Devilish

I have never been disappointed by a Maureen Johnson book.  She has a very distinctive voice as a writer, even when her characters are incredibly different in each book.  I am planning on reading everything she has ever written and everything she ever writes.  She makes me laugh and that is the most important thing to me.

Devilish is one of Johnson's earlier works and follows two best friends at an all girl's Catholic school after one sells her soul to the devil.  Filled with dark humor and over the top characters (two of my favorite things), it explores how miserable high school is, how much it sucks to be broken up with, and how hard it is sometimes to maintain a friendship.  However... it's really quite a positive book.

For much of the book I was infuriated by Ally--the best friend who has traded her soul--because she seems selfish and shallow and not worth the sacrifice and effort being put forth by the narrator/main character, Jane.  Jane cares about Ally so much that she risks her own soul, yet Ally seems to only be friends with Jane because there is nobody better who will have her.  But in the end she redeems herself and I was satisfied with their relationship.

My favorite part of the whole book was Sister Rose Marie.  My college roommate and bff is named Rose Marie, even though I pretend that her name is The Romo.  She's in school to be a librarian and is maybe just a little uptight (I love you).  So when there is a nun named Sister Rose Marie who has devoted herself to giving out demerits and yelling about being able to see girl's panties up their uniform skirts when they don't sit like ladies... it was pretty awesome.

Like I said, this is one of Johnson's earlier works.  It felt like the end was left open for sequels that I don't think are coming.  I enjoyed the book, but you can tell that she has grown as a writer.  Especially in the romance department.  One of the reasons she is currently my favorite writer is because even though she has this dark humor, she can still do the giggly crush romance thing.  And those are two things that are hard to balance.  This book did not make me go all giggly the way most of her books do, but I still liked the love interest.

But, like I said, I'm about halfway through her back list so expect to see more Maureen Johnson reviews.