Past Midnight (#1) by Mara Purnhagen

Sorry that it's been a week between posts! I can't believe it, but in 3 weeks I will be in possession of an MLIS. It's crazy how close I am to being finished my master's degree, but of course that also means a flurry of assignments before the finish. I've managed to schedule a couple of posts, so hopefully I can cut down on the gaps between posts until I'm done school and I can focus on the blog as I continue to job search.

Release Date: September 1, 2010
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Pages: 216
Review Source: eBook from publisher for honest review

Synopsis: (from Goodreads)
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...

My Thoughts:
When I wrote my initial feelings on Goodreads after I finished this book I summed it up in three words: enjoyable, suspenseful, creepy. Let me start this review by saying that I seem to have this problem where I love ghost stories, but they totally terrify me at the same time. And I don’t mean that “good” type of terrified that some people seem to love. No, I literally get petrified by most books or movies that delve into what I might call the horror genre. So I will tell you that, thankfully, while this book has creepy ghosts and spirit activity in it, it probably won’t keep you up at night. And I mean that as a compliment -- for wusses like me this book was the perfect mixture of suspense and creepy ghostly encounters, while still allowing me to function.

I really liked how Mara Purnhagen combined the paranormal aspects of the book with real-life contemporary YA issues, like Charlotte’s parents embarrassing her and how it can be difficult to make friends at a new school. I felt like this book was unique because Charlotte was just a normal girl, and all the people interacting with her (minus the ghosts) were human beings. I was so glad it didn’t turn out to be another “fall in love with a supernatural being” book. It fits with the genre, but it’s still unique and fresh. I also liked how while this book is the first in a series, the major storyline of the book was wrapped up, so you’re not left hanging. My one complaint is that this book is rather short. It made it a nice, quick read, but I wished I could have been emersed in the story for a longer period of time. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, and I would definitely recommend it to people (like me) who usually stay away from paranormal books, because I thought it was really well done.

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Find Past Midnight by Mara Purnhagen on Goodreads, Book Depository, & Amazon.ca