Arthur A. Levine Books, June 1 2012
young adult paranormal
ARC received from publisher (thank you!)
Summary:
Jerome Hancock's been Heidi Devine's guardian angel for the past sixteen years, because he's failed to pass through heaven's soul-rehab program... for the past sixteen years. But when Heidi suffers an accident and her soul becomes severed from her body, Jerome and Heidi must figure out what went wrong, and how to get things right before Heidi's soul disappears forever and ever and EVER.(Sorry. Went overboard. Tehe.)
The cover:
It's a mixture of just one too many clichés: the awkward hand-holding pose, the light coming from beyond, the wings sprouting from the title (*shields eyes from the lameness*) and the crooked lettering. The thing that caps it all off is Heidi's hairstyle. I'm sorry, but it just looks... bad. For a real good hand-holding pose cover, check out Stacey Kade's Body & Soul. <333
The book:
Starting with Jerome: his first-person voice my confidence wavered in. (Did that sentence make sense to you?) Some aspects of it are believable; some parts aren't. It doesn't detract from his character overall, at least. Heidi's third-person POV is a little more of a struggle, especially since we see her steeped in troubles from the very start; first impressions do matter on a reader. Her family is oddly 2D, which doesn't contribute to her as a character.
The plot is shaky. After the turning-point where Heidi becomes disconnected from her body, the pair zoom somewhat sporadically all over town, an unclear motive in mind for both of them. Heidi wants to leave a final parting message while Jerome's trying to cover his butt and also figure things out, but neither seem to have any sort of aim or path towards accomplishing these objectives. Thus, when the somewhat-antagonist finally makes his move, the reader is confident -- no, demanding -- they're finally going to get answers... in turn making his believability suspect.
This book is spare. It's no surprise that the romance lasts one page, with no hope of revival. While, beyond the plot, there are no glaring defects in Devine Intervention, it simply doesn't inspire any sort of emotional response from the reader.
Rating: 2.3 out of 5
