Saturday, November 19, 2011

Book Musings: Become by Ali Cross

DISCLAIMER: Ali is one of my fav author friends. She is my querying cheerleader and gets me off a lot of ledges. But that will not color my review of her book, promise.



Gah. Such a gorgeous cover.

BECOME is the story of the devil's daughter. In an interesting mix of Norse and Christian mythology, Ali brings us Desolation (Desi), the daughter of Loki aka Lucifer aka Satan aka Hugh Jackman. (Okay, he just looks like HJ). She's, in effect, Lucifer's little minion, sent to collect teenage souls who are on the edge.

But after her last mission cost her someone she maybe-loved, she's not sure she's going to obey orders anymore. She might. She's not sure. Desi vacillates a lot, which makes sense with her character--the cover hints at why--but it can be a little frustrating for the reader who just wants her to pick a side already. Like I said, though, it makes sense. Desi's character is very well-written (she's a total badass!).

Ali's writing is incredibly lyrical and gorgeous, which did make some of the pop culture references seemed off to me. Before I knew Desi went to the human world, especially, I was like....where did she get an iPod? And even once she's in the human world she is so aloof from humans that the references--specifically to Buffy--irked me. And made me smile, too, because let's face it, I've done nothing but watch/read Buffy since May.

The secondary characters are INCREDIBLY well-drawn. Miri, who becomes Desi's best friend. Lucy, her sister/Mom figure. James, the bad boy who loves Miri. They were all fabulous.

I can't comment much on the plot. I have trouble following actiony/fantasy plots, and angel stories aren't my thing, but the book is worth reading for the writing and characters. Ali pulls them off without a hitch.

BIO:
Ali Cross is the sensei of the Writer's Dojo where she holds a black belt in awesome. She lives in Utah with her kickin' husband, two sparring sons, one ninja cat, two sumo dogs and four zen turtles.


You can reach her:


On her blog.
At the Writer's Dojo.
On Facebook.
Or Twitter.