Devilish by Maureen Johnson

Book:  Devilish

Author:  Maureen Johnson

Publisher:  Razorbill

Date:  2006

My grade:  A

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.

This YA take on Faust in a Catholic girls' high school is clever, fun, and full of tasty surprises.

My Review
I really enjoyed this book.  It was paranormal but very light-hearted.  I wasn’t sure how this book would turn out, but it was a really fun read.  Maureen Johnson did a fabulous job of taking a story that could have been very serious and making it humorous and spirited.  It was exactly the type of book I needed right now.  Not too heavy or serious, but a great plot with lots of spunk!


It was actually nice to read a book that wasn’t full of steaming hot boys and a swooning heroine.  I know some of you are saying “Tammy!  Seriously, who can be tired of steaming hot boys?”  I’m not suggesting that I don’t love the hot guys in other books.  It’s just that it seems to be in every book now and this book didn’t really have that.  There was Owen, and I do have a soft spot for gingers, but he wasn’t one of these male characters that takes over the narrative and makes the pages of the book steam because he’s so smoking hot. : )

Another thing that I liked about this book was its unpredictability.  There were lots of twists and turns that were great surprises.  None of them seemed out of place, but they were surprises nonetheless.  

One more thing that I loved?  This book is not part of a series!!!  Now, she left the ending so that she could add more to the story if desired, but there was no terrible cliffhanger that has me biting my nails and flipping through my calendar to see the release date for book 2.  That was so refreshing!  I wouldn’t be opposed to another book in the series, but it’s not a necessity and I found that made me happy.

My grade for this one is an A.  Overall, it’s a fun, enjoyable read.  Much like the cupcake that graces the front cover, it’s a sweet little treat that you will want to gobble up and find that you’re satisfied at the end, even if you could eat another.