Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Teen for sending me a free advanced reader copy of this book for an honest review. Five Midnights debuts June 4th.

NetGalley’s a funny thing—most of the time all you have to judge a book by is the author name, the publisher, the cover, and a bit of doctored up marketing copy.*** It makes me judgey to the extreme—if I’m accepted to read the book, I’m kind of stuck with it, after all, since I want to keep my NetGalley ratio up. And if you don’t like the book, you’re left in the sticky situation of either giving a bad review or being dishonest with your readers. I always err on the side of honesty, but what I’m trying to say is that the whole ARC game is a grab bag type of situation.

Five Midnights met me halfway there—this is decidedly a three-star type of book, with bits both good and not so good. It feels very “young”; not in terms of its target audience, but in terms of the writing. Take the characters as an example: the MC, a New England transplant in Puerto Rico, has her emotions dialed up to eleven at all times. It’s an attempt at characterization that comes across as a bit jumbled; she doesn’t ever really settle as having a distinct personality. Another example is a fight that the MC has with a friend; the whole argument comes across as ungrounded, in a very “the author wants a fight here” kind of way. The pacing, too, is a bit off; a climactic scene facing off with monster stretches out over many POV switches, in a fashion reminiscent of those ten episode Dragon Ball Z fights.

But other parts are great. All the Puerto Rico setting details cannot be discounted; the author will make you feel like you’re in Puerto Rico, tasting the tastes and smelling the smell as the MC ventures from one unique neighborhood to the next. And though the details are many, they fit the book well, in a way that some other detail-heavy works never accomplish—“Yiwu” comes to mind. I appreciated the Spanish peppered throughout the dialogue (though “Hold the teléfono” maybe stepped a hair over the edge into ridiculousness). And the monster itself was interesting, since I knew literally nothing about this mythical beast.

I’d say that if the premise of the book sounds interesting, then give this a go. I’d be interested to take a peek at this author’s sophomore novel, since I suspect some of my craft complaints here might not surface in the next book.

***Speaking of marketing copy, by the way, can I pause for a minute on the word “unputdownable?” As per a review in the NetGalley description, this book is “flat-out unputdownable.” I’m starting to see this description everywhere; it was fun the first time around, but this word is just so over-the-top that I’m over it. It’s already getting cliched in my mind, and feels fake review-ish. Am I the only one??

I'm actually feeling embarrassed while writing this, but remember that time I gushed about Five Midnights and wanting to learn more about the recently discovered El Cuco? I might have been more familiar with this being than I first thought. There's a reference on the book about El Cuco being part of Portuguese folk tales, where it is known as "coco". The name was strangely familiar. After some quick research, I realized that I had met El Cuco as coca and I'm ninety percent sure that my grandmother told me stories about it. Must have repressed them until now because of all the spookiness.

Storytelling: Five Midnights is a fast-paced story with horror and supernatural elements. Since the narrative is set in a Spanish-speaking country, Puerto Rico, there were many quotes and expressions in Spanish, which I loved. This is such a great way of getting familiar and wanting to learn a new language. I don't want to ramble about the plot too much in fear of spoiling some major scene, but this story has so many unexpected twists!

Characters: Lupe Dávila if half-Puerto Rican, born and raised in Vermont. Every summer she travels to Puerto Rico to visit her family. With a penchant for crime and police television shows, Lupe will do whatever she can to help her uncle, the chief police Dávila, to solve the mysterious and gruesome deaths that are sweeping though the island. Although Lupe has Puerto Rican roots, she struggles to be accepted by the islanders that always see her as an outsider - as a gringa - due to her pale skin. However, she has a fierce personality and will stand her ground and defend her heritage. I loved that Lupe's story is that is not only about solving the murders (this girl is REALLY obsessed with crime scenes), but also being accepted on an island that she loves/is part of her as any born and raised islander.

Javi Utierre is a recovering addict that struggles every day to keep his two-year sobriety, something that becomes difficult when his childhood friends, the cangrejos, are found murdered, one by one. In his quest of unveiling the truth, he must confront his demons and remember the day where everything began and lead him to become a recovering addict searching for redemption. What I enjoyed the most about Javier's story is that his recovery isn't all rainbows and unicorns. Javier works to stay sober because addiction doesn't vanish from the moment one decided it's enough and takes the first step to get clean.

World building: Puerto Rico has been on my places-I-would-love-to-visit-someday list for a very long time. So, it might be true that I've never been there, but I could feel the country's essence through the pages. The descriptions of the barrios were so vivid and colourful. My mouth watered at the food references.

Nevertheless, the author did not only focus on the beauty of the island nor created a picture of it through rose-tinted glasses. Dávila makes reference to Puerto Rican culture is being threatened by wealthy countries and companies as well as being corrupted by drug gangs. I quite loved the strong emphasis on Puerto Rico's culture in Five Midnights that happens not only through the presence of El Cuco, but also through the perfectly rich and sharp representation of the island.

Five Midnights is more than a tale of a folk monster that comes to haunt misbehaved children and teens that follow a dark path. It's about losing and reclaiming one's culture. Ann Dávila Cardinal debut novel left me wanting more and I can't wait to read what she writes next.

Five Midnights was so different than anything I've ever read in YA! I enjoyed all the beautiful Puerto Rican culture and all the food descriptions had me so hungry!

All the characters were done extremely well. I loved Lupe's tough character but I have to say Javier's character really had my heart.

You felt the pain and struggle that comes from addiction and you get an inside look into the struggle for both addict and the struggle an addicts loved ones go through. Addiction is really it's own monster....speaking of monster...the El Cucuy is creeeepy as hell! I haven't read a lot about Hispanic mythology but after reading this I'd love to read more!

If Lupe Dávila and Javier Utierre can survive each other’s company, together they can solve a series of grisly murders sweeping though Puerto Rico. But the clues lead them out of the real world and into the realm of myths and legends.And if they want to catch the killer, they'll have to step into the shadows to see what's lurking there—murderer, or monster?- Goodreads*cracks knuckles* Let's jump right into this. Lupe Dávila was a trash character that had no respect for anyone and put her needs and her feminist ideas above everyone including those that she loved. Lupe is Puerto Rican and white. She looks more white than Puerto Rican, which is why everyone on the island views her as white. But my issue with her is very simple. Every single person that either calls her gringa or makes a general statement about white people, she screams at them. Just let's completely loose on them. She doesn't have any respect, especially for elders or any adult figure. She spent most of this book complaining about how she is feminist can do things by herself (although Javier saved her life and she didn't even say thank you) and complaining about how she is Puerto Rican. My issue on the last part is that it came off that she identifies herself as Puerto Rican because her mother left her and her father. Lupe wanting to be part of this world did not come off as if she wanted to identify a part of heritage but that she was doing it because it was all she had. Lupe was prideful, extremely prideful and I did not like anything about her. Javier, on the other hand was a way better character to read. I actually wish Cardinal (the author) would have dug deeper into Javier. Not only was he likeable, his struggle was real and powerful. But not only would have I wanted more Javier, I would have wanted more about Puerto Rico and the environment Cardinal set up. And oddly enough, the way that she tied the horror/mythology into this book was perfect. Everything was answered, everything made sense and it creeped me out. There are things that are passed down generation to generation and they vary by culture, but what makes this book different in how Cardinal presents this folklore and how she makes it present in the modern world. I loved the creativity of this. It took a while for the book to keep my interest. Lupe was a huge factor as to why it took a little less than halfway through the book for me to be at the edge of my seat. But once the ball was really rolling, I had to finish it. I would like to note that this is a sad read as much as it is a horror read. Cardinal adds a lot to this book that if you are not really reading you won't even see what she is trying to do. And what she is trying to do is tell two different stories. The one about the five and the other about Puerto Rico. I recommend this read. It is told through different point of views, which adds another layer to the novel. i enjoyed reading this and want to read more from this author. Overall, 3 Pickles

I received an ARC of this book thanks to Net Galley and publisher Tor Teen in exchange for an honest review.

This book deserves a lot of kudos for not really being like anything I've read before. Five Midnights is a story set in Puerto Rico about a group of boys who are all part of the same gang (or used to be). They are being killed off one by one before their 18th birthdays, supposedly by a mythical creature called El Cuco. Our main characters are Lupe, the teenage niece of the policeman investigating the case and the cousin of one of the victims, and Javier, one of the boys who was in the gang but has cleaned up his act.

I very much enjoyed the tone and atmosphere of this book. I thought the plot was paced well and I was intrigued by the story as more and more details unfolded. Some of the characters were developed brilliantly and that helped propel the plot forwards. I did however struggle to keep track of several of the characters, and I'm not sure if this was due to my unfamiliarity with Puerto Rican names or whether this was because several members of the gang blended together. I'm inclined to go with the latter since it was specifically the boys I kept mixing up and I thought Lupe's interactions with a couple of them were very similar at the start.

The overall mystery was interesting enough to keep me reading, although I feel like the solution was revealed very early on which was a bit of a shame. There's not a lot of possibilities for what could be going on and it becomes pretty easy to work it out. The story is strong enough without the mystery though to still be an engaging read, although I would have liked more of both the mystery and monster aspect to be played up.

Overall, I did really like this book and I recommend checking it out if you like the sound of the blurb. It executes the concept it promises well and it has a wonderful setting which is described in a lot of loving detail with a lot of expert knowledge. I liked being introduced to mythology I had never heard about before and this was a refreshing and enjoyable read.

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

YA Puerto Rican horror novel about El Cuco???

SOLD.

My students are obsessed with the hispanic legends I tell them about, but especially El Cucuy. Sure, La Llorona is great, and everyone knows about the Chupacabra, but when they learn about Cucuy, they're like, whoa, THAT is freaky.

So was this book.

This was a fantastic mix of Puerto Rican culture and don't-read-at-night horror. Once things really got started, I could not put this book down. I was into the story, the characters, the redemption and retribution, and, most importantly, the food.

My husband will be quite pleased that he gets to have arroz con pollo and chicharrones de pollo this week...

I thoroughly enjoyed this fast paced supernatural thriller set over a few days in Puerto Rico. An American teenager (who has a Puerto Rican father) visit the island for the summer she gets sucked into a supernatural mystery surrounding the disappearance of her cousin. The horror aspect revolves around the Puerto Rican version of the Boogie Man who is killing teenagers with birthdays whose are very close together. Seen from multiple points of view, the American teenager is a spunky lead character and although the rationale behind the supernatural story was a bit weak I think lots of teenagers would enjoy this book.

When "Gringarican" Lupe goes to visit her police chief tio in San Juan for the first time by herself, she is thrilled to be up close and personal with a real life, presumably drug-related murder scene. Except, there's things about this murder that seem a little supernatural, and her uncle isn't too fond of her snooping around on her own. But when Lupe fears her own cousin could be next, she teams up with neighborhood cutie and recovering addict Javier to find out what's really going on.

This was an enjoyable mix of Puerto Rican scenery, urban legend, and romance, but was somewhat corny.

As a Librarian with a large population of students from or their family from Puerto Rico, I was thrilled to find a book for teens that has takes place in Puerto Rico and has teens that are Puerto Rican. Five Midnights is an exciting run around Puerto Rico with super-natural beings, drug pushers and teens trying to solve a mystery. I think my students will absolutely love this book.