Shadow Falls Collection (Nés à Minuit)

 

Shadow Falls collection

French edition : Michel Lafon

English edition : St Martin’s Press

Genre : Urban fantasy, Young Adult

Publication year : 2012 (Usa)/2013 (France)

Author : C. C. Hunter

Summary

    

    Kylie is a teen girl who can see spirits. That is why her mother (on the advice of Kylie’s psychologist) decides to send her to Shadow Falls, a specialized center for problematic teenagers. There, Kylie discovers the existence of supernatural beings. Through her stay in Shadow Falls, she will have to discover what category of supernatural beings she belongs to and also deal with a lot of spirits. I will not tell you more about her adventures, otherwise I will spoil you the rest of the story !!!! But, you must also know that two boys named Derek and Lucas will draw Kylie’s attention. What will happen ? Will Kylie succeed in dealing with all those upheavals ?

Criticism

    I really enjoyed this story ! Even if the outline was classic for a fantasy novel (discovery of supernatural powers, big issue for the main character, quest for the solution and then resolution), the book was very surprising all the same. Suspense was present all the time. In every chapter an event keeps us on tenterhooks. The expression “"Just one more chapter"” is very appropriate for those novels, it was really addictive. Maybe it was the case because a lot of literary genres such as detective, romance, fantasy, coming of age and more, were present in those books. This variety of genre enables every reader to like those books for a reason or another. Besides, this diversity allows us to be in transports with several emotions. I particularly loved this because I felt happiness just as well as drama or fear ! I also liked the fact that there were a lot of little inquiries that led us to the resolution of the big one. There were like steps to achieve the goal and allow us to keep and follow the rhythm of the book (even if the beginning of the book was a little bit too slow to my point of view).

    I also loved the characters, they were very endearing. All of them have a little detail that makes them appealing to our eyes. Moreover, we can create a real bond with them because they are all important. Every character has a role to play, no one is left out, even the cat Socks ! This complicity is also what is creating funny moments in the story and making us smile while reading. I think this series is the one where I laughed the most when I was reading.

    Our main character, Kylie, is stunning, she is evolving so fast through each volume, that is amazing to see. Her talks with Holiday help her to spread her wings. It is also a way for the author to hand down Holiday’s wisdom.

Final conclusion

    I really enjoyed my reading, it was a light fantasy series like I love (with no big fight or rivers of blood).

So are you going to read it ?

Other information

    Before reading you have to know that the in 6^th volume, Miranda is our main character, this is not Kylie anymore (don't worry, she is still present in the book, as the friend of Miranda). At first I was surprised but then I understood why. Let me know your reaction about this in comments !

The song

    The whisperers, Loïc Nottet. I think this song is complitely in tune with what Kylie is experiencing !

My note : 14/10

Characters : 5/2             My taste : 3/2

Story : 4/4                    Originality : 2/2