Past midnight by Mara Purnhagen

Past midnight by mara purnhagen
publisher- Harlequin Teen
224 pages
genre- paranormal/mystery
(amazon) (goodreads) (shelfari)
Rating- 4

Not everyone believes in ghosts, most of us are skeptics, Including Charlotte's, parents, who have their own "Ghosts-are-not-real-except-when-they-are" TV show, logically named Doubt. Charlotte has spent her whole life living in creepy haunted castles, and century old hotels, while her parents film their documentaries. and once they finish they pick up and leave to the next supposedly haunted Indian burial ground or whatever. Anyways, the whole shebang hasn't left much time for a social life of any form for Charlotte. Now its her last year of high school and she's finally getting her wish. for just one year her parents are going to let her stay at the same high school, live in the same, brand-new, spirit-free house. At the beginning its great, then it starts to be not so great, A ghost seems to be stalking Charlotte, sure that she can solve the age old mystery of the disappearance of their daughter, also named Charlotte. All her new friends seem to be hiding something major from her, and all she knows is that it has to do with a social outcast named Jeremy. On top of all that, she has to keep everyone from discovering what her parents occupation really is, so all her friends don't freak and ostracize her, like they have done at her previous schools... thankfully theirs not much she cant handle.

I'm Not really one for a ghost story, but Past Midnight was really quite good :) From the start the book intrigued me. I liked how Charlotte's parent had an anti-ghost show, instead of those losers who are like, "the level of paranormal in this corner of the house is much higher then the heat waves we went ac cross as we entered the threshold of the house, this ghost is obviously pissed off where here." Ive never believed those BS-ey shows. I did find it interesting how Charlotte kind of gave us a behind the scenes look at how those kinds of shows are made, and how the equipment for that stuff works.

Charlotte's sister Annaliese sticks up for Charlotte and is the one who convinces her parents to stay in one place for Charlotte's sake, which is nice of here. I really loved her, and wish she was in the story a little more. once Charlotte moves she meets her next-door neighbor, Avery, and they have instant friendship. I find it a tad hard to be live that the most popular girl in the school, and head cheerleader, can suddenly become best friends with someone who's.... never had a best friends before. I get that she wants someone fresh that doesn't know about what happened to Adam. But the fact that she was a non-cheerleader, and everyone in Avery's inner circle were completely accepting and not the least bit jealous is a bit far-fetched. Remember, I am in high school and trust me, becoming one of the most popular girls in the school is not that easily. Non the less that flaw doesn't change much in the book, and is easily overlooked.

The mysteries going on in the book kept it rolling at a steady rate, It wasn't predictable, and once you got tired of the pickensens troubles, you were swept back in with a clue to the thing with Jeremy. The plot was intertwined just enough, and all the loose ends were tied up.

Charlotte does have a love interest too. :) the all too adorable Noah, who edits the A/V clips with her. the only problem is that he's a year younger. --GASP--  *scandal*

lols. over all I really enjoyed it :P, and it was strange, because before harlequine teen sent it to me, I had never heard of it, to all you who have never seen it before, go amazon it, and you can also get the next book 100 candles also!


does anyone know why labor days a holiday?,
Dana