A Book Obsession..: Past Midnight

Past Midnight

, by Kt Clapsadl

Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen

Past Midnight #1

Let me set the record straight. My name is Charlotte Silver and I'm not one of those paranormal-obsessed freaks you see on TV…no, those would be my parents, who have their own ghost-hunting reality show. And while I'm usually roped into the behind-the-scenes work, it turns out that I haven't gone unnoticed. Something happened on my parents' research trip in Charleston—and now I'm being stalked by some truly frightening other beings. Trying to fit into a new school and keeping my parents' creepy occupation a secret from my friends—and potential boyfriends—is hard enough without having angry spirits whispering in my ear.

All I ever wanted was to be normal, but with ghosts of my past and present colliding, now I just want to make it out of high school alive...

Charlotte Silver has had an interesting life. She's traveled all over the world with her ghost-debunking parents, never staying in one place for very long. All of that changes when they went to Charleston, and things go very wrong. Charlotte gains a set of spiritual stalkers that follow her to their new home. As if starting a new school while keeping her parent's occupation is hard enough, things get a little hairy when those spirits turn demanding. She's start to question everything she thought she knew about the supernatural and hope she figures a way to get rid of her stalkers before things get any worse.

This book was a little lighter on the paranormal side than most books in the genre, but it worked very well. In fact most of the things that were happening, the parents kept trying to come up with rational explanations like the rest of their debunking methods. However, when push came to shove, they stepped up to the plate to help Charlotte, even going so far to contact spiritualists, something they never would have given the time of day for. I'm happy the author took thus route as it could have easily gone the other way considering her parent's beliefs. I really was glad to see a supportive set of parents, something that you don't seem to see in many YA novels.

I had a hard time getting attached to these characters, especially Charlotte. They all just felt a little one dimensional leaving me feeling detached. I prefer stories to grab me from the start and suck me into caring about the characters and what was happening to them. Yes, there are some spooky parts that had me feeling not a little creeped out right along with Charlotte, but other than that, I just had no attachment to the story. I'm hoping that changes in the next book as there is a really great potential here, and I do like the premise behind it all, so if the characters form a little more depth I would feel a lot more invested.

Okay so I did enjoy reading Past Midnight. Granted some of it felt to be a little "fluffy" at times, as well as a little predictable, but when it all came down to it, the book read quickly and held my interest. Perhaps I would have liked it just a little more if there had been a little romance or a least a tease of a potential love interest, but there wasn't really anything at all in that department. I'm hoping some possibilities open up in the future as I think that would really add to these books. I'd recommend Past Midnight to YA fans that like their books with just a touch of paranormal mixed in with a high school setting full of problems both mundane and supernatural.

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