#young adult horror
I’ll start out by saying that I have yet to give a negative review to a Christopher Pike book, so this will be my first. While Remember Me is rightfully celebrated as one of his best (and scariest) books, Remember Me 2 was a problematic mess. Its existence stands as a testament against making unnecessary sequels, even if the fans and publishers really want one. The book goes back and forth between the story of Jean Rodriguez, a Latinx girl living in a rough part of Los Angeles, and Shari Cooper, our protagonist from the first book who is now becoming further enlightened in heaven. While Jean’s story was both boring and laced with problematic representations of Latinx, queer, and disabled people, Shari’s chapters in heaven were insufferable, sanctimonious, and preachy. Literally, the only thing I liked about this book was the short story about the troll muse. It was shoehorned in and didn’t really fit with anything else, but I genuinely loved that story. The entire concept of Shari, the spirit of a rich white girl, being placed as a “wanderer” in the body of a troubled Latinx girl is problematic as fuck. This is a white savior narrative taken to a spiritual level. I get that it’s a product of its time, and that comes up a lot in these books, but I don’t think I’ve ever encountered one where the entire premise was this flawed. If you loved the first book, I recommend just stopping there and thinking of it as a stand-alone. I, however, am a glutton for punishment and will continue reading to see how this all wraps up in the final book of the trilogy.
Score:0.5
For my full, deep-dive, snark-filled recap with memes, gifs, and all the spoilers, check it out over on my website blog Fits of Nostalgia!
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“When Tess kissed the devil, she tasted death on his mouth.”
Review — The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino
Rating — 4.25/5⭐️
Release Date — 10/08/2021
At first I was not compelled by Tess and her sticky note insults but the story grew on me, ink seeping into my veins. The Devil Makes Three is a fascinating, fast paced YA horror with demons in books, a girl with the world on her shoulders and a tragic boy with a complicated secret and a hidden tattoo. I just didn’t want this story to end and I’ll be thinking about this haunting tale for a very long time. Would highly recommend!
So, uhh… I’ve almost finished Part I of my first horror novel. Looking like I might break 50k, but it’s gonna be pretty close.
On its own, it’s shorter than both my previous published works by a decent margin. BotC was 73k, and I believe SotS was about 84k. (And of course, Blackbird was nearly 150k, but that hardly counts.) So this one is pretty short by comparison.
But it also definitely stands well on its own. It’s got a clear and complete plot, all three MCs have full arcs, and I think it wraps up really nice. So…
I might just… go ahead and look for a publisher? I dunno yet. I mean, I don’t think the low word count is a total dealbreaker. I mean, it’s longer than Fahrenheit 451 and HGttG, so it’s not like being short devalues it or anything.
I dunno, I need to think about it. But I gotta say, I’m really, REALLY excited for everyone to meet these characters. I think you’ll really like them.
