Review: Misfit by Jon Skovron

Jael has always felt like a freak. She’s never kissed a boy, she never knew her mom, and her dad’s always been superstrict—but that’s probably because her mom was a demon, which makes Jael half demon and most definitely not a normal sophomore girl. On her sixteenth birthday, a mysterious present unlocks her family’s dangerous history and Jael’s untapped potential. What was merely an embarrassing secret before becomes a terrifying reality. Jael must learn to master her demon side in order to take on a vindictive Duke of Hell while also dealing with a twisted priest, best-friend drama, and a spacey blond skater boy who may have hidden depths.


When I started Misfit, I had no idea what I was getting into. I had guessed, from the blurb, that it would have religious tones and I have a love/hate relationship with 'religious' books. As somebody who is not fantastically religious (this coming from the girl that's dating the son of a Reverend...) I sometimes feel uncomfortable reading really religious preachy books. So it was with much trepidation that I opened up the (e)book and plunged in.


Thankfully, there isn't too much religion in this book, more it's a mix of theism, philosophy and mythology (gosh, that does sound deep for me), without the really *in your face* religion. I totally loved how Skovron brings together these legends with these historical and mythological characters and throws a totally unique twist on the mix. While most young adult books in the same genre area are about angels, or fallen angels being the good guys and devils and demons being the bad guys, this book mixes it up and just makes the demons the bad guys and the good guys. I'll explain: Jael, our main character, is a good guy and she is half demon, her uncle is a demon and while he's a bit of a sly character, he's a good guy. Belial is a demon overlord sort of dude and he is, obviously, a bad guy. The way they're all against Jael because she is a halfbreed seems like racism, which impressed me - whether he intended to or not, Skovron definitely put moral issues in there as well.


Now the characters, I'm not sure on. I thought that Jael was very stupid at times and while it can sort of be understood, that made me like her less. On the other hand, when she needed to be, she was pretty kick ass, which I liked. I did, however, totally adore Rob, the totally human and equally adorable love interest. Now I know I say this about any semi-cute or semi-hot boy in YA literature, but Rob just made me melt! I love how the romance was so there but never in the way of the main storyline. 
I also totally loved Jael's uncle, who seems very sly but adds some comic relief to what could have been a very dark book.


The story flits between present tense and past tense which I knew from some reviews put a lot of readers off. While I agree that it was disconcerting to start with, I got used to it very fast and I can't see how anybody could be put off by such a little issue, otherwise the narrative flowed very well, Skovron's writing wasn't groundbreaking but was definitely good, he got into the mind of a sixteen year old girl so well!


Misfit had some amazing pacing, while there were a few moments where it slowed down a little, most of the time it was a very exciting read, the climax was also fantastic and everything was wrapped up perfectly at the end! I did figure out some of the story quite early on (Britt's boyfriend is all I'll say), which annoyed me a teeny bit, but I will let it slide! 
I would definitely recommend this book to anybody, but I would point out that if you enjoyed the Billi SanGreal books by Sarwat Chadda, you are bound to love Misfit!


Overall Misfit was an original take on the Demon trend that seems to be creeping up in YA lit these days. With a kickass heroine, a cute skater boy and a scary bad guy straight from the depths of Hell, this book is definitely one that you should check out!

Overall rating: A-

Stand alone/series: First in a series (I think) 

UK Release: August 1st 2011

Publisher: Amulet Books

Book obtained via: Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review