As an author myself, I always find it exciting whenever I’m given a chance to attend a book launch. It never failed to give me great insight about what’s going on with the local book industry.

It’s been awhile since I last attended a book launching ceremony or a meet and greet session. The last meet and greet session was invited to was Shamini Flint’s meet and greet session in Kinokuniya. You can read it HERE, in case you’re interested to get to know who Shamini Flint is. She authored plenty of interesting mystery books, and it’s not to be missed!

And the last book launching that I attended was earlier this year. It was a book launching for a book compilation known as Kopi, where my friend Zara is one of the co-authors.

Anyway, as I said, it’s been a while since I was invited for a book launching and a meet and greet session, so I got really hyped up when I was invited to attend the launching of Midnight Walking written by Kathryn Chua last weekend.

Here’s the author of Midnight Walking, Kathryn Chua. She was potted chilling out with her parents, Datin and Datuk Chua while waiting for the event to commence.

Kathryn’s adoring fans were also there to give her support and they were given the opportunity to take photos with her before the book launching.

The book launching was held at Kinokuniya Bookstore Cafe in Suria KLCC and the whole event was sponsored by CIMB Bank on the behalf of their YOUth program in effort of spreading reading awareness to young Malaysian youth and was launched by Dato’ Sri Nazir Razak.

Here’s Kathryn Chua and Peter England, CIMB Head of Retail Financial Services, talking about both Midnight Walking and CIMB’s future plans in expanding the YOUth program.

Frankly speaking, I was a little bit disappointed with the mainstream media that day during Midnight Walking’s press conference. Most are more interested in CIMB’s future plans and the business connection that Kathryn’s parents has with CIMB instead of focusing on the star attraction of the day, which is the book itself. I thought that was rather rude, obnoxious and disrespectful towards the author. Only a few asked questions that’s really related to Kathryn and her journey in completing the book.

I guess mainstream media will always be interested in such things instead of focusing on things that really matters. I don’t know how many members of the media actually read her book after the book launching, but I’ve read it, and here’s my review on the book:

Publisher: Blacksmith Books

ISBN:  9789881900

Page count: 222

Author: Kathryn Chua

List price: Rm29.90

First of all, I have to say that I’m really surprised that this book was written in third-party point of view. Most YA books are written in first party point of view, so I guess this is quite refreshing, reading from third-party point of view instead of the first party point of view. Reading Midnight Walking by Kathryn Chua made me reminisce about Labyrinth, an old movie back in the 80s where the main character’s fate became pretty much intertwined with the owl that she encountered. There’s plenty of familiar things inside this novel, and the main character’s description, Lucy Pine, made me think of Bella from Twilight Saga written by Stephanie Meyer.

But despite of the familiarities, there’s plenty of mystery and surprises in this book. I suppose young adults will really enjoy this. I wouldn’t exactly classify this book as a fantasy horror, as the storyline is much more inclined to paranormal fantasy instead of sheer fantasy horror.

This book is definitely a good read if you’re looking for some paranormal escapism with a twist. Plenty of spooky nuggets inside, and plenty of unexpected twist and turns. The pace was quite slow in the beginning, but the book is doubtlessly page turning after a while. By the end of the book, I wish there was more.

I highly recommend this book to young adults age 14 and up. Great as permanent collection in your reading library, and perfect to be read during those dull, rainy nights.

Midnight Walking is available in Kinokuniya, MPH and most major bookstores in Malaysia. It’s currently available only in paperback version.

I received a complimentary copy of this book and I was not compensated in any monetary ways for writing this review. I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.

Book description:

Lucy Pine is an average teenager: relatively good grades, close friends, parents and one brother (previously two). So when a crow smashes into her window one night, she regards it as a one-off kind of thing.

What she doesn’t know is that the crow isn’t a crow at all, but a being called Cyrus who has a nasty habit of picking off young girls and slowly draining them of their souls.

As Lucy is tangled further in Cyrus’s web of manipulation and darkness, secrets from the past unravel, and her life is put in terrible danger.

About the author:

Kathryn Chua is 17 years old. Born in Hong Kong and spent her first 12 years in Malaysia before moving to Beijing. She have a pair of supportive parents who enrolled her with a private teacher in creative writing when they found out that she have interest in creative writing. Kathryn aspire to be a full-time novelist and hopes to publish more books in the future.