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.
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