DARK GODDESS

When demon lords threaten to destroy the mortal realm, only two half-demon, half-divine teens can stop them.

A few months after saving the human race from annihilation in Alpha Goddess (2014), seemingly ordinary teens Kyle Knox and Sera Caelum were looking forward to returning to normal high school life. Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for their peace to be shattered by a demon attack—one far more troubling than what they previously encountered. Someone, or something, is opening portals from Xibalba, the demon realm, onto the mortal plane. As, respectively, an Azura Lord and a Goddess marked by the Dark Realms, only Kyle and Sera have the powers necessary to save humanity—that is, of course, with a little help from brown-skinned Kira, a beautiful and reckless new student with a divine secret. While Howard intelligently incorporates her deep understanding of Hinduism in a gripping story, her prose can be clunky and her characters’ voices inconsistent. Furthermore, the majority of her huge cast of characters is given little time to develop, making it hard to invest in anyone besides the two likable protagonists. The complexity of Howard’s world is such that readers new to the series should begin with Book 1, which establishes Sera's Indian heritage and Kyle's racial ambiguity.

Although this outing may not be a literary masterpiece, it is an expertly plotted, skillfully executed modern take on Hindu cosmology that will leave readers eager for the next installment of this girl-positive series.