Review: Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

  Title: Every Other Day                 Pages: 336
  Author: Jennifer Lynn Barnes      Source: Netgalley
  Publisher: Egmont USA               Published: Dec 27, 2011
  Series: N/A                                  Purchase: Amazon

Every other day, Kali D'Angelo is a normal sixteen-year-old girl. She goes to public high school. She attends pep rallies. She's human.

And then every day in between... She's something else entirely.

Though she still looks like herself, every twenty-four hours predatory instincts take over and Kali becomes a feared demon-hunter with the undeniable urge to hunt, trap, and kill zombies, hellhounds, and other supernatural creatures. Kali has no idea why she is the way she is, but she gives in to instinct anyway. Even though the government considers it environmental terrorism.

When Kali notices a mark on the lower back of a popular girl at school, she knows instantly that the girl is marked for death by one of these creatures. Kali has twenty-four hours to save her and, unfortunately, she'll have to do it as a human. With the help of a few new friends, Kali takes a risk that her human body might not survive... and learns the secrets of her mysterious condition in the process.

I hadn't heard much about Every Other Day before I found it on Goodreads. Actually, I hadn't heard anything at all. After reading and discovering how good this story was, I'm very surprised I haven't heard anything, because this novel was wonderful.

Kali is the best female character I've read in a while. She reminds me a lot of Emily Webb from Vesper by Jeff Sampson - kick-ass sometimes, and regular girl the rest of the time.

When she's not being her kick-ass, paranormal-killing self, Kali is a vulnerable teenager. While that may sound like a cliche, I actually felt something for Kali and thought she brought uniqueness to this overdone cliche. She doesn't have all the answers at first - she doesn't even know what she is.

Her background, once it was all unfolded and on the table, was quite tragic and I felt for her even before her past came to light. I was also very surprised at what paranormal creature she was revealed to be and loved the unique take on said creature.

The rest of the characters were all important in their own way and all had unique personalities. My favorite was, of course, Skylar. I thought her character was just brilliantly done. She seemed so bubbly and positive and exactly like the type of person you'd want to give a hug because they're so adorable.

Every Other Day's writing was excellent. It was sarcastic and witty and imaginative. It was very easy for me to get a clear picture in my head of what was happening.

The plot was equally amazing. So many twists and only a few I saw coming. It was a fresh take on old, tired paranormal creatures and I applaud Jennifer Lynn Barnes on a job well done.

Overall, I absolutely loved Every Other Day. I was sucked in immediately, though I was sucked in even more so in Chapter 2 and beyond. I highly recommend to anyone getting a bit tired of paranormal novel clones.

Cover thoughts: I rather like this cover. It appeals to me because of the lack of a person on the cover and the fact that it relates to the story.