Book Review-Student Bodies by Sean Cummings

Title: Student Bodies

Author: Sean Cummings

Series: Poltergeeks #2

Published: 3^rd September 2013 by Strange Chemistry

Length: 304 pages

Source: Netgalley

Summary :
Whoever said being a teenage witch would be easy? For fifteen-year-old Julie Richardson and the city’s resident protector from supernatural evil, the Left Hand Path doesn't give a damn if you've found true love for the first time in your life. There’s someone lurking the halls of Crescent Ridge High School with enough malice to unleash an epidemic of Soul Worms – supernatural larvae that feed on the very fabric of a victim’s humanity. After witnessing the death of one of the most popular kids at school, Julie and über genius boyfriend Marcus are in a race against time to find out who is behind the attacks. All the evidence points to a horrifying plot at the City Weir during the Winter Solstice; the place where icy waters of the Bow River and a thunderous spillway will mean the deaths of more than a hundred of Julie’s classmates. If she has any hope of saving their lives, she’ll need a little help from a coven of white witches and an Aboriginal mage whose snarky attitude is matched only by her magical prowess.

Review: Julie Richardson is now a Shadowcull, the city's protector from evil, and she's needed. Because, after one classmate almost dies and another one actually does, they discover there's a plot involving Soul Worms, turning the students of the high school into hollow shells of themselves. Julie teams up with Twyla, a practicioner of ancient, Aboriginal magic, in the battle to keep everyone safe.

I really enjoyed Poltergeeks, and knew as soon as I finished it that i'd want to read the sequel.

Very quickly, it's established that this is different to Poltergeeks. There's still a bit of Julie's trademark humour in the writing, but the subject (bullying, the whole depression aspect of the soul worms) and the general tone of the thing is a lot darker than Poltergeeks.

Julie is still awesome. Marcus is pretty cool, and their relationship development was good. Twyla was really awesome (I think she might now be my favourite character), as were the Maven and Twyla's grandfather. Generally cool cast for Student Bodies.

I love the fact that family is important in Student Bodies. Both the Julie/her mother and the Twyla/her grandfather relationships are developed and important, when most of the good relationships in YA are romantic.

The inclusion of another magic system is great. It adds a good dose of diversity to the fantasy and YA selection of books, and it mixes in with the lore from Poltergeeks really well.

Unexpected ending. Be prepared for sadness on two counts. 

Overall: Strength 4 tea to a darker, but still great, book in this series.

Links: Amazon | Goodreads |

Blog Tour Author Interview-Sean Cummings and Student Bodies

Hello! Today, a quick break from Rainbow Reads, for the blog tour of Sean Cummings' STUDENT BODIES. For now, an interview. For later, a review of Student Bodies. Enjoy.

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-Does the wit and humour of Julie's voice come naturally to you?

I'm told that I'm a funny guy but I honestly don't see myself that way. When I'm writing Julie, I'm trying to write her as I see the story evolving and I use things that I say on a regular basis - these usually wind up in her speech patterns, so if she's funny then I'm happy. I like to think of her as a realist in her world view.


-What kind of research regarding witches did you do, and what did you add to it for Poltergeeks?

The normal, check out a couple of books at the library and read a ton of Wiccan information from websites. I actually did read the Malleus Maleifacarum - the 16h century treatise on the persecution of witches. That it exists today as an historical document available freely via the Interweb is a source of wonder.

-Would any, if so which, of your characters would be your best friend if they were real?

Hmmm. I'm pretty reclusive actually so if I were to have a friend from the two books, it would probably be Betty. :)


-How important is family in YA fiction?

I think its massively important to have an accurate reflection of family life in YA fiction. There are a lot of books out there where the family are just a bunch of dolts who are in the way of the protagonist for one reason or another. But the fact is family is all you've got at the end of the day. Your friends can desert you but your family are part of what makes all of us who we are - for better or worse. I wanted to further explore the mother-daughter relationship which I think comes out as very genuine in both books - more so in STUDENT BODIES as Julie and her mom have to work together and fight together despite the tension that exists between the two.

-What´s your favourite thing the Poltergeeks series has been compared to or described as?
I really liked author Sara Grant's blurb where she says POLTERGEEKS is GHOSTBUSTERS meets SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH  with a dash of X-FILES

-What´s next for Julie and Marcus?

A great deal of very bad stuff. Assuming there's a book III. I have a two-book deal with Strange Chemistry. The third and final book is plotted and outlined but I haven't started writing it yet.

-Do you prefer...
---Planning or pantsing? Planning - I'm a control freak

---Your witches or your ghosts? - Ghosts. I saw one during my visit to London last year.

---Twitter, facebook, blog, or other way or reaching readers? I'm a big Twitter nut. Facebook ... the jury is still out.

-Random question: If Poltergeeks and Student Bodies became a musical, what kind of sound would it have? Definitely not Rogers and Hammerstein. Probably it would have a bit of Andrew Llloyd Webber mixed with Iron Maiden and a large amount of Rush.


-Anything else you want to say? Nope - thanks for the interview. I really hope readers get a kick out of STUDENT BODIES. It's a very very dark book when compared to the first one -- and a heck of an adventure.

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Sean can be found on twitter, and at his website. Student Bodies can be bought on amazon. Thanks to YA Book Bound Tours for organising this :)