The Temptation

Midnight Secrets #1

by Wolff Ryp

Kendra dreams of an attractive man called Revell, who tells her she is his, but when she moves to her unexpected new stepfather's house she realizes that she and her sister Lauren are in danger

Genres: Young Adult, Horror, Fantasy

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[ASHreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I'm going to review this in two ways. First as a teen from a rural area who was only able to get books from her small town school library while school was in session and who was desperate to read and loved horror. Second as an adult who has since grown her own library to five hundred or more and had read many many books. Both masterpieces and utter trash.
My teen self would have given this book five stars. I remember LOVING it. Short chapters, short read, to the point, interesting, and employed all the innocuous high school drama tropes and characters I needed to relate with. It wasn't scary but intriguing. It wasn't horror-filled but made me yearn to read the next. So teen Amanda gives it *****
Adult Amanda can compare it to classics like War of the Worlds or Frankenstein. I can rate it against extremely well-written books like The Devil's Queen and books that really intrigued me like Sapkowski's. Adult me on these merits would give this book two stars for its entire plot of telling and not showing, for how I felt thoughts, feelings, words, and names were constantly repeated, and because character dialog and actions sometimes seemed out of character. But because my past self loved it so dearly and because it has a few pros like being a quick, easy read and being interesting enough to keep going, because it didn't drag out and bog down with information, adult Amanda gives it *** Which I don't think is all that bad.

[Sabrina ☺]

To be honest, I read this when I was 11, which was 15 years ago. So...I can't give an honest review as I don't quite remember everything that happened. But for whatever reason, I was always so determined to come back to the series and finish reading it. So now that's what I'm intending to do. And reread the first one. So I guess it made enough of an impact for me to hunt it down 15 years later(I literally forgot the book title but knew keywords temptation and midnight was in it, and then I remembered a girl in a red outfit with hair blowing in the wind was centered on the cover so....definitely memorable haha that's the only way I ended up finding it).

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

L'un de mes livres préférés quand j'étais adolescente. Obviously very easy and quick to read. I was glad it was a trilogy.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the worst of these types of books. The biggest problem is a complete lack of tension. Kendra doesn't really seem all that tempted by Revell--which, on the one hand, I appreciate, since I roll my eyes at female protagonists who go all weak-kneed at the dangerous man who's threatening their entire family. At least Kendra demonstrates a few ounces of strength and willpower. But Revell doesn't seem all that powerful by comparison and spends the whole book making empty threats. Also the narrator keeps referring to Revell as a "golden man" so I was definitely picturing C3PO.

[Marlina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember reading this book when I was in middle school and loving it. I forgot about it until I randomly remembered it now. It's a decent quick read and definitely not a complex storyline at all. Lightly creepy, paranormal suspense for a young adult. I plan to give to my neice when she is a teenager. I think she would enjoy it.

[Paula Brandon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kendra is romanced by a mysterious spirit in the new house she has moved into with her mother, sister and new stepfather. However, she soon clues in to the fact that Revell could be evil!

Good introduction to the trilogy. Kendra's mother's self absorption is hilarious!