Erin Lynn, Demon Envy

Demon Envy

Erin Lynn

Berkley, Sept 2007, $9.99

ISBN: 9780425217375

In Ohio sixteen years old Kenzie is a normal junior at West Shore High School. She ignores her younger siblings, fourteen years old Brandon and five years old Zoe; has a best friend "Iz"; hates perfect Amber; loves Adam; and uses acne medicine. In other words, she is a typical American teenager.

Everything abruptly changes for Kenzie when she applies her newest acne cream while taking a shower; she dropped the glob down the drain accidentally, but somehow that opens a portal in her bathtub to the demon world. Levi steps through it. He looks like an American male teen to everyone but his mage Kenzie. She sees his blue wings and green scales that no one else notices. Levi has spent six months in a demonic prison for failure to carry out the first commandment of demon survival: thou shall cause jealousy amidst humans. If he fails to raise the envy level, he will starve to death because greed and spite are what sustains his kind. Kenzie reluctantly agrees to help Levi escape demon bondage forever; a feat no one has ever achieved, but as she knows she is an American teen queen.

This amusing chick lit fantasy will hook readers the moment that Kenzie has cardiac arrest when her expensive cream flows through the drain and Levi flows up into her shower. The fast-paced lighthearted story line is fun to follow as Kenzie wants the geek to go back to demon world, but feels responsible to help him get his freedom. Although the story line is thin, young teens will enjoy the antics of Kenzie as she is the focus of DEMON ENVY.

Harriet Klausner