Maggie Quinn, Girl vs Evil: Prom Dates from Hell (Book 1)

Love, love, love this book. I decided to pick it up a few weeks ago again and I was amazed again with how much I love the Maggie Quinn: Girl v. Evil series. Clement-Moore is a genius when it comes to characterization. Maggie and her friends come off as being very real despite all the wacky paranormal stuff that's going on. And speaking of wacky paranormal stuff, Clement-Moore knows her stuff. The explanations seemed logical for all the weird stuff that was going on in Maggie's world and I honestly think had Rosemary been screen writing that last Indiana Jones movie-you know, the one with the freaky crystal skulls- I would've been able to understand what was going on in that movie or at the very least had a few laughs. And okay, it helped that Justin the resident paranormal guru was a hot guy who was interested in Maggie and that the other resident paranormal guru, Maggie's grandmother, made for some nice comic relief.

Reader reviewed by Steph Su

High school senior and aspiring
journalist Maggie Quinn just wants to survive the last few weeks of high school
without getting sucked into the prom madness. However, theres more on her
plate to worry about when strange and horrible things begin to happen to her
grades elite crowd, lovingly called the Jocks and the Jessicas by Maggie.
These boys and girls suffer accidents or lose what is most important to them,
and Maggie, with the help of her friends, reluctantly admits that something
sinister and distinctly hellish might just be happening, and it might take a
trip to the prom for her to come get to the bottom of it.

Oh, Rosemary, how do I love thy
writing? Let me count the ways. Maggie is my kind of protagonist: smart,
snappy, and always ready with a quip, even at the most inappropriate moments.
Here is a girl whos not afraid to bust out SAT words in her narrative, even as
shes demeaning her admittedly stereotypical but never uninteresting
lower-intelligence classmates, or trying to kick evils butt. Shes a
no-nonsense, smart-alecky girl thrown into a situation thats quickly turning
unbelievable and distinctly UN-funny, and yet Maggie keeps her cooland her
snarky commentsconsistently throughout.

Because of Clement-Moores
fantastic writing style, even characters such as Maggies two possible love
interestsBrian Baywatch, the rebel Jock with the lifeguard looks, and Justin,
a student of the occult at the nearby universitydont dissolve into
stereotypical shining white knights (even if that is their character type). I
would like to see more dimensions in Maggies parents and her grandmother in
future books in this series, but that is a minor complaint. The strength of Maggies
character is the thing that carries this book by far.

If youre looking for a paranormal
read that puts a smart twist on a familiar setting, look no further than
Rosemary Clement-Moores Maggie Quinn: Girl vs Evil series. I cant wait to
read the next books!