Born at midnight by C.C Hunter
This is the first book I have read by this author I liked this book. This book is about kylie Galen has been having not a good summer her parents divorce and her boyfriend dumps her than she was caught at a party with alcohol present her mother than send her to camp, the camp is called shadow falls, kylie than find out the camp is for supernatural. Then she embarks to find out what she is ( )

The Woodlanders was published in 1887 and it is reflective of its time. The story centers around life in Little Hintock, a fictional village in rural England. Grace Melbury, the only child of a timber-merchant, is returning home after being educated in the city. Her father has paid for a higher education to enable her to rise above her social station and marry well. She has been courted by local resident Giles Winterbourne, but when his situation deteriorates, their bond is broken. She is then noticed by a physician, Dr. Fitzpiers, who initially sees her as not quite “good enough” due to his higher social standing, but is won over by her education, cleverness, and charm. A wealthy widow complicates the relationship between Dr. Fitzpiers and Grace, leading to unhappiness for everyone involved.

This book is a classic Victorian novel. The pastoral setting is vividly described. It contains long descriptive sentences with somewhat archaic construction, requiring some re-reading along the way. It is focused on the characters, and their interactions and motivations. There is not much in the way of “action” especially the way “action” is emphasized in contemporary fiction. It is well-constructed and flows pleasantly. Hardy has something to say about happiness, such as finding it in a simple and honest life and being content with what we have. Hardy employs themes typical of his novels, such as marital fidelity, social class, the erosion of values that come with “progress,” and unsuitably matched pairs. He appears to take issue with the way women were typically treated and examines the double standards of the time. Hardy provides hints of upcoming events and outcomes through the use of snippets of quotes from prominent poets and Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure.

I enjoy reading about life in the 19th century from those that lived it. While we can always read historical fiction written in current times, it is particularly insightful to read it from a point of view of someone who never knew life in its modern form, where carriages and horses were modes of transportation, candles or lanterns used as sources of light, and goods were hand-made. It is apparent in reading this novel that even though technology and change have made the world into a much different place, human nature remains much the same. Recommended to those that enjoy Victorian-era literature.
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[b:The Woodlanders|341281|The Woodlanders|Thomas Hardy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389977312l/341281._SY75_.jpg|2502604] is written in the moody, sometimes downcast, style of Thomas Hardy’s more famous novels, [b:Tess of the D'Urbervilles|32261|Tess of the D'Urbervilles|Thomas Hardy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1434302708l/32261._SY75_.jpg|3331021] and [b:Jude the Obscure|50798|Jude the Obscure|Thomas Hardy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389403264l/50798._SY75_.jpg|41342119], with the romantic flavor that defines [b:Far From the Madding Crowd|31463|Far From the Madding Crowd|Thomas Hardy|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1388279695l/31463._SY75_.jpg|914540]. It becomes obvious early on that Giles Winterborne and Grace Melbury are not to have a smooth course to love, although their youthful attachment and her father's approval should have pointed to the fact that they would. The presence of a new doctor in the district, Doctor Fitzpiers; the mysterious landlady at the manor, Mrs. Chamond; and the natural beauty, Marty Smart, round out the cast and push forward the calamitous events that are to come.

The battle between frost and thaw was continuing in mid-air; the trees dripped on the garden-plots, where no vegetables would grow for the dripping, though they were planted year after year with that curious mechanical regularity of country people in the face of hopelessness…

Thomas Hardy is a wizard when he speaks of the connection of man to nature, it echoes the events in the lives of his characters, perhaps God's commentary on what mankind conceives. He so often writes in a Romantic tradition, seeing nature as the purer, moral path, and the decline in rural society as a deterioration of the world at large. The pure characters in this novel are Giles Winterborne and Marty Smart, and the descriptions of the two of them in their natural labor are some of the most riveting passages in the story. It must say a great deal about Hardy’s view of the world that the semi-villainous Fitzpier ends in better stead than either of them at the end of the novel. Alas, in life and in Hardy, good does not often prevail.

And yet to every bad there is a worse.

I wonder if it is the romantic or the melancholy side of me that loves Hardy so much. His view of the world we live in is not rosy and sometimes downright bleak, and yet he shows us glimpses of goodness and the possibility of happiness--for there is often a path to happiness that his characters shun, and a very few of them come to destinations that might result in some redemption. Often it is simply a lack of self-awareness or an inability to communicate their feelings that land them in their terrible circumstances; and which of us cannot relate to those moments in life?

Every time I start a Hardy novel I think, “this one will not live up to the others”, but as it progresses, I revise that thought, for Hardy always builds toward a gripping climax and never makes you feel you have wasted your time with his characters or been handed a mediocre plot. I have one more Hardy on my required reading for this year...with any luck I can add another before the end of 2020 and make it three.


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It was well written, but too depressing for my taste; too many sad stories, too much love wasted on the wrong people. Hardy's literary talent can't be overlooked, so anything he writes will get at least three stars from me, but I prefer the other novels of his I've read to this one, even ones with sad themes. For some reason, they didn't leave me feeling sad the way this one did. ( )

Good light reading. ( )