REVIEW: Grounded for All Eternity by Darcy Marks

Title: Grounded for All Eternity
Author: Darcy Marks
Publisher: Aladdin
Publication Date: July 2022
Genre: Fantasy / Teen – Young Adult
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: A group of kids from hell come to Earth on one of the craziest nights of the year—Halloween—in this snarky, witty middle grade adventure about teamwork, friendship, shattering expectations, and understanding the world (or otherworld) around us.

Mal and his friends are just your regular average kids from hell. The suburbs that is, not the fiery pit part. But when Hell’s Bells ring out—signaling that a soul has escaped from one of the eternal circles, Mal and his friends can’t help but take the opportunity for a little adventure.

Before they know it, they’ve somehow slipped through the veil and found themselves in the middle of Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night. And what’s even worse, they’ve managed to bring the escaped soul with them! As the essence of one of history’s greatest manipulators gains power by shifting the balance on Earth, Mal and his squad-mates—along with some new friends that they meet along the way—work desperately to trap the escapee, save the people of Earth from the forces of evil, and find the portal back to their own dimension.

If they can’t manage it before their parents realize they’re gone, they’ll be grounded for an eternity. And an eternity in hell is a very, very long time.

My Thoughts: Kids who live in Hell go to Earth to capture an escaped soul before their parents find out they left and are grounded for all eternity? How can I refuse? First, the cover. I don’t like to admit I am usually drawn to books by their covers and have been known to acquire books based only on the cover without knowing anything about the story. So yes, the cover drew me in at first then when I read the description, I knew I was in because it sounded like so much dang fun!

Malachi, Crowley and Lilith are your typical teenagers. On school break, looking forward to hanging out, playing video games, sleeping in, grabbing a latte. The only difference is these kids can fly using sharp black wings and they live in Hell. Who knew there were suburbs in Hell? When the alarm is raised that a soul has escaped the pit, their plans are cancelled as the entire place is on lockdown and they are all restricted to their homes. So, so boring. If you can’t have any fun on school break, even if it’s Hell, what’s the point of living? Well, you guessed it. Malachi and his friends sneak out and decide to go check out the veil. It is Halloween after all and the veil between realms is at its thinnest. What they didn’t plan for was being pushed through the veil inadvertently bringing the escaped soul with them. They find themselves in Salem, Massachusetts and oh yes, the escaped soul happens to be the Reverend Samuel Parris, the man who is thought to be the driving force behind the witch hunt resulting in the Salem Witch Trials in 1693 and personally profited from the hysteria. Now that he has escaped Hell, he plans to continue his reign of terror using the residents of Salem once again to commit acts of evil. In order to return home, Malachi and his friends must capture him. If they don’t capture him, they will be stuck there and the powers of Heaven are planning to smite the entire city to ensure Samuel is stopped.

I have never read anything by this author before, but I really enjoyed the setting she created even if you have to suspend disbelief that anything coming out of Hell would be looking to protect the humans on Earth. Malachi and his friends are very likable and easy to relate to. I also liked teenage witches, Sean and Charity and the angel, Cassandra who tries to bribe the kids from Hell with cookies to come to Heaven. The pacing of the story was good, though there were a few moments, very tense moments, I might add, where I was clutching my fists wondering if they were going to be successful on their mission, because the alternative is death, or worse, being grounded for all eternity.

My Final Verdict: The ending of this story leads me to believe we haven’t seen or heard the last of Malachi, but without proof, there is only hope. I hope there will be more. I highly recommend this story to readers in middle school and high school as well as adults who like to be entertained but don’t mind that the protagonists are juveniles.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Grounded for All Eternity from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb

Title: Faithless in Death (In Death #52)
Author: J.D. Robb
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: February 2021
Genre: Mystery / Romantic Suspense / Urban Fantasy
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible

Description: In the new Eve Dallas police thriller from #1 New York Times-bestselling author J. D. Robb, what looked like a lover's quarrel turned fatal has larger--and more terrifying--motives behind it...

The scene in the West Village studio appears to be classic crime-of-passion: two wine glasses by the bed, music playing, and a young sculptor named Ariel Byrd with the back of her head bashed in. But when Dallas tracks down the wealthy Upper East Side woman who called 911, the details don't add up. Gwen Huffman is wealthy, elegant, comforted by her handsome fiancé as she sheds tears over the trauma of finding the body--but why did it take an hour to report it? And why is she lying about little things?

As Eve and her team look into Gwen, her past, and the people around her, they find that the lies are about more than murder. As with sculpture, they need to chip away at the layers of deception to find the shape within--and soon they're getting the FBI involved in a case that involves a sinister, fanatical group and a stunning criminal conspiracy.

My Thoughts: After so many books in this series, to continually be surprised is important. The fifty-second book in this intriguing and entertaining series provides plenty of surprises. Initially, this book appears to be another run of the mill homicide that appears to be a crime of passion committed by a woman with secrets to keep regarding her sexual orientation. As Eve and her crack-shot Scooby gang begin to peel back the layers, we see so much more there besides murder. Kidnapping, rape, torture, human trafficking, just to name a few. The sordid nature of the people at the root of the organization called Natural Order make Warren Jeffs appear vanilla and harmless.

I continue to be amazed and beyond impressed at the way Eve’s brain puts it all together and zeroes in on her suspects as if she were deciding what to eat for breakfast or what outfit to wear to work on a given day. She really does operate several levels above the rest of us and when you partner that with someone like Roark, who is also equally brilliant, they are a force of nature. I can’t take my eyes off of them, in complete enthrallment at what this dynamic duo will pull off next.

I also enjoyed seeing more snark from Peabody in this one. Some of her deadpan one-liners delivered with a straight face and off the cuff had me giggling with delight. Eve really hit the mark when she picked Peabody for her squad. I would be remiss in my praise if I don’t throw some love to Susan Ericksen, the narrator of the audiobook editions. She captures the personalities of all the characters brilliantly, but especially with Eve and Peabody. They go together like peanut butter and jelly and I know I am in for quite a ride with these two and Ms. Ericksen makes it come to life with little to no effort, it seems. At this point, I doubt I will ever read any of these books in any other format.

I am in high anticipation for the next installment to see how the house remodeling with Mavis, Leonardo, Peabody and McNabb is progressing and I can’t get enough of Bella and her obvious delight being around Eve and Roark. She’s a smart cookie as being around them makes me feel the same way.

My Final Verdict: As of this writing, there are currently fifty-six installments to this series and I highly recommend this series for the interesting story lines that remain fresh instead of feeling cookie-cutter, which happens all too often in a long running series. I also highly recommend this series for the characters. They are well-written, highly developed with unique and individual personalities that come to life and jump off the page (or for you audio fans, like me, jump into your ear) and grab your heartstrings and never let go.