Past Midnight
Mara Purnhagen
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: September 1, 2010
Pages: 216
Source: Harlequin Teen Panel

Rating: 4 stars

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….

Ghosts are one of the paranormal creatures that I’m late jumping on the bandwagon for, and they’re really starting to grow on me. Past Midnight was simply an absolutely adorable read, that is really the only way I could think to describe it. It’s another fantastic read from Harlequin Teen.

I love Mara Purnhagen’s ghosts in Past Midnight. They weren’t full on like ghosts like you are used to, but instead just more like a shadow or a voice or an object moving, so it was more just the energies of people. I thought that was so much more effective and more eerie.

I really liked Charlotte’s character. At first I wasn’t as crazy about her, thinking she was going to be stereo-typical less favorite child, but she didn’t turn out to play that role which was nice. Noah was a super fun character as well, as was Jared. I’m really interested to see what role those 2 play in future books, as with Bliss. I didn’t like Bliss at all, but I think she certainly is an interesting character.

I really liked Purnhagen’s writing, it just had a really fun quality about it. This book was so light and I just breezed right through it. When I was reading it, it was simply the perfect read for the time.

Past Midnight is a book I really wish I had picked up earlier. I had noticed it, but for some reason didn’t pick it up. With it’s fresh take on ghosts and fun cast of characters, Past Midnight is just one great read.