What did you think of Born at Midnight?

[Chrystal]

At first I thought Kylie was a bit of a weak character. I know she was going through a lot of stuff, but sometimes her reactions seemed a little over the top. Then again who knows how any of us would react if we were thrown into that situation.

[Alicia]

I thought she was a pain, annoying and extremely judgemental at first. As an outcast at school I felt her defining them all as 'freaks' was a bit of a 'holier than thou' remark however as she progressed she became far less annoying. She still pisses me off though as she keeps whining about which super sexy lust filled boy she will choose.
I honestly hoped that teenage girls were better than to read rubbish that gushed about guys 24/7 but apparently not. Also she doesn't know the definition between 'lust' and 'love' yet none of them do.

Another thing that I didn't like was that the author seemed to try and get sympathy from divorce which is a common issue, yes but it's not big enough that I think she's going through something series. In The Book Thief for example Liesel moves into a foster home in Nazi Germany as at the tender age of 9. On the way there her brother dies and her mother is constantly cold and sick, her father left when she was younger (she has the word 'kummunist' stuck to her head so it's assumed that he died). On the way there her brother dies and she gets nightmares about that for years...

She adjusts though and she's actually been through something series.

However the fact that she does start defending them is good, also how she's friends with a witch and a vampire is cool too. I love her two best friends and Holiday is pretty cool too. I also don't mind that she does stick up for herself but she is again primarily saved by men it's so annoying. She's not a weak character but nor is she strong.

I find her path to what she is interesting and I wish she had focused much more than that rather than which sexy hunk she wanted more.

[Chrystal]

Those are all good points. I also found the fact that she kept referring everybody as freaks when she has always been an outcast herself. Also in a lot of these YA fantasy books the main character seems to have great difficulty believing in the paranormal even when presented with evidence.

It can be frustrating when characters obsess over guys, but at the same time the romance in these types of novels are important. These books tend to be even more popular when there is a love triangle and readers are forced to choose their favourite, for example in Twilight. We have Team Edward and Team Jacob.

Again with Twilight as an example these can be used to sell merchandise when you have hundreds of teens buying products to promote their favourite.