Scan barcode
A review by vagrantshark
The Good Demon by Jimmy Cajoleas
4.0
This review first appeared in The Stray Adult Wordpress blog, here
The world of young adult books is one that tends to be scoffed at by people over the age of eighteen. Probably closer to over the age of twenty-five if I’m to be perfectly honest here. Mainly due to the perception (and oftentimes reality) that the environment and age range for the characters is one that many people haven’t been a part of for years, if not decades. Not to mention the tendency for light-hearted affairs which contrast with the harsh tones of the “real world” that we endure. Settings of high school or college facilities and the understanding that the characters are still significantly dependent on a parental figure, isn’t always easy to digest as your bills pile up and your boss is calling for the third time today.
With all that said, it’s not impossible to see yourself as a thirty-something getting lost in a book with settings from a period long past. That’s the appeal to a degree. You may want to impart some kind of wisdom to a character that doesn’t seem to know who they are or what to do in situations you’ve dealt with many times over.
The Good Demon is a book of the young adult variety and follows Clarabella (Clare) as she contends with the loss of her “demon” that has been with her most of her life. The demon in question is one that, when it arbitrarily decides, can completely take over Clares body in moments of crisis. Following an exorcism of the “forced” variety, she sets out to get her demon back. Said exorcism was performed by a local minister and his sheepish son at the demand of an overburdening, drunk stepfather. After some time, Clare begrudgingly enlists the son of the preacher who exorcised her; a local thrift shop owner that believes she steals everything in sight but lost a daughter to this type of demon; a shamanistic old woman who chain smokes with more money than she cares to have; and plenty more characters of the American South. The twists and turns of gathering clues leads to a cult-like “First Family” that runs the entire town and has since its inception. All while Clare ends up falling (slightly) for the preacher’s son despite her internal struggle to despise him. Once confronting the First Family and entering another dimension, of sorts, the books pace quickens to a stampede that leaves Clare disavowing her demon and breaking it off with the preacher’s son to focus on reviving her relationship with her mother. A mother that very adamantly did what she could and took far more abuse after the death of her husband but at the cost of her mental health and relationship with Clare. Who ends up gathering the courage, along with Clare’s help, to leave her abusive current husband and start again.
I will admit that I read this a fair amount of time ago and it did take me longer than normal to finish due to wavering interest at times. Jimmy Carjoleas isn’t a bad writer, per se, but the characters at times do turn up flat and the pace for a large portion of the book left me struggling to garner interest. That said, it wasn’t as often as one would think and for the vast majority, I was engaged by and large. Every interaction was interesting and I could easily see the characters in my mind by the descriptions given. What was more of a struggle was how quickly the pace ratcheted up to eleven by the last third of the book. It was around this time that I had a difficult time understanding where the characters were, what was happening, and piecing it all together to make sense without frustrating myself so much as to retire it. In all, The Good Demon was a fun read in the young adult category and considering I was intrigued by the title (and back cover description) enough to purchase it from an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet on the second sight of it, leaves me happy to have done so. Definitely give it a go if you see it for cheap or at your local library.
The world of young adult books is one that tends to be scoffed at by people over the age of eighteen. Probably closer to over the age of twenty-five if I’m to be perfectly honest here. Mainly due to the perception (and oftentimes reality) that the environment and age range for the characters is one that many people haven’t been a part of for years, if not decades. Not to mention the tendency for light-hearted affairs which contrast with the harsh tones of the “real world” that we endure. Settings of high school or college facilities and the understanding that the characters are still significantly dependent on a parental figure, isn’t always easy to digest as your bills pile up and your boss is calling for the third time today.
With all that said, it’s not impossible to see yourself as a thirty-something getting lost in a book with settings from a period long past. That’s the appeal to a degree. You may want to impart some kind of wisdom to a character that doesn’t seem to know who they are or what to do in situations you’ve dealt with many times over.
Spoiler
The Good Demon is a book of the young adult variety and follows Clarabella (Clare) as she contends with the loss of her “demon” that has been with her most of her life. The demon in question is one that, when it arbitrarily decides, can completely take over Clares body in moments of crisis. Following an exorcism of the “forced” variety, she sets out to get her demon back. Said exorcism was performed by a local minister and his sheepish son at the demand of an overburdening, drunk stepfather. After some time, Clare begrudgingly enlists the son of the preacher who exorcised her; a local thrift shop owner that believes she steals everything in sight but lost a daughter to this type of demon; a shamanistic old woman who chain smokes with more money than she cares to have; and plenty more characters of the American South. The twists and turns of gathering clues leads to a cult-like “First Family” that runs the entire town and has since its inception. All while Clare ends up falling (slightly) for the preacher’s son despite her internal struggle to despise him. Once confronting the First Family and entering another dimension, of sorts, the books pace quickens to a stampede that leaves Clare disavowing her demon and breaking it off with the preacher’s son to focus on reviving her relationship with her mother. A mother that very adamantly did what she could and took far more abuse after the death of her husband but at the cost of her mental health and relationship with Clare. Who ends up gathering the courage, along with Clare’s help, to leave her abusive current husband and start again.
I will admit that I read this a fair amount of time ago and it did take me longer than normal to finish due to wavering interest at times. Jimmy Carjoleas isn’t a bad writer, per se, but the characters at times do turn up flat and the pace for a large portion of the book left me struggling to garner interest. That said, it wasn’t as often as one would think and for the vast majority, I was engaged by and large. Every interaction was interesting and I could easily see the characters in my mind by the descriptions given. What was more of a struggle was how quickly the pace ratcheted up to eleven by the last third of the book. It was around this time that I had a difficult time understanding where the characters were, what was happening, and piecing it all together to make sense without frustrating myself so much as to retire it. In all, The Good Demon was a fun read in the young adult category and considering I was intrigued by the title (and back cover description) enough to purchase it from an Ollie’s Bargain Outlet on the second sight of it, leaves me happy to have done so. Definitely give it a go if you see it for cheap or at your local library.