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Midnight
Jo Harding never thought of herself as a villain. At seventeen, her only adversary was her chronic illness. Yet, when a group of superheroes separates Jo from her brother, nothing will stop her from getting Jamie back.
After waking up in a morgue, Jo finds herself with no money, nowhere to go, and no way of letting her famous twin brother know she is still alive. To make matters even worse, she starts exhibiting uncontrollable powers. Afraid and in a body she can't rely upon, Jo scours the town with help from a bookstore owner and his former-military husband. Each encounter leads the superheroes to believe they are fighting a villain. However, the real villain is the leader they are following, the doctor that left Jo to die.
After waking up in a morgue, Jo finds herself with no money, nowhere to go, and no way of letting her famous twin brother know she is still alive. To make matters even worse, she starts exhibiting uncontrollable powers. Afraid and in a body she can't rely upon, Jo scours the town with help from a bookstore owner and his former-military husband. Each encounter leads the superheroes to believe they are fighting a villain. However, the real villain is the leader they are following, the doctor that left Jo to die.
422 pages, Paperback
First published June 13, 2017
27 people are currently reading
677 people want to read
About the author
Stefani Chaney
3 books16 followersStefani Chaney is the author of The Opposition series and the paranormal romance, The Moonlight Herders. Stefani graduated with a degree in Creative Writing and currently lives in Arizona with a clowder of cats. She likes coffee, puns, and letting her chronic illness know who's in charge. More information about her books can be found on her website, stefanichaney.com.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 26, 2017
This turned out to be just an okay read for me. It has some good but I found myself frustrated and getting less interested as the book went on.
I'll start with the good.
The premise is interesting. A severely disabled girl gets in a fight with her doctor only to wake up in a morgue three months later. She's been declared dead but somehow is alive, no longer appears to be disabled, and is also much taller than her previous self. She's at a loss for the time jump or changes but knows her brother, Jamie, is now in the hands of Dr. Morgan and she must get to him before Morgan does her brother harm. The problem is, where is Jamie?
This is essentially a YA super hero story with a mix of mystery and action. The pace of the story never stops from the first page onwards.
The amount of diversity in the book is great. Usually I read lesfic (books with an f/f couple), which this is not, but I was curious why the LGBT label was being applied. It's because we get a gay male, married couple that plays a prominent role, a transgendered character, and an asexual character. Apart from the married couple, there are no love interests or romance in the book.
There's also some ethnic diversity and disability diversity. Jo, the lead for the story suffers from MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and the other "super heroes" in the story generally also have some disability (Epilepsy, etc.) which is what brought them to Dr. Morgan in the first place.
Each of the characters are distinct, even when there's little interaction with them.
What brings the story down for me is that I actually didn't really like Jo all that much. This may sound weird but she isn't nice. "Nice" is one of those bland adjectives that is so innocuous it can even sometimes be used as an insult but, in this case, it's not. When I asked myself what was bothering me about Jo that was the answer my psyche supplied. Jo, for all intensive purposes, is basically a curmudgeon. She does have the spirit of not giving up both in her disabled and super hero forms but she also kind of bumbled her way through to each experience instead of having some stroke of cleverness.
There's some awkwardness in certain scenes that didn't feel right. Mainly, there are a couple of crucial times in the story with Jo's motorcycle helmet that struck me as odd. For ex, there's a scene in a restaurant where, for some reason, Jo is sitting in a booth but has her helmet on. Why? Or little things like she's talking to someone while on the motorbike but her helmet is on. In my experience, unless there's no shield or the helmet has a mike to the other rider, you can't hear the person over the sound of the bike and the sound buffering the helmet provides. Jo's height also gets incredibly tall which would be a very conspicuous thing that would 1) most likely make her very awkward in her body but doesn't and 2) stand out like crazy and get attention from everywhere but neither of those come up. That kind of thing.
And then there were editorial issues whether that was down to missing or incorrect words (I vs I'm, for ex), a convoluted plot (I have to admit, I got lost), or somewhat unbelievable elements or jarring transitions.
A lot of others seem to like this story so I don't want to discourage people from reading it for themselves and having their own opinion. For me, though, it wasn't a great fit.
I'll start with the good.
The premise is interesting. A severely disabled girl gets in a fight with her doctor only to wake up in a morgue three months later. She's been declared dead but somehow is alive, no longer appears to be disabled, and is also much taller than her previous self. She's at a loss for the time jump or changes but knows her brother, Jamie, is now in the hands of Dr. Morgan and she must get to him before Morgan does her brother harm. The problem is, where is Jamie?
This is essentially a YA super hero story with a mix of mystery and action. The pace of the story never stops from the first page onwards.
The amount of diversity in the book is great. Usually I read lesfic (books with an f/f couple), which this is not, but I was curious why the LGBT label was being applied. It's because we get a gay male, married couple that plays a prominent role, a transgendered character, and an asexual character. Apart from the married couple, there are no love interests or romance in the book.
There's also some ethnic diversity and disability diversity. Jo, the lead for the story suffers from MS (Multiple Sclerosis) and the other "super heroes" in the story generally also have some disability (Epilepsy, etc.) which is what brought them to Dr. Morgan in the first place.
Each of the characters are distinct, even when there's little interaction with them.
What brings the story down for me is that I actually didn't really like Jo all that much. This may sound weird but she isn't nice. "Nice" is one of those bland adjectives that is so innocuous it can even sometimes be used as an insult but, in this case, it's not. When I asked myself what was bothering me about Jo that was the answer my psyche supplied. Jo, for all intensive purposes, is basically a curmudgeon. She does have the spirit of not giving up both in her disabled and super hero forms but she also kind of bumbled her way through to each experience instead of having some stroke of cleverness.
There's some awkwardness in certain scenes that didn't feel right. Mainly, there are a couple of crucial times in the story with Jo's motorcycle helmet that struck me as odd. For ex, there's a scene in a restaurant where, for some reason, Jo is sitting in a booth but has her helmet on. Why? Or little things like she's talking to someone while on the motorbike but her helmet is on. In my experience, unless there's no shield or the helmet has a mike to the other rider, you can't hear the person over the sound of the bike and the sound buffering the helmet provides. Jo's height also gets incredibly tall which would be a very conspicuous thing that would 1) most likely make her very awkward in her body but doesn't and 2) stand out like crazy and get attention from everywhere but neither of those come up. That kind of thing.
And then there were editorial issues whether that was down to missing or incorrect words (I vs I'm, for ex), a convoluted plot (I have to admit, I got lost), or somewhat unbelievable elements or jarring transitions.
A lot of others seem to like this story so I don't want to discourage people from reading it for themselves and having their own opinion. For me, though, it wasn't a great fit.
August 5, 2017
Midnight is insanely good, and one of my new favorite novels. Stefani Chaney is a new author to watch - get ready world! get ready to meet... Midnight.
If you like superhero novels, then this book is for you. It's not your run-of-the-mill story, it's unique in more ways to count, but I'm going to try to tell you all about it right here, right now.
Meet Jo: she just woke up in a morgue, it's three months since she lasts remembers anything, and her brother is missing. And what's most surprising (other than not being dead) is that the pain of her constant chronic illness is just... gone. She's not limping, heck, she can run again. And she's running with a vengeance.
Her last memories are of being betrayed by the doctor - Morgan - who was claiming to heal her. Learning that her brother Jamie was being tricked by the same doctor to take a mysterious drug. Where is he now? The only way for her to find him is to suit up: with help of bookstore owner and his husband the depressed war vet, she's going after the man who turned against her.
And this leads to one of the coolest aspect of the novel: Morgan has been running tests on other teens in the city, turning them into superheroes. And in their eyes? Jo is the villain. Jo has been chasing them, after all, maybe even stalking them. So they'll fight tooth and nail to protect their team.
Jo's the most brilliant protagonist you could ever want. She's smart, she's strong, and she's determined. She gets stronger and stronger, grows with every superhero encounter. She loves her brother more than anyone else, and will stop at nothing to find him. And the other characters... they're so diverse, and fun! I think Jamie is Ace, and it's really cool to see a character like him. You also get to see the effects of mental abuse and manipulation.
I really can't recommend this enough. It's a complex, fast paced novel that will have you hooked from page one. So excited for the rest of the series!
I got this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. It in no way affected my feedback.
If you like superhero novels, then this book is for you. It's not your run-of-the-mill story, it's unique in more ways to count, but I'm going to try to tell you all about it right here, right now.
Meet Jo: she just woke up in a morgue, it's three months since she lasts remembers anything, and her brother is missing. And what's most surprising (other than not being dead) is that the pain of her constant chronic illness is just... gone. She's not limping, heck, she can run again. And she's running with a vengeance.
Her last memories are of being betrayed by the doctor - Morgan - who was claiming to heal her. Learning that her brother Jamie was being tricked by the same doctor to take a mysterious drug. Where is he now? The only way for her to find him is to suit up: with help of bookstore owner and his husband the depressed war vet, she's going after the man who turned against her.
And this leads to one of the coolest aspect of the novel: Morgan has been running tests on other teens in the city, turning them into superheroes. And in their eyes? Jo is the villain. Jo has been chasing them, after all, maybe even stalking them. So they'll fight tooth and nail to protect their team.
Jo's the most brilliant protagonist you could ever want. She's smart, she's strong, and she's determined. She gets stronger and stronger, grows with every superhero encounter. She loves her brother more than anyone else, and will stop at nothing to find him. And the other characters... they're so diverse, and fun! I think Jamie is Ace, and it's really cool to see a character like him. You also get to see the effects of mental abuse and manipulation.
I really can't recommend this enough. It's a complex, fast paced novel that will have you hooked from page one. So excited for the rest of the series!
I got this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review. It in no way affected my feedback.
March 6, 2018
I'll definitely come back later to leave a longer review (or at least I'll try-- hopefully I'll remember when the sequel comes out), but for now, here's what I have to say: this is something new and exciting in a genre that's starting to get a little old (I love a good Marvel movie as much as the next gal, but there sure are a lot of them...). Jo is funny and witty and still human enough to be kind of a disaster. She finds great allies along the way to help her with her ultimate goal: reuniting with her twin brother, Jamie. I'm a sucker for a good sibling story and Jo loves her brother like Angelica Schuyler loves Eliza-- more than anything in this life. The cast of characters is diverse and the superhero origin story is unique! This is a tale about chronically ill teens and the narrative doesn't erase that fact. I'll definitely be coming back for the sequel and look forward to whatever the next adventure for these children will be.
December 30, 2017
This was such a great read! Chaney's writing style was so smooth and interesting, I really fell in love with all of the characters and found myself so engrossed in the book, honestly I couldn't put it down.
Furthermore, it felt so good to read a book that had so much great representation in it.
I'm excited to see that there is a second book in the works, but in the mean time I'll carry on rereading all my favourite parts over and over.
Furthermore, it felt so good to read a book that had so much great representation in it.
I'm excited to see that there is a second book in the works, but in the mean time I'll carry on rereading all my favourite parts over and over.
May 15, 2018
Fun Superpowered Thriller
Initially grabbed this for a quick distraction. Five hours later and I haven't moved. Light but with plenty of mystery and fun. Definitely looking forward to the next one.
Initially grabbed this for a quick distraction. Five hours later and I haven't moved. Light but with plenty of mystery and fun. Definitely looking forward to the next one.
February 8, 2018
i got nothing....
October 29, 2017
Modern day superheros with disabilities? A puntastic main character who loves poutine? Sign me up!
This story and its characters was such a fun read (and I've read it twice now)! I would recommend it to anyone. It's got so much good things inside of it. Interesting powers. Good family dynamics. LGBT representation. DOGS! And no animals are harmed in the making or process of this story. Do you need more reason to read it? Well, it's the first of a series so you know the plot's there and it definitely will make the readers want more answers! Read! Read! Read!
This story and its characters was such a fun read (and I've read it twice now)! I would recommend it to anyone. It's got so much good things inside of it. Interesting powers. Good family dynamics. LGBT representation. DOGS! And no animals are harmed in the making or process of this story. Do you need more reason to read it? Well, it's the first of a series so you know the plot's there and it definitely will make the readers want more answers! Read! Read! Read!
partly-read
October 25, 2017Superheroes and chronic illness sounds like something I would love, but the number of examples of missing past perfect tense in the sample, plus several homonym errors, convinced me that I would be constantly irritated while reading, and it hadn't yet grabbed me hard enough to make up for them.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews