Abby Normal

Abby Normal

by Samuel Thomas Fraser

2 out of 5

Synopsis
Abby Henderson has lived her whole life under a dark cloud. When she was born, a demon called the Deacon claimed her family as his property. When she turned 13, she was traumatized by an ominous psychic vision. When she turned 14, her dad had a psychotic breakdown and tried to kill her.

She’s just turned 25, and now people are dying all around her.

This is all according to the Deacon’s plan. He believes that Abby is the key to a ritual that will unleash an ancient evil on the world, and he will stop at nothing to make sure that ritual succeeds.

Now, Abby is in the fight of her life against an enemy that defies all reason. Together with her pious girlfriend, her magic-slinging ex-teacher, and a hotheaded Amazon with a machete, Abby will have to use every trick in the book to outlast the Deacon. Because if she can’t, her next birthday is going to be Hell.



Review
Abby has grown up being a freak; but as an adult, she will either save the world, or destroy it.

I received a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Abby was raised in Canada, surrounded by normal friends with normal lives. Only she seems to be plagued by spirits and ghosts. Her abnormality becoming more apparent every year.
Eventually, when she turns 25, the deal her parents made with the devil has come to an end, and Abby learns the truth. She is special; only she can be used in a ritual that will free the worst of the demons from his prison.
She has to learn fast, if she wants to survive, and if she wants to save the world.

This was a great idea, and it feels like the demons and guardians were all well-thought out, building a realistic world. Which is impressive, because sometimes this is situated in a realm that isn't regulated by our rules of time and space. Think TARDIS.

The writing quality is pretty good for a debut, and I'm interested in seeing Fraser's future work.

Unfortunately, it was quite slow to get going. The first half of this very lengthy book focusses more on Abby's parents, as they know what is happening, but try to keep that knowledge from Abby, as part of the deal they struck with the devil. It's not until mid-way that Abby becomes of age and the action starts.

Everything seems lengthy, and this book could easily be half the length. The fight scenes and the info-dump scenes seem to go on forever. When Abby & Co are running away, it takes several pages for them to get away. What had the potential to be great, powerful scenes, just dragged on so much they began to bore me.
The same with the religious aspect. I'm not fond of overly-religious content. Abby's girlfriend is very pious, which is her strength in this crazy new world of demons. At first, I thought it was a nice touch, and I really liked that this perfectly normal girl could stand her ground; but then it was done and overdone, it felt like the religion was really being pushed in our faces.

Overall, this was a great idea, but the execution could have been better.

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