Born at Midnight

Shadow Falls, Book 1

By: C. C. Hunter

Narrated by: Katie Schorr

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

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.…

©2011 C. C. Hunter (P)2012 Macmillan Audio

Outstanding!!

I really liked this story. First of all, it is a teen's book. One that I wouldn't mind my teenagers listening to. The main character Kylie is adorable. Her character really grows through out the series. Topics like sex, teen pregnancy and divorce are addressed. Just to let you know how much I liked it, I have listened to 3 of the books since Friday! And will download the 4th soon. The supernatural element, along with heavy subjects that teenagers have to deal with, and a glimpse at how stupid the parents can sometimes be ( lol yes, I am a parent!) makes for a really great story!

Good but not great.

Any additional comments?

At 28 I can throw down teen novels like the best of em and not flinch. I can enjoy the creativity and escape of just a fun YA book. This book has strong characters, strong morals and I don't even mind the plot. However I found it much harder to get sucked in by than most Ya books. This is a perfect book if you are 14, 15 or maybe 16 but older than that and don't think it has enough to offer the reader. Its too shallow and lacks depth and creativity albeit pleasantly done.

A Book I Could Really Sink My Teeth Into!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, I think this book has a refreshing spin on the legends of "Monsters." Any teenager could relate to the chaos that occurs to the main character of the book as far as identity issues and divorce is concerned. The book's plot was filled with many twists and turns. I got sucked in pretty easily after the first couple of chapters. There were some predictable moments where I could guess what was going to be revealed before Kylie realized it, but the book was still enjoyable!

What did you like best about this story?

I liked that the concept was original. A world filled with "monsters" trying to learn how to survive through having to co-exist at a camp for supernaturals. I also enjoyed the romance in the book. Being married, it's fun to get a glimpse into that young love/ hormonal/ emotional chaos of new romance. The two guys swooning for her attention sounded pretty hot to trot so I am hoping this turns into a movie!

Have you listened to any of Katie Schorr’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have never listened to Katie Schorr before but her voice is pleasant. At first, I thought her voice would grate on my nerves but after a while I began to grow accustomed to it and could visualize the characters. She did a good job of bringing the characters to life and painting the setting of the story through her voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

"Who knew being a teen was so tough?"

Loved it!

This was a great book... very different take on vamps, witches, werewolves and the like. I thought the narrator moved things along at a perfect pace and had a good voice for the story. For those of you who like to be entertained, buy this book. I am glad I did.

Supernatural's Camp

Wow, as if being a teenager dealing with the threat of her parents divorcing and having concerns about her own sanity because she has horrible nightmares and sees ghosts, now she is sent to a camp that she thinks is a punishment for a misunderstanding of events at a friends party. But the camp is not punishment, its a camp for teens who just happen to be supernaturals learning about their abilities as werewolves, witches, vampires and more and how to live in a human world and be accepted.

Kylie is certain there are no such thing as supernaturals much less that she could be one herself. But she may be wrong about that.

Its a good story, the characters are interesting and I look forward to following the mystery of Kylie discovering which boy she will choose to learning just what it is she may be.

Good story, not so good narration.

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This book wasn't for me but its not a bad story. I love "mutants" but this had werewolves, witches, fairies, shape shifters and the main character can just see ghosts. Not new or exciting. The story is more of a love triangle mystery than thriller or action. Even amongst witches and fairies there were very normal things like divorces, cheating, and hook-ups. The narration was meant to have a "Texan" accent but she comes off more like a southern bell from 1880. The parts that are male sound more like a grandma. All the girls have the same voice except the vampire. Her mom and camp counselor sound the exact same. Also, the writer has some weird obsession with boobs. I don't want to bash the story too much because it was a great mystery. If you like lust, werewolves, vampires, and mysteries then you'll probably love this book. It's not about love its about lust. The main girl is more confused than brave. Overall, I'm not going to continue the series but if you like very juvenile books or are a child then this is a good one.

Oh dear goodness...

Oh dear goodness...

First of all, the Audible narrator was absolutely AMAZING! She did an incredible job and had a separate voice for each of the characters. I felt so bad that she had to narrate such an annoying story. If she's the narrator of any other books, I would be very happy to read them.

I'm so overwhelmingly disappointed. This story had SOOOOO much potential. While the story line isn't as unique as I hoped, it was still interesting enough to get me to keep reading. The story revolves around a summer camp full of supernatural beings who are trying to learn about themselves and their powers. Kylie, after being caught at an unruly teen party, was sent there by her mother and her psychologist. The interesting twist? The camp leaders suspect that Kylie is a supernatural, but they don't know what species. Sounds cool, right?

Well aside from the central plot, we have...hmmm...let me estimate...or round off...about 5 thousand other completely unrelated and irrelevant side stories happening simultaneously. Should we name off a few of them? Of course we should!

1. Kylie's friend thinks she's pregnant. We spend a large chunk of time in the story hearing about Kylie's friend's dilemma. After a few pages worth of "Oh my gosh, how could she get herself into this?" we find out that Sarah pregnant/not pregnant state. And then what happens? NOTHING!! Absolutely nothing because the author just decides to delete Sarah's character from the book. Intentional? I think not. Or at least, I hope it wasn't intentional. I'm sticking to believing that maybe the author just forgot about it.

2. Kylie's parents getting a divorce. Okay, I understand how this one is relevant due to a twist we find out about near the end of the book. And I do understand that divorce can be devastating to the child. However, is it necessary for us to hear about the divorce every few pages of the story? NO! It got to the point where I swore if divorce was mentioned one more time I'd slap someone. Thankfully, no one was near me when I continued to read the book, otherwise someone I know would be fairly pissed off at me for bruising their face.

3. The love triangle. OH MY FLIPPING GOODNESS! I don't know if I've ever read anything more annoying in my life! Okay, quite possibly I have, but seriously, this has to place in my list of top 5 annoying books. The way that she describes how she loves all three guys is nauseating. Trey, Lucas, and Derek: All 3 of them make her feel things she's never felt before, they're all incredibly hot, they all have perfect bodies (which she does not fail to mention about 500 times) and she has absolutely no problem with making out with all three of them and leading them all on. I had the most problem with this aspect of the story. I mean seriously, what girl does that? She whines about all of them because they all make her mad at some point but eventually, she goes right back to being all googly eyed and raging hormones when it comes to all three. Talk about wanting to slap someone.

I primarily planned to give this book 1 star. The only reason why I gave this book an extra star is because I think it deserves some credit for what it could've been. With a good editor who's not afraid to tell the author "ARE YOU CRAZY?!? THIS JUST DOES NOT WORK!" and with an author who is willing to scrap bad ideas and come up with new ones that make sense , this book could've been an amazing 5 star story.

I guess now we all know that "should've," "could've," "would've," has no effect for the present.

Great For Tweens

Born at Midnight is an unapologetically young teen oriented book that tackles issues of teen pregnancy, drugs, bullying, parent issues, and more within an urban fantasy setting. Rating this from the perspective of a teen, it's definitely a 5. But more mature readers/adults may find the messages overly heavy and the teens a bit too, well, teen. Kudos to the author for giving us authentic, confused, and realistic teens that aren't overly mature.

The story follows Kylie, a teen who, after being at a party that goes wrong, becomes guilty by association of being a druggie. Her parents are divorcing, things are falling apart fast, and now she finds herself at some dorky Summer camp. But it's not just ordinary summer camp; rather, she finds out quickly that it is a camp for kids with paranormal abilities. And she may just be paranormal herself. But not everyone is happy the camp exists, that paranormals comingle with normies, and they will work hard to destroy the camp for good.

The teens in the book feel very real. I appreciated that Kylie's parents weren't good or bad, but were dealing with their own demons and issues. As well, most of the paranormal kids were going through the same issues as normal teens - boyfriends/girlfriends, social issues, fitting in, etc. As such, the characters feel authentic and react in predictable ways. This could have been a story about the paranormal aspects but it really isn't. It's about being a teen.

I'm going to rate this a solid 4. Admittedly, as an adult, I never got into the story or the teens. But I also respect that if I had read this as a teen, I would have absolutely loved it.

I listened to the audible version of this and the narrator did an excellent job.

Loved it!

This story drew me in straight away, I love it and am now half way through the 5th book! Can't stop listening!

If it seems familiar, it probably is.

Was Born at Midnight worth the listening time?

This is fairly good YA paranormal fantasy. But you couldn't slip a sheet of paper between this book and a dozen others. It's good, just not all that original.

Fun listening

Would you consider the audio edition of Born at Midnight to be better than the print version?

Defiantly loved listening to this rather than reading. Listening to book lets me drift totally into another world or rather where the story takes my imagination...

What other book might you compare Born at Midnight to, and why?

Probably along the lines of divergent, insurgent. Strong friendships and no boring parts!

Which character – as performed by Katie Schorr – was your favourite?

All.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Think the relationship between Kylie and her mum gave me a few tears. Close to home.

Any additional comments?

Well worth listen.

Romance heavy but still a un-put-down-able read

I really enjoyed this book as it was easy to read and there was always a mystery for me to really want to know about. I'm not a huge fan of romance novels and I think the reason I didn't give this 5 stars is because the main character was constantly boy-crazy. I loved the relationship between Kylie (main character) and Holiday (camp leader).

I also enjoyed learning the different species and the powers and how having these powers come with consequences. The novel did a good job of showing the grey of life.

I went on to reading all the books in the series, one after the other which showed how much the mysteries sucked me in and I NEEDED to know.

Bad story and bad morals imparted to YAs

Feels like the writer wrote this in the first person and then got the word processor to change everything to the 3rd person, there is no real reason for the 3rd person narration when nobody’s point of view is seen except Kyle, who’s basically a bigot, the bus journey makes me want to throw this in sin bin. Not the morales we should be giving our YAs.

Brilliant story.

Loved this story and as it was audio I could get on with house work while listening.

Wow that was just bad

The narrator did not know how to do men’s voices and whenever Lucas trey or Derek where talking it was painful they sounded like women and as for the story it was worse than twilight at least with Bella she didn’t call everyone freak almost every single page it was just wow.

Good listen

Good story, relatable characters. touches on a few issues. I like the friendships and how forgiveness is often given.

I'm hooked

Thought I'd try the first Shadow Falls novel and was pleasantly surprised with it. Couldn't stop listening! Next one please

Born at midnight

When I read good reviews -I was very exited to pick up this book. Unfortunately, it didn't meet my expectations. Storyline is boring and characters are dull. Will not be continuing with the sequel.

Annoying book

What would have made Born at Midnight better?

I am just not sure if the editors did their job.

What could C. C. Hunter have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Not have written it.

How could the performance have been better?

I can't blame the messenger but the annoying teenage American accent is horrible to listen to for hours on end. It just sounds to me that a whinny teenager just moved into my ears.

You didn’t love this book--but did it have any redeeming qualities?

It tried to tackle the issues of racism, bullying and teenage pregnancy with the least eloquence. Is this to be the future of American literature for th young?