Summary:

People have been dying suddenly and horribly in Puerto Rico. Worse – all the deaths seem to have something in common. The people. Lupe and Javier are both personally invested in getting to the bottom of these deaths. The problem? They'll have to survive each other – and the danger at hand.

As they dig into the mystery, a question keeps rising to the surface. Is this a murderer? Or a monster?

Review:

So, Five Midnights has been on my TBR list for...checks notes...four years. Ouch! Sorry about that one. I hate it when time gets between me and my books! Tell me I'm not the only one this happens to.

Anyway, I'm here now, and overall, I have to say that I enjoyed this read. I wish the paranormal elements appeared a bit sooner, though, as the first chunk of the book reader is more of a YA thriller (which is fine, but not what I had anticipated).

The author did a brilliant job describing the world – I almost said it felt real, which tells you how much fantasy I've been reading lately. Instead, I'll say that her writing made it feel like we were really there. That was the biggest highlight for me.

Overall, Five Midnights is an interesting read. It's odd and creative in equal measure and is probably worth checking out for anybody curious.

Highlights:
Murder Mystery
Paranormal Elements
Thriller
Curses & Friendships

This was waaaaay better than what I expected. I'm a big fan of horror, and this was definitely up my alley.

I enjoyed this so much more than I was expecting! I picked this up for the AYearAThon theme as it is set in Puerto Rico, and enjoyed the cultural and language aspects that were included throughout.

This was also a quicker read than I had anticipated, the mystery and thrill of it just kept me wanting to read!

The only reason I couldn’t give this five stars was because one of the main characters (Lupe) I found to be very annoying. Javier’s friends were dying and she kept making it about herself and finding ways to make herself the hero. She also kept acting like she knew everything and everyone even tho she visited once a year. If she hadn’t been included as the main character, or as a character at all, it would have been 5 stars.

First, how can you not be intrigued by that opening line in the blurb? Ok, let me say, I’m a big horror fan, but I’m a picky one. This was an engaging book, and I really enjoyed it. Part mystery, part horror, this book will keep you turning pages and giving you chills. Ann did a great job weaving in local lore to the story, and bringing her characters to life. Absolutely recommend.

What happens when you combine some murder, a bit of terror at home, and the sweeping waves that border Puerto Rico? You get this book, as Lupe Dávila teams up with Javier Utierre to find a mysterious killer. They seem to be going after his friends, and he may be next. Perhaps the answer will make itself clear, or they'll have to risk Javier's life to get answers.

Unfortunately, I did not really enjoy this book as it was not what I was expecting. I was aware that it was a YA book but thought that since it had a murder mystery concept, it may be worth the read. There were too many places that skipped back and forth and it became hard to understand in places and I was forced to reread chapters to see if I could figure out the situation. It really seemed more as childish and the characters would say things that did not seem to be something teenagers would say. Overall, I would give it 1.5 stars.

Thank you to netgalley as well as the author/publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Five Midnights was a "skip and skim" book for me. I wanted to see where it went, but the characters and storyline didn't keep my attention. While it is YA, the characters felt too immature and weren't very relatable for me. I enjoyed the culture and Latinx myth. While the concept was sound, the followthrough just left me disappointed.

YA horror book that is enjoyable and hooked me into the story and I enjoyed the Puerto Rico setting.

Behind on reviewing, but devoured this when it arrived. Well-paced and refreshing YA voice. Sent in a recommendation to the HWA for the Bram Stoker Awards.

Five Midnights is quite a complicated book to talk about. On one hand, it had its positive moments that made me understand why it has appealed to several of my fellow Puerto Rican readers. But unfortunately, it is weighed down by flaws that are just straight-up absurd and completely ruined this book for me.

Still, the fascinating thing is that this wasn’t really a bad reading experience? As much as I did NOT have a good time, this was the first physical book I’ve ever fully annotated and it was a lot of fun, especially since I wrote in it with a green pen that matches the cover. But that’s not the point, lol. The point is that there’s no other way to put it: Five Midnights is a bad book.

Before I dive in, allow me to highlight the positives, because that’s always very important. The food descriptions in here genuinely made me salivate. The bacalaítos, the alcapurrias, even the pastelón, and I HATE pastelón with my life. The way the author managed to make the taste and texture of these foods so dear to me and my culture jump out of the page was very impressive.

Also, have to point out that María cookies were name-dropped and it caused me SO much happiness? I grew up snacking on María cookies whenever I went to visit family members and used to eat them a lot at my grandma’s as a child. So that little moment was probably one of the most special ones I’ve ever had reading a novel, I’m not even kidding.

The other thing that Five Midnights does well is the mystery aspect. Now, I personally didn’t care much about the mystery (more on that later) but I have to acknowledge there were some super creepy moments that gave me total Final Destination vibes. I’m a big fan of gore, so those descriptions of ribs being cracked and bodies being dragged across the floor made me feel like it was actually happening to ME. Huge props to the book for great heebie-jeebie vibes.

Now, t-that’s where the good ends. Because the rest of Five Midnights is kind of a monstrosity in every aspect. *cries*

First of all, the writing, which was so… I don’t even have an accurate word to describe it. It just felt… so disengaged? What am I saying? I have no idea, which is kinda how I felt reading this, because WHAT was this book saying? It was trying to be too many things at once, using all these big words and it didn’t work for me in the slightest. Add to that the blatant overuse of spanglish and inaccurate Puerto Rican dialect and this was a road trip where the car crashed and burned.

As a Puerto Rican public high school student, I am very familiar with how modern teens speak and y’all, this is not it. It’s like this book was set in the 70s/80s, which I’m kinda wishing it had been because then it would’ve been way more realistic than it actually was. But nope. I can assure you us teens do not use the word pana. Sure, we can sometimes refer to a friend as “mi pana” but what do we say? We say mano, cabrón, pendejo, and mamabicho to refer to each other. All the time. Pana is nowhere to be found in teenage dialect nowadays.

Overall, this just needed a hell of a lot more editing. Reading words with so many missing acentos made me wanna tear my eyeballs out, and again, the dialect felt so old, it shows the author is very clearly out of touch. And the dialogue many times felt forced and unnatural, because it seems as if the author wanted the book to seem more “Latinx” by throwing in more random Spanish words in the oddest of moments. It was fucking wild.

What was also wild was the unrealistic names. THE NAMES. I had laugh attacks because of how dumb they sound. I owe 20 bucks to whoever has met a modern Puerto Rican teen named Isadore or Ludovico. Hell, Ludovico’s character could’ve just been nicknamed Vico and I’d been fine with it, since it could’ve shown off as inspo from rapper Vico C. But nah, this was straight-up absurd. Not even my old family members are named anywhere near close to those. I have no other choice but to laugh or I’ll cry.

The characters were fine; I don’t really have a strong opinion on most cause I simply didn’t care about any of them, but I did HATE the main character, Lupe, which okay, when authors make me hate a character with a burning passion, I can tell they’re talented. But as the reader, we’re not supposed to hate Lupe, we’re supposed to root for her, and sympathize with her and her struggles. But this girl was the WORST. Her internalized racism was grating to read because it was never truly challenged, and it was so frustrating to see her not acknowledge her white privilege.

Besides the obvious reasons, this bothered me greatly because in Puerto Rico, we’re bullies; it’s part of our culture. But another thing that’s very prominent in our culture is the rampant anti-blackness and internalized racism. So, if Puerto Ricans are mean towards somebody, it’s not the whites. It’s black people. In fact, Puerto Ricans put Western beauty standards and culture in a pedestal, so the fact that Lupe wanted so badly to come off as a victim just because she was light-skinned didn’t do it for me, pal. Calling someone gringuita is not even an insult, for fuck’s SAKE.

Yes, there’s a lot of Puerto Ricans who mistreat biracial folks, who say that they’re not real Puerto Ricans, or that they’re fake; not Puerto Rican enough. It’s a thing. But the way it was written came at the expense of villainizing dark-skinned characters, causing this experience to not be written about with respect.

Bringing me to my next point: the treatment of Marisol. This girl, who was basically written to be a walking, talking stereotype of a feisty, loud Puerto Rican guerrillera. She had no personality besides screaming and yelling and being mad, and we were supposed to dislike her because of the way she treated Lupe. This could’ve been written way better and her character wasn’t done justice at all.

I also didn’t like the romance at all? It was like Lupe and Javier were forced together just because they were the protagonists and it’s what to be expected. But these two didn’t have a single drop of chemistry, and there was no development to their relationship.

Another thing I hated was how Lupe was basically a white feminist and snapped at Javier just for being a gentleman, which is not at all what feminism is.
A scene in particular stuck with me, and not in a good way, and I think it perfectly demonstrates the kind of feminist that Lupe is:

“Yeah, no. No ‘ladies first’ crap with me.” Besides no force on earth was going to make her go first so this guy could get the hi-def view of her ample ass.
“Ah, right. Feminist.” He smiled and took the stairs two at a time. And the view of his butt wasn’t bad at all.

LIKE? IMAGINE THE HYPOCRISY. How is it not okay for him to check out your ass, but then you turn around and check out his???? Reading this quote is making me physically angry again. 😭

Being a feminist doesn’t equal hating men, especially when you thrive on criticizing other women, as seen on this other quote, where Lupe lies to her unckle to go on crime-solving adventures:

“More shopping, sobrina?”
“Yes, I saw a cute sundress that I want to try on.” She said it with a highish bouncy voice that might have lowered her IQ several points.”

AGAIN, what is the necessity of this, seriously? So cute girls that like shopping are immediately dumber than you because you’re “superior” and enjoy watching crime TV shows? B Y E.

Lupe is one of the most selfish, condescending, and genuinely stupid characters I’ve ever read about. I would even dare saying she’s the worst main character I’ve ever ecountered in recent times. If we went to the same school, I would not hesitate to punch her on the face on sight. Getting suspended would be totally worth it.

And trust me, not only is the romance bad, it’s unrealistic, insta-lovey in the worst way, and the way Javier speaks about Lupe is not the way a modern 17-year old boy checks out a girl. Plus, this continuous assumption throughout the book that Lupe was some kind of “bad feminist” for liking a guy is just so fucked up? I can’t, I cAN’T.

And it doesn’t end there, our girl Lupe Dávila constantly talked about how she wanted to discover the “real Puerto Rico”. Now, what is Puerto Rico? What defines us as an island?
Many people think we’re just a paradise, full of tourism, beaches, bright sun, a nice breeze, palm trees, and happiness. On the other hand, Lupe thinks it’s all about the crime. The thing is, to me, she’s not completely wrong. When discussing PR, a lot of people like to brush off all the violence that goes on here, making it seem like we’re perfect, that all we do is sing salsa and reggaeton at the top of our lungs, indulging on mofongo, frituras, and a nice, cold bottle of Medalla beer. That all we do is celebrate and be happy and go to the beach, with a caldero of arroz con gandules and crispy lechón because we’re over-the-top like that.

And it’s true. We are loud, rambunctious, celebratory humans. But our joy doesn’t erase the crime, the murders, the robberies, the carjackings that happen here almost every day. It’s a constant.

There’s drugs, there’s guns. There’s piña colada, there’s rainforests. These things coexist, and for you to talk about the island, you must do a good job of exploring that balance, which the author failed to do, in my opinion. In the real Puerto Rico, there’s blood and death, but that’s not all that defines us, but also, ignoring it doesn’t make it disappear, ya know?

The last issue I want to point out is the ending, which was trying to be super epic but came off as cheesy and rushed. Too much was happening and none of it really made sense? The resolution was very unsatisfying, the last line abrupt and unnecessary, and out of nowhere, Marisol and Lupe made up? With no real development there, either?

After having them both criticize and rip each other to shreds? Wack. Absolutely wack.
There are so many ways in which I wanted this book to thrive, but it! Didn’t! Work! It’s horrible, and I feel mean saying this, but Ann Dávila Cardinal was not the right person to tell this story.

Rating: 1.5 stars ⭐

I didn’t know what to expect with this one, and I’m not quite sure what I got, either.

The story was simple enough. Some supernatural baddie is taking out teenagers. Any elderly person who can’t stand a racket could relate.

These teens don’t want to die, so they set about figuring out who’s doing the killing and how to stop it.

The characters are well thought out. They each have their own reason for living their lives and have their own personalities, but they didn’t feel real enough to walk off the page. It was a little like filling out a checklist. Let’s see, I need a drug dealer, a former drug addict, a dead guy, a famous guy, and a girl who’s half Puerto Rican and has a fiery disposition for anyone claiming she doesn’t belong.

I have no real complaints about this book, but I also don’t feel the need to rave.

Lupe Dávila used to vacation in Puerto Rico with her father, but her father sent her to her uncle and aunt alone this year. While there, she sees her uncle in the middle of a grisly murder case that involves a group of boyhood friends, most of which fell into drugs and crime. Javier Utierre had been clean for two years, but is likely still a target. Javier and Lupe are determined to try to figure out a way to keep them all alive before he ends up dead as well.

The big bad isn't just the crime ring of drug dealers in Puerto Rico, but El Cuco, the story often used to frighten children into behaving better. Legends have power, especially in a place like Puerto Rico where many still carry the old beliefs. Lupe is half Puerto Rican, but looks more like the Caucasian mother that had abandoned her and her father. She is at the butt end of comments from islanders that resent her presence, which adds to her drive to help those she can. She also serves as the reader's entry point into the culture of Puerto Rico if they aren't already aware of it, and the legend of El Cuco.

Descriptions are vivid throughout this novel. Not just the slums and the drug riddled areas, but the neighborhoods that are nicer and more upscale. The food and the rhythm of island life comes across in every page, and the elements of the supernatural horror story fits well with the characters and the emotional intensity they carry. These are all teenagers, after all, and everything can feel like life or death with them. To make it actually life or death ups the ante and the tension level until we reach the conclusion. It stretches out a bit because there are too many different perspectives, but each of them are important in the final narrative. Even better, we end on a hopeful note for our survivors.

I was intrigued by this YA horror novel because it seemed original and unusual to me. Let's just say I was not disappointed. The novel takes place in Puerto Rico and was written by a Puerto Rican female author.
Five friends are being killed one by one and it is up to Javier Utierre who is one of the five, and Lupe Dávila who is the niece of the police chief investigating the murders to work together to solve the murders before Javier becomes one of the victims.
Ann Davila Cardinal utilizes the legend of El Cuco and skillfully interweaves the culture of Puerto Rico in the narrative. This is the first book I have ever read that takes place in Puerto Rico and the author put so much marvelous detail that it came to life for me especially the food.
The book is marketed as horror but I did not find it frightening but more of a very developed exploration of human nature, society, and myths. It did not detract from the novel at all but actually made it a more interesting read for me. It is a YA horror novel and it is written exactly the way it should be. It is a wonderful introduction to the horror genre for YA, and also rocks in the sense that the author is not only female but from Puerto Rico. All in all, I really enjoyed the writing and will be looking for more books by this author.

Okay, so this book. I'll start with what threw me off from the beginning (and is honestly no fault of the book itself, I'm sure): THE FORMATTING. When I first pulled this book up, it was actually almost un-readable on my kindle. I had to change the font type and take the letter sizing waaay down to make it work. Honestly, it only got weirdly worse as the book went on, even with my editing. Of course, I'm sure this was fixed before actual publication.

Second issue I had were the characters, sadly enough. They felt very 2-dimensional to me. I felt like none of them really had anything interesting about them. However, I did enjoy the dialog and how the characters interacted with each other.

My last negative point is that the monster of the book (El Cuco) while being a very cool idea, and an even more interesting piece of folklore, was really LAME. There was almost no "screen time" for the monster, and the killings were very boring.

That being said, I did enjoy seeing Puerto Rico through the eyes of the author and this book.

DNF 13% - I found the constant jumping between narrators to be confusing and jarring. I didn't connect with any of the characters either (perhaps because of the constant change).

This is a horror novel mixed with a mystery novel which is a great way for horror fans to dip their feet into the mystery genre and vice versa. Also, it’s a great read! Lupe Dávila is visiting Puerto Rico from Vermont for the summer to spend time with her family but it’s anything but a vacation considering her tío is overseeing a murder case that links the victims to their family… I loved the characters and how their struggles unfold and unite them, the tour of Puerto Rico and its cuisine (yum!), and how El Cuco is brought to life. (TW addiction)

Great and steady pace with convincing characters and a motivating narrative. It's wonderful to see more diverse reads out there. Can't wait to see more of these characters in the future.

Received a copy to review.

I think the mythology was interesting but I thought it would be more of a horror story than a young adult.

I had fun reading this YA horror story set in Puerto Rico! I loved the setting and the inclusion of a supernatural monster from local folklore lurking in the shadows, hunting characters down. The story primarily follows two main characters, Lupe Davila and Javier Utierre. Lupe is half Puerto-Rican, born and raised in the States, but she travels to Puerto Rico every summer to visit her extended family, including her uncle who happens to be the police chief. Javier is a recovering drug addict who has grown up in a Puerto Rico that is becoming increasing dark and difficult for teenagers in his neighborhood. When Lupe arrives for the summer, she finds out from her uncle that a series of horrific murders have been occurring and seem to be centered on a group of Javier’s old friends. The two characters pair up in an attempt to figure out where and who the monster will attack next.

I loved that this was an easy, quick read while also tackling a lot of really difficult topics. We get commentary on the degradation of neighborhoods in Puerto Rico, due to the influx of drugs, violence and gangs and why this result stems from outsider influence. We also see the struggle that Javier goes through with his drug addiction and how that relates to his friends relations with local gang influence and drugs as well. There were so many important themes in this story and I love that the author was able to bring all of these topics into a monster story!

I also really loved the inclusion of the “El Cuco” monster, essentially a bogeyman-style creature who comes for kids when they misbehave and how this tied into the reality of the dark elements that were influencing teenagers in this Puerto Rican neighborhood.

The only reason this didn’t end up ultimately being a four or five star read for me was because I struggled a bit with the two main characters, Lupe more so than Javier. While both characters had good inner dialogue and development, whenever they interacted with others or each other, it just seemed to fall flat for me. Their responses were a little too one-dimensional and cliche for me to really get invested in them.
Despite the fact that I struggled a bit with the characters of this story, overall I really enjoyed this read and loved that it was a Puerto Rican horror story, set in Puerto Rico, with a Puerto Rican folklore monster! We need more horror stories like this!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I found out about Five Midnights several months before publication, thanks to a cover reveal and an excerpt. That cover + creepy monster + Puerto Rico? Count me in! I placed a preorder right away and was beyond thrilled when I was approved for this ARC, so it's safe to say I had pretty high expectations for this book.

Did it fulfill them? Not entirely, though I did enjoy it a lot and had a great time reading it.

First of all, I have to mention the setting. I could almost feel the sun on my face while reading (though it could have been the actual sun...) and smell the food. Lupe eats a LOT, which gives the reader opportunities to discover Puertorican food and the way it's described made me want to put the book down and get my apron to start cooking. I'm definitely looking up some of these dishes.I've never been to Puero Rico but this, and the Spanish words worming their way in the text, it made me want to jump on a plane. It's glaringly obvious that the author loves Puerto Rico to bits and I was smitten as well.

I was moved by Javier and his fight against addiction. I thought it was written with a lot of sensitivity and we could feel his struggle to keep clean. Lupe takes absolutely zero crap and while her temper can make her a bit insensitive at times, she's great to have in your corner. I do wish Marisol had a little bit more room to shine so we could relate to her grief and despair about her neighbourhood. Izzy could have been given more attention too, in fact, Lupe and Javier put aside, almost all of the characters could have used some more depth to be great instead of good.

I expected horror when I got into Five Midnights, but I think it's more magical realism, maybe. It's not really a thriller, or a mystery for that matter, which kinda threw me off. It's not dark enough to be horror, though the murder scenes are delightfully gruesome, I'd say it's more about magic and spells than actual monsters.That's completely fine and I enjoyed this part of the book, however I wish Lupe and Javier's investigation had a bit more twists and turns.

To sum up: I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it, but for a summer read rather than as a thriller. And book your tickets to Puerto Rico because you'll want to go as soon as you read this book.

Thank you so much to Tor Teen and NetGalley for sending me a copy of this book!