Night Magic

Gr 8 Up—The quarantine continues in Philadelphia as Nightstruck citizens and magical horrors plague the streets, destroying, looting, and killing with abandon. Becket is now Nightstruck, having ended the previous book stuck outside at dawn. But she no longer cares about consequences, as Nightstruck lack any conscience or guilt. The heroine's former bitter enemy Aleric is her new best friend, and the two become lovers. As Becket dives deeper into the madness, she realizes that she is different, less affected, and bored with her new existence. After an old friend physically pulls her back into the sunlight, Becket seems to recover herself and is guilt-stricken over what she has done by letting more night magic into the city. She is desperate to keep herself free of the night and away from Aleric's evil influence. Becket longs to save those few people she still cares about. This sequel to the horror novel Nightstruck is listless, with an underdeveloped protagonist. With so little difference between Nightstruck Becket and regular Becket, it is nearly impossible to empathize with or root for her. There is not much to the plot, and the twists are predictable, making the scare factor low.