Review: When Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn

When Life Gives You Demons
by Jennifer Honeybourn

July 17, 2018

272 pages

Goodreads     Indigo

Goodreads Summary:
Sixteen-year-old Shelby Black has spent the past year training to be an exorcist. Her great-uncle Roy—a Catholic priest and Shelby’s guardian—believes she has a gift for expelling demons, and he’s put her through exorcist boot camp hell, but he still doesn’t trust her to do an exorcism on her own.

High school is hard enough without having to explain that you fight demons for a living, so Shelby keeps her extracurricular activity quiet, especially from Spencer, her cute math tutor. Secrets run in Shelby’s family, though: her mother has been missing ever since an exorcism went horribly wrong, and Uncle Roy is tight-lipped about it. But Shelby’s hell-bent on finding her mom, no matter what—even if what it ends up costing her her soul AND a date with Spencer.
 

Review

When Life Gives You Demons was equally as fun and adorable as Jennifer Honeybourn's first novel, Wesley James Ruined My Life. The story's simple plot revolved around the main character learning to fight evil while trying to balance a normal social life.

The story has a Buffy the Vampire Slayer feel to it except with an edge of chill and convenience. I enjoyed the lightness but I also felt a little vexed with the barely there climax. While the demons sounded repulsive and were destructive they didn't really pose any real physical threats except to the exorcists who knew their real identities. In that sense, nothing big really happens in the book. It was a relatively easy story.

The stakes (pun intended haha) were high for Shelby. I can't say much since spoilers but the main problem was personal for her because of what she could lose if she didn't succeed. Shelby may not have been very mature but her resolve to get her mother back and her will to do better (with her training) had me cheering her on. She didn't let her multiple failures stop her and came through during the most pressing times.

Shelby's best friend Vanessa had very random rebellious streaks but I found her quirkiness to be really fun. She's a positive energy in Shelby's life. Spencer, Shelby's tutor/crush was a sweet boy. I just knew he was going to turn out to be more than a normal teenage boy. Despite some secret-keeping, the two of them were cute together. I liked the way their relationship grew.

When Life Gives You Demons is a piece of cake with a side of lemonade ;) Fast-paced and funny, this is the perfect book to relax and have a laugh to during the summer months!

 

*I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way.