Devoured by Amanda Marrone

1 star -- I hated it!

Oh, my goodness! I can't get over how much I dislike this book. I have read two fabulous books and one mediocre book, but I choose to write about this one first. Because I really can't get over how terrible this book is!

Devoured has a gorgeous cover. It's a complete knock-off of Twilight (is that Bella with the apple and Jacob and Edward lurking behind her?), but the imagery works for this book (unlike Twilight where I don't really remember a connection to the apple). Because, well, this is a continuation or expansion of Snow White.

I was really, really hopeful in the beginning. The story started off pretty well! Snow White's stepmother uses the magic mirror to curse Snow White's offspring forever and ever to feel what she felt. It's really quite a nice idea. It has possibility.

But a million years later (or just a couple hundred... whatever), in modern-day America, 16-year-old Megan deals with a comatose father, a distant mother, and the ghost of her dead sister (who remains seven years old). She's getting a new job in a fairy-tale themed amusement park to keep an eye on her new boyfriend and his best friend, a female who's completely and unabashedly in love with said boyfriend.

It's immediately apparent that the people under the influence of the mirror (as that is the evil in the story) are the owners of the park, and I had to shake my head when Megan blindy befriends obviously insane Ari (the daughter of the park owner).

The tension Megan feels about the two boys (seen lurking on the cover) is fine, though I'm sure most readers think, "Why don't you listen to Nikki??" As Megan's best friend, she certainly sees things clearly and seems to know what's going on.

The part that really got to me and made me want to throw the book across the room was when Nikki gets killed. Megan's been having visions (from her sister's ghost) about some dark-haired girl dying. They're so powerful and drastic, that they cause Megan to have panic attacks and faint.

When Nikki calls Megan one night and talks about being stalked and then suddenly drops the phone, Megan knows what's wrong. She calls 911 and immediately gets her boyfriend to drive her to the area and calls Luke, the other love interest (who can conveniently talk to ghosts), to meet her there. This is fine... what loses is me is that when Megan runs through the woods with only Luke on her heels, finds Nikki's body WITH A GAPING HOLE IN HER CHEST WHERE HER HEART USED TO BE, she shudders once, is held by Luke and goes home.

I'm pretty sure that as a teenager, had I come across my best friend's body in the woods with her heart cut out, I would have passed out. And if she passed out due to visions, why wouldn't she in real life? Also, had I come across my best friend's dead body, I would need some serious therapy. I would be sobbing uncontrollably for months and months. I would not be doing well at all.

Megan? Well, after two weeks, Megan breaks up with her boyfriend, has sex with Luke, and returns to work at the amusement park, where of course you know the killer is waiting.

Two weeks just doesn't cut it for me. Never mind that death is tragic under any circumstances, when you're 16 and it's your best friend since kindergarten, your emotions and hormons don't let you move. If you happened to find that friend's body? If you happened to find that friend's body mutilated? And if you know that you could have saved that friend? Megan should be bedridden and guilt stricken. Not having sex with her new boy toy.

Urgh... terrible book. Very poor plot line. Please don't read this!!! (Or if you do, do it just so you can complain to me about horrible it was.)