Synopsis : The only thing that makes St. Teresa’s Preparatory School for Girls bearable for Jane is her best friend Ally. But when Ally changes into a whole different person literally overnight the fall of their senior year, Jane’s suddenly alone—and very confused.
Turns out, Ally has sold her soul in exchange for popularity—to a devil masquerading as a sophomore at St. Teresa’s! Now it’s up to Jane to put it all on the line to save her friend from this ponytail-wearing, cupcakenibbling demon . . . without losing her own soul in the process. . .
I became a fan of Maureen Johnson ever since she made this video to teen writers asking her how to get published.
I’d never read one of her books before, so when I saw Devilish in the library I grabbed it. Judging by Johnson’s eccentric Twitter feed I expected a kind of quirky, offbeat novel and that is exactly what I got. Devilish is a modern version of the classic Faustian tale of what it means to sell your soul for the devil.
The main character, Jane Jarvis, is somewhat of a feminist and extremely school smart causing her to stick out like a sore thumb at her all-girl Catholic high school where her best friend is the less than perfect Allison. I liked Jane as a character and thought she was endearing.
At first, I found her writing style to be similar to Meg Cabot, but the tones are very different. Johnson’s writing is much more cluttered, with a splash of wit.
I felt like many of the characters didn’t get a chance to fully develop and aside from Jane and Allison, no one pulls their full weight in the story. The book slowed down for a bit and then picked up towards the end and comes to a harrowing end.
I have to give this novel some credit because it is a paranormal story and predates the current paranormal trend. This novel was published in 2006 and in some sense, Johnson was kind of the head of the game.
I may read her more popular series, Little Blue Envelopes and Suite Scarlett, but I am really jonesing for The Name of The Star.
Pros: Funny, interesting main characters, good concept, great ending
Cons: side characters added nothing, unevenly paced plot, loose ends.
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I’m a lifelong reader who started blogging about YA books in 2011 but now I read in just about every genre! I love YA coming of age stories, compelling memoirs and genre bending SFF. You can find me talking all things romance at Romance and Sensibility.