Reviews

Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson

laurelinwonder's review against another edition

3.0

Really cool premise, maybe too short of a book to cover so much? Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for this kind of book, but I just couldn't get into it. I powered through, but really wanted more still by the end to feel like I could write a more complete review. I've enjoyed another book by Anderson previously, and this is well written, so dig in if you want a quick, unique read.

kwbat12's review against another edition

3.0

I don't know what to think of this book. There's a little sci-fi, a little historical, a little of everything. I enjoyed the book, though I'm still not sure what to think of it. It could go into a middle grades place, because it feels quick and understandable, and is written in so many letters and different styles.

quoth_chloe's review against another edition

4.0

I really loved this, I loved the different perspectives we followed and I loved the characters!
I really enjoyed Adri and Lily and them learning about Lenore and Beth together and finding out more about the children. It was so so good and I really enjoyed Galapagos and knowing that she had been there through all of it!
I wish there were more answers at the end but I think that's the point, Adri had questions that were left unanswered and things that she hoped for so the reader has to have them too!
I highly recommend this book! So Good!!

bridaniel92's review against another edition

3.0

Review to be put on Once Upon A Twilight on June 24.

mrs_a_is_a_book_nerd's review against another edition

4.0

I read this one on the recommendation of a student, who had pulled it from my classroom library. She was RIGHT! What a fantastic story! A wonderful blend of genres, Midnight at the Electric has it all: a bit of sci-fi, romance, history, friendship, family, mystery, and self-discovery. The story blends the lives of three young women, in three different places and times, each of whom must make a choice that will take them away from the home they've always known to an unknown future where they've pinned their hopes for happiness. Adri is one of the chosen "colonists" who will make a new life on Mars, but her choice is challenged when she spends her last weeks with an elderly cousin she never knew she had. In Lily's home, Adri finds the journal of Catherine, a girl determined to save her sister's life by fleeing the Oklahoma dust bowl storms that make Beezie quake with dust pneumonia. Catherine's journal entries lead Adri to find a bundle of letters, written to Catherine's mother by her childhood friend Lenore. The letters chronicle Lenore's desire to leave her native England home and join Catherine's mother in the U.S., where she has married and settled down. The letters also reveal a secret that will change everything Catherine knows and believes. As the novel progresses, the threads of their lives are woven together until the three are interlaced across nearly 150 years.
Meeting and getting to know all of these women was captivating, and the story was both original and absolutely lovely.

aotales's review against another edition

5.0

Surprisingly, this has very little to do with the Circus. But no matter, this is an exceptionally stunning itty bitty novel that completely blew me away with its emotional depth and complexity of character - all layered within a weaving narrative of environmental urgency. While this 270 page book is broken amongst three characters, we get a very clear, very deep emotional connection to each woman and, even more surprising, for a split narrative storyline I enjoyed every arc equally. Not typical in most multi point-of-view, multiple timeline stories.

This is truly a stunning, emotionally riveting read that is wonderfully executed as an audiobook and I highly recommend listening to it as such as it brings these characters and their individual voices to great life and depth. Truly a special read that tugged on my heart strings.

aotales's review against another edition

5.0

Surprisingly, this has very little to do with the Circus. But no matter, this is an exceptionally stunning itty bitty novel that completely blew me away with its emotional depth and complexity of character - all layered within a weaving narrative of environmental urgency. While this 270 page book is broken amongst three characters, we get a very clear, very deep emotional connection to each woman and, even more surprising, for a split narrative storyline, I enjoyed every arc equally. Not typical in most multi point-of-view, multiple timeline stories.

This is truly a stunning, emotionally riveting read that is wonderfully executed as an audiobook and I highly recommend listening to it as such as it brings these characters and their individual voices to great life and depth. Truly a special read that tugged on my heart strings.

Full review here: https://www.aotales.com/content/review-midnight-at-the-electric

alienor's review against another edition

5.0

4.5 stars rounded up, because genuine tears and laughs are the most precious things, aren't they? [b:Midnight at the Electric|32075663|Midnight at the Electric|Jodi Lynn Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492234825l/32075663._SY75_.jpg|51817817] relates several stories entwined, stories about loss and courage and hope and choices. You jump straight into new characters' lives and you just care instantly and isn't it baffling? When I see that I can read an entire book without giving a damn whatsoever and that [a:Jodi Lynn Anderson|94868|Jodi Lynn Anderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1337023922p2/94868.jpg] manages to create a connection between her characters and I in the span of 2 pages, I feel awed.

"The longer I live, " she looked up at the ceiling, "the more I think our big mistakes are not about having bad intentions, but just not paying attention. Just bumbling along, a little self-absorbed."

I want to label this book as slow and then I don't, because I've noticed that people associate slow and quiet to long and boring and that just won't do. At no moment did I feel anything but enthralled, yet that's true that [b:Midnight at the Electric|32075663|Midnight at the Electric|Jodi Lynn Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492234825l/32075663._SY75_.jpg|51817817] isn't an action-packed novel.

Action-packed, again an adjective that annoys me, because there's nothing that frustrates me more than trying to explain how futile actions are when it comes to pacing. A novel can be filled with events and a chore to get through all the same. Another - and yes yes yes I'm talking about this beauty - can be one million times more compelling even if it mostly deals with relationships and all that we humans ever feel and dream or fear.

"Lily shrugged. "I think that's what you say when you can't have something you want, isn't it? You say you don't want it in the first place."

Above everything, [b:Midnight at the Electric|32075663|Midnight at the Electric|Jodi Lynn Anderson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1492234825l/32075663._SY75_.jpg|51817817] explores the strings that hold ourselves back. Does leaving is breaking them or is that another thing entirely? This question has been at the heart of my early years as an adult, and at 32 now, the only thing I can say is that I've found my answer, but that I genuinely believe that there's no such thing as an universal one. Go and find yours.

[a:Jodi Lynn Anderson|94868|Jodi Lynn Anderson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1337023922p2/94868.jpg]'s writing is stunning in all the ways that count for me, emotional without forcing and filled with these thoughtful moments that ring so true, as Leonore's definition of grief :

"Sadness is only something that's part of you. Grief becomes you; it wraps you up and changes you and makes everything - every little thing - different than it was before."

The quote above is why I'll always come back to her books, even if the subjects don't appeal to me at first glance : because I know that in the end, her stories are so full of life that they'll always contain little parts of me, they'll always perfectly capture that feeling of possibility - I guess they just inspire me, and I can't say that's true for many books. I can't recommend them enough.

For more of my reviews, please visit:

breeohmai's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

bookishstone's review against another edition

5.0

That was beautiful. I'll have to write a review when it's not way past my bedtime.