By Jon Skovron
Published by Abrams Books
Released on August 2nd, 2011
Source: ARC to review from author/publisher
3.5-4 stars- I'm really torn between liking it and really liking it
Purchase from: Abrams Books| Amazon| Barnes & Noble| Indie Bound
Jael has always felt like a freak. She’s never kissed a boy, she never knew her mom, and her dad’s always been superstrict—but that’s probably because her mom was a demon, which makes Jael half demon and most definitely not a normal sophomore girl. On her sixteenth birthday, a mysterious present unlocks her family’s dangerous history and Jael’s untapped potential. What was merely an embarrassing secret before becomes a terrifying reality. Jael must learn to master her demon side in order to take on a vindictive Duke of Hell while also dealing with a twisted priest, best-friend drama, and a spacey blond skater boy who may have hidden depths.
I really liked Misfit's unique mythology and Jon's writing style. He can be edgy, yet funny, darker, yet writes a great love story, and his humor and wit in the story were great! I really liked the way he incorporated Misfit's back story in with present day. It gave me a better understanding about what was going on and what had happened to make Jael's father the why he was, as well as understand why Jael plays an important role with everything that's going on. There are at times a darker feel to the book, but it's also a story about a girl who's trying discover more about who she is, falls in love for the first time and deals with a betrayal of her best friend. Not to mention a father who doesn't show much emotion towards his daughter, nor does he tell her much about her mother or her heritage.
One of the things I liked about Jael is her independent attitude, and her desire to seek out the truth and find answers. She's a grounded character who's also broken in the sense she's grown up without a mother and has a father who hasn't always made the choices for her, even though he felt he had her best intentions at heart. No matter how hard I tried, I did not connect with her character. Surprisingly that lack of connection didn't take too much away from the story, because there are some great secondary characters that made up for it. Aside from Jael, her relationship with her BFF Britt, was the only other relationship I felt was a little forced and not relatable at all. What I did like was the back story on Paul, Jael's father, her mother Astarte and getting to meet Dagon, her Uncle, who's also her mother's brother.
I'll admit when I first read about Jael's dad, I wasn't a fan. It wasn't until I got to know more his story that I felt I understood him more, or maybe it had to do with all the emotions that came alive in the story whenever Paul and Astarte's relationship is mentioned. In getting to know more of their back story, I also came to admire Jael's mother Astarte more, and what she did for her daughter. When she's introduced in the book I may or may not have judged her for what she does, and I quickly learned there's so much more to her than meets the eye. I loved her uncle Dagon. He's by far my favorite character. He's definitely the most unique character to get to know, and he's a lot of fun. He not only provided the right amount of humor to the story, but he's the one person who really gave Jael the chance to learn more about her demon side. I liked that even though they're demons, they're not necessarily evil. Then there's the main love interest Rob. The skater boy with a sense of humor who at times comes across as an absent minded professor, but I enjoyed that about him. I liked his character, because he accepts Jael for who she is demon side and all.
I liked the different layers to this book, and the way Jon was able to create characters with realistic emotions that I was able to relate to. Misfit has a rich demon mythology, but there's so much more to it. I enjoyed getting to see Jael grow into her own character and how her father changes over the course of the book. There's a lot great character development as the story goes on with many of the different characters. I'd definitely recommend this for teens, and I also think adults will enjoy it as well. There is some minor language in the book, but nothing that I thought was offensive for teen readers.
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Just starting MISFIT...looks really good.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to hear what you think about it.
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