Midnight

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Well, you can take yours down the road and round the corner but I’m sitting right here.’ Will sat in Mum’s chair, one leg straddling an arm. Wilson did really well on this. Reading it again though, I don’t feel like I connected as much as I used to. I still love Violet, I still remember connecting to her so much, she made me feel so much better about being such a book lover – reading books was my escape from the world, and connecting to Violet made that so much more enjoyable. I just feel like she could have done more. There were a few loose ends not wrapped up, which are gonna bug me for a little while. I feel a second instalment in the Midnight bookverse would help a lot with that. On the one hand, the two have vampires, priests, and alcohol problems in common. On the other hand...everything else?

No I’m not, dozy.’ He took hold of my wrist, twisting it to see the veins. He held his own wrist up too. His veins were much nearer the surface, delicate and very blue. ‘Different blood.’ Me ha gustado mucho, pero debería haber sido más largo. Siento que hay algunas cosillas por cerrar todavía (y me jode no saber como avanzarán). I kind of wish there was a mention, like a suggestion, of whether Mum was taking any kind of medication, any antidepressants, however. What about therapy? Asking for help when dealing with mental health problems big enough that you had to be institutionalised and separated from your children for a while is a good thing to represent in children's lit! Was it a good thing for Mum to deal with her depression mostly on her own? I'm not sure. It depends on the context. What I am certain and adamant about is that Mab shouldn't have to act like an adult and take care of her out of anxiety. I don’t think this is the worst book I have ever read. It reads as an old classic in the way of the characters’ simple growth and personality but I don’t think I would give this to a child who is 8 years old. Maybe one who is 14-15. I liked the group of four main characters and how they interacted. I loved the way a nun became a great guerilla fighter who killed humans and vampires, yet she had angst over what she had become. We see the beginning of a love relationship between two characters but it’s not developed. I wish more had been done with that.

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But the main bully actually doesn't turn out to be anything like that. Frankie and Sally find things in common, become close, and Frankie realises her feelings for the other girl are anything bit platonic. This is a difficult one as the characters do seem to have depth but I don’t think they really change that much. Violet

I enjoyed Frankie's travels through her own sexual awakening. With a 13-year-old protagonist, this is suitable for readers younger than she, kissing and discussing feelings the extent of the action. The narrator on the Audible version captures her young voice very well, and Wilson brings the story to life with a lot of speech and thought, and a familiar world readers will be able to visualise. I'm writing a review, which I don't normally do, because I was astonished that more people haven't come across this book. I chanced across it in the bookshop and bought it because I love a good spy novel. I was at a slight disadvantage, as this is apparently the third in a trilogy of novels, but that barely affected it at all, except some small parts where old angst was rehashed. Despite this, it was gripping from start to finish. A thriller which doesn't talk down to its readers and which looks at the human emotions behind the action. Also, I didn't want to carry hate in my heart forever, and not for an author's long bibliography (not the author herself, to be clear) and works that had been a part of my childhood, and of my start in my reading life. Dad bared his teeth in a silly smile. He’d swapped his dark tunic and trousers and white working shirt for this equally naff evening uniform of satin-striped suit and frilly shirt. He wore a clip-on bow instead of his clip-on tie. And a clip-on face, pink, jovial, jowly, always Mr Plod the Policeman.

The ending of Midnight felt rushed and we weren’t left with delicious ambiguity but it’s still far from being fairytalish. I honestly wouldn’t mind (I would love it!) if the author decides to write a sequel.

The protagonist of Midnight is Violet a naive 13 year old. The book was published in 2003 and that’s got something to do with it, I think. It was the time when cellphones weren’t ubiquitous yet and people still wrote letters to authors instead of stalking them or talking about/to them online. Violet adores reclusive author Casper Dream, the author of the beautifully illustrated fairy books. She loves the fictitious universe created by him. She draws inspiration from it and sews fairy dolls. As you can see she isn’t your boisterous teen but quiet and artistic. Midnight offers interesting insights into the mind of a writer and on creating imaginary worlds which appealed to me greatly. Later on, Violet's father says that they are to go to their Gran's house to wish her a happy birthday, but Will refuses because how she had charmlessly told him that he was adopted. Violet's dad gets mad and when Violet says no as well, he is ready to hit them. But doesn't. Violet's mother - as usual - gives in and makes a fuss when she finds out that they both are not going. In the end, they leave without them. Will and Violet start playing 'Truth or Dare and Will asks Violet if she could have a love affair with anyone, who would it be? Violet hesitates and eventually answers Casper Dream. Violet repeats the question to Will but before he can answer, Jasmine calls and asks for help with her homework. Much to Violet's surprise, as he hates for her to have friends over, Will invites Jasmine himself.The best thing about 'Midnight Mass', the thing that kept me reading to the end, was the cleverness of the plot. The vampire strategy for taking over America was well thought-through, the vampire world-building was effective without getting mired in detail and I was constantly kept guessing about what the good guys would do to oppose the vampires and whether or not they would succeed. Violeta en general me cae bien y siento que es un personaje con el que es fácil sentirse identificado, yo por lo menos lo he sentido así en varias ocasiones. Y tengo ganas de dibujarla. Even the title enchanted me. Plus the cover with the purple and the crescent moon. I've always loved the mixture of gothic, darkness, creepiness and pretty things, like fairies. Dark fairies. It’s very… well, not Wilson. I think the problem in this book is the character’s motivation for her plot. Wilson’s characters are normally full of life but Violet is flat, and quite honestly, I don’t like her. She’s too simple.

A Catholic priest with a drink problem, exiled from his parish after being accused of molesting a child.Project Fairy' follows Mabs, an albeit irritating protagonist (hence the missing 0.75 star!) and her unconventional mother and little brother. Mabs does encompass the same trademark features of most JW protagonists, with her pale skin and mousy hair and skinny legs, but that's probably to do with her own childhood and insecurities. The illustrations are more diverse than I've seen in a JW book for a long time, which was also so nice to see. The Parents aren’t around much so I can’t really comment on their characters except they seem to be naive of Will’s behaviour to his sister and are also victims of his behaviour too. Midnight Conclusion