Book Review- Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Title: Every Other Day

 Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Series:  N/A

Published:  2 February 2012 by Quercus (Dec 11 by Egmont for USA)

Length: 329 pages

Warnings: violence 12+

Source: Publisher, in exchange for review

Other info: Jennifer has also written the Raised By Wolves series, as well as Tattoo, The Squad and Golden.

Summary : Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human. And then every day in between . . .She's something else entirely. Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism. When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive. . .and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

Review: Some days, Kali is human. and other days, she’s not. Those days, she hunts demons-she’s practically invincible and she knows it. Then she notices Bethany, one of the popular girls and daughter of her father’s friend, is marked for death. Kali has twenty four hours to save her. And in said twentyfour hours, she’s human. After taking care of that, Skylar, Bethany and others get to find out the truth about Kali’s parentage, and what bio-tech company Chimera are doing with all these paranormal creatures. Oh, and after saving Bethany, Kali has a creature in her that gives her the ability to telepathically communicate with somebody called Zev. This is going well.

I love the idea of this. Human one day, the next something else? Fresh and original and definitely my thing. Aside from the interchangeable biology, Kali is an interesting character. She’s very determined to save everyone, she’s smart and will take a lot of risks. Bethany definitely isn’t as bad as you think at first once you get to know her and I ended up liking her. Zev, I didn’t care much for, even though we get a clear idea of him through his communications with Kali. My favourite character was Skylar-she’s funny, cute, happy to call herself a “slut” after bullying, a “little” psychic, and her constant verbal sparring with her brothers is one of the best parts of the book,

There’s surprisingly little romance, considering Jennifer’s other series, and this suits me just fine. The action is fast, continuous and the kind that makes you just want to read on and on. The paranormal world of Every Other Day is quite well developed, with a wider range than most paranormal creatures getting a mention, even if they weren’t all integrated into the main story.

The plot takes many turns throughout, especially the subplot regarding Kali’s mother. You think you know something, something else happens, you realise that it’s a lot more complicated than you first thought. The whole thing with Zev was quite complicated, and a little annoying trying to fully keep up with it. It was a good way of interacting with a character though-different and interesting. The whole thing is a book that makes you just want to read on, trying to guess what’ll happen next. I also really liked seeing everything pan out in ways different to what you imagined it to.

I’m not sure if there’ll ever be a sequel to this. The ending left it totally open to being a standalone where you can make up adventures for Kali, or for Jennifer to do so. If there is a sequel (there hasn’t been one announced) I’d definitely like to read this, but if there isn’t, I won’t mind.

Overall:  Strength 4 tea to a fresh take on paranormal creatures that’s also a fun read.

Links:  The Book Depository | Goodreads | Author website |