Title: Strange AngelsAuthor: Lili St. Crow (Lilith Saintcrow)
Publisher: Razorbill
Copyright Date: 2009
Print Date: May 2009
ISBN: 9781595142511
Pages: 293
Series: 1st book in the Strange Angels series
Book Description (from back cover):
Dad? Zombie.
Mom? Long gone.
Me? Well, that's the scary part.
Mom? Long gone.
Me? Well, that's the scary part.
The Real World is a frightening place. Just ask sixteen-year-old orphan Dru Anderson, a tough girl who has taken down her fair share of bad guys She's armed, dangerous, and ready to kill first and ask questions later. So it's gonna take her a while to figure out who she can trust...
Dru Anderson has been "strange" for as long as she can remember, traveling from town to town with her father to hunt the things that go bump in the night. It's a weird life, but a good one — until it all explodes in an icy, broken-down Dakota town, when a hungry zombie busts through her kitchen door. Alone, terrified, and trapped, Dru's going to need every inch of her wit and training to stay alive. The monsters have decided to hunt back — and this time, Dru's on their menu. Chances of survival? Slim to none.
If she can't last until sunup, it's game over...
Comments:
I read this as part of a Twitter Read-Along w/ J. Kaye (@J_Kaye) and Bella (@bellamcguire). I suspected from the couple lines I read the day I first checked it out from the library that I would have no problem getting into it. And I was right.
Dru is a likeable character, though she holds herself apart from her peers — after all, she has secrets they know nothing about. Graves (a classmate that pushes his way into her life, scary secrets or no) was even more likeable (IMO). Another character that shows up, Christophe, well — he wasn't a favorite of mine (I thought he was too manipulative, too arrogant, and to be honest, I was afraid it was falling into some Vampire trumps Werewolf line), but my fellow tweeters liked him, so ... A matter of taste, I suppose.
The story itself was intense. Action-filled, with some small lulls that allowed the characters (and reader) to regroup. Definitely not a slow book, not even in those lulls I mentioned.
I did have a couple things that bothered me a little. Mostly... Dru is so "the adults can handle it" / "everything's better with the adults handling it." I just couldn't get that. Not that teens can't lean on adults, but she wanted to give up any and all say in what was happening around her. Maybe it was the fear, but... no, I guess I'm too curious (not to mention my control issues) about everything to understand anyone wanting to completely drop out of something like this — especially considering her personal interest and investment in the results of everything going on around her.
In general, I enjoyed reading this book, and am looking forward to reading the next in the series (Betrayals). (Speaking of... It's in at the library! I can start once I pick it up...well, and once finals are over.)
