Review- The first two books in the Past Midnight Series

This series of books starts with Past Midnight.   The  book begins as we meet Charlotte, her sister Annalise and their parents.  The parents have a unique job.  They try to debunk the existence of ghosts.  They film documentaries and drag their daughters all over the world to investigate the paranormal activity.  They use science to prove that it is residual energy left in an emotional place.

Annalise is now at college.  Charlotte and her parents are investigating a restaurant in Anallise's college town.  Events do not go according to plan, Annalise is left spooked, which rarely happens because the girls have grown up around "haunted" activity. Because of the trauma, Annalise strikes a deal with the parents, let Charlotte live one year  in one place, no moving around, let her have a semi-normal year for her senior year of high school.

Charlotte is very excited, but she doesn't want her new friends to know what her parents do for a living.  She has been dubbed the "Paranormal Princess" and doesn't want the notoriety to influence  the kids at school. She would like to be considered normal for a change.

Of course, things never go as planned.  The residual energy from the restaurant follows her and she finds that her friends have some ghostly business to resolve.  She learns to help the living and the dead.  She also learns that good friends accept you, even when your home life is a little strange.

The story moved in a quick pace.  I was able to read it in a day.  I had no problems with the plot, storyline or writing.  This is a clean read that you can let your kids read without hesitation.  I did not find it to be too spooky, it was just a nice, comfortable read.

I purchased the copy that I read.  I had downloaded the second book at Netgalley, and thought it would be better to know what happens in the first book.

Book two, One Hundred Candles, starts off about two months where the first one ended.  There is a novella labelled 1.5 that occurs between the first two.  It is called Raising the Dead.  I didn't read it, it  has mixed reviews.  I am linking the titles to the Goodreads page of the books.  You can check them out if  you would like.

Near the beginning of the book there is a ceremony with 100 candles and the book ends with a ceremony of 100 candles. I liked that Mara Purnhagen was able to connect the beginning and the end.

I would say that the paranormal activity is more intense in the second book. I felt more connected to the story and was drawn into the world that Mara created.

Life isn't easy for Charlotte. She has some emotional issues that she is dealing with. She has guy problems, demon problems, and parental problems. There is a lot of growth from the beginning to the end of the story. The time line is about a four month period. 

I liked the way the story was written. It is perfect for the audience, the young adult and teenager. The emotional issues were expressed well and I think many could relate with them.

The ending of the book is not what I wanted, but I hope in the next book it will all be resolved. I look forward to reading it.

I received a copy to review from Netgalley.  Thanks to Harlequin teen for accepting my request to read the book.

The third book is scheduled to be released in September.  Here is a look at the cover. It is definitely on my to read list!