Review: Devil and the Bluebird

Review:

I received a copy from Netgalley.

 

17 year old Blue has lost her mother to cancer, she never knew her father, her sister has disappeared and left her alone after a promise to always call on the anniversary of their mother's death. After the year it doesn't happen, Blue decides to head to the crossroads and make a deal with the devil in order to find her sister Cass.

 

Anyone who's ever seen an episode of 'Supernatural' will know deals with the devil are notoriously bad ideas. I think that's sort of what I was expecting with this book, especially from the whole deal at the crossroad thing, deal gone bad and figuring a way out of it. Which is more or less what happened just in such a unique and brilliant way.

 

The novel starts out with Blue making her deal, nicely done, creepy and atmospheric. Blue is given an ultimatum and they set terms, off she goes. Only to find nothing is as it seems and embarks on a truly epic road trip. Which is impossible to recap as would be very spoilery.

 

 She meets a boat load of colourful characters. Some are good, and some are downright nasty pieces of work, others are just struggling to get by. As Blue goes along the backroads of the country as well as big cities all sorts of different things happen. Half way through the devil she made her deal with changes the game and the rules, making the plot twister and an unfortunate downside for what happens when Blue breaks the new rules.

 

I loved Blue’s snarkiness. I loved her tone. I loved her sheer determination. I loved how she made connections with all sorts of different people and discovered things about herself she may never have known. A deep emotional investment was brought out in the sheer depth of the characters and Blue’s connection with dealing with her own memories and her own family. Also some great twists at the end about the devil she made her deal with.

 

All the way through a wonderful background theme of folk and country music and some very powerful images and thoughts on music, particularly on how certain songs can evoke very powerful and long forgotten memories.

 

I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting when I started this book, as it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised by how different it was and how much I loved it. It boarders the line somewhere between fantasy and magical realism. I loved it so much I purchased a finished copy.

 

Thank you to Netgalley and ABRHAMS Kids for approving my request to view the title.

 

Original post: sunsetxcocktail.booklikes.com/post/1434941/review-devil-and-the-bluebird