Tuesday, February 7, 2017

CARPE DEMON by Julie Kenner


“Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccer Mom,” my butt! Let me tell you something.  I am a very proud soccer mom! I’m talking the type of soccer mom that takes her kids to play in competitive games, screams her head off, and is ready to jump any player that shoulder checks my kid.  (Not that I do, but it’s not like I don’t want to.) Anyways, I’m correcting a wrong about this book because Kate is NOT a soccer mom.  She was stereotyped as a “soccer mom,” even though neither of her kids are in the sport, because she is a stay-at-home mom.  Let me tell you something from someone who is BOTH.  They are both strong, determined, capable, and very very busy moms, but that doesn’t mean that they are automatically the same thing!!

Okay, that was my rant… Now onto the review.


CARPE DEMON by Julie Kenner
Book 1 in Demon Hunting “Soccer Mom” Series


BOOK DESCRIPTION


Kate Connor used to be a demon hunter: Now she's a stay-at-home mom, a "glorified chauffeur for pep squad practice and Gymboree play dates." But when a demonic assassin shows up at her suburban home minutes before an important dinner party, the retired Hunter is forced back into action to save her town -- and her freshly baked mini-quiches -- from the invading fiend and his army of the undead.

Kate's husband and her two kids don't know anything about her demon-killing past -- and she wants to keep it that way. So while doing what supermoms do -- raising an inquisitive two-year old, dealing with a teenage girl's myriad of social issues, supporting an overworked husband running for county attorney, etc. -- Kate also finds time to unravel the mystery behind the sudden ghoulish invasion. It seems a master demon named Goramesh has come to town in search of an invaluable religious artifact secreted in a much-storied cathedral. But in order to obtain the relic, Goramesh must first find a suitable human subordinate.



MY REVIEW
3 out of 5 *Stars*

“I mean, really. Who need Pilates when you’ve got a town full of demons?”

This was a cute book.  Not one to jump out of your seat for, but still good nonetheless.  I have to be honest here though.  This book took me weeks to get through.  Not because it was a bad book or hard to read.  In fact, it wasn’t bad at all.  It just never seemed to grab my attention.  Whenever I had free time, and I had the option to read this book, watch a show, or play a game, the latter two always won out.  It was only the threat of my library putting a hold on my card because I had had the book way too long, that made me buckle down and finish it.
The concept behind the whole storyline was intriguing, but it was the main character that I enjoyed reading the most.  I could relate to the main character, Kate, so much and it felt like I was reading about my own life, well… apart from the being raised in the Vatican to hunt demons thing.  However, her sarcastic remarks about motherhood really hit home. 
“Besides, the comings and goings of demons weren’t my problem anymore. Nowadays my problems leaned more towards the domestic rather than the demonic. Grocery shopping, budgeting, carpooling, mending, cleaning, cooking, parenting, and a thousand other “–ings.”  All the basic stuff that completely holds a family together and is taken entirely for granted by every person on the planet who doesn’t happen to be a wife and stay-at-home mom. (And two points to you if you caught that little bit of vitriol…”
“I don’t like being wrong, and frankly, I’ve gotten used to being right pretty much all of the time.  I’m the mom, and Mom is always right.”
Then there’s the adventure in having a toddler, and their ability to hear “Holy Shit,” and turn it into “Holey Sheet! You got holey sheets, Mamma?” Or the “parking” your kid in front of the television to babysit for a time, and deeming them “not warped yet.”  Been there!
Every quip that drew me in wasn’t about the demon hunting, but the adventures of being a mother.  That’s probably why it took me so long to finish the book.  What draws you in to make you finish a book like that, when I have my own motherhood adventures every day? Drastic library fines, that’s what.
Once I hit the halfway point for this book, finishing it became easier.  It always kept me guessing.  At one point, I swore that I knew what was going on, only to be thrown for loop and then another after that.
Overall, I would recommend reading this book.  Its fun and when you want a light hearted read to sit back and enjoy, this is perfect.  I might even try the second book in the series to see how Kate’s story continues.  However, that will have to be after I finish all the other books I have and are due back at the library.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to leave to take my kids to soccer practice…

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Happy reading, everyone!!!