This was such a good premise, and I was so excited to read it, but unfortunately, it fell flat for me. The characters were okay, likeable enough, but I felt like the mystery itself was very disjointed and didn't make much sense. It jumped from parkour to the personal relationships of the three kids (which were all over the place) to the mystery (such as it was) and I felt like I was always trying to catch up. The pacing was a problem, the plot just didn't flow. It wasn't so much the writing itself, but the execution that was choppy.

3/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Soho Press, and Jacquelyn Mitchard for the opportunity to read and review this book. ( )

I wanted to read What We Saw At Night as soon as I noticed that it featured parkour. Not just a sport, but a way of life, I've found parkour fascinating since I first heard about it. A discipline that requires the utmost skill and physical prowess, it's amazing to watch people fly across buildings and scale walls with nothing but their hands. I hoped that Jacquelyn Mitchard could take me into this world, and I was excited for it.

I wasn't disappointed. It is evident that Mitchard has done her research. She describes parkour beautifully, and pinpoints both the beauty and the danger of it. Allie, Rob, and Juliet are brought together by this lifestyle. I'll admit that this part of the book was what I really enjoyed. The problem I had with this book was the inclusion of XP, and how it became the driving force of the story. It required so much explanation, such a repetition of facts, that I soon started skipping pages to get back to the action.

The action picked up again with the inclusion of a murder mystery, and a hidden agenda behind Juliet's behavior. The question of whether or not Allie was in her right mind, and the idea that she might be in danger, pushed the story forward. I'll admit that the suspense factor was a little slow. I think there could have been a few more clues given. However it was a nice addition to the story. Oh, and the ending! I won't spoil, but it's unexpected.

Although What We Saw At Night didn't wow me as much as I had hoped, it was definitely an enjoyable read. I can see the prowess with which Jacquelyn Mitchard is able to weave a story. I am intrigued to read more of her writing as soon as possible. If you are interested in parkour, this is a great way to be introduced to the sport. A mystery with friendship as the backdrop, this is a book that will keep you reading to the end. ( )

What We Saw at Night should never have made my favorites list. It probably shouldn’t even be on my “like” list, because it just had so many problems. I didn’t like two of the main characters for most of the book (and still didn’t like one of them after I finished the book), I had to find the answer to a couple of my questions via context clues, and even then it’s just me guessing, the narrator barely stood up for herself, plus there’s that dratted love triangle. *sigh*

Somehow, I wound up rating this book four stars. Logically, I know it probably shouldn’t rate four stars, but this was one of those reads that hooked me, even though my feelings for this book is so up and down. Perhaps it hooked me because I could relate to the characters’ desire to be more than their disease, but I literally read this 200+ page book in one setting (if you don’t count pee and tea breaks). And since my ratings are mostly based on how much I was entertained, the four star rating stands.

Out of all three main characters I had a soft spot for Allie. She of the three was most developed and grew as the book wore on. At first she was whinny and let the other two (especially Juliet) walk all over her. I was so proud of her when she finally learned to not take their shit and to stand up for herself. I just wish she communicated more – I wish they all communicated more. That was one of my major annoyances with What We Saw at Night.

Rob. I think I hated this kid more than I did the manipulative, lying Juliet. For one, he never really apologizes to Allie for treating her like crap, she just has her own epiphanies and grows past the several ways Rob broke her heart, but he never really says anything. I basically had to fill in my own reasons for why he would realize how important she is.

And what I really don’t understand is how either Allie or Rob could ever forgive Juliet – even though they finally learn the reasons for her weirdness and betraying ways, she still believes a bad, bad man (I want to say more but spoilers!) over her supposed best friend. Not only that, but she goes out of her way to make her best friend look crazy to their other best friend, just so Allie won’t accidentally uncover her secrets. Sure, I realized she’s “troubled” but she’s definitely not a good best friend.

What We Saw at Night turned out to be a surprisingly original read. I definitely didn’t see the ending coming, so that worked in the book’s favor. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Rob and Allie learn to communicate better and that the next book isn’t nearly so up and down with my emotions. If you like emotional, heartbreaking, mysterious reads, you might enjoy this one.

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A very fast read with lots of action. ( )

We got this in at work from the publisher and I decided to give it a read, as the cover copy sounded intriguing. Unfortunately, while the cover copy sold me, the rest of the book really failed to live up to my expectations. It’s not a horrible book, but the majority of the plot dragged on and I felt myself losing interest.

The first quarter of the book was good. I liked these teens, and how they live with Xeroderma Pigmentosum (XP). I kinda wished that Mitchard would really get into the mindset of how the nighttime is so fundamentally different from the day, especially from a teen’s perspective, but all she does is throw around a few vampire jokes. (Which is a shame, because I’ve seen it done before, with Scott Westerfeld’s Midnighters series.) I even liked Allie really trying to have what could pass as a normal life, with a babysitting job and even discussing the potential of going to college. There was a lot in the beginning that could have lead to a really solid book with good characters and atmosphere.

However, one of the biggest problems of the book is that elements drop in and out of the plot at random, and don’t really add up to a compelling story. And I have to start by mentioning Rob and Juliet—they felt more like friends of convenience for Allie, and I never got the sense that the three of them were as close as they said they were. Allie’s whole fantasy about marrying Rob even feels like a child’s fantasy, marrying the only boy she’s ever been close to. I never got the sense that any of these kids would be willing to fight for each other, much less jump off buildings for each. Juliet was especially frustrating—it felt like Mitchard was forcing to make her character more ‘mysterious’ by randomly running away for long stretches of time. Rob doesn’t really add anything to the story, and it does not help that a love triangle is actually forced in here—and it doesn’t even feel like a love triangle! I felt no chemistry between Rob and Allie, much less Rob and Juliet.

The mystery is incredibly weak, and the revelations feel too unconnected. By the end of the book, part of me felt that Allie’s guesses were wrong and she was trying to desperately pin the blame on someone who wasn’t responsible for the original crime. And that isn’t good when I’m calling the heroine’s conclusions into question and I’m not supposed to be doing that. The mystery only came up when it was convenient to the plot, so it had a tendency to randomly drop in and out of Allie’s life. (I have to give this one point to the plot—it actually takes place over the course of a year.) The climax and ending are incredibly weak, and it feels like Mitchard stretched a very thin plot to work the book into an unnecessary series.

And the parkour element—it’s another thing that felt forced into this book. Again, there’s already a solid hook of having teens wander around at night, because it’s the only time they can go outside. I wouldn’t mind the parkour even if it was Juliet’s idea of “HEY LET’S DO SOMETHING COOL.” What I can’t get is that all of their parents are okay with this? I’m all for good relationships between teens and parents, but it feels way too plot-convenient that all three sets of parents would be okay with their teenagers jumping off of buildings with very little training.

The more I thought about this book after finishing it, the less I liked it and the more problematic elements began to pop up. My biggest disappointment was that there could have been a great, creepy atmosphere and nice exploration to living the “night life” (if you will), but Mitchard doesn’t quite grasp this, and the other elements—like the mystery and the parkour—feel tacked on to make the book more interesting, but they ultimately fail. It is very unlikely that I will recommend this book, much less pick up the follow-up.
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