ellenpenleysmith's review against another edition
1.0
I'm sorry. I tried to get into this so much. The premise is really cool and I think it could have been a really good read.
But since I couldn't bring myself to get past the first 60 pages, I really doubt I could manage to get through this entire novel.
Sorry. Idea seemed really cool, just the delivery wasn't very good.
But since I couldn't bring myself to get past the first 60 pages, I really doubt I could manage to get through this entire novel.
Sorry. Idea seemed really cool, just the delivery wasn't very good.
kricketa's review against another edition
dropped at page 120. i could probably get into a book about a half-demon half-human protagonist if it had really interesting well-rounded characters and amazing writing. but this premise is something i would never pick up if i wasn't a teen librarian, so there wasn't enough to hold my attention.
aurodon's review against another edition
2.0
I enjoyed this story quite a bit, and it would have been three stars if the author's writing style hadn't driven me up the wall. His sole use of present tense and narrator POV is strikingly reminiscent of the childhood Jack and Jane books. Otherwise - good story and well plotted.
raven168's review against another edition
2.0
I'm pretty sure this is the first book I've read where the whole thing was written in the third person. And at times I didn't like it, but it was easy enough to get used to. I found about the first half of the book to be boring. Some things with Jael were being explained I guess, but nothing really happened. FINALLY things started to get interesting when her birthday comes around but not so much as to make me excited about the story. The ending was so anti-climatic that it left me thinking it was too easy a win. And while the very end left me with a bunch of questions, if there had been a second book, I wouldn't have been excited enough to find the answers out to read it. Two things in particular I wanted to know were: why did Dagon look like that? Would it have been so hard to tell us? We got flashbacks of when he was still all hansom and such, so it should have been easy to say why he looked like a fish now. And the other was how the heck does someone like Jack Frost become a demon? Really. One thing I did not understand was how Jael's mom (and uncle for that matter) were once Gods, but are now demons because that's what people made them into. How the heck does that happen? I found Jael's demon powers to be the coolest part of the book. I liked how she could influence the elements if they wanted to be, and how they all seemed to like her. Overall there were a few parts of the book that were enjoyable, but in general I feel it was a waste of time. But that's just me.
iriscanread's review against another edition
3.0
In the beginning of reading misfit, I fell asleep twice, and I felt like this book was hardly as good as the back summary makes it sounds like. Though the plot of the story itself is nothing original, in the end I did manage to read past the first few chapters and the boring talk of Catholic School that came with them, and I started to really enjoy the story.
Jael is the protagonist, and as the book develops, she turns out to be a rather kick-butt girl. At first, in the beginning, Jael is indecisive and is unsure about what way to look at her new situation, situation meaning visions from a stone her mother told her father to give to her, and her newly received demon powers, but as the book grows, and you get farther along into it, she does too. Jael embraces her powers head-on, and immediately understands the power that ones spirit can have and the give and take formula needed to use those powers. Soon though, she is left to use her powers for a purpose; after she finds that her best friend's boyfriend is abusive and is tricking everyone into believing that he is not who he really is, she is then quickly caught up into fighting the next toughest demon besides the devil: a Grand Duke of Hell.
I ended up squealing when she started finding out her powers, I was captivated by the way the author has created this new outlook of demons, and though there had been the not-amazing beginning, I was found quickly reading the rest of the book like mad. Because, honestly, how could you not when a story about a girl becoming half demoness, who is getting powers that can control the elements, is then ready to fight demons left and right to remain on earth and stay alive? Not me.
Though as interesting as the main plot was, the characters didn't seem all that realistic, the romance seemed a "tad" bit lacking, I was completely fed up with all the Catholic information, and there maybe could have been a little less back story.
But besides that, Misfit is a creative and delightfully hellish story, and I should be expecting many people to take claim of it as soon as it comes out.
Rating: 3 stars
Jael is the protagonist, and as the book develops, she turns out to be a rather kick-butt girl. At first, in the beginning, Jael is indecisive and is unsure about what way to look at her new situation, situation meaning visions from a stone her mother told her father to give to her, and her newly received demon powers, but as the book grows, and you get farther along into it, she does too. Jael embraces her powers head-on, and immediately understands the power that ones spirit can have and the give and take formula needed to use those powers. Soon though, she is left to use her powers for a purpose; after she finds that her best friend's boyfriend is abusive and is tricking everyone into believing that he is not who he really is, she is then quickly caught up into fighting the next toughest demon besides the devil: a Grand Duke of Hell.
I ended up squealing when she started finding out her powers, I was captivated by the way the author has created this new outlook of demons, and though there had been the not-amazing beginning, I was found quickly reading the rest of the book like mad. Because, honestly, how could you not when a story about a girl becoming half demoness, who is getting powers that can control the elements, is then ready to fight demons left and right to remain on earth and stay alive? Not me.
Though as interesting as the main plot was, the characters didn't seem all that realistic, the romance seemed a "tad" bit lacking, I was completely fed up with all the Catholic information, and there maybe could have been a little less back story.
But besides that, Misfit is a creative and delightfully hellish story, and I should be expecting many people to take claim of it as soon as it comes out.
Rating: 3 stars
missprint_'s review against another edition
3.0
Going to Catholic school and living with your super strict dad (who, by the way, is totally a teacher at your school) is hard enough at the best of times. Even more so for Jael Thompson because, in addition to the usual problems you might be able to imagine, she's a demon. More accurately a half-demon.
For the last fifteen years that has meant Jael and her dad move around a lot trying to stay one step ahead of the demon's working for one of Hell's dukes who wants to kill Jael. It's also meant being completely in the dark about her mother, her powers, and a lot of her family's past.
Everything changes when Jael receives a strangely beautiful necklace on her sixteenth birthday. Her mother wanted her to have it. Her father has forbidden Jael from wearing it. Jael knows the necklace is the key and that her choice will change everything. The only problem is, Jael isn't sure what to choose. Does she venture into her demonic side or stay true to her human life by going to high school and flirting with Rob--the cute skater boy in all of her classes? Jael is half-demon and half-mortal, but if she can live long enough maybe she can have the best of both in Misfit (2011) by Jon Skovron.
Misfit is Skovron's second novel and his first venture into the fantasy genre.
Misfit has a really interesting premise. Skovron artfully combines conventional ideas about Hell with mythology and his own take on things. While the story is heavy on religious references (unsurprisingly since Jael's father was a priest and she is in Catholic school) Skovron manages to present a surprisingly secular and refreshing take on demonology.
Written in the third person present tense, some of the prose here felt distancing and often pulled me out of the action of the story. Jael's narrative alternates with anecdotes about her mother (written in the traditional third person past tense) and often the flashback segments felt more engrossing.
While Skovron did a wonderful job introducing Jael and her family and explaining her origins, the story felt rushed and ended abruptly. Misfit is a great setup for what will likely become a popular series but on its own the ending of this one felt a bit too open-ended. At times gory (but not too gory) and often surprising, Misfit is a great pick for horror and fantasy fans alike.
Possible Pairings: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey, Mister Monday by Garth Nix, Paranormalcy by Kirsten White
For the last fifteen years that has meant Jael and her dad move around a lot trying to stay one step ahead of the demon's working for one of Hell's dukes who wants to kill Jael. It's also meant being completely in the dark about her mother, her powers, and a lot of her family's past.
Everything changes when Jael receives a strangely beautiful necklace on her sixteenth birthday. Her mother wanted her to have it. Her father has forbidden Jael from wearing it. Jael knows the necklace is the key and that her choice will change everything. The only problem is, Jael isn't sure what to choose. Does she venture into her demonic side or stay true to her human life by going to high school and flirting with Rob--the cute skater boy in all of her classes? Jael is half-demon and half-mortal, but if she can live long enough maybe she can have the best of both in Misfit (2011) by Jon Skovron.
Misfit is Skovron's second novel and his first venture into the fantasy genre.
Misfit has a really interesting premise. Skovron artfully combines conventional ideas about Hell with mythology and his own take on things. While the story is heavy on religious references (unsurprisingly since Jael's father was a priest and she is in Catholic school) Skovron manages to present a surprisingly secular and refreshing take on demonology.
Written in the third person present tense, some of the prose here felt distancing and often pulled me out of the action of the story. Jael's narrative alternates with anecdotes about her mother (written in the traditional third person past tense) and often the flashback segments felt more engrossing.
While Skovron did a wonderful job introducing Jael and her family and explaining her origins, the story felt rushed and ended abruptly. Misfit is a great setup for what will likely become a popular series but on its own the ending of this one felt a bit too open-ended. At times gory (but not too gory) and often surprising, Misfit is a great pick for horror and fantasy fans alike.
Possible Pairings: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl, Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, Guardian of the Dead by Karen Healey, Mister Monday by Garth Nix, Paranormalcy by Kirsten White
chllybrd's review against another edition
3.0
reviewed by http://urbanfantasyinvestigations.blogspot.com/
Jael is a teenager who has known she was part demon for a while. Her dad has moved her around a lot to stay ahead of the Demons that are trying to kill her because she is a "half breed". Jael is attending a catholic school and finally is setting down roots, she has a best friend and a sorta kinda boyfriend who ends up being pretty awesome when everything starts picking up in her life. Her dad starts off being really distant, he keeps Jael in the dark and refuses to tell her anything about her mother or herself really. Its apparent over time he does it out of love and fear. We get flashes of him and Jael's mother from the past throughout the story and it shows just how kick butt he use to be and the love that they had for each other. These flashbacks were my favorite part of the book, I felt they were better written and more engaging then other parts. I really liked Jael's Uncle Dagon, he was super supportive of Jael and tries to help her figure out what her demon side can do, although I wish we found out why he is the way he is as it mentions that he didn't use to look the way he looks now. There is some interesting action scenes at the end of the book where Jael has to fight some of the bad guys and gets a taste of what she is made of. I wish Jon would have done some more scenes in hell, throughout the book they talk about how it isn't what people say its like yet there is only one scene where Jael is there and its thin on details. Im not sure if I would read a book 2 but MISFIT was interesting enough if you want to grab a copy from your library.
Jael is a teenager who has known she was part demon for a while. Her dad has moved her around a lot to stay ahead of the Demons that are trying to kill her because she is a "half breed". Jael is attending a catholic school and finally is setting down roots, she has a best friend and a sorta kinda boyfriend who ends up being pretty awesome when everything starts picking up in her life. Her dad starts off being really distant, he keeps Jael in the dark and refuses to tell her anything about her mother or herself really. Its apparent over time he does it out of love and fear. We get flashes of him and Jael's mother from the past throughout the story and it shows just how kick butt he use to be and the love that they had for each other. These flashbacks were my favorite part of the book, I felt they were better written and more engaging then other parts. I really liked Jael's Uncle Dagon, he was super supportive of Jael and tries to help her figure out what her demon side can do, although I wish we found out why he is the way he is as it mentions that he didn't use to look the way he looks now. There is some interesting action scenes at the end of the book where Jael has to fight some of the bad guys and gets a taste of what she is made of. I wish Jon would have done some more scenes in hell, throughout the book they talk about how it isn't what people say its like yet there is only one scene where Jael is there and its thin on details. Im not sure if I would read a book 2 but MISFIT was interesting enough if you want to grab a copy from your library.
thepeppermintfairytale's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
bibliophile_booklover's review against another edition
5.0
awesome duh! a must read. there better be a sequel.