Demon Girl by Penelope Fletcher
Rating: 4/5
This book is another that came up on the free nook download list at the Barnes & Noble site. I feared at first it would be another Twilight fanfic, but it pleasantly surprised me. Although it had a few bad reviews at the time I downloaded it, I gave it a shot. It is about what you'd expect from a young adult novel when it comes to its need to work in some sort of unnecessary romance. Aside from that, however, I found it somewhat refreshing.
There were many grammatical mistakes along the way, which was something that a lot of the reviewers were harping on, but nothing a new editor wouldn't fix. More importantly, Fletcher has managed to build an intriguing post-apocalyptic world where demons and fae of all kinds roam the lands. A time when humans are contained to a few small settlements and are on the brink of extinction. A world I actually found quite interesting.
Though humans are pretty much contained within a few choice cities, they manage to prosper thanks to the work of the Sect. Rae, the main character, starts the story by going for a morning jog. Though she's a Disciple, she breaks one of the most important doctrines of the Sect and sneaks Outside. Getting past the walls, she runs into the forest. This manages to quickly turn into a catastrophe when she manages to stumble across a Cleric of the Sect who was questioning a fairy, and thus nearly getting caught breaking the rules. And everything goes downhill from there.
Unfortunately, the plot races by rather quickly and can be hard to keep up with sometimes. In the course of that first day, Rae defies Sect Doctrine, witnesses the slaughter of a fairy, learns that she is, in fact a fairy herself, becomes inexplicably bound to another fairy, manages to hide a vampire in her closet, meets a witch who foresees a rocky future for her, and also finally learns a bit of her past. Wow! Thus, a lot of these events are not well described and many details were glazed over at best.
I only hope the next book will fill in some of the plot holes left behind by this, and flesh out some of the secondary characters. While Rae herself is fairly well developed, a lot of the others are merely there for dialogue with little to no back story.
Certainly this book is a decent start to a trilogy. Although the price has recently gone from free, to $2.99 at the time of writing this article, there's no harm in picking up the title and checking it out for yourself. If you enjoy reading stories that paint a new view of creatures such as demons, fairies, and vampires, please check it out. And let me know what you think!
