Chosen at Nightfall (A Shadow Falls Novel, 5)

Finally! We have the answers to this fun paranormal-school series. As another book that was on my "Midnight Release" shelf, I was so excited to have all of my questions answered--about Chameleons, her Dad's premonition and, of course, the torrid love triangle between Kylie, Lucas and Derek. With all of that, this was sure to be an excellent story. And, it was. Well, at least the story was good.The "story" was lovely. Like the other novels in the series, Kylie is visited by a frightening ghost who is cryptic in explaining her needs; Kylie discovers the relevancy and truth of the ghost's past at the last minute; Kylie deals with being a hormonal teenager that is prone to embarrassing moments; all other teenagers and couples have their own romantic journeys; and, finally, as the last novel in the series, there is the inevitable showdown between Kylie and Mario as well as the highly anticipated earth-shattering romantic decision. Like, I said, the story was good. With all of those elements, Hunter does well to complete the story nicely and a bit Austen-ish as it wraps up all of the loose ends with a pretty bow leaving readers all gooey-feel-good.Obviously, with reader's apparent divide (Team Derek or Team Lucas), some will be devastated by Kylie's choice--I'd say about 50%. That being said, Hunter maps out Kylie's choice authentically in that it's not made upon whimsy. Regardless of what "team" readers are on, I think most can appreciate that Kylie undergoes a life-changing struggle to trusting men again, in general. Because of her internal battle, Chosen at Nightfall is much less focused on her interactions with the two heart-throbs than any of the others in the series. For some readers, this may lessen the romantic thrill offered; during the novel's middle, especially, I was surprised by how little sexual tension or romance of any sort there was. While of course I was bummed by the absence of romantic action, I think to have done otherwise would have been an injustice to Kylie's character development.Additionally, because Kylie was so introspective throughout the novel, there is significantly less interaction with the wonderfully witty supporting characters, including Miranda and Della. A couple of chocolate parties and a few great one-liners complete their impact on the text. The brevity of the hilarious Della may be due in part to Hunter's upcoming series that specifically traces Della's continued adventures.Finally, the writing. Now, I may have suddenly become a writing snob in the last year, but I doubt it. Even following the disastrous writing style of The Elite , I found myself getting angry at how repetitive and seemingly condescending the writing was. Chosen at Nightfall simply wasn't as tight as the previous novels. I understand the literary merit of motifs, but generally it's symbolic rather than pure repetition of the same idea over and over again. It was as if Hunter anticipated an amnesiac reader. That all important "clues" were beaten into the reader took away the thrill of the mystery.That Hunter repeatedly fell into a "last time on..." recap mode was also insulting. We knew what the issues were when we picked up the book, and because Mario's not dead and two guys are still hounding her for a choice, we know there are unresolved issues. They didn't need to be outlined as such so often.And it repeats often as, for example, "Kylie lay in bed staring at the ceiling, playing mind games with her issues. Round and round they go, which one to fret over, nobody knows", which is a cute introduction to a monotonous process of listing Kylie's emotional ailments.I really enjoyed the story here. I love the premise that began the Shadow Falls series, and I am so glad to have finished Kylie's story and saw the characters "grown up" and happy. It's a mark of a wonderful series that makes a reader feel like they know the characters throughout and then ends in such a way that satisfies such invested readers' needs. The series accomplishes that well. This is not my favourite book in the series, but I'm thankful to have read it.

A pre-warning, this review will contain spoilers for the previous books in the series. Read at your own risk.Wow. I literally just finished this book. It blew me away. Like, I think I'm on Neptune or something right now, this book was so amazing. Chosen at Nightfall is the final book in the Shadow Falls series by C.C. Hunter. C.C. does an amazing job messing with my feels. She does everything just right, so that I am completely overwhelmed by feels, but in a good way. The book did not murder or harm my feels in any way. Which, let me say, was a welcome reprieve. Books recently *cough*Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare*cough* have simply harmed my heart. Chosen at Nightfall caused my heart to leap and soar, there was some pain, but everything is wrapped up in the end. There are a couple strings left untied, but they will lead perfectly into the sequel series about the main character's best friend Della, which comes out next year.The main character is Kylie Galen. In short, her father and grandmother are dead ghosts who visit her on occasion, her mother and stepfather are divorced, her mother is dating a man Kylie believes to be a creep, and her grandfather and great-aunt are WAY overprotective. But somehow, she manages to love her family anyway. Oh, and I forgot to mention something. Kylie was dating a guy named Lucas. Turns out, he cheated on her. To his credit he didn't go through with the other girl, and never planned to, but still. And then there's Derek. He may not be the love of her life like Lucas, but he's a steady constant. He's always there when she needs support. In the book, Kylie will choose one of the boys mentioned above. Kylie is a REALLY strong character. She makes a lot of tough decisions sixteen year-olds should not half to make. Yet somehow, she makes them with pride and grace, even though she doesn't always realize it. These decision making skills have also made her the official relationship guru at Shadow Falls (the camp and school she attends with other supernaturals). The fact that she actually has good relationship advice completely baffles her. Kylie is also a strong person who doesn't back down, though this can sometimes (okay, very often) lead to her being obnoxiously stubborn about some things, it also makes her relatable.The writing in this book is superb. C.C. Hunter is able to perfectly portray the voice of a teenage girl going through teenage issues. Not necessarily normal issues, but teenage issues non the less. The story is powerful and has a clear, and good, message. One of the characters, a woman named Holiday who is like an older sister to Kylie, often talks about people's quests. Meaning, you set a goal for a period of time or for life. Kylie has a reoccurring quest to discovery who she is. This is an issue often addressed by teens. The teen years is really a time when we change, as well as discover who we are. And the author shows just that. Each of the characters goes through a journey in the book and the series, slowly discovering themselves and just what they stand for and how far they're willing to go to make change happen.

I loved the cover of this book, as I have loved all the other covers. However the love triangle angle in this book did wear a little thin.So did Kylie's up and down emotions over Lucas. It was all a bit heh.Kylie got little more information in regards to her species but we didn't actually learn that much about the Chameleons.I did love Burnett and Holiday though. I thought that they made a lovely couple but thought that Holiday needed to treat them less like little sisters.Kylie's mother, I didn't like at all as she acted more like a spoiled brat than the mother she was supposed to be.I had hoped there would be more about the Death Angels, but again there was very little information given about them.I do hope however that there are other books involving some other the other camp members getting their happy endings like Miranda and Perry, Derek and Jenny. A little more closure would be nice.Although it was a decent book to close the series, I had hoped for more.

Chosen at Nightfall is an amazing ending to an amazing series. From book one I have been captivated by the Shadow falls novels. I was hooked from the very beginning and I am still thinking about it weeks after I finished the book.Chosen at Nightfall helps to tie up all the loose ends, all of our questions are answered. Like who will Kylie choose? What is she and what can she do? Will she escape Mario?We also get to see more of Holiday and Burnetts relationship. Chosen at Nightfall is a stunning conclusion to this epic series that will remain in my thoughts for many years to come. I recommend this to anyone who loves fantasy novels and the supernatural. For fans of the other books too!

I saw so many positive reviews for this book and despite having adored the series, I feel slightly cheated by Hunter's writing style in this book. I feel like Hunter really rushed through every interesting scene that could have been, and only really went into detail when Kylie was lamenting over Lucas, which to be honest became slightly dull after a while. As much as I loved the development of Holiday and Burnett as parental figures, as well as all the other characters I thought that the way everything tied up at the end was just too easy, and I wanted someone to be left with a broken heart.Although I now realise it was a bad idea to read this book straight after Cassandra Clare's "City of Heavenly Fire" (a MUST READ for anyone who hasn't), I can't help but thinking that this book could have been done better if it had been made slightly longer and some of the tension had been drawn out.However having said all this, I have to admit that this book does make you laugh at the character's quirks and is an enjoyable read, but leaves you with the feeling that something is missing.

This series is fabulous and Chosen at Nightfall is a fitting end. It's so well written, the characters feel alive and you live their actions - the sign of a good book. Kylie, Derek, Lucas, Miranda and Della have grown so well together. The main characters, Kylie and Lucas have their ups and downs with themselves and their families and I'm not giving any more away.I notice that Della is the next to be written about, I can't wait.I thoroughly recommend this series for teenagers and upwards (I'm not a YA reader but a good book is a good book)A great escapist, fantasy read, well worth five stars.

Firstly, Im a girl.I seriously suggest this book for teens with a love for YA because this book has nearly everything. If you've got this far though I guess you don't need me to tell you that so all I'm going to say is... Read on cause this book is the grand finale you don't want to miss!If your browsing books I would really suggest reading this series because it is amazing. This is the last book but the name of the first is Born at Midnight. C C Hunter has a few faults but none take away from this book - it's awesome!!