Friday 29 November 2013

YOUNG ADULT REVIEW: The Devil's Apprentice - Jan Siegel

Release Date: 10/10/13
Publisher:  Ravenstone

SYNOPSIS:

The Devil is retiring... but who's taking over? When teenage Pen inherits the job of caretaker for a London building with no doors and only a secret entrance from the caretaker's lodge – which she must never use – little does she know it will lead her into unbelievable danger. For Azmordis, also known as Satan, a spirit as old as time and as powerful as the Dark, Immortality is running out.

In the house with no front door, a group of teenagers are trapped in assorted dimensions of myth and history, undergoing the trials that will shape them to step into his cloven footwear – or destroy them. Assisted by only by an aspiring teenage chef called Gavin and Jinx, a young witch with more face-piercing than fae-power, Pen must try to stop the Devil's deadly game plan – before it's too late.

By turns very funny, very scary and always thrilling, this is an incredible return to YA for Siegel.


REVIEW:

This was a book that I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time, firstly because I love the premise and secondly as I know that it would be a cracking title for young and old readers alike from the relatively new press Ravenstone.

How did I know this, well I loved their first book Lupus Rex, so knew that it would be something different, something novel and of course something that would fill the readers imagination with something unique in its own right. What unfurls within the pages is a tale that at times is humorous, at times dark all backed up with a mysteriousness that can leave you wondering what exactly what is going to happen with the unpredictability leaving you quite often at the not only the edge of your seat but with that niggling book demon whispering about one more chapter before you turn the light off.

It has solid prose, some great twists and when you finally finish the last page, you’ll find it’s a book that you thoroughly enjoyed. Great stuff.

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