Every Other Day (Early Review)
Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
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.
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.
Kali's life is anything but normal. Well, at least every other day that is. Some days she is completely human and goes to high school. However, on the in between days she's a hunter that is virtually unstoppable. Incredible strength, and healing aid her in her urges to hunt anything supernatural that will hurt humans. And those urges cannot go unfulfilled. She doesn't really know who or what she really is, just the never ending need to destroy. At least until she is human again for a day. A loner for obvious reasons, she's never had any friends. But all that changes when she saves a classmate from certain death, and then finds herself in the middle of a terrible plot, one that will hit closer to home than she ever could have realized.
Kali has to one of the most unique heroines that I have ever read about. Her life is incredibly complicated and difficult due to her dual nature. I realize that dual natures are actually quite common, but not like this. Kali is literally completely human one day, and completely not the next. It is even to point where her DNA shows human on those days. To make matters worse, she has no idea what she really is or even if there are any others like her. All she knows is that she has this incredible urge to hunt the things that go bump in the night on her non-human days, and is left extremely vulnerable on the off days. Even though she is quite emo and an extreme loner in the beginning, I actually was impressed with just how well she handled her lot in life. She's literally had no one to trust or confide in for her entire life, making for such a lonely existence. Of course as time went on, she starts to open up, and to be honest, it was just in time as there were some pretty shocking reveals that she'll need some moral support for.
I'm a huge Sci-Fi fan when it comes to movies, however not so much in books. I realize that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it is what it is. That being said, at one point I was ready to yell at Every Other Day that it got Sci-Fi in my paranormal novel, but then I took at step back and realized the combo actually worked brilliantly. Due to the sheer volume of books I read, it is always a treat to come across something that is completely different from everything else. Every Other Day can only be described as unique. The concept of the open world with the humans knowing about the things that go bump in the night, yet putting hellhounds on an endangered species list was baffling and made for a very intriguing read. However there was one small part about the world that drove me a little batty. Everyone simply accepts all the paranormal entities, but yet the idea of a girl being psychic was ludicrous to them. That seemed odd to me as psychic isn't really a stretch at all compared to everything else, and especially since she proved it time and time again.
Every Other Day read like a stand alone novel, but there was enough of a semi-cliffhanger ending to leave things more than open for more. In fact due to a major event towards the end, I hope there will be more books to show why that had to happen, to make it seem less horrible. Even so, the depth of emotions experienced while reading this book make it all worth it in the end. Every Other Day was the first book I've read by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, and based on how much I enjoyed it, I will definitely be checking out her other works. I'd recommend Every Other Day to anyone who wants a completely fresh and exciting read, full of compelling characters and plenty of emotion.
(Received a copy from Netgalley)
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