I remember liking this book when it came out, but rereading it now was pretty meh. I found parts funny and enjoyed the writing style, but the story felt a bit underdeveloped. Also, once again, I hated the love interest. Reading it did make me think a lot about good and evil though so that was interesting.

2022 reread note to say i dont hate the love interest as a character just as a love interest. He is either too young or way too old depending on how you look at it and also the fact that his whole situation is never explained is annoying. ( )

I love just about everything Maureen Johnson has written her characters are great and I love her stories. Her series tend to be quite different from each other but they are all good in their own right. Maureen Johnson is not only a great writer but she is also amazing on Twitter I highly recommend following her. ( )

Seriously after finishing with this book I listened to Prince's "I Would Die For You" and thought to myself this would be a great theme song for this book.

I have to say that when I started Devilish I didn't have a lot of hope that this would be a good read. Just because the young adult novels I have started in 2014 have been pretty hit or miss for me. This one was definitely a hit.

The main character is Jane who is anxious about her best friend Ally getting through her senior year at St Teresa's Preparatory School for Girls. Every senior is supposed to have a Freshman that bids to be the Senior girls little. Jane is pretty much over anything dealing with St. Teresa's, but Ally desperately wants to fit in and be part of things. After a school wide embarrassing incident starring Ally, Jane becomes even more worried for her friend. However, Ally suddenly transitions into the most beautiful, articulate girl at St. Theresa's. Jane is left wondering who or what is behind Ally's transformation.

I liked Jane's voice throughout this book. The snark was seriously strong in this girl. Also though she likes to play tough she really does love her mother, father, and sister Jane. And through the entire book her love for her best friend Ally comes through. Some characters needed to be fleshed out a bit more (like Jane's mother) but other than that I was fine with the dialogue and flow of the book.

Also I have to give Ms. Johnson kudos. For once I wasn't forced to plod through a book that has a girl stuck in the midst of a love triangle, or trying to fight to the death for something in a dystopian future where no world building has been established. This was a very funny wry look at teenage girls and specifically on how one teenage girl truly loved her friend and would do anything for her.

I went and looked and I don't see that Ms. Johnson followed up with a sequel to this book which is a shame. It would have been nice to have a series of books starring students at St. Theresa. She did leave things with a nice little setup to the future so you could see that future books starring characters from this book would be possible.

"It doesn't matter how old you are when you die, I'd been told.

When you die, that's the right time for you.
I'd also been told my life was a small price to pay.

I was glad to pay it for Allison." ( )

I read this book about a year ago, and have zero memory of anything except the cover. Zip. Nada. Either my brain is eroding (always a possibility) or the book just wasn't very interesting. Possibly both.

Second time reading:

This is just...awesome. My favorite kind of demon/urban fantasy/YA story. Not too much drama to complicate things, but still intense and realistic. Demons with cupcakes. Undead teenagers. Demon-hunting old priests. Brilliant main characters with bleach blonde spikes.

One thing I love about Devilish is that there's so much information we don't get, but it doesn't feel like it got forgotten about. It just isn't featured. And for once I'm okay with having unanswered questions, because it makes the world feel very... complete. I'm not sure if that makes any sense. I'm certainly not asking for a sequel, because Devilish feels very perfect all by itself.

Another great thing about it is the characters. They are all just brilliant. Jane Jarvis not only has an awesome name and awesome hair, she also is actually brilliant and funny and clever. Ally is cute, in an awkward kind of way. Lanalee actually is quite scary. I honestly even love Joan, who is the type of character I normally hate.

I just love this book. ( )