A review by meagan_kay
Midnight at the Electric by Jodi Lynn Anderson
4.0
I'm honestly not sure what I expected from this book, but it was very different than I though it would be. When I started reading it, I had no real idea of what it was about, and all I knew about it was the description on the book jacket (which is basically just a short description of each main character). I think that I expected the book to have some sort of magical/sci-if element to it, but I'm really not sure.
At one point, while I was reading the book, I thought to myself "What's the point of this story?" It has no main goal for the characters to accomplish or evil for them to defeat, it is simply a story about the characters' lives (and how they intertwine). This idea was a bit foreign to me, not because I'd never read or watched anything like it before, but because I didn't expect this book to focus on this concept. The story didn't really contain a shocking twist at the end or a surprising revelation, which I was expecting, but the plot had no need for these things. The telling of the characters' story was enough to make the book intriguing.
The one thing that I didn't really enjoy about the book was that Andri's chapters were not written in 1st person. It is rare that I enjoy reading books in this perspective, and I'd normally be thrilled that her story had a 3rd person POV, but in this case, I think that 1st person would have made more sense. Not only was the rest of the book in 1st person (due to the letters/diary entries), but, to me, the writing just felt like it should be in 1st person (it actually felt more awkward in 3rd person, which is unusual)
Regardless of my uncertainty about my expectations, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and (sometimes) relatable, and I found myself very invested in their stories.
I'm not sure if I would give this book 4 or 4.5 stars, so I'll just call it somewhere in between.
At one point, while I was reading the book, I thought to myself "What's the point of this story?" It has no main goal for the characters to accomplish or evil for them to defeat, it is simply a story about the characters' lives (and how they intertwine). This idea was a bit foreign to me, not because I'd never read or watched anything like it before, but because I didn't expect this book to focus on this concept. The story didn't really contain a shocking twist at the end or a surprising revelation, which I was expecting, but the plot had no need for these things. The telling of the characters' story was enough to make the book intriguing.
The one thing that I didn't really enjoy about the book was that Andri's chapters were not written in 1st person. It is rare that I enjoy reading books in this perspective, and I'd normally be thrilled that her story had a 3rd person POV, but in this case, I think that 1st person would have made more sense. Not only was the rest of the book in 1st person (due to the letters/diary entries), but, to me, the writing just felt like it should be in 1st person (it actually felt more awkward in 3rd person, which is unusual)
Regardless of my uncertainty about my expectations, I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and (sometimes) relatable, and I found myself very invested in their stories.
I'm not sure if I would give this book 4 or 4.5 stars, so I'll just call it somewhere in between.