Book Review :: Midnight Sun, by Trish Cook

Midnight Sun by Trish Cook
ISBN: 9781444941784
Published by Hachette NZ
on 7th September 2017
Genres: Young Adult
Pages: 258
Source: Hachette Publishing NZ
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Seventeen-year-old Katie Price has a rare disease that makes exposure to even the smallest amount of sunlight deadly. Confined to her house during the day, her company is limited to her widowed father and her best (okay, only) friend. It isn't until after nightfall that Katie's world opens up, when she takes her guitar to the local train station and plays for the people coming and going.

Charlie Reed is a former all-star athlete at a crossroads in his life - and the boy Katie has secretly admired from afar for years. When he happens upon her playing guitar one night, fate intervenes and the two embark on a star-crossed romance.

As they challenge each other to chase their dreams and fall for each other under the summer night sky, Katie and Charlie form a bond strong enough to change them - and everyone around them - forever.

Last updated on 28 March 2023

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What is Midnight Sun by Trish Cook about?

Midnight Sun by Trish Cook is the story of Katie. Katie can’t go outside or she’ll die. Sounds extreme, and it is: Katie has xeroderma pigmentosum (XP), which means she basically severally allergic to UV light.

All her life she’s been nocturnal; sleeping in the day, being awake at night. As she can’t go to school, Katie’s father has been home-schooling her, and she’s acing her assignments and online education. But as well as studying at night, loving the stars, and wishing she could meet new people, Katie has a major crush on Charlie Reed.

Charlie attends the local high school, and unbeknown to him, Katie has watched him grow up over the years, from the safety of her window. But one evening, as she plays her guitar at the railway station, they meet. And with a little forward thinking and night-only adventures, their story begins.

As Katie starts to fall for Charlie, she knows she has to tell him about her XP. Her father and her best friend both think that she’s told him, but it’s after one fateful night out, everything goes wrong.

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My Thoughts on Midnight Sun

Midnight Sun was a fun, quick read that only took about 2 days. If I had sat down and just read it, it would have been done in a few hours. Short and sweet. And yet, incredibly predictable.

I liked Katie as a main character – her acceptance of her XP, and her love of music and song. Charlie was your typical best-looking-guy-in-school kind of boy, with qualities mostly only seen in Young Adult books and not in real life.

My main issue with this book was its predictability. I’m sure I don’t have to say much to make you guess the outcome of this story. Sick girl meets cute boy, Father is protective but eventually loosens the rules, there are lies, there’s an incident, there are consequences and something happens. Boom. You knew what was going to happen long before it did. Having said that! Sometimes predictability is nice. And in this case, it was fun to read a short book that was well written and had creative characters, and which dealt with something like XP. Despite it being easy to tell exactly where the story was headed, I did enjoy reading it.

Overall I’d give it 2.5 stars I think. I probably won’t be reading it again, but if you’re a quick read with YA tropes and decent characters, make sure you pick up a copy of Midnight Sun.

Have you read Midnight Sun? What did you think?

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Thank you to Hachette Publishing NZ for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.