Review & Giveaway: The Midnight Spell by Rhiannon Frater & Kody Boye (Blog Tour)

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THE MIDNIGHT SPELL

by Rhiannon Frater & Kody Boye

Publisher: Permuted Press (Feb 2013)
Genre: Paranormal, Young Adult
Format: eBook (Novel Length)
Source: Free book from blog tour for honest review
Find It: Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3 stars)

Summary
Best friends since kindergarten, Adam and Christy have always been the perpetual outsiders in their small town in Texas. The other kids call Adam gay and Christy a witch.

On both counts the bullies are right.

Their junior year in high school seems destined to be the same old same old until Christy decides to cast a love spell for Adam at the midnight hour. The next day an alluring and mysterious boy enrolls at school and sets hearts aflutter, including Adam’s. Meanwhile, Christy’s mad crush on the handsome football player Ian seems to be going nowhere fast and her witch puberty is making her life miserable.

When a great evil arrives in town that threatens everything they hold dear, the best friends realize that finding a boyfriend is the least of their worries. Soon Adam and Christy will have to battle a force of darkness that has killed in their town before, and will again.

At A Glance
This was fun and interesting, but it felt so juvenile.

The Good
I love Rhiannon, so getting my hands on The Midnight Spell was a no-brainer. And the fact that she wrote this with her friend, Kody, made it even more special because I am about to publish a book that I co-wrote with someone. The duel authorship called to me and these two authors did beautifully in combining their styles with no visible differentiation.

The concept was super fun. Witches, vampires, ghosts, shifters, odd best friends and, my fav, gay peeps. It was so diverse. So many possible storylines, so many mysteries. Some things I guessed, but there was a lot that surprised me throughout the novel. It started out so light and fun, but it got pretty dark near the end, but the authors made sure to always keep a sense of humor throughout.

Christy and Adam were amazing best friends. I would love to have a friendship like theirs. These two go through so much, a lot I cannot mention because it would spoil everything, but both of them are outsiders who have a somewhat hard life. Christy with her erratic witchery and Adam and his slim prospects for a boyfriend. They both get bullied horribly for who they are, and it broke my freaking heart! But I loved that their little misfit group started to grow and they finally had some good friends to rely on. But it was Christy and Adam's parents who I loved the most. They were so effing hilarious with their embarrassing stories and eccentric personalities.

I would be interested to see what happens next. I wonder if this will be a series? I have a feeling it will.

The Bad
I pretty much liked the whole book but I couldn't get over how juvenile it felt. This is the only time I don't like YA, when it reads too young, too corny, and too eye roll worthy. I guess it came down to things feeling fake. Too many things didn't read true to my vision of teenagers.

Also, no character, except for the parents, stood out to me. I liked them all but they had a very similar feel to each other. It was hard to distinguish them apart.

The Snuggly
I loved that we got a witchy romance and a gay romance. It was cute watching these best friends' highs and lows in their recently emerging love lives. Though neither love interest stood out to me as 'the one.'

Very YA, just kissing.

Final Thoughts
Not perfect, but still super fun. I loved the concept, paranormal aspect, and mystery. If the writing was amped up a bit, this would have been an amazing book. Recommended.

Quotes
"Don't hope, " Drifter said. "No use in hoping if you don't try and make something happen first."


"In my younger days, I had rippling muscles, not rippling fat. Enjoy it while you have it." Dad winked.


"Mom shrugged. "Boys are weird," she offered, "and you don't get better with age, if you want to know the truth."


"Love. Love. How can such a beautiful thing be so painful? That's what I don't understand."


"Whatever! I still think you should’ve been planning your party!”
“With who? Me, my two friends and a cat?”
“Callie? Sure! Why not? She’s a party animal from what you told me.”
“I said she’s was a slut, Mom. She’s always in heat.”
“Scandalous!”

Author Bio
Rhiannon:
Rhiannon Frater is the award-winning author of over a dozen books, including the As the World Dies zombie trilogy (Tor), as well as independent works such as The Last Bastion of the Living (declared the #1 Zombie Release of 2012 by Explorations Fantasy Blog and the #1 Zombie Novel of the Decade by B&N Book Blog), and other horror novels. In 2014, her newest horror novel, The Mesmerized, will be released by Permuted Press. Dead Spots will be published in 2015 by Tor. She was born and raised a Texan and presently lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and furry children (a.k.a pets).  She loves scary movies, sci-fi and horror shows, playing video games, cooking, dyeing her hair weird colors, and shopping for Betsey Johnson purses and shoes.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Blog | Pinterest | Email: rhiannonfrater at gmail.com

Kody:

Born and raised in Southeastern Idaho, Kody Boye began his writing career with the publication of his story [A] Prom Queen’s Revenge at the age of fourteen. Published nearly three-dozen times before going independent at eighteen, Boye has authored numerous works—including the short story collection Amorous Things, the novella The Diary of Dakota Hammell, the zombie novel Sunrise and the epic fantasy series The Brotherhood Saga. He is represented by Hannah Brown Gordon of the Foundry Literary + Media Agency.

You can visit him online at kodyboye.com

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