Review: Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Published Date: March 29th, 2011
Finished Date: May 30th, 2011
Publishers: St. Martin's Griffin
Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
Series: Shadow Falls book 1

Blurb from Goodreads: 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, 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… -------------------------------------------------------------------

My Review: I would put this at 4.5 stars if i could..but i didnt think it was perfect so i rounded it down. But oh this book is a really good one. Tho the climax didnt hit the all time high, for some reasons, i am hooked to this book quite badly. Haha, and im usually one for action than romance. This one is a real mix between Kelley Armstrong's Darkest Powers trilogy and Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, what with her being able to see and commune with ghosts and the fact that there was a summer camp for supernaturals, in short for people who were special and had powers. Ring a bell?

Kylie's life sure is one hellhole, but she manages it all quite well actually. I mean, there were emotional breakdowns and lots of bawling sessions, but in the end, she pulled on her big girl's pant and dealt with everything, and even saved the camp[ok big spoiler]. Anyway, her mom thought that Kylie was more than she could handle cause of Kylie's budding rebellious attitude and with the divorce between her and Kylie's dad, so she sent Kylie to the camp that her counsellor recommended(now this reminds me of James from Robert Muchamore's CHERUBS series..-.-). Kyie arrives and lo and behold, meets her best buds and potential lover, and also mysterious childhood neighbor(slash)terror(slash)saviour. I know, very hypocritical, but dont worry, Hunter made it make perfect sense:). Ok, after which she is in some serious denial that she is also a supernatural. The camp leader, Holiday, told her about her seeing ghosts is a gift, but they're stilling trying to figure out what kind of supernatural she is(for example, half-were, half-vamp, half-fae, hald-witch or half-shapeshifter, all this are the main supernatural groups present in the book), so this becomes her quest, to find out which group she belongs to. Percy Jackson much? Then things happen and the camp is in danger of closing down and Kylie somehow manages to save it with the help of some of her new friends.

Kylie is not really what i would say as my ideal heroine, with her breaking down quite often tho her actions are justifiable, but she is cool and courageous. Her powers can only add on to her many qualities. At first, i thought that being able to see ghosts didnt make her very powerful and that it was creepy, but after awhile, i think i do like her powers after all. At least it convinced me more how good the power could be than Kelley Armstrong did..Bottomline: yeah, i liked Kylie.

The boys...Trey(nehh), Derek(the hot half-fae), Lucas(the childhood neighbor(slash)terror(slash)saviour who is equally, if not more, sizzling than the half-fae). Well, Trey was a downright loser. Ok why do all YA authors make the human boy the most undesirable one..lol anyway. Derek was the steady, cool, calm and collected lover while Lucas was the one who made Kylie all nervous and fluttery. Reminds me of the Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow.-.- Personally i prefer Lucas cause Kylie had a secret past with him, and it being shrouded in mystery just makes it all the more romantic. haha

It wasnt very climax-y if you get what i mean, and it definitely is kinda cliche, but personally i find it nice and well, relaxing. Sometimes i dread reading the climaxes of books cause i know im gonna have some serious hormonal changes and adrenaline spikes which would result in me being tired and a few wrinkles to appear, which is seriously mortifying. I've been reading more adult fiction nowadays, and reading this book reminds me how awesome YA fiction books can be. Makes me feel more youthful also,haha.(I am still a teen actually:/)

Anyway, i am really looking forward to the release of this sequel called Awake at Dawn which will be released on Oct 11 this year!! Woo! Cheers:) cant wait cant wait.

My Rating: