Review: Thirteen Days to Midnight by Patrick Carman!

Before the review:

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Overall Rating: 5
Characters: 4.9
Plot: 4.9

Cover Art: 4 

{The model looks to be about 12-years-old. Jacob is a sophomore--15 to 16-years-old--in the book.}

Originality: 5

Concept: 5

Favorite Line(s):

"And in my dream I saw a black lion of death coming to take me away."- This is just so haunting when you read it in context.

Synopsis:

I really hate the synopsi* posted in various places for this book, so I'm just making up my own.

Boy has friend. Boy meets girl. They all become friends. Boy has a secret. Boy shares secret. Friends get themselves into some deep crud.

Thirteen Days to Midnight is, in one word, incredible. 

The story opens with our protag., Jacob, returning to his private school, Holy Cross, after a week long break due to a traumatic event. A few pages after this scene I realized that my eyes were glued to the novel and weren't, not even for sleep, going anywhere. Carman's characters draw you in and the intensity of the plot keeps you there.

The adventure Jacob, Milo, & Oh find themselves 'dragged' into is dangerous in the way that motorcycles are dangerous. If used correctly, with the right gear & proper training, they're not dangerous at all. But, when put into the hands of let's say three teenagers, things can get very dangerous. Something stirs inside the teens, something that makes them want to push the bike's limits, test how hard they can push it, how fast it can go. A feeling gives them the urge to want to do things that may be fun for a while, but they know shouldn't be messed with. Temptation.

Temptation is found in many places & can take many forms. The most dangerous kind of temptation is the temptation of teenagers with power. Face it, we're moody, hate to be told what to do, & act irrationally and emotionally nine times out of ten. (Hormones, people, they're always pumping.) When Jacob and his friends are given power, they react irrationally and get themselves into a pickle. A big one...we're talking Guiness Book of World Records sized pickle. Yeah, they screw up a bit.

The way the three friends handle everything feels very natural, logical. They act like you'd expect them to react, emotionally, irrationally. This works because they are teenagers, and they will make mistakes. Instead of sitting around on their arses and weeping though, they take action and get things done. 

The characters in Thirteen Days are strong willed, smart, fierce, and funny. They make you care what happens in the storyline, what happens to them. Jacob, Milo, Oh, & even Father Tim breathe, and give this book exactly what it needs to earn a 5 star rating from me.

Summing it up:

Please, do yourself a favor. Get this book now.

*Thanks to Around the World ARC Tours for supplying me with this book!

"Don't Unplug Me"-All Caps,