Megan just wants to make sure that her new boyfriend, Ryan, stays out of the clutches of his smitten best friend, Samantha. That’s why she’s working for the summer at the Land of Enchantment, an amusement park filled with fairy tale princesses. But when the ghost of her twin sister, Remy, begins to show up more and more, forcing gruesome visions on Megan, she is not sure how long she will last. Luckily, her co-worker, Luke, can also see the ghost and might be able to help Megan figure out what Remy is trying to tell her and help her to move on. However, Megan’s new friend Ari has a thing for Luke and Luke has a thing for Megan, which makes for a very tricky situation. Megan has to help her sister and keep everyone’s jealousy at bay before something bad happens…but can she?
Marrone delivers a finely woven tale – a fairy tale and modern horror story – all in one frightening package. The story has many layers that interact very smoothly and create an atmosphere that is at times chilling and at others sad or uplifting. Written in the present tense with a skilled hand, the story is also given a thrilling sense of immediacy. The dynamics between friends and the family relationships, which are key to the story, are very believable as well, even given Marrone’s inclusion of elements of the fantastic. Devoured will appeal primarily to YA girls and is a novel that some will definitely want to read more than once. Recommended for public library YA horror collections.
Contains violence and murder.
Review by Stacey L. Wilson, Master of Library and Information Science candidate at The University of Western Ontario.