April Dunne is not happy. She has had to move away from Edinburgh, away from her school, friends and her life and she now lives in a posh part of London - Highgate. April has to go to Ravenwood, a school for the gifted and talented (financially and academically), but she is neither. To top it all off, weird things are going on in Highgate and Ravenwood. Murders. After a shattering event April decides to take things into her owns hands and find out what's going on. Who is behind the murders? What is going on at Ravenwood? What April doesn't know is she is going to find more then she's bargained for.
This Ravenwood mystery isn't just a normal mystery, it's one with bite. Forget about Edward and Bella, Gabriel and April are the top couple now. Their love is unusual and they don't realize they love each other but it's evident that they feel something towards each other. By Midnight has everything a good book should have: mystery, romance, anger and fear. It's an emotional roller-coaster. Its plot is very different and I didn't see it coming, it's very hard to predict.
Characters? They're all very bizarre, but what do you expect with a bizarre plot? The character I feel the most sorry for is April. She has had to move away from her life to a very different life. Her arrival has not been the softest and she's having a hard time settling in. The people around her are very different - too different, she realizes later. Her life then takes a shattering blow and her whole life falls apart. She is determined to find out what's going on. She experiences all kinds of emotion, anger, sadness, determination, love and many more. As I said before, this book is an emotional roller-coaster. If you love vampires and mystery then this is the book for you.
Review by Daria, aged 13
Vampire book!
Poor April, she sounds a bit like Bella....
I'll definitely look into this- I <3 Vampires!
Posted by: Ria | 28 June 2010 at 07:19 AM
They beat Edwrad and Bella?! Wow, I have to read this!
Posted by: Sophie | 28 June 2010 at 11:31 AM
I really want to read this!
Posted by: Kat | 28 June 2010 at 09:48 PM
Daria - thank you for a fabulous review! I hope you don't mind, but we've put it up on the By Midnight facebook page. We're also giving away By Midnight bookmarks - just 'like' the fb page, and email competitions@orionbooks.co.uk (subject 'Midnight bookmark')with your name and address and we'll send you one! We're going to be giving away more goodies through facebook (on our By Midnight and our Fierce Fiction pages) over the next few weeks too.
Thank you again - everyone at Gollancz is so pleased you enjoyed By Midnight!
Posted by: Gillian | 01 July 2010 at 12:21 PM
I really did like the book. April is a bit less sensitive then Bella and not as dramatic, which I really like!
Posted by: Daria | 01 July 2010 at 04:30 PM
Oh and I can't seem to find the By Midnight facebook page. Can you copy and paste the URL into a comment pleas?
Posted by: Daria | 01 July 2010 at 04:35 PM
i couldn't find it to just found it though here you go guys!
http://www.facebook.com/pages/By-Midnight/114083231947662?v=wall#!/pages/By-Midnight/114083231947662?v=wall
Posted by: blueicega; | 08 July 2010 at 02:22 PM
Oh, thanks a lot, blueicegal! Fantastic.
Posted by: Luisa | 08 July 2010 at 02:30 PM
Loved this!! deffinately read it!! Agreed with others on that fact that april isnt as whiny as bella :P
Full of action! love it xx
Posted by: Amy | 25 July 2010 at 09:28 PM
I can't actually decide if I like this book or not. I loved the first half of the book and the funny writing style, but I also felt that sometimes April's actions were completely unrealistic and idiotic. I also felt that the plot was laid out too late in the book in about two paragraphs. But other than that, it was an OK read :)
Posted by: Darcy | 24 February 2011 at 08:46 PM