Review: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Summary/Cover Image from Publisher's Website:

Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human.

And then every day in between . . .She's something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive. . .and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

Review:

Prior to reading Every Other Day, I had read only one other book by Jennifer Lynn Barnes entitled Raised by Wolves, which I adored. So to say, I had high hopes for this one would be a serious understatement. Surprisingly enough, however, Every Other Day blew Raised by Wolves right out of the way, because not only was it fantastically written but also it was original and filled with enough suspense and thrill to keep nearly any reader hooked.

Every Other Day has many good things going for it, and two of those things were the plot and premise. All the mystery behind the fact that Kali was a normal girl one day and a supernatural being the next day constantly kept me hooked. Throughout the book, I needed to know why this was. Thankfully, Jennifer Lynn Barnes new how to dole out all the details and secrets perfectly, because not only did it all keep me glued to the book, but it also had me trying to figure things out on my own. Another thing I adored about this one was how Jennifer Lynn Barnes took average supernatural creatures, ones who overrun YA today, and made them completely and uniquely her own. For most of the book, I didn't even realize what Kali, the main character was, which is what I call a well-plotted twist! Moreover, I really enjoyed the fact that Every Other Day had little to no romance, because while I'm as big of fan of romance as the next person, sometimes it's just fun to have a book focus on suspense as well as building the plot and characters up.

Talking about characters, I really enjoyed Kali's character. Kali was someone who immediately grabbed hold of me with her narrative, because of the way she calmly told about events that were so not average. What I liked most about her character, though, was seeing how she began to bloom as a person throughout. At first, Kali was a bit mousy and down on herself and life, but as the book progressed and she began to form her own little "team", she truly came to life as someone who was strong and courageous...even a bit sneaky! I also really enjoyed some of the secondary characters in this one such as Kali's "team" of friends who ended up fully being their own people. In addition, the "bad guys" in this one perfect!

Last but not least, I felt Jennifer Lynn Barnes writing in this was fabulous! As mentioned above, she truly presented a unique and thrilling story within book. Best of all, while this book could definitely have a sequel, it also perfectly stands its own!

Thrilling and suspenseful, Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes is one of my favorite books of the year, no doubt about it! I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Grade: A+ 

Every Other Day (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Goodreads) will be released December 27, 2011.

Source: Publisher via Netgalley-thanks Egmont!