Review: Sweet Venom

Sweet Venom
By Tera Lynn Childs
Expected publication October 4, 2011 by Katherine Tegen Books

Grace, Gretchen and Greer are three girls living totally separate lives. Grace's family has just moved to San Francisco and she's excited to get a new start and maybe invent a new her. Greer lives a life of privilege and doesn't have time for anything unusual to enter into her life. And Gretchen...well, Gretchen has been fighting monsters for the last four years as a descendant of Medusa. Now, all three of their lives are about to crash together in ways these girls never expected.

Childs wrote a couple of books that are basically modern mermaid romances. I'm not really on the whole mermaid bandwagon, so I haven't read them but I've heard good things about them (one of them is actually a Lone Star title this year). But this, her newest book definitely caught my eye. The story of three girls who are descendants of Medusa - who we all know is evil (right? RIGHT?) - who are just discovering their identities and fighting monsters in the meantime - I mean, it sounds awesome. I'm happy to report that this book stands up to my expectations - it's fun and interesting and builds a great mythology. Childs takes what we think we know about Medusa and turns it all around - and it totally works. The three girls are different enough that they provide a good contrast to each other but not so different that you couldn't believe they all come from the same family (they pretty much all possess the same characteristics, just expressed differently). The process they are going through (of discovery, I mean) is compelling - I want to know what it all means. And that, I think, is the greatest strength of this novel - Childs has created a new mythology that is really interesting. I can't figure it all out on my own and she lets pieces slip only sporadically so the reader stays engaged throughout the novel - and I think that's pretty big when the third main character isn't introduced until 200 pages into the book. I didn't realize this was the first in a series (it better be!) so I was surprised and sad at the cliffhanger end. I can't wait for the next one! A fun and compelling read.

Thanks to the publisher for an advance reader's copy.