Review: Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Author: C.C. Hunter

Pages: 416

Publisher: St. Martins Griffin

Series or Standalone: 1^st in series

Genre: YA Paranormal

Reading Level: 14 yrs old+

Dominant Themes: Werewolves, Faeries, Ghosts, Vampires… erm, basically EVERYTHING

Release Date: March 29^th, 2011

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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…

Born at Midnight is the type of book that you pick up, start reading, and don’t put down until you’ve read every single word. It will keep you hooked from the start. 

Kylie just got dumped by her boyfriend because she wouldn’t put out, her parents are going through a nasty divorce, and Kylie keeps seeing this weird Soldier Dude everywhere. I’ll admit, her life sucks. It can’t get any worse, right? WRONG. She goes to a party, gets arrested (even though she wasn’t doing anything), and is then shipped off to a camp for freaks by her Ice Queen mother.

Great.

Kylie, to me, was a fantastic main protagonist, because she’s stronger than she thinks she is. She goes through all this craziness and culture shock, and basically finding out that she is not what she thought she was, and yet she still manages to keep a sense of equilibrium. Even though she questions everything that’s happening every step of the way, she takes everything in stride and learns to adapt to her surroundings. I could relate to her in many ways, my parents having been divorced, and going through many of the same teenage girl problems as she was.

A part of what made this novel so enjoyable for me was not just Kylie, but the friends she made along the way. Della, who is a vampire, and Miranda, who is a dyslexic witch, almost instantly befriended Kylie, and I liked them from the start. They added humor, and I think they were one of the only things to keep Kylie sane. Good friends like them are absolutely vital when one goes through a life changing experience such as that. I can’t wait to read the short story, Turned at Dark, that tells about Della’s past.

C.C. Hunter is also a writer of adult romance novels… and it shows. My favorite scenes were (obviously) the romantic ones. There is a lot of chemistry and sexual tension between Kylie and Derek, and Kylie and Lucas. It added some angst to the story, and don’t we all just love teen angst? Honestly, the internal struggle within Kylie over both boys added realism. The only question is, who will she pick?

As with all great love triangles, there are always teams. Team Derek, those for the friendly boy with deep green eyes that wants to be more than 'friendly', and Team Lucas, those for the dangerous and mysteriously sexy boy that  actually has a sweet side. I am all for Team Lucas. He has this… sexy charisma about him. Derek is still extremely hot, but the chemistry is more tame with him, whereas with Lucas, it’s a little more primal. But Kylie’s connection to them both was a big part of the novel, and the parts I enjoyed the most. There are some moments in Born at Midnight that made me have to stop and take a deep breath… but not for too long.

There is such a large cast of creatures and characters that it’s sure to please all fans of paranormal and urban fantasy. The concept of a “paranormal camp/school” isn’t exactly new, but C.C. found a way to present it to us that made it unique. In the next book, things are expanding and becoming bigger and better, so we'll just have to see where it goes. 

Overall, I loved Born at Midnight. It’s a sizzling new novel that’s sure to make an impact on the YA scene. Sign me up for Shadow Falls camp!

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 5/5

Uniqueness\Creativity: 4/5

Writing: 4/5

Cover: 5/5

Overall: 5/5

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