Review: Born At Midnight by C.C. Hunter

Title: Born at Midnight (Shadow Falls, #1)
Author: C.C. Hunter
Pages: 398 (ARC copy)
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Release Date: March 29, 2011

Kylie Galen's about to spend the next three months trapped with a bunch of freaks. After getting caught at a party with alcohol, she's shipped off to Shadow Falls Camp--a camp for troubled teens. And these kids aren't normal freaks, either. As Kylie discovers, they're freaky freaks--witches, vampires, werewolves, fairies and shapeshifters--and the camp is a training ground where they're taught to harness their powers.

All Kylie wants to do is finish out her sentence at the camp...but everything changes when she meets Derek and Lucas. Derek is a smokin' hot guy with magical powers who's making it painfully clear that he wants to be more than just friends. And Lucas is a werewolf pack leader with whom she shares a secret past. Lucas has always made Kylie's insides melt--unfortunately, he wants nothing to do with her.

Now Kylie's got two boys playing tug of war with her heart--and a sneaking suspicion that she has magical powers of her own. After Shadow Falls Camp, how will she ever be able to go back to her normal life again?

My Thoughts: Kylie Galen's life sucks at the moment. Her grandmother passed away, her boyfriend broke up with her, her parents are getting divorced, and she's been forced to see a psychologist after she tells her parents that a guy has been stalking her. A guy that apparently only she can see.

Things only get worse for Kylie when she's caught at a party with alcohol, and at the advice of the psychologist, Kylie's parents send her to Shadow Falls Camp for the summer. Shadow Falls is suppose to be a camp for troubled teens, but Kylie quickly realizes that no one at the camp is normal. Everyone is a supernatural, and there are all types: vampires, werewolves, fairies, shape-shifters, etc.

In this book, supernaturals can figure out if a person is a supernatural, and what type of supernatural they are, by reading the person's brain pattern. Kylie is different though. For some reason, no one is able to read her brain pattern. They know she's not a normal person, but that's about it. Kylie, thinking that they are wrong about her, spends the majority of the book wishing/hoping/praying that she is not a supernatural.

And I felt that's really all that happened in the book.

Other than Shadow Falls Camp being a promoter of peace between the different species of supernaturals, teenage supernaturals go to the camp to learn how to harness their powers. Or so it states in the book's summary. Throughout the book I was waiting to read some kind of scene like that, but it never happened. There was just a bunch of talking and questions from Kylie. It seemed most of her questions were not answered until later or at all because nobody seemed to know or have the answers. That was probably to add to the mystery, but I just wish it didn't take the entire book to find out whether or not Kylie was a supernatural. Especially since it was obvious that she's a supernatural (and it got pretty annoying how much she was in denial).

As for everything else in the book... I think the most intriguing scenes were with the "ghost stalker." When we found out the ghost's story, I was surprised. Didn't see it coming. I liked Kylie's new friends Miranda and Della. The bickering between Miranda and Della was pretty funny at times. The love-triangle... Well, I tend to dislike love-triangles. I didn't hate this one, but I wasn't impressed with it either. It was a typical love-triangle. Instant attraction. Kylie couldn't stop thinking about either Lucas or Derek. Oh, and her ex-boyfriend Trey. I thought I would be rooting for one of these guys by the end, but nope, I'm not. Not much progress.

Like I mentioned before, not all the questions were answered. There is still a lot of mystery. But I guess that's why this is a series, not a stand-alone. And even though I felt like there wasn't enough action in this book, I'm intrigued enough that I would probably read the sequel.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and GoodReads for the ARC.