Beyond the Grave

Past Midnight #3

by Mara Purnhagen

A haunting new tale in the Past Midnight series...

I can’t move forward with my life until I know my demons are confined to the past...

Being Charlotte Silver, the daughter of famous paranormal investigators, means my life isn’t like that of other teenage girls. Especially after what happened to my parents. Things changed. I missed prom and deferred my big college plans. But I still have my boyfriend, Noah. He’s everything I could want—if I can figure out what’s up with him. Suddenly Noah is secretive.

I fear it has something to do with what happened to us three months ago. The bruise Noah suffered during a paranormal attack has never completely faded. Now I’ve learned Noah is researching demons. And when he disappears, it’s up to me to find him—before something else does.

Genres: Young Adult, Paranormal, Ghosts, Fantasy, Romance, Horror, Supernatural

256 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Mara Purnhagen has lived in Aurora, Illinois; Kalamazoo, Michigan; Dayton, Ohio and Duncan, South Carolina. She presently lives outside Cleveland, Ohio with her family and a very good cat.

Reviews

[Tori · Rating 2 out of 5]

Originally posted at http://gigisconsignmentcloset.blogspo...

Beyond The Grave by Mara Purnhagen
YA Paranormal Romance
E book
August 30, 2011
Harlequin Teen


Being Charlotte Silver, the daughter of famous paranormal investigators, means my life isn’t like that of other teenage girls. Especially after what happened to my parents. Things changed. I missed prom and deferred my big college plans. But I still have my boyfriend, Noah. He’s everything I could want—if I can figure out what’s up with him. Suddenly Noah is secretive.
I fear it has something to do with what happened to us three months ago. The bruise Noah suffered during a paranormal attack has never completely faded. Now I’ve learned Noah is researching demons. And when he disappears, it’s up to me to find him—before something else does. (Goodreads)


Charlotte is slowly trying to come to grips with what happened with her parents. She defeated the watcher (One Hundred Candles) but her mom suffered for it when she was attacked by the watcher and is now in a deep coma. Her father spends all his time with her mom, her older sister has gone back to collage, and Charlotte fears her boyfriend Noah is keeping secrets from her. When an unknown young man begins to spend time with Charlotte’s mom and following Charlotte around, Charlotte learns that the watcher has not been banished but trying to come back to finish what he started.


Beyond The Grave is the last book in the Past Midnight trilogy series. While I thoroughly enjoyed the first two in the trilogy, Past Midnight and One Hundred Candles, I found this one to be lacking in all aspects. Charlotte seems to do a complete 180 in here and ignores all she has learned about the supernatural and spirits. We don’t see the same strong, intelligent girl in here. Noah is acting strange, showing signs of possession, and Charlotte turns a blind eye to it. Almost as if she feels if she ignores it, it will go away. Tricia and Shane have a huge part in the storyline with planning their wedding which we receive detailed scene stealing information on. It completely overshadows the main conflict and plot. We see and hear more about them then we do Charlotte’s mom and Noah-two main characters and integral parts of the arc. The main characters of this series take a back seat to the sub characters and it leaves us with a underdeveloped poorly planned storyline. Bliss’s added storyline comes out of left field and did nothing but add more filler then substance. There wasn’t enough story to support the additional cast and all the available opportunities I saw for Ms. Purnhagen to take it a higher level were ignored.


The storyline is sporadic with random subplots added and characters that are suppose to build the suspense and set up the finale but come across uninspiring and boring. Slow arc and character advancement drags the story down so badly that it’s not until the last 30 or so pages that you get any idea of where Ms. Purnhagen wants to go with all this and we get a fast somewhat gory closure that is completely at odds with the rest of the story. Our villain is literally pulled out of thin air and we are not given much background to support any of it. The book read like a story that had to be written rather then one that wanted to be written. All in all a disappointing ending to an otherwise fabulous trilogy.


Overall Rating: D

[Areeba · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two books in the Past Midnight series were fun, quick reads that, while I did enjoy, wished had something more going for them. Something that made them more memorable, exciting. While this third and final installment in the trilogy may not have blown me away, it still did step up in the awesomeness scale and I think it's safe to say this was my favorite out of all three books!

This book takes off very soon after the second book, One Hundred Candles, when Charlotte's life was turned upside down, and so the opening chapters sort of focus on the aftermath of those events. In truth, I think this book was somewhat slow, and the exciting stuff was revealed in small doses. But since this is a pretty short book overall, I still thought the pace was pretty neat. To be honest, I just had fun reading it.

There's something about this series, that makes them so easy to read--just kick back and relax and slide into them. That's not to say there aren't any heart-pounding moments. The climax scene was pretty awesome, even if there was an aspect to it that came off as slightly ridiculous. There was also a random flashback scene that I didn't quite get the point of, but they weren't really all that distracting, so I chose to overlook them.

Charlotte was, as always, a reliable narrator. I still sort of wish the characters had been more interesting--that's not to say I didn't like them, but I was never actually really into them, you know? Same with the romance--while it was nice, it wasn't rock-your-socks-off cute or anything.

So no, this wasn't the best book EVERRR, but like I said, I still like them well enough to recommend them, and I'm really looking forward to more books by Mara Purnhagen.

[Julie Witt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Description: I can’t move forward with my life until I know my demons are confined to the past...

Being Charlotte Silver, the daughter of famous paranormal investigators, means my life isn’t like that of other teenage girls. Especially after what happened to my parents. Things changed. I missed prom and deferred my big college plans. But I still have my boyfriend, Noah. He’s everything I could want—if I can figure out what’s up with him. Suddenly Noah is secretive.

My opinion: Confession: I didn't read the first two books in this series, but I really didn't feel like this was a problem. The author did a great job of bringing me up to speed without making me feel like she was just dumping a bunch of information on me. I was able to jump right in and liked the main characters from the get go. They were well written, and the pacing was spot on. I loved the fact that Charlotte came from a family of paranormal investigators, and I will definitely be going back to read books 1 and 2 to get even more of the story.

In summary, I loved this book and highly recommend it. I have a feeling this is going to be a favorite series of mine.

5/5 stars.

I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Kt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charlotte just wants to move on with her life, but she can't until she knows that The Watcher is gone for good. She's put her life and future on hold in order to try and hold things together in the aftermath of his attack. She wants to be there for her father as they cling to hope for her mother's recovery, but things aren't looking good. The only thing she can count on is Noah, or so she thought. Something is different about him, and she isn't sure what is going on. All she knows is that he's suddenly being very secretive and not where he says he will be. She has the nagging feeling it has something to do with the Watcher's attack on him as the bruises never faded. Charlotte is going to have to use every bit of strength she has left to keep her family and her heart from falling apart completely as the final showdown looms just around the corner.

Charlotte was a little too clueless for my tastes at times, especially when it came to Noah. Perhaps she was just trying not to see what was in front of her because she didn't want to believe anything was wrong with him. I guess it was just a really bad case of denial, but it struck me as a little immature. She also hadn't learned from her past mistakes of not telling her family everything from the start. Considering the fact that her mother probably wouldn't be in a coma right now if she had come clean immediately I found her continued secrecy to be a little baffling. She self-justified this by saying that she didn't want to worry anyone or cause more stress, but honestly that was a cop out to avoid confrontation.

I was a little frustrated that we didn't get to see Charlotte and Noah together very much. I guess I shouldn't be surprised after reading the synopsis, but it took so long for them to finally get together in the previous books that I was really looking forward their relationship in Beyond the Grave. I just feel that there is so much potential between them and I would have loved to have seen their relationship really grow. I was really happy with the addition of a new character named Michael as he really added something great to the book. Also it was nice to see another side of Bliss. I always thought there was much more to her than met the eye, even though she had previously spent every interaction with Charlotte being nasty.

Beyond the Grave had a slow start but eventually picked up. I felt things ended rather well, and definitely left me with a sense of satisfaction. I think the best part about this series was watching all of the characters grow, especially when it came to their beliefs in the paranormal and how those perceptions changed. Some came to belief rather easily and others were extremely stubborn to almost the bitter end, which made for a pretty diversified cast of characters, in turn making the books even more enjoyable. Now that this series is complete, I'll definitely be on the lookout for future books by Mara Purnhagen as I think she is a very talent author. Fans of the previous two installments won't be disappointed in Beyond the Grave as it is a very good tie up to a great paranormal YA series.

[Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the first two books in this series, Past Midnight and One Hundred Candles, but this one felt like a mild let down. The first book develops the main character, Charlotte, as a member of a family of ghost/paranormal investigators, with her mom the believer and her dad the skeptic. It worked really well with no actual proof of the supernatural except what she claims to have seen during the climax. The second book adds a few wrinkles with an actual possession and her father having to come to terms with the supernatural being reality after denying it and looking for scientific explanations the entire time, but the introduction in this book of human guardians who actually fight evil spirits didn't really work given the theme of the previous books. Yeah, the author tries to explain in their appearance by saying how they're super secret and highly guarded from the general population, but it shifts the story too much from an interesting ghost/paranormal investigation to a more bland/overdone good guys with magic powers fights evil spirits.

The news for this sequel isn't all bad though. Despite the superfluous out of place feel of the new characters, the existing ones now feel like old friends who you want to see to the finish line, and the story is still well written enough that I could tolerate the intrusion of the new characters. Charlotte herself helps to keep things interesting; she narration is still the equal parts foreboding and determined to get to the truth that made the first two books so intriguing. The chilling haunting scenes that were what made the first and second books so memorable are also still present, and the changed focus of the plot only detracts from the mystery and spookiness a little bit. Plus, there's enough emotion that I was rooting for Charlotte's mom and Charlotte's friend Noah to be alright the entire book, even if I didn't care what happened to Michael the guardian.

[MarytheBookLover · Rating 4 out of 5]

My Opinion:

This story was quite a ride. From her mother being hospitalized to her boyfriend suddenly becoming violent,Charlotte is on one big roller coaster. She loves her mother and is trying to do everything in her power to get her mother out of the coma she suffered from in the attack that happened to the family. No one has quite recovered. There is not much communication with her father so she relies mostly on her other family members for support along with her boyfriend,Noah. As it turns out,Noah is giving off some really terrible vibes.

We watch Charlotte try to reconnect with her father and her boyfriend while trying to stop what is going on and the evil that is right around the corner waiting for her. This story was fast paced and easy to understand so it makes a great read for YA or adults readers. I loved that it was a bit spooky with pretty much things in the night that go bump like her window being blown out to Noah’s bruise that never heals. Charlotte stays close to home for her mother while her BFF goes away to college. She meets up with another girl named Briss that she knew in high school and it turns out that she needs her more then she realizes. We are taken through Charlotte’s upside down life and I was happy with the ending.

This is the third book in the series. I haven’t read book one or two yet but I didn’t feel that I was missing out on anything or that there were secrets that I missed. I do realize that there is some back story to the characters which I will be reading book one and two to find out.

I give Beyond the Grave 4 of 5 stars.

[Krystle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always sad when a series comes to an end, and this one is no different.

Everything is wrapped up neatly leaving you with a feeling of satisfaction and contentment. The plot is fast-paced, keeping you glued to the pages, and you’re always wondering what’s going to happen in the next chapter. They may not be the most dense of books or the most complex, but they are fun and something to read when you need to sit back and relax.

Beyond the Grave isn’t as scary as its previous two installments, nor is the plot twists as shocking, but there isn’t anything offensive or wrong about this book. Sure it may verge on the predictable and the new characters/villains not set up as well as the others may have been, but you’ll enjoy the story anyway.

A fun series. I wish that I could have read more about this paranormal sleuthing family.

[Michelle Witte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted at libriago.blogspot.com

This will be a rather short review because I've already gushed enough about this series previously. When I slip into these books, I lose track of time and get fully immersed in the story.

Needless to say, I enjoyed Beyond the Grave, though not quite as much as the first two. Still, this is an excellent series and one I heartily recommend.

If what I heard is correct, this is the final book in the series. If I have any influence, I would say "Keep on keepin' on" with the series. I'm not nearly tired of reading about Charlotte and her family yet.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a review copy of the book.

[Brie · Rating 3 out of 5]

WHY?!?! WHY?!?!

CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY WE HAVE AN ABUNDANCE OF HEROINES IN SOME SERIOUS DEEP SHIT AND DOESN'T FUCKING TELL ANYONE THAT CAN DO A FUCKING THING TO HELP?????

Seriously, this is an epidemic that needs to be stopped. Don't write about how much of a strong fighter a heroine is and then have her keep all these life and death secrets!!!

OH! And when she FINALLY does tell someone, it's nearly fucking too late. I get that it makes the action that much action-ier or whatever, but it's stupid. And makes me want to throw the book across the room after slapping someone with said book.

But what makes it that much greater, is that it wasn't just one main character BUT TWO!!!

No! Just. No! Enough!

Aside from that, the story was good.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This took a weird turn compared to the first two books. The idea of the Protectors felt so out of place with everything else that had been established. The execution in general of the plot was just not well done. There were so many parts to the storyline and it never really came together like it should have. I’m still confused about Noah being possessed or not, his dad he hadn’t seen in 10 years getting controlled by the watcher, the reason for adding Bliss into any of this, and the watcher’s backstory and ‘real’ reason for targeting Charlotte’s family being a bunch of crap. As it was, it seemed so pointless to waste my time reading this only to get hit with all these revelations in the final chapters that made zero sense. Also, I thought the synopsis was pretty misleading when it came to the Noah situation. I kept expecting him to disappear at some point and he was literally there the whole book, only to disappear in the final 90% and then reappear a chapter later.

I didn’t like the addition of Michael either. He was honestly a huge jerk to Charlotte and extremely insensitive. There were one or two moments where they’d fight and Charlotte would end up apologizing for overreacting/being rude and I didn’t get it at all. Her reactions were completely justified and it irritated me to no end that I was supposed to think that Michael was in the right.

The real killer though was Charlotte. I wanted to feel bad for her situation and having to deal with Michael, but she made the dumbest decisions in the world. There was a scene in the book where she acknowledged that keeping secrets in the previous book had directly led to the bad crap that happened and she’d learned her lesson. So why the hell did she continue to keep secrets and put her family in danger?! She learns important information that she should tell her dad right away and instead she’s like, ‘well, I don’t want to ruin Trisha and Shane’s wedding happiness. I’ll come clean two weeks from now once the wedding’s done’. WHY?!. Does Charlotte not realize how much bad stuff can go down in that long of a period of time? That’s only one example, but the book was filled with a hundred other instances similar to that. I was beyond aggravated and after a while, I started to feel like she deserved whatever terrible thing came to her.

Overall, I didn’t enjoy this at all. The writing was fine, but the content was horrible. I read this mainly to finish the series and I’m glad I’m finally done with it.

[Jai Rahim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished book 3, and am still bugged by the open-ending in book 1.5 which was never subsequently wrapped up in any of the remaining books in the series. Why??? I’m so confused!

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

After devouring the first two books in the Past Midnight series, I couldn't wait to read the third one. Because not only did the second leave off with a semi-huge cliffhanger but also because there's just so many aspects I adore about this series. Luckily, Beyond the Grave was yet another fabulous addition. It was actually probably my favorite one so far!

Beyond the Grave starts off a couple of months after One Hundred Candles left off. Charlotte is still reeling with the fact that her Mom is in a comma, one that she may never recover from safely. Because of this, Charlotte has decided not to head off to college just yet. Instead, she's hanging around home and taking a few classes at a local community college. However, it's not helping as much as she though it would. Her dad's never home, her best friend has abandoned her for college, and Noah, her usually fabulous boyfriend, is slowly beginning to pull away from her. Charlotte doesn't know what to chalk that last one up to, but she thinks it may just have to do with what happened a couple of weeks ago when Noah and her went on a paranormal investigation that went terribly wrong. Charlotte knows it's up to her to find out what's up with Noah and possibly save her mother in the process, but is she willing to put a few major things on the line? Charlotte's not too sure but she's bound to find out soon...

I have to admit: Beyond the Grave is probably the most serious book out of the series. Not to say the others were always light, fluffy reads, but this one definitely showed the less sunny sides of life. From Charlotte's mom's current state to the mix feelings she felt about that as well as her family specifically to her problems with Noah, Charlotte faced a lot of different challenges in this novel. Some were good and somewhere bad, but they all did one thing: they brought some major development to Charlotte's character. Charlotte truly bloomed into a strong, brave, and kick-butt character in this one. She refused to back down and let others determine her fate more times than one, and that's not even adding in all the times she put her own self on the line. I loved seeing this side of her, and I'm sure other fans of this series will feel the same way.

The other characters got some development as much. However, one of my favorite parts of Beyond the Grave was seeing the focus on one new character and one character who hasn't always been the nicest one prior in the series. I'm not going to give any names because I don't want to ruin any surprises, but I will say that both ended up being surprising adds. In some ways, they actually stole the show.

The plot in Beyond the Grave was also top notch. It contained many twists and turns that constantly managed to capture my attention. For the majority of the novel, I was on the edge of my chair, dying to know what would occur next. Would Charlotte's mom wake up? What exactly was wrong with Noah? Would Charlotte be able to save him before it was too late? There were so many questions, and the ways to the answers were nothing less than action packed to say the least.

The writing in this one was snazzy as well. I've read every book of Mara's with the exception of the two eBook short stories for this series, but I have to say Mara's writing has managed to get better and better over time. Beyond the Grave especially highlighted her talent of creating an action packed plot and an even better conclusion.

Full of twists and turns, Beyond the Grave certainly makes quite the impression. While I've heard this one is the last one in the series, I truly hope that's not the case. I would love to see more books about Charlotte and her friends/family or even a spin-off with the two characters that managed to steal the show in this one. Now that would provide an interesting storyline to say the least!

Oh, and if you haven't started this series yet: What are you waiting for? Get to it ASAP. I demand it.

Grade: A+

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Rating* 3.0
*Genre* YA Paranormal

*Review*

Beyond the Grave (Past Midnight #3) takes place four months after the end of One Hundred Candles (Past Midnight # 2) and thus, I would highly recommend reading that book first before continuing this series.

Four Months ago, Charlotte Silver swore off paranormal investigations after her mother Karen was attacked by the Watcher and put in a coma. Her father basically lives in Karen’s hospital room, and has given up any attempts at continuing his life long work while having to deal with frivolous lawsuits for which he knows nothing about.

Four months of dealing with scarred hands after Charlotte herself was successful in temporarily stopping the Watcher from killing her entire family in order to get to her. She has since graduated from High School and now her best friends Jared and Avery are going off at college in Ohio while Charlotte worries what will happen if her mother doesn’t show remarkable improvement within the next several months.

Charlotte has been experiencing intense panic attacks to the point where she can’t do much of anything let alone worrying about doing any investigations with Shane. The panic attacks are caused by loud and sudden noises which pretty much debilitate Charlotte. Luckily, she finds comfort and help in the most unusual of places.

Charlotte has since put her college plans on hold to study at a local community college where she understandably is shocked to learn that her nemesis Bliss Reynolds goes there as well. Bliss has always been a question mark as far as a character is concerned. We really don’t know much about her, but with the release of Beyond the Grave, she plays an even bigger role in the series as well as helping Charlotte out with her attacks and worries.

The one positive in her life, Noah, has his own issues to work out. Even though he claims to be fine, and he won’t do anything to hurt Charlotte or make her cry; he ends up crushing Charlotte when she learns he has been lying to her and doing his own paranormal investigations while skipping out on school.

Charlotte soon realizes that he may end up being the Watchers next unwilling carrier and she needs to find a way to reach out and find help before it’s too late.

Added to the series is Michael a so called protector and the brother of Marcus, the person Charlotte ended up killing in order to stop the Watcher from killing her family. *See the previous reference book for more information.

The story ends up revolving around the pending nuptials between Shane and Trisha who is Noah’s mother as well as the discovery that there’s more to Bliss than meets the eye.

Overall, this was a pretty decent read for me. I like Charlotte and continue to appreciate the fact that although this is a YA novel, there are no 3-way love triangles or extreme teenaged angst.

The ending is heart wrenching and wonderful for which I shall not spoil. If you like paranormal ghost stories, read this series from the start.

[Jessica (a GREAT read) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this e-ARC courtesy of NetGalley for review.

I started reading the Past Midnight series probably earlier this year and totally became addicted! Mara Purnhagen writes a terrific series, its dark, edgy, has a nice creep factor and the characters are enjoyable as well!

Beyond the Grave--which might be the last in the series if I'm remembering right--was fantastic!! The events of One Hundred Candles was by far the most shocking I've seen! Those events have a key effect on the whole story of Beyond the Grave. What was done is not finished.

Vague enough? Okay, if you haven't read One Hundred Candles yet, it's best to stop reading for I will be mentioning spoilers. Charlotte's mother is still in a coma after having her head whacked good by the man who was possessed by The Watcher. Charlotte's family is broken now, things haven't been the same for her. Her father spends most of his time at the hospital and is rarely home, while her family friend Shane and Trisha are planning their wedding.

Charlotte is about to attend a community college in order to be close to home for when her mother wakes up, while her friend Avery goes out of state. Noah, Charlotte's boyfriend is in his final year of high school, but has been acting really weird ever since that fateful night came to an end.

That's where the story begins. There's some pretty intense and creepy things happening this time around. Disembodied voices, a break-in, even a lawsuit with a previous client. Also there is a new character to the fun, Michael. He has a very important role in the scheme of things--which I won't get into it. Because then when you see him the first time you'll know more than you should, and more than Charlotte knows!

Also, Briss returns as well. I didn't care for Briss at all in the past, she was your typical mean girl, but her character has taken on a whole different persona now. Having to deal with the death of her grandfather has changed her--which we sort of saw last time around too. We also get to learn more about her character, seeing a whole other side to her. It was pretty cool really! I like getting to see the other side of characters that we once felt differently about.

The pacing was decent. The whole evolves around Charlotte trying to find out what's going on. She begins to communicate with the other side--which has a surprising twist in the end--to find a way to help her mother out of her coma. And to help Noah. Noah, as mentioned, as been acting differently for awhile now. He's not been himself ever since the events of One Hundred Candles and Charlotte is concerned. Her life has turned completely upside down and spun into chaos.

No one ever said college would be easy! I totally loved this book! Probably my fave from the trilogy! And if this is truly the end, then I think it ended rather nicely!

Overall rating 4.5/5 stars

Beyond the Grave releases August 23, 2011

[Valerie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beyond the Grave by Mara Purnhagen

My Summary:

Charlotte Silver’s life hasn’t been the same since she witnessed her vision the other side and the watcher still thinks she should be punished for it. Her parents were paranormal debunkers, that is until they encountered the real thing. But that life was put on hold after the watcher almost killed her mother. Charlotte was going to community college instead of leaving for school. Her Dad, lost and separate, spent all his time at the care facility with her comatose mother. Shane and Trisha were getting married. Her boyfriend was getting more and more secretive and distant. Charlotte was keeping secrets, trying to connect with paranormal energy alone. Would Charlotte’s life ever be safe again? Would the watcher ever be gone for good? Would she survive the wedding preparations? Who knows!

My Thoughts:

3 stars – a good read

I was excited to read this conclusion to the Past Midnight series. I really enjoyed One Hundred Candles and thought the books had turned it up a notch. The first line of the story really got me jumping into the book.

“I never should have sent my boyfriend to the electric chair.” Pg 1

And I did enjoy the beginning of the book, as Charlotte was trying to cope with the results of facing the watcher. It wasn’t easy for her to finish high school and graduate without her mom there to witness it. She was staying local for college and that takes an unselfish person. I had hoped so much that Charlotte had done some maturing. In book one and two, her biggest flaw was keeping secrets from those that loved her and could help her. But this book went down the same path. Every time she chooses to not tell someone an important development, I would moan and yell at her. You’re doing it again. Didn’t you learn anything? So the middle of the book lagged for me. It felt like we had to get through a few events without everyone knowing what was going on before the story could progress. By the end, the story fell together well and I was pleased with the conclusion. I guess I was tired of the keep secrets to build the plot ploy by book three. I was just frustrated with Charlotte.
I did enjoy the book, though, and was happy to see the resolution for these characters. I love Noah and had a hard time watching him go through some of the things he did. Trisha was the perfect self-consumed bride and was mostly a distraction in the book. I totally understood what Charlotte's Dad was going through. I felt his pain and understood his absence from the story. I loved the addition of Michael and the bigger role for Bliss. Bliss’s part may have been a little convenient but I still liked it.

Overall, if you have been reading the Past Midnight series, you should certainly pick this one up for your conclusion. I can see another book after this but the main issues have been resolved.

[#ReadAllTheBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to have to tone down my geekthusiam while writing this review because quite frankly, I thought this book was awesome. It's one of the best in the Past Midnight series so far, in my humble opinion.

If you couldn't guess from my earlier statement, I loved this book. I loved that it was such a quick & easy read. Also great was that we get a deeper look into the character of Bliss, someone that many will recognize as the former Queen of Mean that she used to be in some of the previous books. We get a better look into her character, showing us things that really help explain how & why she's acted like she has in the past. It really was a good look into a character that could stand to have a series of her own eventually. (After you read this book you'll understand why this could work.)

What really impressed me was that there weren't a lot of punches pulled in this book. People who are a little squeamish will probably wince at the ending since it can get a little on the gory side. You also have to have read the previous books in the series in order to really appreciate everything that's going on here. Enough is explained that new readers will be able to keep up but it probably won't be as fun for them as it would for someone who has read the entire run so far.

I'm not sure if this is the last book in the series or not, to be honest. There's a definite "ending" feel to this book & if Purnhagen did decide to end the series, this would be a terrific ending. I hope she continues the series in some form or fashion (whether with Charlotte or with another character) because there's still a whole world here to explore, especially the world of the Protectors, a group of people whose entire purpose is to protect people like Charlotte.

This is definitely one of my top 10 books of the year. If you haven't read any of Purnhagen's previous books, you need to get them & read them just so you can read Beyond the Grave. It's that good. I have to say, this book is making me want to start over at the beginning of the series & re-read them all, including 1.5.

This is a must read for anyone who loves supernatural fiction! Not a teen? Don't worry because you don't have to be under 18 in order to love this book.

5 out of 5 stars!

(ARC provided by Netgalley)


P.S. I read on the author's blog that this has been optioned for a TV series! I'm definitely crossing my fingers that the bigwigs at CBS realize that they've got a good thing here!

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cover:

I feel that judging a cover of a book, by a small picture on my computer screen just isn't fair. Since, I only read Beyond the Grave, in e-book form, I don't believe it would be right.

Characters-

In Beyond the Grave, I really liked all of the characters; they all seemed real and down to earth. There was no mean girl, or jerk.

Charlotte, the main character, is someone I could easily be friends with. Noah, is the biggest sweetheart. Bliss, even though her and Charlotte never got along in high school, was still so nice and kind to Charlotte in her time of need.

All of the characters were fantastic, and I loved their relationships with one another(:

Story Line:

I have to admit, I really enjoy watching those paranormal, ghost hunting shows! Everyone keeps trying to tell me, their fake and it's not real. But still, I just really like watching them, I just think their very interesting.

Even though I love watching the shows, I would never want to or even have the guts to be one of these ghost hunters. Going into peoples' houses at night, and asking a ghost to show itself, just doesn't seem like it would be my kind of thing.

In Beyond the Grave, that's exactly what Charlotte and her family do. They go to haunted houses, churches, and prisons, to find paranormal activity. In one of their recent cases, Charlotte's mom was attacked by an entity and has been in a coma for months already.

Not having enough footage, to make another DVD, Shane (Charlotte's older brother), his girlfriend, Noah (Charlotte's boyfriend) and Charlotte go back to the haunted prison. Of course without permission from their dad, because he would never let them go back, after what happened to their mom.

Which is totally understandable, because no one would want to lose their wife and their kids. But on the other hand, their family depends on the money that comes in through the DVDs, and if they don't finish,

they won't have money.

When everything seems to be going great for Charlotte and Noah, Noah starts to act differently; almost like he's not fully there. Has the Watcher taken both her mom and her boyfriend from her? How far will Charlotte go to get her family back?

I honestly don't like reading e-books, but if I have to, I will. But I feel like it affects my opinions on the book. Even though, the copy I read was an e-book copy from netgalley, I still had a great time reading it. It was something new and fresh that I haven't read before(:

[usagi ☆ミ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, out of all of the books in the series, I think I like (what looks to be) this final piece of the story. However, I do feel like the final battle with the Watcher could have been a whole lot bigger than it was, which is why this didn’t get a higher rating from me. Regardless, Purnhagen definitely did a great job tying up all of the loose ends, and opens the door for another story in this universe. Whether she’ll be doing more in the “Past Midnight” world has yet to be seen, but I can see where there’s still room for storytelling here, and that’s hard to pull off when you’re ending a series.

I like how Michael and Bliss connected into Charlotte’s short history in her new town, and the way Purnhagen handled Charlotte’s mother’s injuries when she woke up – as Charlotte says, it doesn’t happen “like it does in a soap opera”, and that’s very true. That was very realistic and so few YA books have that bit of realism when there’s a severe traumatic injury involving a coma-state in their stories. So I definitely have to give Purnhagen props for keeping it real there, even with all of the paranormal bits flying around in the story as a whole.

What felt a bit underdeveloped was how the Watcher and Noah’s family connected – the connections felt random and very tenuous at best, and I feel like that had there been another draft, it could have been a lot stronger as it’s kind of a big part of this final book. I felt a bit let down with that, and wished that the Watcher connection (and the Protector connection in terms of Bliss, for that matter) had been fleshed out a bit more.

But when it comes down to it, I was more or less pretty pleased with this ending. In some ways, it exceeded my expectations, and in some, disappointed them, but as a whole, everything felt more or less rounded out. It’ll be interesting to see where Purnhagen goes after this if she does choose to continue the “Past Midnight” universe, and what she’ll do with it. This is a fun series and there’s a lot to be played with that hasn’t really been addressed yet. I look forward to more books should they come along, but even if they don’t I’m happy with what I got.

(posted to goodreads, shelfari, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com)

[Emily WilowRaven · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thoughts:
I absolutely loved book 1 of this series and book 2 was equally awesome. Sorry to say, I was a little disappointed with Beyond the Grave, book 3. I still really enjoyed it but I didn't love it as much as books 1 and 2.

The main reason I didn't love Beyond the Grave was the fact that it wasn't really a ghost story anymore. Too much random paranormal elements for my tastes. The basics that made books 1 and 2 great were still there - the same characters and some of the same types of situations but yeah, there was a lot of 'other' paranormal stuff that just didn't seem to fit.

We met a new character, Michael and at first I was very skeptical because my 'oh no not another love triangle' radar was on full alert. But, thankfully, I was wrong. Michael isn't a love interest but there was a still a problem with him for me. I never got a firm grasp on exactly what he was. He plays this role - again - sort of just thrown into the story and I never saw the point of him being there.

Another issue I had was with the character Bliss. In books 1 and 2 she is the stereotypical bitchy snooty know it all and her and Charlotte never become friends. She isn't even really important to the stories. But in Beyond the Grave, all of a sudden, she is important. First as a confidant of Charlotte - which makes no sense at all and then as a player in the weird paranormal stuff going on - which again, didn't seem to fit - at least to me.

What did I like? Charlotte and her family and friends and everyone I grew to love in books 1 and 2. And even though I didn't like the paranormal elements throw in, I did like the overall story. I liked how everything played out and I liked the tidy ending.

Final verdict:
As the final book to the series, I think Mara did an excellent job tying up loose ends without tying things up too tightly. When I walk away from beloved characters, I want to feel as if they are continuing on without me watching over them and that's exactly how I felt reading the last page of Beyond the Grave.

Is this series worth the read? Defiantly. Especially if you like ghost stories with a few twists. I'm sad to say goodbye to Charlotte and her family and friends but overall, the entire series was a big win for me.

[Liliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

For more of the review: http://lili-lost-in-a-book.blogspot.c...

Three months ago a demon-like entity attacked Charlotte’s family and friends, leaving them all injured. Her boyfriend Noah came out of the deal with an unfading bruise that, to this day, reminds Charlotte of the attack, making her feel guilty all over again. Charlotte’s scar on the palm of her hand is slowly fading. And although both her parents were also hurt, her mother got the worst of it. Still in a coma from the severe head injury, they moved Charlotte’s mother from the hospital to a long-term care facility.

As if things couldn't get any worse, Noah has been acting very strange lately and lying to Charlotte, something he never did. Charlotte is worried that the Watcher may have somehow gotten a hold of Noah and she isn’t sure how to help.

With the help of Michael, the Protector, someone who can possibly help defeat the Watcher when he becomes too powerful, Charlotte sets out to save her mother and Noah. But time starts to run out when Noah goes missing. Its up to Charlotte and her new fiends to stop the Watcher before anyone else gets seriously hurt.

Man, what can I say about this book? It was totally awesome! It was so suspenseful that it nearly killed me! Not literally, mind you. The story was well developed and had smooth transitions from present to past and then back to present. And the characters went through an amazing change! The one who surprised me the most was Bliss. She was just...wow. I don't want to spoil anything but she had a big role in this book and she totally caught me off guard! I actually ended up liking her :)

And that Watcher thing...OMG! Again, I don't want to give too much away, but he totally freaked me out! Can I just say that Charlotte makes one hell of a heroine!

I would recommend this series to those who love a good ghost story because this one was just amazing!

I'm kinda sad that story ended though; this is definitely one of my favorite series! But I have to say, I really liked the ending. It was very satisfactory and it wrapped up things nicely.

I will definitely be on the lookout for more books by Mara!

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I pick up a book in the Past Midnight series, I have problems putting it down. They are such short, fun reads, but are so thrillingly creepy that I have to keep on turning pages even as I am looking over my shoulder.

Although I didn't enjoy this one as much as I did with the two others before, it was still a satisfying read that had genuine scares. Charlotte is still a likeable heroine who is brave, loyal, even if she does suffer occasionally from the ostrich syndrome where she pretends that if she just acts like nothing is wrong then it will all of a sudden be true.

I liked that Charlotte is suffering after effects of her traumatic experiences, and I love how the author does not baby her characters or her readers. Blood is spilled and people get hurt - which is I think what is missing in most paranormal YA these days. Angst about your secret-yet-special background / long lost love / why you can't be together does not a story make. I also liked that Charlotte is kind of caught in limbo. She's afraid and clinging to her childhood in a way, even though she has to grow up very quickly in the past two books. She's scared of moving on because that may mean that she will have to leave her mother behind.

What I didn't like though was how Charlotte, who was always trying to find ways to resolve things in the previous two books, turned out to be so passive in this book. She doesn't ever directly challenge Noah, who is acting strangely. She doesn't face her fears until after serious poking and prodding by everyone in her life. She was withdrawn and not quite like the character I remembered. Same with the addition of the new character and his role, to which I reacted with a huh? Because this was not mentioned or even hinted at in the previous books. I felt that he was unnecessary, even though I grudgingly liked the twist at the end of why he was memorable to Charlotte, but I thought that Bliss played the role well enough.

Even after the slight stumble in this book, I am looking forward to new books by this author. I think I read somewhere that this story won't be continued, and that is disappointing to me because I would still like to read more about the Silver family.

[Princess Bookie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My Thoughts: Oh gosh!! I really have enjoyed this series. I gave the first book 4 cupcakes, the second book 5 cupcakes, and now the third book 3 cupcakes. I just didn't love this one as much as the others.

We are back with Charlotte and her sticky life. After the last book, her mother is still in a coma, her dad's still pining away trying to be there in case she wakes up, Charlotte is trying to figure out what is going on with her boyfriend Noah, and Annalise is away at college. Oh, and Noah's mom is planning her wedding. The wedding that they weren't supposed to have without Charlotte's mom being there.

In Beyond the Grave, we learn more about what happened at the ending of 100 Candles. We learn more about why Noah is acting the way he is and why her mom can't seem to wake up.

We also learn more about The Watcher and The Protector.

Honestly, I just don't think there was enough action in this book. And hardly any romance at all. Noah was kind of aloof for most of this book and he just wasn't interesting anymore. And maybe it was just me, but I didn't care much for the Watcher or Protector angle. I just wanted things to be happy and Charlotte and Noah to get their relationship back on track and I wanted her mom to wake up!

Beyond The Grave was still an alright book but I did enjoy the other two books more. Will I still read anything else Mara writes? Yes, of course. This just wasn't the best book for me. You might like it more than me, there just wasn't enough real action to tide me over.

Overall: Just okay in my opinion. Not a bad book, just sad to see the series come to an end and I wasn't as invested in this one as the others. Probably a 3.5 more than a 3 cupcake book for me.

Cover: Like it. Like the red color!

What I'd Give It: 3/5 Cupcakes
_________________________________

Review Based On Softcover Edition

Taken From Princess Bookie
www.princessbookie.com

[Paula Phillips · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Cemetries are like Quiet peaceful islands slipped inside the forgotten corners of every busy city"
As the night creeps on and being October - the month of scares , I figured I would turn from Historical Fiction to a Supernatural Teen Fiction , bringing out Ghosts and Possessions.
Beyond the Grave by Mara Purnhagen is Book #3 in the Past Midnight Series , a series that focuses on the Silver family and their ghostly antics. If you are a fan of Ghost Whisperer and Supernatural , then this is the series for you as the Silver family make their money in seeing the dead , filming haunted buildings etc. In Book #2 Raising the Dead we read as a creature known as The Watcher was released, a demon of sorts and this caused tragedy for the Silver family and threw Charlotte's plans out of whack. Now in Book #3 Beyond The Grave we read as their mother is in a coma at the local hospital after being attacked by The Watcher, her dad strickened with grief and Charlotte herself now has to deal with full-blown panic attacks and has put off the idea of attending college out of state , so that she can be close to look after her Dad. When it comes to the light that her family need the money from their latest project , Charlotte teams up with Shane and boyfriend Noah to finish the project, however something is up with Noah as he starts to act like he has a split personality , is he possessed ? What happened when Noah was filming at the prison ? With The Watcher on the loose, we meet Michael - a guardian of sorts -he is known as The Protector . Can Michael help heal Charlotte's mum and protect the Silver family from the creature known as The Watcher before anyone else gets hurt ? Can Noah be saved or is this the last we see of Noah as it starts to take him over ?
Find out in Beyond The Grave - book #3 of Past Midnight Series by Mara Purnhagen.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read book 2 but I had no problem falling back into Charlotte's world. This book was a little slower than the previous books but I felt like it matched the wait-and-see mentality that the entire Silver family was forced to take after Charlotte's mother was injured and left in a coma. You know, "slower" isn't quite right. It was languid. It unfurled in bits and pieces. It gave me the feeling you get when something momentous happens and the world is rushing by you while you're standing still. Which, once again, reflects Charlotte's experiences in this book.

A large portion of this book is Charlotte trying to juggle going to college while dealing with her guilt over her part in her mother's injury plus a lot of unexplained occurrences which might be related to the Watcher. Her father's time is consumed with his wife's well-being and Charlotte doesn't want to put any more of a burden on him. Naturally, she tries to deal with things in her own way. She's having panic attacks and she's in a new environment and she's not sure who she can trust. But she manages to do it. She manages to pull herself together and figure things out. She trusts her gut and her intuition and she gets people to help her when the chips are down.

I really like how Charlotte's family pulls together. I like that Charlotte is expanding her circle of friends while holding on to her old ones. I like that Noah and she are trying to make things work even though they've had a lot of obstacles thrown in their path.

All in all, while the story moves slowly it closes out the lingering questions and ends on a solid note.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

[Rhonda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the seconnd book that I have read in this series. I would love to read the others. It stands alone, but does mention things from the other books.
The book starts with Charoltte saying,"I never should have sent my boyfriend to the electric chair."
Noah is strapped to a electric chair at Southern Penitentiary. They are are vidio taping at the closed prison to finsh the DVD for thier work.
Mr. Pate is the prison historian says it is not hard to sit in the chair. So they hooked him up but he could not spend even 5 minutes.
Charoltte's mom has been in a coma for over 3 months since the attack by a watcher. She is in a long term care center. It has been getting harder for Charoltte to see her mom. She has been getting panic attacks since the attack when she hears loud banging noises.
Charoltte's dad is spending even some nights at care center. So she has hid the panic attacks from him.
Shane and Noah's mom are planning their wedding. Shane is also trying to finsh the dvd since her parents cant do it by the time the contract says.
Shayne is her uncle. Noah is Charoltte boyfriend.
Noah has been sleep walking and lying to everyone about what he has been doing lately.
Michael is new guy Charoltte met who is a protector assigned to her and her mother to fight the watcher (is a evil spirit of someone that takes possesion of another and is hard to stop.)when he comes back.
The story keeps my attention did not want to stop reading last night but had to finsh it this morning. I would love to read more books in this series. I was
involved in the story and wanted to find out what was really going on with Noah and If her mom ever came out of the comma.
I was given this ebook in exchange for honest review.

[Brob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that I found the first book in this series to be “ok” and the second book really piqued my interest in the series with the curveball that happened in the end (see my reviews in the archives). I was a little apprehensive about the plot of this installment. **Spoilers** The second book doesn’t end well with Charlotte’s mom having sustained a severe head injury. I felt like this book could be a major growing part for the characters or it would be really depressing with the loss of such a vital part of the family unit in the series. I must say that I was really happy that it the first and not the latter.

We see Charlotte grow tremendously in this book along with Noah. They both go through so much that they can’t help but mature and grow. Charlotte finds an inner strength that is amazing. While dealing with her own emotions over her mother she also must deal with her dad and his issues surrounding that night. I liked that we see more of just Charlotte. There isn’t as much interaction with Avery or other supporting characters.

New characters are introduced in the series that counter the Watcher. I really thought that this was well done as it introduces a new belief without seeming outrageous. Furthermore, there are some revelations that once again come at the end of the story that are shocking.

It seems as though things are wrapped up in this book so you aren’t left at a cliffhanger at the end of this book. It is still open to possibly have more books but it doesn’t end with a major event that we have to wait for a resolution for. Overall, I give the book a 4/5.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third and final addition to this series, and a fairly good read although not my favourite book of the trilogy. I found myself being frustrated sometimes with Charlotte's inability to see what was going on in front of her. The book has a few twists and turns, but I had guessed them all before they happened and was just waiting for our heroine to catch up. The ending does wrap everything up nicely though.

The story starts shortly after One Hundred Candles left off, and there is a novella "Haunting The Night" that bridges the gap between One Hundred Candles and Beyond the Grave.

Although Noah played a big part in the story, I was disappointed that we don't really get to see very much of him. There was also a lot of setting the background for the finale, and minimal action in the first two thirds of the book.

Charlotte has a hard time in this book, struggling with her mum being in a coma and starting community college when her best friend has gone away to college. She is feeling pretty low but manages to find a good friendship in an unusual place! Over the course of the book we see the emotional growth in Charlotte as she pushes through her problems and gets her 'spark' back with the help of her friends and family.

I did enjoy the story and how it developed on and concluded the events in the first two books. if you have read the other two books in the series, Past Midnight and One Hundred Candles then I do recommend this book. It would not make a very good stand alone story, as I do think that you would need to understand previous events before really being able to appreciate it.

[Kate Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

YAY I love you Netgalley!

More reviews can be found at my blog Nomalicious Reads

I was beyond excited when I saw Beyond the Grave on Netgalley, and very happy that I was lucky enough to be accepted to read it; since I've been eagerly waiting for this third installment in Mara Purnhagen's Past Midnight series.

 "I never should have sent my boyfriend to the electric chair"

Is the very first line that had my mouth opening in shock thinking 'what the?' and then eagerly flipping the pages to find out what was going on.

After reading the final page, I'm still not quite sure how I feel about Beyond the Grave, it was good, but I found it somewhat lacking, I'm not quite sure what it was for me, maybe it was the amount of time that had passed since the second book, or possibly Charlotte's constant denial of the paranormal after everything she had been through (that irked me something horrid).

Or maybe it was just me being weird.

All up, it ended nicely, most of the questions were answered, Charlotte grew as a character and I think she most likely wont be in denial again... (if so I will chase her around with a sharp object!)

I'm pretty sure that this is the last book since the ends were all tied up nicely, but a fourth book could possibly be made.

I thouroughly enjoyed reading Mara's books, and if this series is completed I will be waiting for her next, secretly hoping that it will be another haunting tale!

I give Beyond the grave 3.5 stars.

[Savannah (Books With Bite) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I can say that I liked this book more, but I didn't. I have been following this series from the very beginning. And while the first two books I enjoyed immensely, I felt like this book did nothing but repeat itself. Another haunting, more dealing with drama with friends, and boyfriend drama. I was hoping that I get more different element in this book. I still love the paranormal aspect to it but of course wanted something new added as well.

What I liked most about this book are the characters. The main character, Charlotte has come a long way from where she started. She is much more confident in herself and her abilities. She no longer hides in the shadow of her sister. I loved how strong she is and does not give up. She knows what she wants and goes for it. Though you do see her slide a bit, but it makes her characters much more approachable.

The plot of this book is my only gripe. I do like how the reader got to see more of the Watcher and great paranormal aspect. I was just tired of seeing the same fight. You know what I mean? I hoped for a bigger or better fight. Something different in it. I also enjoyed the great family dynamic in it. This family has been through it all. They manged to stick together and not give up.

A great paranormal book with great characters, you want to read this book! If have started this series or have followed it from the beginning, you see the growth of Charlotte and who she is meant to be. Ms. Purnhagen did a good job on closing all the lose ends, and giving the reader a very satisfying ending!

[Catalina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler alert. If you have not read the first few books in the series I highly recommend not reading this review. Unless of course you are curious about what happens, than go for it.

While I did find most of the book uninteresting, I loved the ending, which sold it for me. I mean, there was only a little snippet of an investigation in the very begginning, and while I understand Charlottes mom is in the hospital so her father doesnt really feel like the team is there, but I really enjoy the investigations a lot. And a lot of the book was Charlotte not wanting to visit her mom in the hospital and keeping secrets for her boyfriend, and not confronting him and/or telling his mom or the other adults so they can help her. I really dont understand why she never confided in the older people in her life, but she goes on and on about how much family is the best and they never lie or put you down or whatever. But she cannot even mention to her family that some evil watcher is after her.
The watcher's identity itself was a bit of a surprise in itself, although it was a long time coming right? There were hints everywhere. Another death of course has to make the book. And the wedding scene...beautiful. The entire family deserved something happy to happen finally. And Noah won over my heart again. Hoping for more stories...maybe a new spin off about the protectors from Bliss and Michaels pov??? Haha I am clearly dreaming.