Category Five is the second book following friends Marisol, Lupe, Javier, and Carlos as they reunite a year later after Hurricane Maria devastated the island. Lupe is visiting her police detective uncle and friends for the summer but her vacation soon brings them all back to fighting the supernatural as murders begin to take place on the nearby island of Vieques. This book contained a lot of good discussion on how Puerto Rico was treated following the real devastating hurricane and how many US corporations bought up land from locals to try and make a profit by turning it into resorts or privatizing public beaches. I liked how the story was fast paced and the blend of supernatural and human villains. I think this book will appeal more to younger teen readers or more reluctant readers and I would recommend this book to people looking for a scary but not too scary read. I enjoyed the characters but there wasn't a huge focus on character development with more of a focus on plot. I also liked how this book was spooky but not scary and the atmosphere created throughout the book really helped bring out the more spooky side. Overall, this was a fun and entertaining read with some social commentary thrown in to add some depth and discussion points.

I haven't read the author's previous book which is supposed to be like a companion novel to this, and I definitely agree that it wasn't necessary. While there were references to the previous book, they told me enough that I didn't feel lost or like I was missing anything.

I listen to the audiobook of this and it took me only 3 hours to finish it, so it felt like a very quick and entertaining read. I felt like the characters were very complex and layered, which I really enjoyed, and the different relationships between them were compelling.

The mystery was intriguing enough and while some very convenient things did happen, overall it was an engaging story. And I really liked the way the author integrated what has happened in Puerto Rico since Hurricane Maria, especially the abandonment of Puerto Rico by the U.S. government. The ending was very much wish-fulfillment, but I didn't mind it.

DNF @ 25%

Okay, so, I didn’t realize that Five Midnights was actually book one of this series, so that’s partly me bad and partly the author/publisher, because it’s not marked on Goodreads as being part of a series. This book does a pretty good job of summing up what happened in Five Midnights, but it definitely feels like a sequel, where the reader is expected to have some amount of cursory knowledge going in.

This book started out with a bang, and I thought I was going to love it because I was immediately hooked. But then things started slowing down with the paranormal, and what really did it for me, though, was I just hated the characters.

There’s a romance, and maybe it was established in the first book, but I’m not buying it here. I mean, Javier tells Lupe to stay away from one of the guys at the hotel, but she doesn’t ask the totally normal (and somewhat expected) thing you would from your partner, “Oh, why? What’d he do?” No, she instead flips out about Javier controlling her and not trusting her and immediately questions their relationship. It was just downhill from there, over and over again, where I was just left wondering if these kids really had a relationship at all?

The book deals with post-Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico, which is an important topic, but in the part I read, there was some brief mention of what Javier went through, but mostly, the conclusion is just that the hurricane made him angry. It changed him. This is always said in a negative way, almost in a, “Why’s he so angry all the time?” kind of tone.

What really made me set it down, though, was because Lupe is just … awful. I’m sorry, she’s horrible. They’re talking about Hurricane Maria, and Lupe says she knows what he went through because her uncle was there and they were worried about him, and Javier (who is clearly suffering PTSD) snaps and says she has no idea, because sitting safe in the US and worrying about family isn’t the same as living it. All of this culminating in Lupe crying, because somehow she’s the victim here because he hurt her feelings and so she questions their relationship, and I just … I can’t. There were so many instances where Lupe was clearly out of touch and elitist, and this was just the final straw for me.

That took some time to finish.

Thanks net galley for the arc read for a review.
Full review on my blog shortly.

I just could not sit and read this. It was nicely written for the most part. Lupe acting like she does, didn’t cut it for me. Her BF is even worse, that was an awful lot of controlling. I also had to look up some phrases that were in Spanish because I learned French in high school, not Spanish.

I really wanted to give this 4 stars. I will leave it at 3.5.

I'm from Puerto Rico and I lived like many Puerto Ricans the disasters that Hurricane Maria left on the island. Many of us suffer months with no power, no running water, no communication, or food. At that time getting gasoline or ice was an odyssey, we had to get up very early and make a line for hours until late at night just to fill the tank of the car.
In Category Five Ann Dàvila created a tremendous atmosphere that anyone who reads this book feels what we Puerto Ricans suffered during those horrible months. This book not only highlights the ravages that the island of Puerto Rico and Vieques suffered, but also mentions historical elements such as the Marina on vieques and the San Felipe Segundo hurricane in 1928.
Ann Dàvila creates this beautiful, supernatural story full of intrigue and suspense that everyone in my opinion should read.
5 stars for me
Thanks to netgalley and Tor teen for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

CATEGORY FIVE is an excellent YA mystery paranormal novel so engaging, I found myself lost in the prose, not a boring moment. The story’s twists took me by surprise. There’s so much to like, but the main aspect is mixing genres–paranormal and mystery. And the folklore!

The book is set in a luscious tiny island in Puerto Rico, one that has just suffered the wrath of category five hurricane María. Dead, unemployment, and a feeling of frustration reign the island. All of this is portrayed in such a way, that we, the reader, feel like we’re there, suffering with the protagonists.

Overall, CATEGORY FIVE’s engaging prose, crazy twists, and genre mix makes it a must read, and an excellent escape from everyday’s life, mainly in these incredible times we live right now.

Love, love, love! First, I never knew there would be a SEQUEL of Five Midnights! Check out my surprise and joy when I saw this book on NetGalley! I adored the first book, and really loved all the characters and especially the Puerto Rican culture! Category Five does NOT disappoint! All of the same fun elements are there from the original book, including the great characters and the spooky supernatural killings. Definitely a must-buy for my classroom!