Summary from goodreads.com – It's taken a long time for me to feel like a normal teenager. But now that I'm settled in a new school, where people know me as more than Charlotte Silver of the infamous Silver family paranormal investigators, it feels like everything is falling into place. And what better way to be normal than to go on a date with a popular football star like Harris Abbott? After all, it's not as if Noah is anything more than a friend….
But my new life takes a disturbing turn when Harris brings me to a party and we play a game called One Hundred Candles. It seems like harmless, ghostly fun. Until spirits unleashed by the game start showing up at school. Now my friends and family are in very real danger, and the door that I've opened into another realm may yield deadly consequences.
Rhia’s Review – One of the things I think I loved most about this book was how well I was able to relate to charlotte this time around. Seeing her in a more stable state of mind about her family and school lives, I feel like I met the real Charlotte this time.
The storyline of One Hundred Candles was a bit more mature that Past Midnight and I got sucked in a lot quicker. It was little darker, a little more intense, and events had a greater impact on Charlotte than I think they did in Past Midnight. However, this book would not be anywhere near as enjoyable if Past Midnight hadn't set everything up first, and I think the transition from the first book to this one is perfect. It feels like the story is growing, just like Charlotte.
I felt as though new character Dr. Zelden was going play a bigger part in the story, and while he was very important, I kept expecting for him have to, shall we say, screen time. I do think, though, that he will probably appear in the later books.
With this book, Mara Purnhagen has turned me into a loyal fan, and joined the ranks of my most favorite authors. I'm now officially hoping she'll make it to the Decatur Book Festival someday so I can meet her.
I can't wait to see what's in store for Charlotte next. In fact, one of the best things about these books so far is that you can't easily tell where the story is going to go next. In most series, the next step in the epic quest is pretty much laid out for in the book you're reading, but the books in the Past Midnight series are mostly self contained. So while we know some of the personal things that Charlotte will be dealing with come the next book, it's hard to pinpoint exactly what supernatural force she will encounter next.
The Recommendation – I think anyone who is a fan of a good ghost story will really enjoy this series. Also, if you read the first book and wanted to know what happened next, but hadn't made up your mind about reading it yet, it is definitely worth your time. You won't be disappointed.
The Other Books – The events that took place in One Hundred Candles have left me burning to see what will happen in Beyond the Grave, book 3, which is out in September. It's definitely on my list!
The Vitals* – One hundred Candles is available from Harlequin Teen in paperback for $9.99.
The Links – Mara Purnhagen's Website
*=All prices are from the cover of the book itself and are subject to change without notice, and without this page reflecting those changes.
