Friday, December 29, 2017

Devil in Ohio by Daria Polatin - OPTIONAL

Polatin, Daria Devil in Ohio, 336 pages.  Feiwel and Friends, 2017.  $18.  Language: R (30 swears, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content: PG-13 (sexual references); Violence: PG-13 (satanic cult rituals).

Jules, 15, feels like the odd one out in the middle of her perfect sisters in her perfect family.  Then one day her mother brings home a badly injured girl, Mae,  from the hospital where she works as a doctor – a girl who escaped, or was thrown out of a local cult town – a quiet, very secretive satanic cult. Now Jules has to make room in her life for Mae, who takes over her room, her place in the family, her crush, and is instantly more popular than Jules at school.  But when push comes to shove, no matter how much she hurts, Jules is willing to stand up for Mae against the cult.

The cover gives this an old-fashioned gothic feel with an extra dose of red for the extra evil feeling.  Unfortunately it doesn’t quite deliver in tension or drama.  It comes off more as a teenage girl jealousy book until the very end.  The creep factor was just not there for me to rate this as a first class horror book.

MS, HS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

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