Book Review: One Past Midnight by Jessica Shirvington

Paranormal romance is so 2010. Technically, there actually exist a few exceptions to this rule. One of them is One Past Midnight. If you’re a fan of young adult literature, romance, or interesting characters, you’ve got to pick up Jessica Shirvington’s novel!

Although Miley Stewart might have lived two lives, she’s got nothing on protagonist Sabine of One Past Midnight. She actually lives two lives. Sorry Hannah, but Sabine beat you this time. Her life in Wellesley provides everything she thinks she needs – the boyfriend, the friends, the car, and the money. But the truth is, Sabine doesn’t have it all. Every night at midnight, Sabine Shifts to her other life, where she plays the daughter in a financially struggling family. Life is hard in the Roxbury district of Boston. However, when a sudden twist of events brings her a gorgeous guy named Ethan, Sabine must decide what she’s willing to risk in order to have her idea of a perfect life.

I fell in love with the plot of One Past Midnight as soon as I read the synopsis. Yes, the part about Ethan turned out to be a little cheesy, but that flaw has nothing on the idea of two lives. Honestly, while there are a few other books with a similar plot to One Past Midnight, this one is still pretty fresh. However, as much as I loved the idea, it wasn’t executed as cleanly as it could’ve been. The author was very vague about the specifics of Sabine’s Shifting. I was still confused at the end of the novel.

Sabine is a beast, and I mean that as a compliment. She’s strong and smart, which is a lethal combination, even though she’s been cursed with two lives. Most importantly, though, she isn’t annoying. As a reader, irritating protagonists are the worst. Thankfully, I definitely enjoyed Sabine. She’s an intelligent heroine who more than holds her own in comparison to characters from other young adult books.

If there’s one thing you have to take away from this review, it’s that Jessica Shirvington writes beautifully. Not only does she fully immerse the reader in the story, but she also captures the reader’s heart. I don’t know how she does it, but I do know that I felt countless emotions as I read One Past Midnight. Sorrow, hope, passion, happiness, love; what else does a girl need to feel as she reads a novel?

Oh yeah, a temptation to devour all of Jessica Shirvington’s other novels. Yeah, I’m guilty.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens’ (July 22nd, 2014)

Source: Netgalley

ISBN #: 9780802737021

Valerie Zhang

Valerie is sixteen. She attends a boarding school near Boston, where she writes, reads, and attempts to be a studious student. She's too lazy to write the rest of this bio, so follow her on Twitter @torquoiseworld because shameless self-promotion is alive and thriving!