed quite average. I mean, he could be spectacular and interesting and multidimensional, and in the next book this may become apparent, but the way that the author portrayed him within this book was really boring.

The thing that I really enjoyed about this book was Kylie's ability to speak with ghosts and how that affected her. Her struggle with accepting the fact that she wasn't fully human was reminiscent of the struggles that people may face in real life, and I felt that despite the fantasy or paranormal aspect, I could really relate to what Kylie was going through. Denying something that is an important part of you is something that lots of people have to deal with, including the changes that come with finally accepting that you're not who you thought you were. This theme or aspect was well discussed throughout the novel, in a way that I found redeemed Kylie's character enough to keep me reading and excited to pick up the next book in the series.

I also really loved the setting! I've heard of many boarding schools for paranormal creatures used as a setting within books, but camps appear to be less popular. I thought that this was a unique twist on the idea, and I think that the setting made the story really interesting to read, especially considering some of the myths or legends surrounding the falls themselves. The idea that there might be some kind of sinister entities haunting the waterfall that the camp is named after was something that caught my attention quickly, and while I'm a bit disappointed that this wasn't investigated by the characters within this novel, I'm hoping that in the next books this will be a more important aspect of the stories! I want to know the truth about the falls!

So, while I took issue with some of the characters due to my life experiences and the way they perceived certain things, there were still many good things about this book! Kylie may not have been very likeable, but her struggle ultimately redeemed her, and the setting was captivating. I'm hoping that the next book in this series brings more excitement and character development to the story.

I recommend this book to those who like YA paranormal romances! If you're interested in a series that includes several supernatural or paranormal creatures, this would be a good pick.

I was recommend this book on goodreads, and as soon as i read the description, i thought "not another stupid love triangle". I'm not a huge fan of love triangles as you may presume,because i think that they ruin the story in opinion. However overall I did enjoy this book.

Kylie has serious parents issues, and i don't mean that the small petty ones, I mean serious that it should be on a talk show serious. Also to top it all off she sees a ghost or "solider dude" who play a major part in her life as she may think. Then all to suddenly Kylie gets sent to shadow falls camp for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. Little does she realize that this camp isn't like any normal camp, a camp for the supernatural (like Hogwarts for wolves, fairies etc) but the only problem is Kylie thinks shes human or is she?

Then theirs the love triangle, meet Lucas the sexy wolf who Kylie holds a grudge against since childhood, but then comes to a conclusion that he isn't so bad as she thought. Then Derk's the Fae, who wants to be her boyfriend from day one. (im team Lucas BTW) .

Overall this novel is about discovering who you are, friendship (high five to Miranda for what she did to her piano teacher.) love, and betrayal. I would recommend this to anyone who are fans of the supernatural.

But if i could criticize one thing -other then the love triangle.- donating blood to your vampire friend? I don't think i could exactly do that unless i really had to in a near death situation. I cant wait till the next book hopefully *spoilers* we find out what Kylie is, and more of Lucas!:p

The first book is my favorite, Kylie isn't as annoying as she gets in the later ones. I just have to say that later,on, it gets very annoying and very typical. This book kept me up until 2 am on a school night and I only got three hours of sleep! It was worth it for this one, but not really for the others.

Paranormal/Supernatural Lovers- This series is a MUST READ!

originally published to http://www.nobentspines.blogspot.com/2013/01/born-at-midnight-by-c.html

can't tell you how much I loved this book. I seriously laughed out loud so much while reading it-and my family can testify to that!
Okay, so basically this book has three major themes: discovering who you really are, love or lust and friends can change and won't always last forever. The last one's not as present as much as the other two though.
“I think he likes you" Miranda Whispered.
Realizing she and Derek had drawn attention, she glanced away. "He's probably just curious about me like everyone else" she whispered back.
"Nope. He's hot for you" Della said, reminding Kylie of the supernatural hearing of some of the campers. "When he was sitting by you at lunch, he oozed so much testosterone that it was hard to breathe. He wants your body" Della teased.
"Well, he's not getting it" Kylie said.”
Love=Derek
Lust=Lucas
Kylie is dealing with a super hard time right now. Her parents are getting a divorce but she doesn't understand why. (she finds out later in the novel though) Her supposed Ice Queen mom and 'perfect' dad (my eyes are rolling here) seemingly don't want her anymore and send her off to a camp for 'troubled' teens-which is really a camp for supernaturals. Through this a ghost plagues her night terror and her reality. At the camp she sorta discovers who she is-not what, and get's caught is a really well portrayed love triangle. (Lucas&Kylie&Derek)
Personally I'm team Derek all the way...well almost all the way. Hey rivers are really nice....
And although her ex Trey and her ex BFF Sara are in the book a bit, they don't really play a huge part in it. I liked that. Oh and Holiday is AMAZING and sweetie....are you blind? Burnett has the hots for you...... *shakes head it pity*
“I mean, if your about to tell me something like I'm dead, that i need to start acquiring a taste for blood, and I can't even eat sushi, I wont be able to handle it. Or if you're going to tell me that I'm going to start howling at the moon, eating peoples cats, and will spend the rest of my life having to get waxed if I want to wear a bathing suit, then I don't think I can handle it, either. I like cats and I tried waxing once, and that hurt like a son of a gun." -Kylie”
I thought the cover was really fitting. Now I'm kinda digging deep here. Kylie is standing in the middle of a tree with a fork. Kinda like a fork in the road, yah know? It kinda symbolizes that things are gonna change and she's gonna have to choose-she can't have both. Mom or Dad. Old friends or new ones. Old LIFE or new one. To stay at the camp or go. Lucas or Derek. All of these are choices and yeah, tree in half, her in the middle. And besides that, it's just a really cool cover. I'm just little ol' me. Appreciating the deeper meaning.

This book was very charming. I knew as soon as I read the description that this book was for me. I mean, come on, supernatural creatures going to a camp together, heck yes!

I really enjoyed the characters. Kylie was fun to read about, even though sometimes she was a little tiring trying to figure out if she was human or not. I really liked Della and Miranda; they were cool quirky characters. I thought both Derek and Lucas made impressive love interests; I have no idea how Kylie is going to choose between those two.

I thought the story could get a little slow at times, seeing as the majority of the book was about Kylie trying to figure out, and being in denial about, what she was. I would've liked if the story dived into the supernatural aspects a little more, but was pleased nonetheless. I can't wait to see how things will go from here!

Overall: A solid beginning to a series with great potential. Really looking forward to the next one!

I really enjoyed this book, at points. I found that once you are engrossed in the story it is hard to get back into the real world. I thought that the characters were well developed.
One thing that I didn't really enjoy was at some points it was very hard to follow. I remember reading and then not understanding what was going on because the story was on one topic then very quickly onto another. Some parts didn't flow very well into other parts.
Other than that, I enjoyed the book.

The first chapter are good, but as i kept on reading i got both a little lost and bored, the beginning of the story, to me started out too slow. IT drag on abit. that i lost it for about two weeks and then decde to re-read it again. and i'm glad i did! The story pick up for my half-way through the book!

PLot:
I like the plot! and some of the twists that happens. Some like the ghost(who the ghost is) was not what i thought! haha. I wont get in all the details beause you should totally read this book and find out yourself! and a love triangle! awesome! between a hot fae and a hot werewolf. I think the plot was great, as this is the first book in the series(2nd comes out in October 2011)waken her sense and power!

Charaters:
At first i didnt know what to think of the charaters. Like most charaters in stories Kylie is a shy girl that doesnt really know who she is yet. and grows through out the book. It talks about her wild friend, Sara(who might be pregant) ITs not a bad book. Kylie seems like a regular teenager, of couse with come super power as in talking to ghost! and kissing hot non-humans guys(which is not a bad thing, well i dont think it is)

Overall, Its a good read!! Cant wait for the next book wehn it comes out in October!! yay.