Just This Side of Midnight

The Other Side of Midnight has ratings and reviews. It's the first one i read by Sidney Sheldon and I just loved the way he built the story of the main.
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It took me quite a while and involved a bit of pushing to finish this book.

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I love thrillers and bought it based on the summary while it was on sale. This is the self-published debut of Troi de Clare, and it reads as one; I mean that in all of the positive ways as well as some of the implied negative ways. Due to the nature of the book, I'm going to write this review without any spoilers. I also recommend avoiding reviews with spoilers before you take the dive into this book since the pay-off is definitely worth it.

It's the kind of book that I was sure I had figured out, until I thought I was wrong and had it actually figured out, only to go back and think I was right in the first place. I enjoy books that keep me on my toes, keep me guessing up until the final page. Either Side of Midnight is partially successful in that aspect, enough so that I did find myself enjoying the journey regardless of the rough start.

The story introduces us to Naomi Hamilton, the wealthy daughter of Camilla and Henry, starting her first year of music school in Manchester. Naomi has a fraternal twin, Annabel, and they are different as night and day.

The title of the book which I absolutely love is a twofold reference; the first referring to Naomi and Annabel who, while twins, were born between the night and the morning on two different days or rather, on either side of midnight. The title also draws its meaning from the final climax of the book that occurs during that same transformative timeframe. While attending school, Naomi meets Nathan Stone, a handsome man about six years her senior who sweeps her off her feet. The night of their wedding, however, Naomi is kidnapped and awakens chained to a bed in a house with only her masked assailant as company.

The narrative exists in the present as Naomi tries to puzzle out what has happened to her, and uses flashbacks to introduce her family, her courtship with Nathan and the events that lead up to the kidnapping that opens the book. It's a system that works for the book sometimes and works against it in others. I found the first half of the book extremely difficult to get into. The book opens with the kidnapping, setting the stage for the thrilling terror that Naomi is about to experience. The excitement dies down as we are launched into flashbacks filled with exposition, introducing us to Naomi's family, friends, and university life, interspersed with her being held captive in the room.

I'm not a fan of flashbacks in general, and I wasn't fond of how it was executed as a framing device in this story.


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The flashbacks had no bearing on Naomi's thoughts or experiences in captivity and were instead used to tell the story of her meeting Nathan and the events leading up to the wedding in parallel with the events that occur after her kidnapping. Sometimes, the flashbacks would just plod on, offering almost too much information.

The Other Side of Midnight () - Quotes - IMDb

Even with the use of flashbacks, we learn more about the characters' backgrounds through Naomi and Nathan lying around and talking about themselves. I kept coming back to the book, though, because I wanted to find out what was going to happen and hoped if I kept fighting my way through, I'd break out into something interesting. Luckily, that happened at almost exactly the halfway mark of the book.

The first twist is revealed, things start to fall together and the action picks up. The flashbacks are still there, though, and instead of building tension, I just found them frustrating as I pushed through in order to find out more about what is happening in "present" time. I felt there was one great use of the flashback mechanism when another twist is revealed within a flashback that gives meaning to the events occurring during Naomi's captivity. It was a great moment and helped to further solidify why I didn't like the flashbacks. I felt, for the most part, they added little to the story besides being an easy way to introduce characters and backgrounds.

Which brings me to another problem - the characters. I didn't particularly like any of them. I found Naomi to be the personification of a wet noodle, which was the point, but it's hard to follow a protagonist who spends most of her time being neurotic and terrified without any kind of forward motion.

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Annabel basically served to be the opposite of Naomi, annoyingly so. Whenever she shows up, she comes off as a spoiled teenager, and her behavior towards her parents and Naomi continue to portray her as such, giving her little depth. The parents are a different story; Camillia, the mother, is waspy and cold, though at least we are given insight into her behavior, subtly. However, she is so over the top I often felt like I was lost in a book about Victorian aristocracy.

Henry, the father, was warm and likable, but not particularly fleshed out in any meaningful way. There is finally Nathan, of course, who seems like the only level headed character in the bunch, although he comes off occasionally as smarmy, trying a little too hard. All of the characters see some progression, of course; Naomi starts to kick some ass part way through the book, her traumatic experiences shaking some sense into her.

We get a very nice scene where her family comes together in the wake of her disappearance.

The Other Side of The Other Side of Midnight

The problem is, we don't really get the chance to witness this slow development. We don't get to see when the switch goes off for Naomi, when she turns from kitten to tiger; it just kind of happens and although it is satisfying, it's hard to buy without witness any progression. I would have loved more opportunities to see the family struggle with the choices they had made and cruelties they subjected each other to in the wake of Naomi's disappearance. None of this process feels organic, in the same way the character relationships didn't feel organic.

They felt rushed, put in when needed to service the action instead of letting the action service the characters. My main problem with the book is that I feel it was too long, and not for the right reasons. There's too much meandering character background and not enough dynamic character progression. The book clocks in at pages, I feel far too much for a story of this kind. I would have liked to have seen less exposition in the flashbacks and more scenes that mirror was is happening to Naomi in captivity.

Fewer scenes about conflicts that occurred and more about how those conflicts shape who the characters become at the end of the book. All of that said, I still really enjoyed this book. I love to support debut authors and for its faults, Ms de Clare told an interesting story that, while it took me a while to get in to, kept me hooked for the last half of the book. The last few pages feel rushed and rough; there are more typos, as if the author was just trying to get this monster of a novel finished, but it's still a pretty good ending that shows the kind of woman these experiences has made Naomi into.

I know there is a sequel, which I feel bad about just because I think Naomi has paid her dues and deserves a break! That said, I'll probably read it.

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Although I have a number of criticisms, Ms de Clare was successful in writing a book with an interesting plot, good twists and characters who I eventually started to care about. I think as she hones her craft she has the potential to work out the kinks and get some really great books out there. If you enjoy longer books with different types of characters, a few good twists, and a good heaping of romance, this is a good pick for you.

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The Other Side of Midnight

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Development by Jay Hoffmann. Development by Jay Hoffmann Privacy Policy. The Other Side of Midnight Theatrical release poster. Retrieved June 24, Gyan Publishing House , p. The New York Times. Retrieved August 18, Works by Sidney Sheldon. The Other Side of Me.

Gregg Diamond - This Side Of Midnight (12'' 1978)

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