Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Buy Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Teens
Reviewer: Loralei Haylock
Summary: A fast-paced thrill ride, with superb characters, excellent world set up and a dash of romance to sweeten the mix. This reviewer couldn't put it down!
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 352	Date: February 2012
Publisher: Quercus
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0857389701
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When Kali sees the Orobouros mark on cheerleader, Bethany, at her high school, she doesn't hesitate in tempting the parasitic creature - a Chupacabra - out of Bethany and into her own body. The parasite is a death sentence for humans.

Some days, Kali's blood is toxic to paranormal creatures. Some days she's blessed with strength, speed and killer instinct, and the parasite feeding off her memories wouldn't have stood a chance. But not on this day. On this day, Kali is completely human. And she has to survive the next 17 hours before she changes back.

When it becomes clear that Bethany was deliberately infected with the Chupacabra by some secretive research company that Kali's father works for, Kali realises she's going to have to do much more than just survive the Chupacabra if she wants to see tomorrow.

I'm finding it difficult to form coherent sentences about my thoughts on this one. That is, sentences that don't just say, 'it was amazing,' with excessive use of exclamation marks.

Jennifer Lynne Barnes does science and the supernatural so well. Every single step of Every Other Day's alternate reality where the paranormal exists alongside the regular - discovered by Darwin on his infamous Beagle voyage - reads like something out of a science text book, only not in the dry, boring sense. You actually believe that it could happen, and I felt a little disappointed at times that Hellhounds aren't really an endangered species.

Kali was a great character - full of vulnerability because of the unique nature of her condition, and the whole host of identity issues it presents her. Is she a monster or a person? She doesn't know, and she doesn't exactly have anyone she can ask.

The plot hares along close to the speed of light, made all the more immediate by Kali switching from human girl to killer every twenty-four hours. Everything that happened either needed to happen quickly, or hold off for as long as possible, and that really ratcheted up the nail-biting tension of it all.

The only thing that irritated me slightly was I'd guessed what the evil government organisation was doing long before the characters. But that's probably only indicative of me being a massive mythology nerd, as the clue is in a name, and if you don't know what mythological creature shares that name, it probably wouldn't be immediately obvious.

Overall, fantastically paced, excellent characters, totally believable set up and just a dash of romance to sweeten the mix. Superb stuff.

If you enjoyed this, definitely check out Jennifer Lynn Barnes' other books, particularly Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. Fans of the genre might enjoy By Midnight by Mia James.

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