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grav_ity(This is another ARC review, so I've done my best to keep it spoiler free. I've skated over the BIG things anyway. But a few things probably made it through. Be warned.)
10 Things I Loved About "Every Other Day" (By Page 10 of the Book)
1. Non-white heroine.
2. Creative superpowers.
3. Snappy internal monologue.
4. Hellhounds are an endangered species.
5. She thinks of them as 'hounds (and yes, the apostrophe is why I love it).
6. Bizarre pragmatism.
7. "Left with nothing but my own bloody fingertips, I let out a war cry of my own, raked my nails over its face and fought like a girl." (I think I love her...)
8. Hilarious descriptions of her superpowers by herself.
9. She's the bait and the rescuer all at the same time.
10. The really cool slow build of the "people like me" theme.
And that was only Chapter One!
Basic Premise: Kali is a perfectly normal, slightly wallflowerish, teenaged girl. But only every other day. On the days when she is NOT a perfectly normal, slightly wallflowerish, teenaged girl, Kali is a demon killer. She doesn't get cold. She doesn't feel pain. She can run forever. And she really, really likes to kill Hellhounds. Needless to say, I kind of love her.
Her demon hunting is made complicated not only by the fact that she is leading a double life, but also because in most cases, hunting demons is illegal. Many of the species are endangered, ruled as such by the government. Which totally knows about them: 'hounds, zombies, will-o th'wisps, kelpies, dragons...the lot, and label the killing of such creatures as "environmental terrorism", which makes me laugh way, way harder than I think it should. Because when Charles Darwin got to the Galapagos Islands, he found more than swallows waiting for him.
From there on, we figure things out with Kali, who is in full demon hunter-mode when we meet her. By the time she gets to school the next morning, though, she's totally human...which is why it's kind of not cool that she sees a demon's mark on a fellow student. What she does from that point out, as a human for the next 20 hours, is just awesome.
Along the way we meet many fun and entertaining people. Bethany, the girl who has the mark, is popular and awful...but also hilarious, creative, quick on her feet and kind of awesome. There's Elliot, Beth's boyfriend, who is kind of hilariously skeptical given the world he lives in. And there is his little sister Skylar, GOD, Skylar! Skylar is "a little bit psychic" (which, btw, is something that Does Not Exist in this world), and she is JUST MADE OF AWESOME, and trained herself for fighting demons by virtue of having five older brothers and having the most adorable common sense OF ALL TIME. The way she deals with her power, with everyone else and with her own self...I LOVE HER.
But really, this book is about Kali and her amazing, amazing journey. As soon as the Evil Woman In Heels showed up and Kali pointed out that her skin was a shade darker than Kali's own...I knew it was her mother. I like to think that I'd have known it if Kali wasn't Indian, but at the same time I'm not sure. In any case, it wasn't the whole picture, just another piece of the puzzle, and when I saw her, I still wondered why Kali had a "mommy" and a "mama". I also really liked the portrayal of Kali's relationship with her dad, who got in over his head and wasn't exactly good at this, but who was amazing when the chips were down.
By calling it "Chimera", it was sort of easy to figure out what the crazy evil bioengineers were DOING, but I guess a kid might not know that.
Ditto on the homo vampiris, but I suppose at some point vampires are inevitable. In any case, this was definitely one of those times where I love something in spite of the vampires. ;) It was also a pretty original variation on the vampire thing, which I thought was very cool.
Mostly, though, Kali saved the day (and the boy, incidentally), by USING HER BRAIN, and I love her for that. I also love that it took away my "OH, GOD, CONSENT!" issue that I would have otherwise had. I don't know if this was setting up for a sequel or not, but...I'd definitely read it if there was one!
So this book gets a 9/10 for a fabulous "insert" world, an awesome heroine, an outstanding supporting cast (SKYLER!!!), a great ending, and for keeping the romance to a minimum. :)
(I can't tell you why it doesn't get a 10, because that would be a spoiler.)
(Oh, and the cover art is REALLY GREAT.)
+++
Every Other Day comes out on December 27, which seems like an odd day for a book, but WHATEVER. I will definitely be adding it to my list of "books I want to hold someday".
10 Things I Loved About "Every Other Day" (By Page 10 of the Book)
1. Non-white heroine.
2. Creative superpowers.
3. Snappy internal monologue.
4. Hellhounds are an endangered species.
5. She thinks of them as 'hounds (and yes, the apostrophe is why I love it).
6. Bizarre pragmatism.
7. "Left with nothing but my own bloody fingertips, I let out a war cry of my own, raked my nails over its face and fought like a girl." (I think I love her...)
8. Hilarious descriptions of her superpowers by herself.
9. She's the bait and the rescuer all at the same time.
10. The really cool slow build of the "people like me" theme.
And that was only Chapter One!
Basic Premise: Kali is a perfectly normal, slightly wallflowerish, teenaged girl. But only every other day. On the days when she is NOT a perfectly normal, slightly wallflowerish, teenaged girl, Kali is a demon killer. She doesn't get cold. She doesn't feel pain. She can run forever. And she really, really likes to kill Hellhounds. Needless to say, I kind of love her.
Her demon hunting is made complicated not only by the fact that she is leading a double life, but also because in most cases, hunting demons is illegal. Many of the species are endangered, ruled as such by the government. Which totally knows about them: 'hounds, zombies, will-o th'wisps, kelpies, dragons...the lot, and label the killing of such creatures as "environmental terrorism", which makes me laugh way, way harder than I think it should. Because when Charles Darwin got to the Galapagos Islands, he found more than swallows waiting for him.
From there on, we figure things out with Kali, who is in full demon hunter-mode when we meet her. By the time she gets to school the next morning, though, she's totally human...which is why it's kind of not cool that she sees a demon's mark on a fellow student. What she does from that point out, as a human for the next 20 hours, is just awesome.
Along the way we meet many fun and entertaining people. Bethany, the girl who has the mark, is popular and awful...but also hilarious, creative, quick on her feet and kind of awesome. There's Elliot, Beth's boyfriend, who is kind of hilariously skeptical given the world he lives in. And there is his little sister Skylar, GOD, Skylar! Skylar is "a little bit psychic" (which, btw, is something that Does Not Exist in this world), and she is JUST MADE OF AWESOME, and trained herself for fighting demons by virtue of having five older brothers and having the most adorable common sense OF ALL TIME. The way she deals with her power, with everyone else and with her own self...I LOVE HER.
But really, this book is about Kali and her amazing, amazing journey. As soon as the Evil Woman In Heels showed up and Kali pointed out that her skin was a shade darker than Kali's own...I knew it was her mother. I like to think that I'd have known it if Kali wasn't Indian, but at the same time I'm not sure. In any case, it wasn't the whole picture, just another piece of the puzzle, and when I saw her, I still wondered why Kali had a "mommy" and a "mama". I also really liked the portrayal of Kali's relationship with her dad, who got in over his head and wasn't exactly good at this, but who was amazing when the chips were down.
By calling it "Chimera", it was sort of easy to figure out what the crazy evil bioengineers were DOING, but I guess a kid might not know that.
Ditto on the homo vampiris, but I suppose at some point vampires are inevitable. In any case, this was definitely one of those times where I love something in spite of the vampires. ;) It was also a pretty original variation on the vampire thing, which I thought was very cool.
Mostly, though, Kali saved the day (and the boy, incidentally), by USING HER BRAIN, and I love her for that. I also love that it took away my "OH, GOD, CONSENT!" issue that I would have otherwise had. I don't know if this was setting up for a sequel or not, but...I'd definitely read it if there was one!
So this book gets a 9/10 for a fabulous "insert" world, an awesome heroine, an outstanding supporting cast (SKYLER!!!), a great ending, and for keeping the romance to a minimum. :)
(I can't tell you why it doesn't get a 10, because that would be a spoiler.)
(Oh, and the cover art is REALLY GREAT.)
+++
Every Other Day comes out on December 27, which seems like an odd day for a book, but WHATEVER. I will definitely be adding it to my list of "books I want to hold someday".
