Devil in Ohio
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3.8 • 31 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
"Devil in Ohio kept me up until 3 a.m. with the lights on–in a good way. It’s a haunting thriller for readers who like fear, humor, and heart in one package."—Meredith Goldstein, advice columnist and feature reporter for The Boston Globe, author of upcoming YA novel Chemistry Lessons.
"Gripping, urgent and addictive, Devil in Ohio balances the dark exploration of cults with a compelling and often humorous take on teen social dynamics. This is the debut you won’t want to miss."—Aditi Khorana, author of critically acclaimed The Library of Fates and Mirror in the Sky
When fifteen-year-old Jules Mathis comes home from school to find a strange girl sitting in her kitchen, her psychiatrist mother reveals that Mae is one of her patients at the hospital and will be staying with their family for a few days. But soon Mae is wearing Jules’s clothes, sleeping in her bedroom, edging her out of her position on the school paper, and flirting with Jules’s crush. And Mae has no intention of leaving.
Then things get weird.
Jules walks in on a half-dressed Mae, startled to see: a pentagram carved into Mae’s back. Jules pieces together clues and discovers that Mae is a survivor of the strange cult that’s embedded in a nearby town. And the cult will stop at nothing to get Mae back.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Jules Mathis, the 15-year-old protagonist of playwright/TV writer Polatin's uneven debut, leads an unremarkable life until her psychiatrist mother, Suzanne, brings a patient home with her from the hospital. Sixteen-year-old Mae Dodd recently escaped from a satanic cult in nearby Tisdale, Ohio. Suzanne claims that Mae will only be staying with them for a few days, but it becomes clear to Jules that Mae isn't interested in leaving. In addition to monopolizing Suzanne's time and attention, Mae takes over Jules's room, borrows her clothes, and starts dating her crush. When the cult begins targeting the Mathis family in an effort to recapture Mae, Jules is forced to wonder just how much her mother is willing to sacrifice in order to protect the girl. The setup is intriguing, but underdeveloped characters (including cult members who come across like cartoon villains), a slow-moving plot, and an abrupt and oblique conclusion keep it from being fully realized. Jules's first-person narrative alternates with third-person chapters focused on her mother; although Jules's hurt and frustration are understandable, Suzanne's dedication to Mae is less so as events spiral out of control. Ages 13 up.
