The BEDEVILED Series by Shani Petroff

Rating: A  jewel-encrusted pitchfork in sparkling pink hues

Summary: The daughter of the devil fights against the evil world that is middle school.

Would you read more in this series? I would, but as the last one came out in 2010, I don't anticipate there being any more.

I read this series in one big burst and decided to just do one big review of all of them because I'd be saying largely the same things about them all. Each book has a very similar plot: Angel uses the powers she inherited from her dad, Lou (AKA Lucifer) to try to help herself or her friends, things get messed up by the powers either being too literal or not literal enough, Angel runs around trying to fix the situation, and things eventually work out somehow. The repetitive nature didn't really hurt my enjoyment of the stories though. It reminded me a lot of the Melissa Joan Hart version of Sabrina the Teenage Witch, which I adored despite being an adult before it debuted.

The series is solidly Middle Grade and stars a cast of eighth graders led by Angel, who learns on her thirteenth birthday that her mother wasn't being hyperbolic when she described her dad as the devil. (He had agreed to stay out of Angel's life until she was an adult, then said thirteen counted because several religions say so and because US states frequently try thirteen-year-olds as adults in court. In fact, they're in Pennsylvania, a state which has tried at least one twelve-year-old as an adult, so he could have played this card a year earlier.) By the end of the first book, she has realized she inherited his supernatural powers and is causing chaos with them.

Angel is a vibrant character. Although she sometimes makes shallow and rash choices, it is very easy to excuse them with the explanation that she's thirteen. Her best friend is very similar. When the third book saw her getting all of her wishes granted, she delved into a more selfish place than I expected her to, but I think maybe one of the wishes changed her attitude toward life.

Angel has a love interest who she feels she must hide her powers from. I never figured out why she felt she couldn't tell him. (Again, I was reminded of Sabrina, who did eventually tell Harvey what was going on, but took her time about it.) He was a nice kid, popular but not a jerk. I got a little tired of hearing about how cute he was, but it's hard to fault a tween narrator from getting wrapped up in her crush's cuteness.

The mean girls who pick on Angel are incredibly shallow. I kept expecting to see a hint of more from them and never did. I like to think that if the stories continued into high school, they'd eventually grow into better people. Or at least more complex ones.

The character with the most change over the series is a guy called DL. We never learn what DL stands for, although I have a theory. (His last name is Helper, so my guess is Devil's Little Helper.) He is the boyfriend of the chief mean girl and comes in acting truly awful. But he shows moments of genuine concern and at several times seems to be more aware of what Angel is than he should be. By the end of book four, he seems to be sick of his girlfriend and possibly moving on to Angel's bestie. I found him really intriguing because I never could figure out what he deal was.

Overall, I found the books on the simple side, but was okay with that since this is Middle Grade literature with a young narrator who hasn't learned to see the world in shades of grey yet.

I would be very interested in picking up this story a few years later, maybe looking at Angel's senior year of high school. I'd also actually be interested in seeing Angel's parents star in a romance. At the end of things, they clearly still care about each other and I think it would be fun to see a single mom learning to trust her daughter's father again even though he's literally the devil.

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Below you'll find the notes I took as I read. Clearly, they contain major spoilers.

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Notes

26% I didn't take notes in the first quarter because my phone was dead and the power was out. It went by quickly. I was a little surprised that Angel is only 13 and in middle school since one of the later books mentions prom in the title. Maybe she ages. Or maybe it's a middle school prom?  (Correction: it's and UGLY dress rather than a prom dress. And is for a middle school formal.)

So far, Angel is alright but I'm liking Lou. The devil usually is a show stealer. :)

Also, Angel is crushing on Cole, but I predict Max will be her object of affection by the end of the series.

27% Angel LIKED having the entire stadium sing her Happy Birthday? I would have died of embarrassment. Also, did these girls sell their souls to be rock stars or something?

29% I'd say begging on his knees for his daughter to talk to him is overly dramatic, but Lucifer is typically over-the-top with the drama.

40% Lucifer's face on a volley ball is straight up weird.

60% Yeah, Cole is possibly really shallow. Although it's also possible that he didn't know what else to talk about so stuck to something they have in common.

64% At least she made the right choice when pressed.

65% Why is she believing Lou quit? He told her mom the same thing and was lying then. ... She figured it out it quickly. Ok.

77% The meanness has really escalated.

86% Yeah, you really should listened to your dad, you silly middle schooler.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY DRESS

40% I don't seem to be taking notes on this book... Not sure why.  Anyway... I don't know what's up with Cole. But if he doesn't like Angel anymore, it's because of her powers. The bit where they respond to thoughts and fears as well as voices desires is harsh. I would argue she should be homeschooled while she figures them out.

41% Damn, DL is Super Douchebag, ain't he? On the plus side, he'll probably do something awful to Courtney eventually.

42% Mom's cleansing ritual involves vanilla, lavender, and mint, but no sage? No wonder the devil just pops up at will.

57% The dance is two weeks away and being advertised already. I feel it should already have a theme.

80% The adults at this school really seem to enable bullying.

90% Not sure why Cole suddenly has a problem with Jayden being mean to people, but whatevs.

THE END Well, that was abrupt.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR

1% Picking up from the last book like that was a scene break and not a jump between novels... The last ending really did just cut off.

7% He said he'd stop messing with innocent souls. Why assume this guy's innocent? ... And the claim it was a joke is actually plausible since "Meant to put him in the major leagues and now he's a ballet dancer/Senator who's trying to outlaw the name Susan" seems like a level of screw up that wouldn't actually happen.

11% Ok, so the cock up really did happen. I don't think Gremory is a good successor...

18% I like the spine Angel is growing.

20% I'm not sure being popular is Max's wish...

35% I'm fairly confident that when Angel said Gabi would get a boyfriend too, her powers decided to give them the same boyfriend...

61% I'd been figuring the band sold their souls.  Being demons works at least as well though.

68% I'm not exactly sure why Gabi has gone so evil. I'm guessing maybe the wishing she was a star altered her personality.

75% Yeah, the big boobs wish wasn't well thought out.

82% I'm increasing curious as to who/what DL actually is. This isn't the first scene he's seemed to know way too much in. And maybe he just embraced meanness because it went with his camp persona, the one he named Courtney with. (Could his ID be related to his weird name? DL Helper... Devil's Little Helper? I mean, what kind of name is DL?)

95% I'm was willing to grant that maybe ten years ago kids still knew who Barney was, but recognizing the "You've got mail!" chime from AOL? That seems like a stretch.

96% I'm not really surprised Lou knew what was going on the whole time. He'd be a pretty crappy devil if he didn't, really.

LOVE STRUCK

10% I'm tempted to have a panic attack imagining being in this crowd.

17% Hmm... I wonder who Lance's manager is. Clearly someone who recognizes Angel and has powers herself.

18% Oh, dear. Angel is madly in love with herself. And not in a healthy way. You'd think she'd learn to stop doing this stuff.

19% Oh, dear. EVERYONE is in love with Angel. Everyone who was behind her, I'm guessing. Because I don't think Lance is.

24% Lance's mom is a guardian angel. Cool.

36% Teen parents. Ha.

37% If I were in this situation, I'd go find that guardian angel who's hanging around. But Angel has shown a lot of reluctance to get help.

38% I guess Lou only cured Angel, not everyone hit with the spell. Oops.

38% Point of fact: I never minded seeing my parents kiss. I really don't understand why anyone is bothered by that.

49% What's gross about mice? Mice are cute.

51% wow, Harmony is a crap angel, isn't she? Not a very good mother either. I mean, she's just leaving her son as a mouse? ... Ok, she helped. Good 

61% And now Harmony helped fix the problem she helped make. And isn't fixing the rest, but seems to think it'll work out okay.

95% Gabi and DL, huh? Yeah, I'd love to see Courtney react to that.

98% I'm not going to lie, I'd love to see this universe revisited from Maggie's POV. Can she trust the man she used to love, who clearly adores their daughter and still loves her, even though he's the the devil?

THE END

That ending certainly seemed more solid than the earlier ones. I'd be interested in continuing to learn about Angel's life. Maybe flashforward to her senior year of high school or something? She has more control over her powers, but something big happens? Her dad goes missing and she has to take over Hell. Or her baby brother is kidnapped by people who think he's the Antichrist and are trying to start Armageddon, and they transfer all of Lou's powers to the toddler so that Angel has to save both her brother and the world without her dad's help.

MY NEW CRUSH GAVE TO ME by Shani Petroff

Rating: A cozy sweater with a picture of Santa on it

Highlight of note: Honestly? I liked the book, but can't think of one. Is being exactly what one would expect a highlight?

Will you read more by this author? Probably. I think she's a good choice for someone wanting a comfort read, which I frequently do.

This was a fluffy and fun sort of romance novel with a strong Christmas element. I enjoyed it, but will probably have forgotten most of the plot by next Christmas if I weren't writing it down as it's pretty much a standard holiday romance. There's a big party being held the day after Christmas with a couples theme, and Charlie's date bailed on her at Thanksgiving. Super-planner Charlie clearly needs a plan to get a date ASAP!

When she bumps into a guy named Teo in the hallway, she decides he's the one. She sets up a Secret Santa at the school paper she's the chief editor of and arranges to draw his name with the goal of so wowing him with her gifts that he is eager to date her. Problem is, she hardly knows the guy. So she enlists his cousin JD, who she has a long history of clashing with, to help her get it right. The results are, naturally, at time comedic and frequently made me smile.

Charlie is an over-the-top Type A personality who keeps a schedule synced between all of her devices but also printed out on paper every morning. She gave her best friend coupons for her birthday that grant forgiveness for being late. It's not enough for Charlie to be in control of the moment, she needs to also feel in control of the foreseeable future, to the point of alienating most of the people around her and being genuinely difficult to deal with. I hoped she'd grow out of this as she spends more time with the perpetually late JD, but she doesn't really. The closest she comes is accepting that it's alright to schedule time to relax and ultimately forgiving him for being late to something because he was talking to his senile grandfather. But I guess that's a start and the book does only cover a month of her life.

The best friend character and her long-term boyfriend were excellent. They played the roles of Token Jewish People very well in addition to expertly demonstrating the concept of Established Relationship the Main Character Wishes to Emulate. They took all of Charlie's peculiarities in stride and with good humor. I could wish they'd done more to help her chill the heck out, but at least they didn't let themselves get all uptight worrying about Charlie's self-induced stresses.

The December 26th party bugged me, though. The premise is that Noelle's birthday is on Christmas, so she has a huge party the next day. Problem is, December 26th is MY birthday, so I know full well that over half the people she invited to this party would, in reality, inform her that they'll be out of town. Also, poor Noelle. It's crappy enough being born on Christmas (I frequently say it's the one birthday that's worse than mine) but her parents named her Noelle. Once again, I am left grateful to my parents for not pulling something like that on me. My parents really are awesome in the whole not-inflicting-unwarranted-pain-on-their-offspring department.

The ending wasn't unexpected and felt a little abrupt, but it was happy and heartwarming, so I'm not really complaining much. There is a deleted scene included in the ebook that I would have argued should have been left it. It's an epilogue showing Charlie celebrating her birthday on New Year's that was sweet and served more to ease us out of the book. I'm fairly confident there was a lot of wavering, or possibly arguing, on the part of the author and the editor as to whether to keep it or not with the compromise being to let us see it but not make it official.

So.. Yeah. I don't believe it's possible to have the whole junior class show up at a party on December 26th and found everything else in the book to be incredibly predictable. However, I did enjoy the read and recommend it for anyone wanting a book that will make them feel like they're being cuddled by the Christmas season.

Below you'll find the notes I took as I read. Clearly, they contain major spoilers. 

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Notes

1% Poor Noelle. December 25th is the one day of the year that is worse for a birthday than my birthday. Having a party on the 26th (my birthday) wouldn't work though. No one is in town.

2% I'm betting Jason has interesting reason for being late so often. The other guys I can't blame our MC for not being into. A high school junior who didn't know Canada was party of North America? (And who lives in New England, so should know how to drive there...) Yeah, no one should want to date that guy.

3% Yeah, okay, that could be a meet cute with Teo. But I suspect he's not the true love interest. Also, wouldn't be shocked if he was gay.

3% JD drives her crazy trying to be artistic with his photos for the paper. He has a hard time with deadlines. And he's Teo the Decoy Love Interest's cousin. Sounds like the Love Interest to me.

5% Ok, now that we've met JD, I'll double down that he's the Love Interest. Probably going to be Charlie's Secret Santa too, although she'll try to convince herself it's Teo. (Or maybe it will be Teo, but the gifts will all suck. Or they'll be good but only because JD is behind them.)

9% I suspect Teo is only a candy-striper because he thinks it will look good to college. Same reason he wrote four articles, and only four articles, for the paper last year.

20% Damn, Charlie needs to learn to be less of a control freak.

24% "I remember," he muttered.  Yeah, he likes her. I have no idea why, but he does.

33% How big is this high school stadium that she can't see the numbers from her seat??? Does she need glasses? (And if it's big enough that's reasonable, how the heck does the entire junior class fit in one event hall? Maybe most of them really don't go to poor Noelle's party.)

40% Nice flower. Either JD stepped in to help his cousin give Charlie gifts or he traded with the person who drew her. (Presumably the gossip columnist who hates her.)

49% Nothing like gushing to the guy who picked out the perfect gift for you about how awesome some other guy is for giving it to you.

54% Not sure what JD was thinking tricking Charlie into fancy dress. Was it an act of sabotage or is he trying to make her see he's more fun than his cousin or did he think Teo would take pity on her and be more attentive? Smart money is on sabotage, but it seems like he's risky a lot pissing her off about it.

56% JD really was right when he said he helps make Charlie better. Which is, of course, the role of the Worthy Love Interest.

62% Revealed as Teo's Secret Santa already! Oops!

70% So Drunk Charlie has the sense to be into JD. How much longer until Sober Charlie catches on?

 75% Okay, so Teo is Charlie's Santa. He did the candy cane. JD picked out everything else. Certain of it now.

80% Yep, even a random retired baseball player can see JD is the actual Love Interest.

81% How can she look at that photospread and still convince herself JD isn't into her?

81% Gee, can't imagine why JD would be late for watching the girl he's into throw herself at his cousin... How can that not be something he's excited about doing?

82% Sigh. She doesn't remember telling Teo when her birthday is because she didn't. JD obviously made the book. Teo even said if was made for her, not that he made it.

87% No, Morgan doesn't believe Teo is the one Charlie wants. No one does. Except maybe poor JD.

90% So Teo knew JD was into Charlie and was still willing to let her think he made the planner? That was kinda crap of him.

91% THE END

OK... I guess there's a lot of teasers after the story.

I liked the end. It was swoony. I think I would have liked a scene from later, like them going to the party or hanging out on Charlie's birthday, but I can see why here seemed like a good place to stop.

92% Oh. The one Xtra stuff is deleted scene from Charlie's birthday.

THE END, FOR REAL

I really liked the deleted scene. I would have liked to see it retained as it would have made the ending much less abrupt.