John Keats and the Romantics explored the idea of deadly beauty, and like the poem "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," where brave knights are waylaid to death by a spirit that enchants them with her supernatural beauty, Pembroke Sinclair creates a narrative where the heroine, Katie, a senior in high school, finds herself waylaid by hot teenage hunks who are on opposing sides in the war of good vs evil. Unlike the Keats poem, the hot hunks want Katie’s soul, not her life. Beauty, it seems, exists on both sides of the war, and both tempt Katie in a tug of war for her heart, soul, and mind. Beauty is The Appeal of Evil.
The novel opens as Katie navigates another dreadful day in high school. But by the end of the day she finds herself balancing the pros and cons of Wes, her old childhood crush, and Josh, her new handsome knight in shining armor. Wes is a tease. Josh is polite and decisive. Both offer Katie enough attention to keep her distracted and bothered throughout the rest of the day. Both boys have her hooked, and Katie spends most of the early act of the novel trying to figure out which one she likes best, which readers will relate to. This romantic tension will appeal to readers of the Twilight series; team Josh, or team Wes? Who does Katie like the best?
The Appeal of Evil is at its heart about the choices we make as people, and how they add up to a life. The main conflict is internal, for Katie is given choices. Josh offers answers, security, albeit of an evil variety, and Wes offers an old comfort, but no easy answers, and ironically, more deception. Josh is a demon sent up from Hell, but quite up-front about reaping souls, and Wes is a Praesul, a demon hunter, trained to be highly secretive and deceptive to protect those around them. Part of the appeal of evil, and Josh, for Katie is that evil doesn't lie, as much, where the good characters cloak themselves in lies and deceit. When Josh takes Katie out of the hospital and portals her to Hell, he tells her that she's needed and wanted as an agent of evil. Katie finds this honesty attractive, coupled with the fact that Josh is hot and knows exactly how to turn her on doesn't hurt either. Her path seems set. But that’s part of the narrative twists Sinclair sets up for the reader as she lays the groundwork for her demon hunting series.
Wes, and his despondent father, are both Praesuls, and because their life is cloaked in secrecy, Wes keeps Katie out, which ticks Katie off to no end. Add to the fact that her mother seems to find the father sympathetic and attractive, Katie bucks the demon hunting Brady Bunch impulse, or at least for while. Years of what ifs work against Wes: what if only Wes liked me? What if he opened up to me this time? What if he kissed me, or asked me out? What if he told my mother what was really going on with his family? What if Wes shares his demon hunting life with me?
Sinclair sets up Katie as the balance point between good and evil. In this way she is as ordinary as any of us in the real world. Good feels too hard, full of difficult choices, whereas evil feels easier, full of parties, popularity, and fun. It's a metaphor for the teen experience, and Sinclair puts up front for the choices that will, or could eventually ruin a life. Of course, in the demon hunting world of Evil, this means giving up your soul to popular, well liked Josh. And Sinclair is aware of the trappings of her metaphor, and even winks at the reader as she acknowledges Katie's metaphorical journey of heart and soul. Her best friend, Deb has a secret, and when she reveals that her grandfather was also a Praesul, Katie's secret world opens a little bit wider, and she finally has someone she can talk to. Most of the novel's tension comes from the fact that Katie can talk to no one about her secrets. By novel's end she has a veritable Scooby Gang as she relies on Randy, Wes' father, to help her rescue her mother and Wes from Josh's evil machinations. What will she decide? Sinclair doesn't offer an easy answer, as she leaves the reader hanging in the balance, as Katie is left to figure out how to save herself.
The Appeal of Evil sets up what promises to be a back and forth series in the vein of The Vampire Diaries, and Twilight, where good and evil aren't necessary easily understood, and where the heroine must make difficult decisions and balance out the lives of loved ones with her own. Three stars.
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