In Yair-Levy’s supernatural debut, the first in a series, Dylan Prescott is just another college student until demons come calling.
On the campus of UCLA, having her soul sucked out by a demon with gorgeous eyes is the last thing Dylan Prescott expects to happen. But that’s just what happens late one night—except it doesn’t go quite as the demon expected, because Dylan is already missing her soul. As if it isn’t enough to find out that she’s a demon, too, Dylan discovers that she’s a wanted, superpowerful demon who’s supposed to be dead. After her anthropology professor assigns her to be partners with Tristan Stewart, the mysterious (and stunning) guy who seems to know a lot more about Dylan’s past than even Dylan knows, the two embark upon an epic romance and a quest to find Dylan’s real parents while keeping her out of the hands of the menacing Shadow Horde. Although it at first appears to follow the boilerplate supernatural romance formula—featuring dreamy guys, lots of blushing, and lots of hastily revealed, confusing rules about the demon realm that are tossed off quickly in order to get back to the star-struck lovers—the novel takes a different turn in its second half, revealing a much more interesting and original story. This makes for a somewhat frustrating read, as the first half of the novel, before getting to the good stuff, moves slowly and seems to be ticking off all the boxes on the YA romance checklist. Dylan’s quest should be central to the plot, but nearly the entire plot in the first half of the novel is obscured by her back and forth with Tristian, which feels rather reminiscent of the Twilight novels. However, when Dylan is kidnapped and allowed to fully come into her own as the heroine, the story shows much more backbone and becomes tense and deliciously creepy. Only then do the sparks of creativity and bold, vivid images that Yair-Levy hints at in the beginning of the story become fully realized.
A mixed bag that rallies after a weak beginning to provide a satisfyingly supernatural payoff.
Pub Date: June 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-0692242674
Page Count: 422
Publisher: DNYL PUBLICATIONS LLC
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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