Born at Midnight - C.C. Hunter

Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls #1) 
                                                   - C.C Hunter
Grade: YA
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

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…(Description from Goodreads)

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‘Born At Midnight’ is a story based around Kylie Galen; a normal teenager struggling to cope with the divorce of her parents and loss of her grandmother, or something else? Well, that’s the million dollar question and one we get asked over and over in this book. Just what is Kylie Galen? In a camp full of supernatural beings, all insisting that she does in fact belong with them, Kylie fights with the idea that she’s more than human. But the ghosts that keep following her and the mental block on the pattern of her mind suggests otherwise. I really liked the idea of many different supernatural teens spending summer camp together in order to settle into the idea of being something other than human. I love when supernatural beings are mixed into the same story, so the focus isn't just on vampires or werewolves or witches; it gives the story an edge and a sense that there is more going on than just one issue. I especially loved Kylie’s power. She’s pretty unique, and not just because no-one actually knows who or what she is; but the way everyone has to discover if her power is good, bad or can be useful in any way. There was something so different about no-one being able to answer any questions, although slightly frustrating for the same reason.

My biggest problem with this story was Kylie. I understand that she was going through some serious life adjustments, but she spent a lot of time crying, which wasn't very interesting; and because she spent more time fighting the possibility that she wasn't human she avoided learning much about the other supernatural beings. I'll admit I was ready to shake Kylie a few times if I caught her crying again, but she managed to give it up a bit towards the end of the book.

I love that there was a mystery within the story. Missing people; local animals going wild; Supernatural Federal Agents trying to get to the bottom of things. It was all very exciting. Unfortunately, the mystery was solved way too quickly for my liking. One minute everyone’s fighting and there’s lots of action; and the next it’s done. Problem solved, bad guy caught, and you’re left with a, “Wait, did I miss something?” feeling.

I was a little worried about the romance in this book. Love triangles I expect these days, but when Kylie had two potential supernatural guys after her heart and then her human ex-boyfriend in thrown into the mix too, I started to wonder what sort of story we were going to get. Was it another House Of Night that just keeps loading the main character up with a new guy every few pages? But we seem to settle on our two supernaturals: Derek, the half-fae that’s not sure he wants to be different either and Lucas, the troubled werewolf who used to be Kylie’s neighbour. Derek was sweet and I liked that he wasn't trying to force himself on Kylie when she tells him to back off; but my heart lies with Lucas and his attempts to be super protective when it comes to Kylie.

All in all, an enjoyable read. I definitely want to see what happens next.

3.5/5


Kim
(Originally posted on Goodreads)