Night School (Night School #1) Review

Night School (Night School #1)
by C.J. Daughtery
Genre: YA
Format: ARC received through Around the World ARC Tours in exchange for my honest opinion.  I do not get to keep a copy of the books.
Midnight Minute: Allie's parents send her to the mysterious Cimmeria Academy after Allie gets arrested... again.  But it's not the curriculum that's proving hard for Allie, it's staying alive.
Expected Publication: 05.21.13
From Goodreads:

Allie's world is falling apart...

She hates her school. Her brother has run away. And she's just been arrested.

Again.

Now her parents are sending her away to a boarding school where she doesn't know a soul.

But instead of hating her new school, Allie finds she's happy there. She's making friends. And then there's Sylvain, a suave French student who openly flirts with her. And Carter, the brooding loner who seems to have her back.

Soon, though, Allie discovers Cimmeria Academy is no ordinary school. Nothing there is as it seems. And her new friends are hiding dangerous secrets.

Midnight Thoughts:

~ This book was not what I thought it was going to be about, and I'm so thankful for that!  I was honestly a little worried it would be another House of Night or Vampire Academy type series, however Daugherty keeps things nice and mysterious. 
~ Since her brother disappeared,  Allie has been acting out, and after another arrest her parents ship her off to Cimmeria Academy. 
~ I really wish that I wasn't about to turn 36, or that there was a boarding school for adults, because ya'll, I would totally sign up to go! Cimmeria Academy is no Hogwarts, but it's somewhere, hidden, in England!
~ Bad sign: when the boarding school you're attending is in a secret location and there's no cell phones, iPods or laptops allowed.  That's right, Cimmeria Academy students should learn to be grateful just for electricity.  Actually, I kind of like this idea, because with today's instant media culture, no doubt there'd be tweets and youtube videos of all that mysterious "Night School" society.
~ The vast majority of the kids at the boarding school are legacy students, so Allie garners a lot of attention, speculation and her fair share of distrust for not being legacy.  
~ The Night School is, as explained to Allie, a secret group of "advanced" students.  Hmmkay...
~ Allie has to do detention in the cemetery that's on the school grounds.  That does not sound as horrifying to me as it might to some of my more "normal" readers. ;) 
~ There's two boys, the broody Carter and the charming Sylvain.  Guess which one is the main boy!
~ Carter is a scholarship student, as his now deceased parents worked for the school before they died.  Which adds to Carter's dark broodiness.  
~ Mysterious growling?  Human-sounding footsteps? How are we not thinking werewolf, Allie?!  Seriously, were-wolf.  The description you just gave of what chased you and Jo?  Text book definition of an effing werewolf!!
~ As the mystery deepens, I become aware of the fact that this book is not going to go down the normal YA Paranormal path.  Oh, no, readers, Daugtherty is going all Dan Brown on your butts!
~ Jo teaches Allie how to play chess in the common room, which makes Jo Allie's Ron.  So does that make Gabe her Hermione?  lol
~ Allie visits the school chapel, which has poetry in many languages decorating the walls.  Love that!! Sounds amazing. 
~ Uh, oh, Jo is acting weird.  Or not.  Really, Allie, we barely know this girl.
~ Yeah, that's the second time I spoke to the character like she could hear me.  This book made me do that several times, and I see no reason not to share that tidbit with you.  At times it was like, "No, Allie!  Don't go by yourself in the dark, deadly woods/attic/basement/etc!"  Sadly, she did not always listen to me. 
~ Even though I got the feeling immediately that Carter was endgame, there were several cute moments with Sylvain and Allie.  Until...
~  SPOILER (highlight to read): The author has Sylvain do something so completely awful that despite her best efforts is IRREDEEMABLE.  This really made me upset, because I liked his character, and while I expected him to be revealed to be a jerk, what he actually did should have had him down at the police station recovering from the beat down the cops gave him with their little sticks.   You can't come back from that.  Well, I guess you can, because I used to watch soap operas and two of my favorite male leads (Jack on Days, Todd on OLTL and GH) were magically cured rapists, but I don't think YA is the place for this. No, there's no rape, but Sylvain still does something very unforgivable.
~ There's so much tension between Sylvain and Carter throughout the book, which normally has my eyes rolling, but not so much in this book.  I got why she was attractive to both boys, and not everyone in school was trying to get in her pleated skirt (actually, I can't remember if she wore a pleated skirt as part of her school uniform, but you get my drift, right?).
~ There should be more kissing whilst pressed against walls in this world.  I promise there would be less wars and violence.  Possibly more babies and chapped lips, though...
~ I flip-flopped teams several times until the spoiler thing happened, and I still wish that hadn't happened.  Sigh. 
~ Skinny dipping is "wholesome" fun!  lol And I envision the CW is already in line to make this into a tv show. 
~ Oh, Allie.  I have panic attacks when I'm naked all the time. ;)
~ The dance does NOT GO AS PLANNED.  
~ So, the Night School was slowly revealed, and trust me peeps, it was not what I thought it was.  I felt a bit like Vizzini in The Princess Bride shouting, "Inconceivable!" and Daugherty was all like, "Midnight Book Girl, I do not think the Night School is what you think it is!" Well played, author, well played. 
~  I have lots more notes, but I can't share anymore with you without majorly spoiling the book.  Trust me though, this is like the Da Vinci Code for the YA set to a certain degree, maybe a bit more gothic, a bit less complicated.

Timeless Characters:

Allie- our heroine, reeling from her brother's disappearance and acting out, finds herself at a mysterious boarding school stuck between two hotties. 
Carter- Bachelor #1, step right up!  Broody, hot mess boy.  Only he's not that broody or hot mess-ish.  Secretive. 
Sylvain- French hottie, charming.  Carter is not his biggest fan, and the two boys are pages away of having a dance off for Allie's hand.  
Isabelle- the headmistress of Cimmeria Academy.
Christopher- Allie's missing brother.
Jo- Allie's first real friend at boarding school.
Gabe- Jo's boyfriend, possible a Night School member.
Katie- red-headed wenchy girl, hates Allie, wants Sylvain. 
Jules- prefect, friend to Katie.
Mr. Zelazny- history teacher (but he's pretty much the Mr. Filch of the story).
Lucas- Jo's ex, part of Allie's new friends.
Rachel- gossipy new friend
Lisa, Ruth, Phil- more friends.  Don't get attached. o.0
Eloise- the school librarian.
Mr. Ellison- I think he's the groundskeeper.  He oversees the cemetery detention. 
Clare- Carter's ex. 
Lucinda- mystery woman.
Nathaniel- mysterious mothereffer. 
Mark and Harry- Allie's London friends.  I've recorded their names, but you don't need to.  They are but a blip on the radar, my dears.  OR are they?  (see, Daugherty, I can mess with readers too! ;)
 

Midnight Moment:

I realized that some shiz would go down at the dance.  One expects that.  I did not expect the shiz storm that was unleashed.  Some of it bothered me (Sylvain) and some of it shocked me a bit because I didn't realize this book was going to be that... intense? 

Stop The Clock:

Is this a perfect book?  Nope.  There's a few bumps in the road to a full on Midnight Read, including some truly difficult suspensions of belief, characters acting outside of their established personalities, convenient information supplied by characters who previously had been barely mentioned the first 200 pages or so, BUT, there's promise here.  I really liked that the book surprised me.  I really liked that Allie didn't hold onto her whole "teenage rebel" thing that I figured would only continue at boarding school.  I'm very intrigued with where this book is going, and even though some mystery has been answered, there's lots more to be revealed!  I am in this one for the long haul.  


Goodreads also shows this as a possible cover:

But the ARC I was sent had the cover I include with the synopsis.  I probably prefer the top one, just because I think it invokes the mystery of the novel a bit more.  What do ya'll think?  

C.J. Daugherty — Website |C.J Daugherty 
So, book 2 is already out in the U.K.?  Um, need it!  Plus that cover is Ah-mazing. 

Night School (Night School #1) gets a Midnight Book Rating of: 

Sever (The Chemical Garden #3) Review

Sever (The Chemical Garden #3)
by Lauren DeStefano
Genre: YA Dystopian
Format: ARC from Around the World ARC Tours, in exchange for my honest review.
Expected Publication: 02.13.13
Midnight Minute: Rhine is reunited with Linden and sister-wife Cecily, more intent than ever to find her brother Rowan.
From Goodreads:

Time is running out for Rhine in this conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Chemical Garden Trilogy.

With the clock ticking until the virus takes its toll, Rhine is desperate for answers. After enduring Vaughn’s worst, Rhine finds an unlikely ally in his brother, an eccentric inventor named Reed. She takes refuge in his dilapidated house, though the people she left behind refuse to stay in the past. While Gabriel haunts Rhine’s memories, Cecily is determined to be at Rhine’s side, even if Linden’s feelings are still caught between them.

Meanwhile, Rowan’s growing involvement in an underground resistance compels Rhine to reach him before he does something that cannot be undone. But what she discovers along the way has alarming implications for her future—and about the past her parents never had the chance to explain.

In this breathtaking conclusion to Lauren DeStefano’s Chemical Garden trilogy, everything Rhine knows to be true will be irrevocably shattered.

Midnight Thoughts:

~ Okay, I love green, but the cover needs a little darkening.  I have to agree that it looks a bit too much like a green screen.  That said, everything on the cover fits nicely with the book, and I like when the cover actually depicts stuff found inside the pages.  Because this is the ARC, it might not be the absolute final cover.  I found this one on Goodreads too, and it's much better:

~ In the beginning Rhine is in the hospital, recovering from all that Vaughn put her through in the last book.  The poor girl deserves a spa day!
~ Cecily, of all the characters, has grown the most through the series, she is by far the most interesting character.  Despite her very young age, she's a great mom and wife, and to Rhine, a great friend.
~ Love Vaughn's mad scientist brother, Reed! Lots of 'r' names in this series though.
~ I forgot how much Rose looked like Rhine... and I kept expecting that to be more than a coincidence, but in the end it was just that.  Or is it? 
~ I've always preferred Linden over Gabriel, but only because Gabriel doesn't do much for me.  Linden is a good man, but he's weak.  For that matter, Gabriel is too weak for Rhine.  I'm glad that the love triangle isn't a major focus of this series, because I wasn't really feeling it. 
~ Rhine stays true to herself throughout the series, determined to reunite with her brother Rowan.  Personally, if I only had a few years to live left, I'd have lived it up at the mansion.  I'd be squeezing out mini-Lindens and sipping cocktails by that amazing pool while my sister-wives braid my hair and cute servant boys feed me chocolates.
~ Several sad things happen, and even though one thing in particular was personally upsetting to me, I thought it fit the characters. 
~ Perhaps I forgot from the other two books, but the term "the chemical garden" and Rhine and Rowan's parents work is explained. 
~ Madame is back!! At first I was like, "NO!", but she adds a lot to the plot.  A lot. There's a few gaspy gasp moments when we find out things that I never even knew to guess at.  Well done, DeStefano, well done!  
~ We FINALLY get to meet Rowan, and he's not the complete douche I've come to believe that he is.  That said, he's still a little douchey.  He acts like he's older by years than Rhine instead of being her twin.  I wish Rhine would have just smacked him a bit and told him what all had happened to her over the past year, but she, for some reason, loses a few IQ points around her bro.
~ Gabriel is missing from the majority of this book, which was fine by me since I maintain that Rhine has better chemistry with almost every other man she encounters (Linden, Vaughn, Reed, her own brother).  Sorry, Team Gabriel-ers, I just never felt the spark.
~ The last third of this book felt a bit rushed, and some of the plot didn't make a lot of sense to me- like the fact that to quell the uprising some brainiac President in the past created super-humans.  Because super long lives and exceptional immune systems will show them to protest against the government!  Also, something happened that I was very unhappy with.  I'm not going to spoil it for everyone, but it was similar to my biggest complaint with the ending of Mockingjay.  However, it's a mark of good writing that I cared as much as I did. Although I didn't like what happened, I appreciate what it did to the overall story.  I guess. *grumbles*
~ Also, although I suspected a plot twist that comes up, it just seems implausible.  Completely implausible, even for dystopian.
~ Vaughn is such and interesting character- part sociopath, part genius, part concerned dad. He's complex, which makes him a good villain. 
~ The ending is a real ending and even if everything didn't go my way, I was satisfied with it.  Again, it felt like everything just fell into place very quickly once Rhine met up with Rowan, but I'd rather have a quick wrap up then trying to stretch this out over another 3 books.  
~ I have to give some points on the names of each of the books, as all three were very fitting, and Sever is suitable in many ways. 
~ Even with some of the plot issues I have problems with, DeStefano has created a interesting dystopian world- I never confused it with any other dystopian book or series I've read (and people, I've read a lot).  I like her writing style and I'm down with whatever she comes out with in the future.
 

Timeless Characters:

Rhine- our heroine, still determined, stubborn and smart.

Linden- Rhine's hubby, nice but weak, he's having a tough time learning his pop's true colors.

Cecily- the last sister-wife standing, she continues to be kind of kick ass. 

Vaughn- Linden's dad, he's not unlike Darth Vadar with a medical degree.

Reed- Vaughn's crazy brother, he's sarcastic and eccentric.  I like that in a person.

Rowan- Rhine's twin, he's lost the script a bit since losing his sister. 

Madame- she kidnapped and imprisoned Rhine in the last book, and she captures her again in this one.  

Gabriel- he really isn't heavily featured in this book, but if your a fan of his, he does make an appearance. 

Rose- yeah, she's Linden's dead wife, but she continues to haunt the present.

Bowen- Cecily and Linden's adorable little boy. 

Midnight Moment:

The airplane scene.  Both of them.  But I kind of suspected the one with Vaughn.  The other one shocked the heck out of me.

Stop The Clock:

I really liked Wither (still one of the most gorgeous covers ever!), but both Fever and Sever failed to really hook me like the first book did.  I'm glad to have read the series though, and I can't wait until the book comes out and I can discuss it with all of you!!


Lauren DeStefan0 — Website |Lauren DeStefano

Sever (The Chemical Garden #3) gets a Midnight Book Rating of: 

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