Paranormal Pick: Sweet Venom

Sweet Venom
Tera Lynn Childs
Katherine Tegan Books
(Harper Collins Publishers)
2011
345 pages

Fantastic, hypnotic, captivating and uber-cool, Sweet Venom is a rollicking thrill ride. Tera Lynn Childs has done it again. She delivers a solid page-turner that is well-written with wide appeal sure to entertain teen readers who like mythology and paranormal novels. I loved this book and found it much more entertaining than Forgive My Fins.

Three sisters who have been adopted separately have no idea they are sisters, let alone triplets! Imagine their surprise when they run into each other and realize they are related. Not only that, Gretchen the wild goth sister who favors combat boots to stilettos, informs them that they are meant to fight monsters from Greek mythology.

Grace just moves to San Francisco and begins to see weird creatures. She sees a minotaur walk into a restaurant and thinks she might be going a little crazy. That's when she meets Gretchen. The two girls do a little detective work and find out they are not twins but triplets descended from the Gorgons, the three sisters of Greek myth. The two girls train together and defeat a few monsters but something strange is beginning to happen.

First, Ursula vanishes. She became Gretchen's guardian taking her in and teaching her about the monsters. Gretchen learned that only one monster can escape the seam at a time, but now the sisters are seeing monsters everywhere. How can all these monsters be running around free in San Francisco? The rules seem to have changed but the sisters have no rule book and no one to guide them.

Grace and Gretchen are able to find Greer, the third triplet. Greer has led a posh life, attending high teas and the opera, shopping in the most expensive boutiques, and being the most popular girl in the junior class. She is not happy to find out she has sisters and less delighted to hear that she is meant to fight Greek monsters. What if she breaks a nail or ruins an outfit?

Teen readers are in for a treat--Sweet Venom is only book one! Childs has more books up her sleeve, so stay tuned.

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. No sex; no language.
I loved the idea of the Gorgon sisters and their descendants being "good" not evil.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.