I received a copy of this book for my stop on the blog tour at Donnie Darko Girl.
Christy and Adam are the perfect pair of best friends in The Midnight Spell. Christy is wildly dramatic, fun loving, and a fiercely loyal friend. I loved her to pieces! I could see myself being friends with her and would want her in my corner any day. Adam is more mellow, contemplative, and the calm to Christy's storm. He's level headed and fiercely loyal to her. While she believes in magic with every reason to do so (she really is a witch), he doesn't, yet they're best friends anyway. They respect each other's beliefs, and their personalities complement each other.
I adored Christy and Adam's parents. Christy's parents have been married for ages but are still as in love as though they're teenagers. I loved them! Adam's mom is supportive of her son being gay, so that's a non-issue in this story. I loved her! These parents listen to their kids, and the lack of family drama was a nice change of pace. I found myself jealous at times that Christy's parents seem to understand her so well. I think she takes them for granted sometimes, but no matter what, teenagers are going to feel embarrassed by their parents.
What was an issue with Adam being gay was the lack of safety around his classmates. He's been beat up before back in sixth grade, and I think the anxiety that it could happen again was always on his mind. He only wants to find love, which seems impossible being the only gay guy in a small and close-minded town.
The sudden appearance of the new girl, Olivia, seemed almost too good to be true. Some might say she's abrasive while others might say she just speaks her mind. She fits right into the group as if she has always been there.
Mark is the new boy at school and arrives the morning after the spell Christy casts. It seems too good to be true for Adam. Mark and Olivia were both mysterious and I kept looking for clues as to who or what the evil was that came to town. I couldn't decide if it would be most obvious or least obvious, and I liked that I couldn't decide.
The tone of the book, though evil comes to town, was lighter than I was expecting, and I was happy with it. I thought from the synopsis it would have be serious and dark, but there were a lot of happy moments and times I laughed out loud. I loved the writing, the characters, the dual narrative split between Christy and Adam, and their friendship. I highly recommend The Midnight Spell to anyone looking for a young adult paranormal novel - this will grab your attention from the beginning until the end.
Favorite Quote:
"Whoever decided to paint the lunchroom a burnt yellow must really hate kids."
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