I received this book as an ARC from Rachel Vincent herself, and I have to say it did not let me down! Although, I am quite furious that I have to wait probably two years to get a sequel! This novel was so amazing waiting for a sequel will be such a pain!

This novel was yet again another charm by Rachel Vincent. The novel follows Nina Kane in a dystopian universe where soul sucking demons live, and there are few souls to go around! When her younger sister Melanie gets in a bit of trouble, Nina has to try to solve their problems while their alcohol binging Mother is always being a pain for Nina. Along the way, Nina meets a handsome stranger who might know more about Nina than she realizes, and he's pretty hot! When someone in Nina's crew is sinning and gets caught, all things break loose...

The novel was very fast paced, and does not let the reader down. Each chapter has it's own little adventure and makes the book very addicting. This book is not a stand alone novel, and leaves itself on a bit of a cliffhanger that made me insanely frustrated because I have to wait for the next book! So be prepared to become insanely addicted and yearn for the next book.

The characters were well developed and all had very interesting personalities. The plot was well thought out, and very original! Rachel Vincent has a magnificent set of ideas in that brain of hers! There wasn't much wrong with the novel. I felt like it was the perfect length, and ended in a way that makes more books possible, although it would be a horrible stand alone novel with how it ends.

Overall, I really liked it! I couldn't put it down! Rachel Vincent did not let me down with this book. I had very high expectations and she surpassed them!

Five out of five stars!

Be aware, my novel was an Advanced Reader's Copy, so something could change by the time the real book comes out in June (I got mine in February). But it was still excellent either way! ( )

I rather enjoyed this book. It's a pretty dark dystopia about a future America plagued by demon possessions, run by a totalitarian church. Our heroine Nina is a resourceful & brave girl who finds out she has the rare ability to exorcise demons. And she has complexity to her, a survival instinct and some darker moments, which really round her out as a character. There were some moments, particularly towards the beginning, where I was on the edge of my seat and really getting into Nina's life. And it has a nice world building style, which gives lots of information whilst seeming natural. It follows some of the tropes/cliches of YA- a mysterious boy coming along to explain the heroine's powers and sweep her off her feet- but in a refreshing way. I did feel like the book sizzled out towards the end. I think it was just like an overload of drama/action, and that maybe the plot jumped fifty levels in 10 seconds, when I would have been happier for the grander scale stuff to be introduced in the sequels. But overall, a very good addition to the dystopian genre, and my favourite of Rachel Vincent's books. ( )

Sixteen year old Nina Kane is one tough teen. While feeding and clothing her self and her younger sister, keeping a low profile from the Church and avoiding her drug induced mother as much as possible. Nina has other problems…. She’s reaching maturity and a slew of degenerates are after her. And by degenerate, I mean demons. Yep, in Nina’s world the church is in control, demons run rampant and people you think you know may be more than you bargained for. This is most definitely
the book you are looking for if you want a fast paced plot, lots of action including fighting, soul jumping and burning bodies. Yep that is exactly what you will get.
( )

I was kind of expecting to be bored with this book, but I definitely was not at all! It was phenomenal! Taking the whole theocratic government and demonic possession idea to a whole new level! Definitely worth reading! ( )

The paranormal story trope of demons and exorcists in YA has been done many times before but Vincent makes her story novel innovative and fully action packed. Though I enjoyed the story I still felt like something was missing and I wanted a little bit more from the novel. I would have like to seen more character depth from all of the main characters and for them to be a little more dimensional than flat. Maybe it’s because the “runways with superpowers” story line has been done plenty of times before?

I was also a little annoyed that Nina (main protagonist) and Finn instantly fell for each other at first sight. They just met each other in a short period of time, Nina is still somewhat trying to grasp her new status as an exorcist as well as and Finn’s “condition” and suddenly we’re almost dropping the l-word?

Though those two things bothered me I thought the paranormal aspects and action scenes were exciting. It was cool how the story was set up as the church being the one with all the power to make every decision. The whole city had this “big brother is watching” vibe and citizens felt like constantly had to be good or face the consequences. I would say more, but I don’t want to give a lot away.

Devi is by far the worst of the exorcists/demon fighting runaway group. Readers are supposed to dislike her nasty attitude, but all I could think about whenever she spoke was putting duct tape on her mouth to get her to shut up. Her comments were unnecessary and uncalled for, but on the positive side she does have awesome fighting skills. ( )