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A review by caroni
By Midnight by Mia James
3.0
It is quite hard to talk about By Midnight without giving away major spoilers, so I will keep the review quite general and short to try to tell you why I liked this book and how I found it changed from other books in the same genre.
The story revolves around April Dunne, who moves from Edinburgh to London. She moves in the specific area of Highgate which is most famous for its cemetery. Many many books, songs and films were inspired by the cemetery itself and especially by what - supposedly - happened in there *wiggling eyebrows*.
A lot of the story also revolves around April's parents, so you do get a glimpse of her life in her family and how it works (or more accurately doesn't).
The general atmosphere of the book screams Gothic and it is just so fascinating to read. The action is set in one of the spookiest (historically speaking) places of London and the reader can really feel a chill at some moments! The setting is important in the book and it is so amazing to be able to go in the places April has been in (if you live in London that is) and learn what happened in the past.
What differentiates By Midnight from other urban fantasy books is the level of research put into the vampire folklore and the history of London. Not only does the book embraces it, but it also gives an original spin to it. You learn a lot reading this book, and I would definitely suggest it to vampire fans. I love how vampirism is explained in there, and I obviously won't spoil it for you but it is an interesting way of seeing things.
The characters are interesting and I feel that we will be able to fully appreciate them in the sequel. There are various personalities, April is a great character and I just LOVE how she reacts when someone breaks the "I'm a vampire" news, because that's definitely a rational reaction! She is not a strong character per se being no body builder herself, but she has a strong personality and doesn't turn her back to fights. There are some truly "bound-to-be-classic" moments where you can only stand awestruck by the sheer awesomeness of it all.
The teenagers look like real teenagers and I am convinced that a teenage girl with a crush is lethal (don't say I didn't warn you). The character of Caro is, with such a name, obviously wonderful *beams*. She is a conspiracy theory junkie and she has fantastic ideas. The "faces" aka the cheerleaders+jocks though no one has pompoms or American football practice, make me laugh so bad. You will definitely have some laugh out loud moments reading this book. The book being in a special school with highly intelligent and highly rich kids, the classes are a bit different as well as the teachers.
There is some kissing and flirting in there as well for the romantic part in you who has been craving to swoon as well as a hot brooding male character and his equally hot friend/nemesis (or so I read).
I had a few issues with the rhythm and structure of the book, the action seems to take a while to start and some key moments or descriptions are only present at the end or on a couple of pages only, but the book is so well researched and the characters and plot so interesting that you stay hooked to the story anyway and truly enjoy the read.
The writing itself is pure pleasure, you oscillate between spooky episodes with a scary atmosphere, to the futility of an afternoon between girls (oh dear) and to some truly romantic scene. It feels so real in the sense that you can have in the same day those three types of emotions but at the same time it is very entertaining to read.
I can't really say more without spoiling other than it was a highly enjoyable book and that I will definitely read the sequel! Fans of Urban Fantasy and vampires in particular will definitely fall for it. The characters and the vampire history and mythology present in the book create a very spooky and irresistibly fascinating story.
The story revolves around April Dunne, who moves from Edinburgh to London. She moves in the specific area of Highgate which is most famous for its cemetery. Many many books, songs and films were inspired by the cemetery itself and especially by what - supposedly - happened in there *wiggling eyebrows*.
A lot of the story also revolves around April's parents, so you do get a glimpse of her life in her family and how it works (or more accurately doesn't).
The general atmosphere of the book screams Gothic and it is just so fascinating to read. The action is set in one of the spookiest (historically speaking) places of London and the reader can really feel a chill at some moments! The setting is important in the book and it is so amazing to be able to go in the places April has been in (if you live in London that is) and learn what happened in the past.
What differentiates By Midnight from other urban fantasy books is the level of research put into the vampire folklore and the history of London. Not only does the book embraces it, but it also gives an original spin to it. You learn a lot reading this book, and I would definitely suggest it to vampire fans. I love how vampirism is explained in there, and I obviously won't spoil it for you but it is an interesting way of seeing things.
The characters are interesting and I feel that we will be able to fully appreciate them in the sequel. There are various personalities, April is a great character and I just LOVE how she reacts when someone breaks the "I'm a vampire" news, because that's definitely a rational reaction! She is not a strong character per se being no body builder herself, but she has a strong personality and doesn't turn her back to fights. There are some truly "bound-to-be-classic" moments where you can only stand awestruck by the sheer awesomeness of it all.
The teenagers look like real teenagers and I am convinced that a teenage girl with a crush is lethal (don't say I didn't warn you). The character of Caro is, with such a name, obviously wonderful *beams*. She is a conspiracy theory junkie and she has fantastic ideas. The "faces" aka the cheerleaders+jocks though no one has pompoms or American football practice, make me laugh so bad. You will definitely have some laugh out loud moments reading this book. The book being in a special school with highly intelligent and highly rich kids, the classes are a bit different as well as the teachers.
There is some kissing and flirting in there as well for the romantic part in you who has been craving to swoon as well as a hot brooding male character and his equally hot friend/nemesis (or so I read).
I had a few issues with the rhythm and structure of the book, the action seems to take a while to start and some key moments or descriptions are only present at the end or on a couple of pages only, but the book is so well researched and the characters and plot so interesting that you stay hooked to the story anyway and truly enjoy the read.
The writing itself is pure pleasure, you oscillate between spooky episodes with a scary atmosphere, to the futility of an afternoon between girls (oh dear) and to some truly romantic scene. It feels so real in the sense that you can have in the same day those three types of emotions but at the same time it is very entertaining to read.
I can't really say more without spoiling other than it was a highly enjoyable book and that I will definitely read the sequel! Fans of Urban Fantasy and vampires in particular will definitely fall for it. The characters and the vampire history and mythology present in the book create a very spooky and irresistibly fascinating story.