Review: Devil's Kiss by Sarwat Chadda

Devil's Kiss (Billi SanGreal #1) by Sarwat Chadda

Bilquis SanGreal grew up knowing she would have to make sacrifices to be in the Knights Templar. Sacrifices like losing her mother to the Templar's ongoing battle against the Unholy; sacrifices like trading her childhood in for relentless training; sacrifices that keep her completely isolated from the world of a normal teen girl.

Billi's lone wolf status is challenged when her childhood friend, Kay, returns from his psychic training in Jerusalem. Kay manages to stir things up quickly -- he's gorgeous, arrogant, and wants to slide right back into his old place in Billi's life. Billi is skeptical, but interested, until she meets Michael -- an ethereally handsome guy who seems to understand her like no one before him, and effortlessly stakes a claim in her heart.

Just as Billi's starting to enjoy this pleasant new twist to her life, Kay ruins everything. In a moment of bravado, Kay uses the last of the Templar's treasures, King Solomon's cursed mirror, drawing the attention of one of the most dangerous of the Templars' enemies -- The Angel of Death.

Only with the mirror can the dark angel unleash his full powers, and now that he's heard the call of the mirror, he'll stop at nothing to get it. To save London from catastrophe, Billi will have to make sacrifices greater than she'd ever imagined.

Review:

Devil's Kiss was an engaging and addicting read that was filled with excitement and suspense. Billi was a brave and determined main character, and the idea of the Knights Templar was amazing.

Billi, the main character, had grown up being trained to kill. She could protect herself against pretty much anything, and proved that girls definitely can stand up for themselves. I felt for her because while she was learning to protect herself and spending time with the other Knights Templar, Billi had a lot going on in her life. Her mother had been killed when Billi was much younger, and her father was cold and demanding of Billi. Unfortunately he also didn't care that Billi was suffering in school because he wanted her to spend all her time training and preparing. Billi didn't have any friends because she was an outcast in school and all the other members of the Knights Templar were grown men. Until her childhood friend Kay returns. I liked Kay right away and enjoyed watching his and Billi's relationship grow and change.

The plot was filled with endless excitement. There was a constant battle between good versus evil, and a lot of epic fight scenes took place. Billi was brave and while she didn't always like her part in the group, she never stepped back from a challenge. This novel was thick with history and prophecies, and the idea of the Angel of Death returning to Earth was truly frightening. There was intrigue and suspense on every page, leading up to an exciting and heart breaking ending.

This is an action filled and empowering read, that will have you constantly flipping pages to find out what happens next. A lot of the characters change by the end, and I realized that some of the characters I disliked at first actually were better than I had originally thought. The ending was a big twist and a little abrupt, so I'm even more eager to get started on the sequel.

I highly recommend Devil's Kiss to all kinds of readers. Billi is a main character you will like and admire, and the action and suspense will appeal to everyone. I've never read a book about the Knights Templar so this was an extremely fascinating part of the novel. I'm glad the sequel was already released in the UK because I was able to pick up a copy on my recent visit to London.

Overall: 4.5 out of 5 stars

September 1, 2009/Hyperion Books/272 Pages/Young Adult/Book One

Source: Bought/Borrowed

Other books in the series: Dark Goddess