Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 336 pages
Release Date: December 27, 2011
ISBN-10: 1606841696
ISBN-13: 978-1606841693
Source: Review copy from publisher via netGalley
Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human. And then every day in between...she's something else entirely.
Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.
When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive...and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.
—Goodreads
Book Review
Y'all may recall a little ol' TV show by the name of
Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And if you were an
obsessive fangirl devoted watcher like me, you will probably remember that in season 3 episode 12 Buffy is temporarily stripped of her slayer powers and is therefore forced to fight the baddie of the week as a normal human girl.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that Jennifer Lynn Barnes is also a Buffy fan...'cos not only is the book's heroine similar in a lot of ways to the iconic blonde monster killer, but the premise of the story is unquestionably reminiscent of the aforementioned BTVS episode.
Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against the similarities. On the contrary, I think that's what attracted me to the story in the first place. In fact, I liked that the author expanded on the idea of a heroine losing her superhuman abilities by making it a permanent part of what she is and having her undergo this cyclical transformation with the start of each new day. It created an interesting dichotomy to the protagonist's characterization and increased the suspense by challenging the heroine to adapt from one state of being to another during unexpected and often dangerous circumstances.
For the most part, I liked Kali, especially on her human days when she had to rely on her intelligence and cunning rather than sheer brute force. She was smart, tough, loyal, compassionate, selfless, and brave. She was also somewhat damaged, lonely and insecure, which helped make her more developed as a character and easier to relate to and care for. However, I did have one rather big problem with Kali: Chica was quite a bit of a downer. Practically in every single chapter she had an inner monologue entitled Woe Is Me. It was like a pity party marathon. I get that Kali has to struggle with what she is and the things she feels compelled to do, but the girl continuously lamented about her lack of friends & love and about feeling like a freak. It never seemed to stop. Initially, I sympathized with her, but then it just got really annoying, and all I started to hear was, "Wah-wah-wah!"
Anyways, despite Kali's loner and borderline emo tendencies, she did manage to acquire a motley crew of friends turned would-be sidekicks that I actually grew quite fond of. Well, except for Elliot, since he was a flat, one-note character who had absolutely no purpose in the story aside from being eye candy, and Zev, who spent most of the book as a disembodied voice in Kali's head. Bethany and Skyler, on the other hand, totally stole my heart. I loved the banter between the two of them and found myself cracking up on several occasions because of their antics.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about the book was the action. There was lots of it and it was written fairly well (if not a little rushed at times). It was also gory and violent, and I ate it right up.
Unfortunately, it wasn't all awesome ass kicking and funny verbal sparring. There were some things that I found really off-putting about the book. Firstly, the writing was very repetitive. The same phrases and descriptions were used repeatedly throughout the story. This also applies to the rundown of Kali's superhuman abilities. Every other chapter, the reader is told that in her nonhuman form Kali can't die, can't be poisoned, can't feel pain, can't feel fear, is über strong & fast, and can heal really quickly. After half a dozen times, I started mentally yelling, "Enough already! We get it!"
And that segues me to my other major issue with the book. There was an assortment of glaring inconsistencies, especially in regards to Kali's special abilities. In one chapter we're told that she can't be killed because she's pretty much invincible, but then some time later, she is forced to close her eyes while fighting a basilisk because its stare is apparently lethal to her. We're also told that she can't feel pain, but then she does feel pain when attacked by a manticore. And she's not supposed to be affected by poisons/toxins, but is then weakened when bitten by zombies. It seemed like the author couldn't make up her mind on what she wanted Kali to be capable of and what vulnerabilities she wanted her to have and when.
Finally, there was a lot of stuff that just did not make much sense. The following are just a few examples among several that bugged the hell out of me. By the way, consider yourself warned, some of these are somewhat spoilerish...so proceed at your own discretion.
- Chimera agents are instructed to recover a successful research specimen (this being Kali once she's been infected by a chupacabra), but then they try to kill her and abandon her body on the side of the road instead of bringing her back with them for further study.
- Bethany is in a drugged, lethargic state one second and then completely snaps out of it and is back to her normal self the next.
- The Davis house has surveillance, but apparently no physical or other form of security despite having a super secret and illegal research laboratory in the basement.
- Supernatural creatures like selkies, zombies, dragons, and yeti exist, but the idea of a psychic is treated as utterly preposterous.
- Reid is able to assemble an FBI clean up crew to get rid of a room full of destroyed zombie bodies in mere minutes and with no questions asked.
- One of the characters is killed in a totally contrived, absurd, and unnecessary way, and despite being supersonic fast, Kali is unable to get to her in time when she's just a few steps away.
Book Rating
