Publisher: Eos
Date of Publication: February 2004
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 297
Source: local library
From Goodreads:
Nobody is safe in the secret hour.
Strange things happen at midnight in the town of Bixby, Oklahoma.
Time freezes.
Nobody moves.
For one secret hour each night, the town belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. Only a small group of people know about the secret hour -- only they are free to move about the midnight time.
These people call themselves Midnighters. Each one has a different power that is strongest at midnight: Seer, Mindcaster, Acrobat, Polymath. For years the Midnighters and the dark creatures have shared the secret hour, uneasily avoiding one another. All that changes when the new girl with an unmistakable midnight aura appears at Bixby High School.
Jessica Day is not an outsider like the other Midnighters. She acts perfectly normal in every way. But it soon becomes clear that the dark creatures sense a hidden power in Jessica . . . and they're determined to stop her before she can use it.
A story of courage, shadowy perils, and unexpected destiny, the secret hour is the first volume of the mesmerizing Midnighters trilogy by acclaimed author Scott Westerfeld.
The Secret Hour is the first book in the Midnighters Trilogy, and also the first book I have read by Scott Westerfeld. I've heard he is a top world-builder, and though the world in this story is pretty contemporary, there are definite allusions to those skills in this book.
The story presentation was well done. I wasn't in the characters heads exactly, but I was with different ones at different times, able to get a glimpse of how they saw each other and the world around them. The change in point of view made the story more interesting and I did not find it distracting or hard to follow. I had expected the book to center on Jessica, but it doesn't. Not only is this a good thing, but it also made me understand that the story/series is really about all the Midnighters and that Jessica's arrival is the catalyst that turns the rather peaceful secret hour into a time of danger.
Despite liking the POV switching, the characters were definitely my favorite part of the book. While I liked Jessica, she was a little flat (super normal with a good heart and a streak of naivete), but she gets better as the book goes along. The only exception to this is in regards to her relationship with one of the other characters. I thought several times she was acting out of character by being very bold, something she did not seem to be any other time, so those bothered me a bit.
My favorite character by far was Des, who was witty, intelligent, quirky, and good at the core. She seemed to be very strange at the beginning, but by the end of the book I loved her and would want her as friend if she were real. Her Midnighter ability was pretty cool also, and it seems she hit on something big near the end of the book that will affect things later on.
The other character I liked was Jonathan, mainly because he was pretty swoon-worthy, but he also had a great ability that I would love to try out if it were possible. Rex and Melissa, the remaining two Midnighters, were less likable, but it worked well for the story, as it would have seemed a little odd, not to mention unrealistic, if all the characters were perfect people. Rex is a decent guy but has definite flaws, while Melissa....well, she has her agenda and doesn't want it messed up. She also is not very nice most of the time, but her Midnighter ability makes her life difficult 24 out of 25 hours in the day, so I could understand that at least.
Another aspect I liked about the book was the lore surrounding the secret hour, the dark creatures, and the Midnighters themselves. Westerfeld did a wonderful job on these elements, as it was all creative and described well.
My only real qualm with the book was that it took it a while to become a page-turner. It wasn't exactly slow at the beginning because plenty happened that was interesting, but I liked the pace once the characters started working together much better. This may have had a bit to do with Jessica, as it is mostly about her the first quarter of the book, and like I said, she was not the most intriguing character of the bunch.
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