Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes Release Date: December 27, 2011 Source: NetGalley Rating: Buy It: Amazon

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
First, let me just say that school started last week so I’ve attempted to create a backlog of reviews so that I don’t fall off again like I did over the summer.  I never stop reading, but I do stop having time to review them.  As it is, I’m writing this as I watch my daily episode of The Tudors that I allow myself.  Henry Cavill, yum.  Anyway, to the point of this review…I was extremely surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel.  I was looking for something supernatural to read after finishing Bloodlines and I came across this on NetGalley and it looked interesting.  And it did not disappoint.

The closest thing that I can compare this to is Paranormalcy in the way that Kali fights off demons with a snarky attitude.  What’s great about Kali, as opposed to Evie, is that Kali lives in the real world and attempts to balance her two separate lives.  We find out that every other day, Kali stops being human and becomes a superhuman that can seek out and fight “preternatural” creatures aka all the mythical creatures that we take for granted.  She doesn’t know why, but she’s been that way for many years now and it’s something she has had to deal with and learn to cope with.

After being transferred to the local public school by her father as a way to suck up to his superior, Kali becomes acquainted with Skylar, a psychic sophomore who knows more than she’s telling.  Through Skylar, she meets Bethany who, Kali learns, is infected with a preternatural creature.  Believing that she can save Bethany, Kali lures the creature to her body and that’s when all the fun begins.  Barnes’ writing is fantastic and to the point without all the unnecessary frills.  There is romance – I’m still me after all – but it’s negligible and kind of odd, truth be told.  The story focuses more on Kali growing as a person and the relationships she makes along the way.

There are so many bonds formed from Skylar to her various brothers to Bethany and Rena Malik.  Kali has to deal with a myriad of things but she takes it all in stride and with bravery that I really do envy.  In the end, no one really saves the day but Kali is able to be more at peace than she was before everything began.  From what I understand this is a stand alone novel, but it could very easily become a great series.  I, for one, would love to see Kali’s story expanded more, along with Skylar’s brothers’.  There’s just too many interesting characters to confine to one novel.

This book is great for anyone you likes supernatural YA – there’s beasties, a badass heroine and even a little love story but not one that makes you feel like you’re about to enter a sugar coma.  All in all, this is a great read and I think it will be a dark horse this coming December…at least that’s what I’m hoping.