DEADGIRL: DAYBREAK Gets a Publish Date (and a Cover)
Big announcement for the 4th Deadgirl novel
Hey everyone! If you’ve been following me or my books, you know it’s taken a while for this last novel in the Deadgirl series to hit the streets, as the kids say (the kids do not say this). Turns out a three-year serious family medical journey and a pandemic is a real kick in the nards to creativity.
Anyway! I have good news and hopefully not bad news for those excited to read the final…
"'You're just a nightmare, bitch, and it's time to wake up.'"
Year Read: 2019
Rating: 4/5
About: There are mild spoilers ahead for the Deadgirl series. Daphne has always had a link to Fate; she can tell when someone near her is going to die soon and how it will happen, but she's forbidden to interfere. When she finally comes into her full power, transforming into a near-indestructible creature that is part woman, part bird, and part Valkyrie, her mother and sisters whisk her across the country before the organization that has been hunting their kind for centuries can discover her. Plagued by hunters and guilt, Daphne has to find a way to control the monster inside her or be at its mercy forever. Trigger warnings: death, gore, body horror, eye horror, violence, guns, severe injury, homophobia, slurs.
Thoughts: I rarely find extra content such as novellas or short stories in a series as compelling as the actual series, if it's even relevant at all. However, Daphne is an exception to the rule, and I might even love it a bit more than the Deadgirl series; it's just so much my kind of book. Additionally, I don't think it's strictly necessary to read the rest of the series to understand what's going on here, so if you need a violent, lesbian harpy in your life (as I apparently did), then I strongly suggest picking this up.
There are so many things I like about this novella, beginning with the mythology. The Keres are one of the more interesting aspects of the Deadgirl world-building, and Johnson is able to fully explore it here. They're a fascinating mix of Norse and Greek mythology (with actual Greek characters) that I've never seen anywhere else. They're fierce, remorseless, and utterly terrifying, and there's no small amount of carnage every time Daphne is forced into her monster form to feed or defend herself. The Deadgirl series has never been afraid of being dark, and this is no exception. It's not for readers with weak stomachs.
Daphne is awesome. She's always reminded me of a gleeful, female Mad Hatter with her bright hair and outrageous outfits. She's scraped down to bare essentials in this novella, until there's little left of her but grit and blue hair. Her character development is top notch while she struggles to come to terms with being a part-time monster, and there are strong themes of self-acceptance and self-understanding (along with heaps of sass because it’s Daphne--yas queen). There's also a super cute wlw romance (and I maintain that romances can still be cute even when there's a body count). Johnson mercifully refrains from letting the romance solve any problems, which isn't surprising based on the track record for romances in the Deadgirl books, but both girls bring out interesting aspects of the other's character. (There is a scene with some homophobia/slurs that made me want to punch an ignorant bigot, so if that’s triggering for you, abort.)
If the novella is missing anything, it's a sense of closure. While most of the plot wraps up, it leaves off on a fast and furious cliffhanger for the next Deadgirl book. It's possibly the one aspect that makes it difficult to stand alone from the rest of the series (though, truthfully, I’m not sure it’s meant to). The novella raises some interesting questions about Daphne's abilities, and I'm looking forward to seeing how that develops in the final book, along with seeing more of Daphne's new love interest. TL;DR: More people should be reading this, and I'd eat a man in giant bird form for a pretty paperback copy to go with the rest of my series.
"It was a bad idea, but every other idea was worse. I call that 'Lucy Day Style.'"
Year Read: 2018
Rating: 4/5
Context: The Deadgirl series comes highly recommended by one of my favorite bloggers, Roberta at Offbeat YA, and I'm so glad I picked it up. One of the best things about her blog is that, whether or not I love the books she recommends, it's guaranteed that I will have never read anything quite like them before. As advertised, she truly has a knack for finding the strange and unusual. If you're tired of the mainstream or at all interested in YA fiction that doesn't fit the mold, I couldn't recommend her blog more. There are spoilers ahead for Deadgirl and Deadgirl: Ghostlight. Spoilers for Goneward are clearly marked after the cut. Trigger warnings: death, blood, violence, body horror.
About: After finally admitting to her parents that she's a phantom, Lucy and her friends take off on a (not entirely approved) roadtrip to visit her mentor, Puck, in Arizona. The deal she made with the wraith, Imogen, is coming back to haunt her in a serious way. Since Lucy didn't deliver three souls to her, Imogen is now bent on destroying Lucy's life and everyone she loves. With Puck's help and Zack picking up minor tricks from Anika's spellbook, they're hoping to find a way to stop her forever--but Imogen's power and thirst for vengeance may be even greater than they expected.
Thoughts: This series just keeps getting better. While Deadgirl was pure middle of the road for me, it had a lot of potential, and it's so exciting to see that play out in the following books. Ghostlight was better and, if possible, I think I like Goneward even more. Johnson's paranormal world is solidly established but still comes with an array of problems for the characters to face, and it's unlike any other world I've ever seen. It might have things in common with other afterlife stories like Christopher Pike's Remember Me, but it is entirely its own thing. I love how much I don't know what to expect (but not because the rules of the supernatural world are flimsy or changeable--they are rock solid and unforgiving), and how Johnson isn't afraid to take his characters into the darkest of places. This book does pull in some Hopi mythology, and while it felt respectful to me (with the inclusion of a few interesting Native American side characters), I would defer to #ownvoices reviews for the final word on that.
The cast has grown on me so much. Lucy's narrative is still distinctly sassy, but it's toned down so that it isn't interrupting the story so much. I like that she has a smartass comment even in the face of things worse than death, and I think that's a feature that teenage audiences will appreciate as well. Her love interest is sidelined somewhat in this book, but I'm hard-pressed to see where he would have fit more into the story. In contrast, Zack's character takes a much larger role. This is the first book to have a POV that isn't Lucy's, and while Zack is a fairly run-of-the-mill narrator by comparison, it works for the story that's being told. It also made me appreciate Lucy's quirks that much more. Morgan, my queen, is also front and center in this book. She's back in fighting form after the last book's setbacks, and she's pretty much always the toughest character on the page (barring Lucy, who can take a lot more punches considering her general deadness). Lucy's family also continues to play a strong role, which is both realistic (where are all the parents in YA fiction?) and sometimes heart-warming. I still wanted more Puck in this book, but I also appreciate that Lucy has to handle most of her problems without her mentor. Better character development that way.
The alternating perspectives keep the plot moving at a quick pace (although there's occasionally some confusion about whose chapter it is). I'm not sure about the timeline though. There's a beginning chapter that comes from the middle of the plot that doesn't seem particularly necessary; it doesn't really set up tension, and it's a little confusing without later context. It feels a little like someone plucked it out of the middle of the book and stuck it at the front. The rest of the timeline is straightforward though, and the action never really lets up. Lucy and her friends face worse and bigger threats than ever, and the consequences are high. Ghostlight should have prepared me for how dark this book was going to get, but it didn't--it really didn't. It's far grittier than the average YA, even for YA horror. I'm anxiously awaiting the final installment to see how things work out for these characters.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS. TURN BACK BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE.
I was in no way prepared for Cortney's death. Lucy has supernaturally bad luck when it comes to love interests. I'm surprised/sad to see him gone, but the stakes are high enough that the novel probably needed a main character death. It's also a little circular that Lucy saved him in Ghostlight only for him to die here anyway, and I wonder if Daphne has anything to say about fate in that respect. In some ways, Morgan's ending is even worse, since she lost everything that makes a life "her life" except her own personality and a couple friends. It was sadder than I expected, but I'm glad she's still in the story and interested to see how she handles that. (But what are we going to do without all the descriptions of Morgan's bangin' body?)
7 Book Covers in 7 Days Challenge! Rules: Each day, I will post the cover of a book that I love and nominate someone new to start the challenge. No explanation, no discussion, just post the cover and by doing so spread some literary love!
Tagging (just fun, no pressure <3) @lornaslibrary, @diverse-reads
My YA post-apocalypse novel RIVEN and my urban fantasy/noir DJINN & TONIC have been accepted into BiblioBoard, in the Indie California author program.
What that actually means is you can borrow the ebooks for RIVEN and DJINN & TONIC free of charge by clicking on those links. Welcome to the future. Use this knowledge only for good, for it carries with it a terrible burden (it doesn’t). It does,…
