Rate this book

Past Midnight (2010)

by Mara Purnhagen(Favorite Author)

3.65 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0373210205 (ISBN13: 9780373210206)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Harlequin Teen

series

Past Midnight

review 1: Charlotte Silver just wants to be normal. That’s all she’s ever wanted, but her life seems to be anything but. For starters, her parents are paranormal investigators. They travel around the country visiting the most haunted places and trying to disprove the existence of ghosts. Charlotte moves from school to school and can never form any friendships. Even when she does manage to stay in one school long enough to make a friend, once they find out her parents occupation she gets labeled as “the freak”. And the prospect of a boyfriend seems far-fetched.Charlotte and her older sister, Annalise, convince their parents to spend one year settled down so Charlotte can spend her senior year in one school. All seems to be finally falling into place for Charlotte. She... more meets Avery, a girl in her school that lives down the street and they become instant friends. But then strange things start happening to Charlotte in her home and she realizes she didn’t move here alone. Charlotte has unknowingly become a “trigger” and two spirits have picked her to help them solve a long-ago mystery in the disappearance of their daughter. Throughout the mystery Charlotte learns to trust her instincts, and even manages to have her friends help in the paranormal fun. This story deals with multiple themes including; friendship, bullying, love and relationships, loss and grief. None of the topics are explored in depth, but for a Teen reader I feel the author provided enough background on the character to develop the story plot. The paranormal scenes will send tingles up your spine, but nothing is gruesome or gory. A very fast, easy read. Might be a good pick for reluctant readers.Read-alikes:The Raven Boys – Maggie StiefvaterSchool Spirits – Rachel HawkinsIntertwined – Gena Showalter
review 2: My Review: Charlotte Silver and her older sister Annalise have spent practically their entire lives traveling the world with their ghost hunter parents. However, their parents are not your typical ghost hunters, instead of trying to prove hauntings, they try to prove that the hauntings people experience are nothing more than predictable forms of electrical energy.There are two plots in this book. The first, being Charlotte and her family scrambling to find answers as to why a ghost has followed her home, and plagued her with weird dreams. The family tries their best to find out who they are, and what exactly these ghosts want with their daughter. The second plot point it Charlotte trying to fit into school. Annalise had convinced their parents to stay in one place, while Charlotte finishes out her senior year. In theory, it's not a bad idea. But now Charlotte wants to fit in more than ever, and trying to hide her parents occupation is tougher now than it ever was.When I read the synopsis, I thought it was going to be like the cartoon Danny Phantom, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Yes, the parents did drag their unwilling children along with them to ghost hunt, but that's about it. I absolutely loved this book! It is a perfect read for Halloween or to get you into the Halloween spirit! The characters were will written, relatable, and down to earth. I enjoyed how much of a part Charlotte's parents played in this book. Normally in young adult books, we don't see or hear too much from parents. But Charlotte's parents were almost as front and center as Charlotte herself.There were a few points in the book that bothered me. First, it was the secret that Avery was keeping. The secrecy was fun and mysterious for awhile, but after that it just got annoying. The second, was how quickly the book ended. The group did what they had to, then bam it was over. Kind of like this review is now :)All in all though it was a pretty amazing book, I do look forward to reading the rest of the books in this series.Positive Elements: There were no swear words, drugs or sex. Charlotte makes friends with a so called dangerous student, when he needed a friend the most. Despite everything, Avery and Charlotte remain friends.Negative Elements: While it is not discussed in detail, we do learn that Avery and her boyfriend were at a party, that possibly had underage drinking.Spiritual Elements: Ghosts.Other Thoughts: N/A less

Download links for: Past Midnight

Advertising