Reviews - Midnight for Charlie Bone

463 reviews for:

Midnight for Charlie Bone

Jenny Nimmo

3.72 AVERAGE

shhhmomisreading's review against another edition

5.0

This used to be my favorite book!

seawoodwrites's review against another edition

4.0

My older daughter raved about this a few years ago so I thought I'd give it a spin and see if it was about right for the younger. It's really quite good; if your kids liked Harry Potter and can cope with more depth of vocab, let them at it.

gucekawk's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

aurabora's review against another edition

1.5

lighthearted slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I knew this was a middle grade book going in, but that doesn’t excuse it for really speaking down to its audience. In Book 1 of both series, HP & Charlie Bone are both 10-11 yrs old, but this book reads MUCH younger. Like I guess it’s fine for 5-6 year olds, but I’m genuinely shocked anyone older found it enjoyable.

It’s 100% “tell”, not “show”. It reads like an outline for plot points, not a complete book…. And those plot points could use some major revision. Charlie’s new magical ability comes up literally ONCE. And it’s a magical school, except it’s not a magic school, it’s a charter school for the arts with mostly “normal” kids? There’s no attempt at magic world building, there’s not even an attempt at boarding school world building or developing the character friendships. Every aspect is underdeveloped.

Anyway, I really hated this authors writing style and while I am desperately looking for more magic school content, I won’t be continuing this series.

shadylane00's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

vrcticmonkeys's review against another edition

4.0

I first read this back in like middle school I believe, and I was really into it! I had no idea it was part of a series and loved it as a stand alone book. I revisited the book now that I'm older and it's still pretty easy to get into, no matter how simple the language is. Gives me a bit of nostalgia whenever I revisit it.