Book Review: The Midnight Curse by L.M. Falcone

The Midnight Curse
by L.M. Falcone
Non-series

Kids Can Press
ISBN-10: 1-55453-358-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-55453-358-9
Publication Date: March, 2010
List Price: $18.95

Review: I could not put this book down. The book to which I am referring is titled The Midnight Curse, written by L.M Falcone. The main characters include the Darcy family consisting of Mrs. Darcy who works hard just to keep a roof over her family’s head, her eleven-year-old children, Charlie “the most superstitious kid you’ll ever meet,” and Lacey an overall calm child. Some other main characters include Great-uncle Jonathan a cursed man, Mrs. Rothbottom a weird psychic, Cornelius a lonely butler, Daniel a ghost in disguise, and Matty a silent and sometimes violent ghost.

It all begins when Great-Uncle Jonathon dies and Mrs. Darcy receives a letter in the mail inviting them to sign the will. After this, all chaos is unleashed. Charlie is given a bottle from Daniel that Great-Uncle Jonathan spoke into right before his death. When uncapped Charlie hears “The midnight curse has been passed onto you,” and totally freaks out. Charlie, because he is very superstitious, goes crazy and is put under a trance by Daniel to calm him down. They both soon find though that there are many people against them that they can’t trust, and that there are very few people they can trust. What is the midnight curse? How did the midnight curse come to be? How do they reverse the curse if they can? These questions can only be answered if you read the book.

The Midnight Curse is awesome. It has excitement throughout the whole book. After reading it, I told my whole family about it. Because of the superb writing, my description of the book is so vivid. For some reason the whole book has been burned into my brain. It is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Also after reading the book, I am able picture myself running around inside Cornelius’s mansion. The book is so descriptive that you feel like you are there. An example of this is “When we leaned in to take a look, blue butterflies fluttered out and up to the ceiling.” This book is also very funny. An example is “Charlie was thrilled when he spotted his favorite-baked beans in molasses-on the menu. He ate three bowls full before Mom cut him off. She said he’d be tooting all night, and that’s exactly what he did… it sounded like we were in a war zone.” One reason why I couldn’t put this book down might be because I never knew what was going to happen next. One minute they would be walking and the next something terrifying causes them to faint. This book is full of lies, disguises, and surprises. If someone does not read this book they will regret it I guarantee. This book deserves ten out of ten stars. I finished this book in less than five days after I got it. I even got in trouble for not putting it down! So if you read this book beware: it is highly addictive.

Review written by Devin (6th grade student).

We would like to thank Raab Associates, Inc. for providing a copy of The Midnight Curse for this review.

Have you read The Midnight Curse? How would you rate it?