If we don’t stop them, the demons will create a permanent hellhole in two days’ time. The same night as the prom. [p. 214]
Kaz is determined to be British, never mind how much her mother clings to Indian culture. Kaz's dad isn't around, and Kaz and her mum argue a lot. They've always had an intense relationship: when she was younger, Kaz had hallucinations, brought on (according to the doctor) by the stress of being the only child of a single parent. Now, as a teenager, she's starting to see things again: mysterious shadows clustering around some people, such as the new supply teacher. And Kaz's mum.
She does not experience these hallucinations whilst looking at the new kid in school, Ed. When Kaz looks at Ed, she experiences attraction. Unfortunately so does her best friend Em.
This is a readable and well-paced novel about identity, mental illness, teenage friendship and romance, and demon-fighting. The tension between Kaz's Britishness and her otherness -- the supernatural aspects as well as her Indian ancestry -- is well-drawn, not laboured but very clear. There's a strong Hindu influence, and a council of old white blokes who need shaking up. Luckily we have just the heroine to do that.
First in a series, this novel establishes a cast of characters and sets up challenges for future books in the series.
Read for the 'YA novel by a woman of colour' rubric of the Reading Women Challenge 2019 on Goodreads.
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