Book Review: Seriously Wicked

Author: Tina Connolly
Publication Date: May 5, 2015
Publisher: Tor Teen

The only thing worse than being a witch is living with one.

Camellia’s adopted mother wants Cam to grow up to be just like her. Problem is, Mom’s a seriously wicked witch.

Cam’s used to stopping the witch’s crazy schemes for world domination. But when the witch summons a demon, he gets loose—and into Devon, the cute new boy at school.

Now Cam’s suddenly got bigger problems than passing Algebra. Her friends are getting zombiefied. Their dragon is tired of hiding in the RV garage. For being a shy boy-band boy, Devon is sure kissing a bunch of girls. And a phoenix hidden in the school is going to explode on the night of the Halloween Dance.

To stop the demon before he destroys Devon’s soul, Cam might have to try a spell of her own. But if she’s willing to work spells like the witch...will that mean she’s wicked too?

The witch was fond of casting punishments on me whenever I didn’t live up to her bizarre standards of True Witchery.

The witch won’t get me a normal-person cell phone – mine only connects to other witches and the WitchNet so I can learn more about True Witchery, blah blah.

She flicked the wand at me and my hands turned into cooked noodles.

The demon was nine-feet high. He had orange horns circled by a brush of thick red hair. No, wait. They were green horns circled by a brush of thick blue hair. His skin was yellow, then it was turquoise, then it was baby blue. His size and shape didn’t change, but all his colors did. It was like watching a living rainbow.

I love when an author that I already love decides to try a new genre of books! Tina Connolly nailed this genre just like she did with her Ironskin trilogy before. Connolly has written a story that is quirky, fast-paced, and most importantly fun. Our heroine, Camellia “Cam” Hendrix, is a 15-year-old high school sophomore who lives with a seriously wicked witch. Unfortunately for Cam, there is not much she can do about the situation because the witch is her adoptive mother. Cam’s mother, Sarmine, summons this seriously wicked demon called Estahoth, who ends up possessing the cutest boy in school, Devon, who Cam is absolutely smitten with. Cam has to work quickly to figure out how to rid the Devon of this evil demon and work around her mom’s other scheming plots.

Demons, dragons, a phoenix, and pixies! Oh my! This book only took me a few hours to get through and it was such a joy to read. It is a bit eccentric and whimsical and will surely have you feeling like a teenager again. Cam is a truly awesome female lead; unlike most teenage protagonists, she is not whiny or annoying, but seems normal and tries her hardest to balance her school life with her not so normal life. She is trying to juggle so many things and readers get a chance to interact with so many magical beings like dragons and pixies; I cannot even begin to describe how fun this book was to read! It really feels like a fast-paced adventure and you will find yourself rooting for Cam from start to finish!

***A free copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Tor Teen in exchange for my honest review***