11 reasons not to trust a demon... Revenge of the Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen (Blog Tour Review & Giveaway)

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(Review copies and giveaway provided by Candlewick Press.)

I thought this was a good fit for Halloween. You can read a note from the author here and an interview with her here. Check out my review and enter the giveaway below...

Revenge of the Evil Librarian
(Evil Librarian #1)
by Michelle Knudsen
YA Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Hardcover & ebook
February 14th 2017 by Candlewick Press

Summary

The stage is set for a fiendishly dramatic summer at theater camp for Cynthia and her boyfriend, Ryan. With no demons at all. Right?

Last fall, Cynthia Rothschild saved her best friend, as well as the entire student body, from the demon librarian, Mr. Gabriel, all while executing the most awesome set design for the school musical, Sweeney Todd. But now that all that demon stuff is behind her, Cyn is looking forward to the best summer ever at theater camp with her former-crush-and-now-boyfriend, Ryan Halsey. Once she gets to camp, though, Cyn realizes this summer might not be all she s been hoping for. First, Ryan's best camp friend is a girl (which Ryan had never mentioned to Cyn), and she just happens to be ridiculously pretty. Plus, it seems the demon stuff is not entirely over as Cyn had hoped. At least any new demons that show up to ruin her summer can't possibly be as evil as Mr. Gabriel. It's not like he could somehow come back to life to seek his terrible revenge or something. Best-selling author Michelle Knudsen brings back all the hilarity and horror (not to mention hot guys) in this sizzling sequel to Evil Librarian." 

Read an excerpt here.

   
(Affiliate links included.)

My Review

11 Reasons Not to Trust a Demon
- They lie by default, so you can't tell if you can trust what they say or not.
- They're almost always hiding in human disguises and usually attractive ones, so their appearance is deceiving.
- They can influence others to do their bidding.
- They're much stronger than they look.
- They like to find loopholes in agreements.
- They are entertained by others' suffering.
- They have no respect for humans.
- They send off shocks when they touch you, which can affect your judgement.
- They're very good at seducing.
- They never forget when they feel they've been wronged.
- Ultimately, they only want what's best for themselves.

REVENGE OF THE EVIL LIBRARIAN was full of drama, both the emotional and theater type, as its now summer and Cyn and Ryan are off to a drama camp. There's new characters as well as new demons to deal with. The plot gets a little more complex as Cyn and her friends have to figure out who to trust and what to do to keep themselves safe. If you enjoy your horror on the lighter side with plenty of romance and sarcasm, you may enjoy this one.

I liked where all the characters and their relationships are at the beginning of this. Things have settled down and Cyn is super excited to go with Ryan to this camp where she'll get to geek out with all the other drama kids. Peter's character was great, although maybe a little less knowledgeable than he should have been for who he is. The demons were their usual evil selves, out for revenge or power. I enjoyed Cyn's sarcasm as the story is from her POV. I was a little upset with Ryan at points and equally frustrated with Cyn at others, but it's always good when a story can pull some emotions.

Some of the characters felt a little flat to me, which was definitely apparent when I couldn't remember who some of the side characters were at various points. I also had some issues with the plot. If a human consort can come and just bring a demon back with him with no issues at one point, why can't he do that at any point? The consistency just wasn't quite there and I couldn't quite buy it. There also was more swearing and other content than the last book, which isn't my ideal.

In the end, was it what I wished for? I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first book. I do like that it's lighter horror mixed with humor and romance. The door is open for a third book, but I appreciated that there wasn't a huge cliffhanger at the end of this one.

Content: Swearing (including a few f-words), some violence, suggestive content (some descriptive) and innuendo.
Source: Received a complimentary copy from the publisher, which did not require a review nor affect it in any way.

Other Books in the Series

Evil Librarian
Evil Librarian
(Evil Librarian #1)
by Michelle Knudsen
YA Urban Fantasy, Paranormal
Hardcover, Paperback & ebook, 346 Pages
September 9th 2014 by Candlewick Press

Summary

He’s young. He’s hot. He’s also evil. He’s . . . the librarian.

When Cynthia Rothschild’s best friend, Annie, falls head over heels for the new high-school librarian, Cyn can totally see why. He’s really young and super cute and thinks Annie would make an excellent library monitor. But after meeting Mr. Gabriel, Cyn realizes something isn’t quite right. Maybe it’s the creepy look in the librarian’s eyes, or the weird feeling Cyn gets whenever she’s around him. Before long Cyn realizes that Mr. Gabriel is, in fact . . . a demon. Now, in addition to saving the school musical from technical disaster and trying not to make a fool of herself with her own hopeless crush, Cyn has to save her best friend from the clutches of the evil librarian, who also seems to be slowly sucking the life force out of the entire student body! From best-selling author Michelle Knudsen, here is the perfect novel for teens who like their horror served up with a bit of romance, plenty of humor, and some pretty hot guys (of both the good and evil variety).

Read an excerpt here and my 4-star review here.

   
(Affiliate links included.)

Evil Librarian Trailer


About the Author


Michelle Knudsen is a New York Times best-selling author of 45 books for young readers, including board books, picture books, early readers, and middle grade and young adult novels. Her best-known book to date is the award-winning picture book Library Lion, which has been translated into fourteen languages, is currently being performed as a musical stage production in Israel and South Africa, and was selected by Time Magazine as one of the Best 100 Children's Books of All Time. She is also the author of the Trelian trilogy of fantasy novels (The Dragon of TrelianThe Princess of Trelian, and The Mage of Trelian) and the young adult novel Evil Librarian, which was awarded the 2015 Sid Fleischman Award for Humor. Her most recent picture book is Marilyn's Monster (Candlewick, March 2015), illustrated by the wonderful Matt Phelan. Next up is the YA sequel REVENGE OF THE EVIL LIBRARIAN, coming on Valentine's Day 2017. Michelle also works as a freelance editor and writing teacher, and is a member of the Writing for Young People MFA faculty at Lesley University. She lives in Brooklyn, NY.


Giveaway

1 copy of Evil Librarian paperback to one winner in the US or Canada
Provided by Candlewick Press
Ends November 20th

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Do you like to read spooky reads around Halloween?

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