What We Saw at Night

By Jacquelyn Mitchard

Like the yearning, doomed young clones in Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, three teenagers with XP (a life-threatening allergy to sunlight) are a species unto themselves. As seen through the eyes of 16-year-old Allie Kim, they roam the silent streets, looking for adventure, while others sleep. When Allie's best friend introduces the trio to Parkour, the stunt-sport of running and climbing off forest cliffs and tall buildings (risky in daylight and potentially deadly by darkness), they feel truly alive, equal to the "daytimers."
 
On a random summer night, while scaling a building like any other, the three happen to peer into an empty apartment and glimpse an older man with what looks like a dead girl. A game of cat-and-mouse ensues that escalates through the underground world of hospital confinement, off-the-grid sports, and forbidden love. Allie, who can never see the light of day, discovers she's the lone key to stopping a human monster.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Jan 8, 2013
• ISBN: 9781616951429

Jacquelyn Mitchard

Jacquelyn Mitchard is a journalist and award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of twelve novels for adults, seven novels for teenagers, and five children's books. These include The Deep End of the Ocean, the inaugural selection of the Oprah Winfrey Book Club, as well as two non-fiction books, including Mother Less Child: The Love Story of a Family. She is also a professor of creative writing whose short stories, articles, essays and book reviews have been widely published. A native of Chicago, she now lives on Cape Cod with her family.

Reviews for What We Saw at Night

[roses7184_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jo3jo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have to admit that when I requested this book I really had no idea what it was even about. I've had good results with Mitchard's past work, so I felt drawn to this one also. Teenage Allie is the main character of this story and we follow her and her best friends on a journey of exhilarating danger and secrets.Allie lives with her family in Iron Harbor, Minnesota. They moved there after she was diagnosed with XP, since there is a clinic in the small town that specializes in the disease. This gives Allie the opportunity to meet other people with the strange disease and develop realistic friendships. Two other XP patients, Rob and Juliet, become her best friends, and the three of them spend many evenings together as they are physically safe under the cloak of darkness. It is during one of their adventurous evenings that Allie sees something the others do not, causing her to fear for their safety.I have heard of XP, but this novel definitely gave me a closer glimpse into the disease. The narrator did a great job of capturing the emotions and attitude of the young main character. My only complaint of this novel is that it almost felt like a young adult book, but since the main character is a teenager I think it hits the mark. My favorite part of the novel is that the location is the fictional town of Iron Harbor. The fictional town is right on Lake Superior, about an hour north of Duluth, Minnesota, and a hop away from Two Harbors. Since I go to Duluth quite often and glimpse Lake Superior almost every day, I think Mitchard did a great job of creating the landscape for this novel. She made very accurate descriptions that created wonderful visualizations as I was listening to the audiobook.As I mentioned earlier, I think this book falls into the young adult genre, but I still enjoyed it overall. With themes of secrets, romance, disease, and suspense, this novel has much to offer. I don't hesitate in recommending this novel for either personal leisure or as a book club selection.

[catiesmoviesinmyhead · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Last year Soho Press announced that they would be expanding to include a YA imprint, Soho Teen. This imprint will be publishing teen thrillers and mysteries. I'm always excited about new imprints so I decided to check them out. They very nicely sent me an ARC of their first release, which is now out in stores, What We Saw At Night. It centers around a group of three teens who all suffer from a deadly allergy to sunlight. Thus, they must live their lives at night. They own their small town after sunset but when one of them thinks that she witnesses a murder, the Rear Window action starts. LIKES:The concept is really cool: There were so many aspects of this book that were new and different and I really appreciated that. In particular I love the concept of kids who were confined to the night. It adds a whole new world of opportunities and challenges for the author to play with. Throw in the thrilling sport of Parkour and you've got a great backdrop.The disorder is very nicely explored: I admired how Mitchard didn't simply use the disease as a crutch. She really explored the ins and outs of XP and this led to a greater understanding and therefore appreciation of her characters.The suspense is great: Once the story gets going, the suspense is wonderful. There were several scenes that will stay with me for a long time. DISLIKES:The action, particularly the Parkour, is hard to visualize: The Parkour aspect of the book was cool, but since I don't know much about the sport it was hard to visualize many of the action scenes. The author used a lot of jargon and, while she explained it, it still made it hard to picture what was going on. It takes a little bit to get going: There was a bit of a pacing problem especially in the first half of the book. This is a pretty short book and so the pacing really needed to pick up a bit. Luckily, the second half was better.I just didn't like Juliet: I'm sorry but it had to be said. She's manipulative, hard and I didn't find anything about her very redeeming. She's pretty much a terrible friend and so I had a really hard time getting into the parts of the story where the reader was supposed to feel for her.Someone needs to call the police: Okay, to be fair, the police are called initially and nothing comes of it, but I just felt like if Allie would have gone to her mother or the cops sooner everything would have gone a lot smoother. Of course, I realize that then we wouldn't have a book, but it's just hard for me to understand a character that believes she is in mortal danger and doesn't run to the cops or someone in an authority position. I'm very happy that I was able to read What We Saw At Night. Overall, it was a very unique, cool little book. There is a sequel in the works and it will be interesting to see where the author takes these characters. If you're looking for good thriller with a different setup, you should check this one out. I think it would have a lot of potential as a film as well. I look forward to reading more from Mitchard and Soho Teen.

[bailschris · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The best part of this whole story is that it illustrates the greatness and the weakness of friendship. A common piece of teen life is the friendships created which often contains betrayal, blossoming relationships, and in the end many people face the severing those ties. I loved the relationship between Juliet and Allie, although it always seemed like Juliet had the upper hand in the friendship. Allie was fiercely loyal to this girl despite the shortcomings, the mistakes, and the lies.Rob and Allie are a fun pair to read about. I laughed at some of their more ridiculous romantic moments such as the fact that he would drive by every night and became a "stalker" in the eyes of her mom. I enjoyed reading about XP and the fact that they basically did live a life in darkness, fearing the sun and hoping to live. It made me think about it a lot and I am curious about people that are essentially creatures of the night because they have to live in shadows. The mystery and thriller aspect of the story was fun to read and kept me on my toes throughout the course of the story. Sometimes you question whether Allie saw what she thought she saw or whether there is some big cover up going on. It keeps the story interesting and intriguing.

[kazhout · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

(This review was originally posted at My Library in the Making.)When I started reading What We Saw At Night, I expected something depressing because the main characters are three diseased teens, but this one caught me completely off-guard. Clearly I should stop skimming through blurbs.Allie Kim and her best friends, Rob and Juliet, have been living with XP (Xeroderma Pigmentosum) their whole lives. To make do with their condition, they are awake at night, experiencing the world in the dark. Juliet introduces Allie and Rob to Parkour, and, though both are reasonably reluctant at first, they decide to join her. One night while tracing, they chance upon a man with a seemingly dead girl in his hands, and the secrets begin unraveling themselves.I love/hate Allie. She was smart and brave - if she wasn't, she wouldn't be doing Parkour - but I thought she was too dependent on her friends. She couldn't bear to stay away from them, even if her pride - and me, internally - was practically screaming at her to do so. Also, at some point, I did wish for Juliet to disappear. She was too angst-y, withdrawn, and complicated for me to love, but I've since realized that I actually love "walking mystery" characters like her (i.e. Alaska from Looking for Alaska by John Green).The shocker-filled plot made my eyes widen and just say "WHAT?!" a lot of times. It was heavy with suspense and mystery (particularly on the characters; everyone had me doubting!), and even though I had to read this over the span of a week, the brilliant writing and thrilling pace never failed to suck me right back into the story. That said, the ending disappointed me. It was too much of cliffhanger for my liking, and I felt like I didn't get a proper conclusion for this book's arc. But yes, there will be a sequel!MY FAVORITE PART was the last scene. It was the abrupt ending I'd said I didn't like, yes, but that also revealed Allie's character development. RATING: 3/5

[prettydeadly · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

You can read this review and more like it at Pretty Deadly Reviews.

I wasn't really sure what I was getting into when I started this book. I vaguely knew that Mitchard was the author of a book that was made a movie, the same book that won an award. But that's it. I hadn't read any reviews of WHAT WE SAW AT NIGHT, nor had I read any of her other work. So I had very little expectations going in and I'm glad for that.

There were many parts of this book that I enjoyed thoroughly. The strange skin condition, XP was fascinating. I had heard of it (or something like it?) a while ago, and remember being interested in how one would go about their daily lives without going out in daylight. In the world of YA, where we have vampires that can inexplicably go out in daylight, it was quite the turnaround to see regular kids hiding from the sun. These three teens, Allie, Juliet, and Rob, were in essence terminally ill, but at the same time, they were so free. They could basically do whatever they wanted, or go where ever they wanted. There was no limit on the potential of their night. As a plus, I love when books can teach you something about the real world and not just internal human truths.

Another thing I enjoyed was the Parkour. Parkour is basically scaling buildings and throwing yourself off of roofs and things like that. If you are familiar with the game Mirror's Edge, you are familiar with Parkour. The book opens with a scene wherein Juliet flings herself from one roof to another across an alleyway. From there on, the three of them continuously train and slowly become better and better at the sport. They begin taking on new and more dangerous stunts, especially more dangerous as they are doing it in the dark with poor eyesight because of the XP. One of their stunts is the catalyst for the mystery of WHAT WE SAW AT NIGHT: Allie is sure she is witness to the moments following a murder, and becomes fixated on solving it.

I had a big problem with Allie as a character. She was kind of bland to me, and fell into the cycle of making terrible decisions despite her supposed maturity. For instance, she knows that there is a killer in the apartment buildings she scaled one night, but still decides to get a job babysitting an infant in the same complex. That didn't make any sense. If I know some place is dangerous, or harbors dangerous people, I don't go to that place. So even if it's not a supernatural threat, the threat still exists and Allie constantly baits it.

I also didn't think Allie was a very good friend. She was constantly jealous of Juliet and always undermined her internally. Juliet was obviously more beautiful than Allie, so Allie always assumed there was something sinister behind Juliet's motives. I won't reveal whether there is or not, but regardless, that's a terrible way to treat someone you love. Imagine having someone you love so much, and have been close with all your life, not trust you. That's damaging to a friendship.

I didn't understand the relationship between Rob and Allie. First she accuses him of running off with Juliet during a spat between the three of them. Then suddenly they're making out in Rob's Jeep. It was this crazy 180 that I really didn't see coming. And while it was refreshing, seeing Allie, the MC, actually get the guy and not the super-perfect best friend, it was still a little out of nowhere. There was no indication prior that Rob had any feelings for Allie outside of their platonic friendship. One thing I do have to say, and this is important: this book is very sex-positive, and I absolutely commend the author on that one. Allie's mother was very aware and present in Allie's life, and helped Allie make smart decisions regarding her sex life and her body. So yay!

Another issue that I had with the book, though, was the pacing. Sometimes time seemed to move in slow motion. Then the next thing you know, and entire Summer has passed! It left me feeling very disjointed and disconnected to the story.

And finally, the ending was the worst. There is apparently going to be a sequel to this, so of course, we don't solve the mystery, and end at a really stupid, dumb, ugly, jagged cliffhanger.

There were some very emotionally resonant parts later in the book that did make me sniffle (okay bawl my eyes out) a little, but those did not make up for the negatives I had with WHAT WE SAW AT NIGHT. The length could have been trimmed down, or maybe the parts where months were glossed over could have been edited to have less time pass. The pacing was strange and uncomfortable, and I could not connect with the characters. I do love Allie's strong family, and also the sex-positive themes found in the book. In all, it wasn't terrible, but it was lacking in action and I don't think I'll be reading the follow-up.

[jwitt33 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

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.

[princess0starr · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

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.

[wethereaders · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A very fast read with lots of action.