Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Born at Midnight by C.C. Hunter (A Shadow Falls Novel #1)

Release: March 29th, 2011

Pages: 416 (paperback)

Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Source: Publicist

Summary: 

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: Born at Midnight is fresh, addictive, and completely spectacular. If you're a fan of YA paranormal fiction, you'll thoroughly enjoy this novel. 

When it comes to a third person narrative, it can be a hit or a miss for me, and C.C. Hunter nailed it perfectly. I cared about Kylie, found myself agreeing with her most of the time, and relating with her utter "newness" to the supernatural aspects of her life. The supernatural characters truly surprised me, and I loved learning about all the different sorts of gifts they have - I especially adored Kylie's roomies as the story went on. 

The romance aspect was intriguing. For a few chapters, I was genuinely curious who Kylie was going to set her sights on. There's even a bit of a mystery mixed into the plot, along with the tribunals of friendship, family, and the complications that go on with being a teen trying to find yourself. For being such a supernatural story, it was shockingly easy to relate with. From vampire roommates and pesky shape-shifting boys, all of the characters were unique and fun to read about.  

Supernaturalness + Boys + Kittens + Odd Friends + Dysfunctional Families + Humor + Mystery + Camp = Born at Midnight. Seriously, give this book a chance because it just may surprise you. It's 100% fun to read. 

Highlights: There's a few surprising moments and revelations at the end, and I loved one of the two romances Kylie starts building. I know which guy I'm rooting for in the end, so I'll be happily awaiting book two. And if I'm being completely honest, Born at Midnight rekindled my love for supernatural/paranormal stories (a genre I was contemplating setting aside for a few months in favor of something else - I'm so glad I didn't set this book aside). 

Lowlights: A bit predictable here and there, which is to be expected. The plot and amount of characters seemed a bit chaotic and too much to handle at first, but once I got into the story, I couldn't get enough of everything. 

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