The Children’s Book Review | November 9, 2016
Written by Donna Hosie
Age Range: 14-16
Paperback: 261 pages
Publisher: Holiday House (2015)
ISBN: 978-0823436934
What to expect: Horror, Supernatural, Adventure, Devils, Magic
What is Hell really like? According to Donna Hosie’s second novel in the TeamDEVIL series, The Devil’s Dreamcatcher, it’s a bit like any modern-day city. It has jobs and apartments, shopping, and meat-feast pizzas. Devils dorm with other devils and steal their clothes, and gossip. Devils fill out job applications stamped with their date of death, and if they are lucky they work for more important devils, and one of the top jobs is being an intern for the Devil’s accountant. Of course there are some differences: the heat is enough to ruin any hairstyle, and when the alarms sound, the Oval Office drips with blood. And no one breathes.
Medusa has long since gotten used to surviving in hell. She’s been dead for a long time, and she’s come to terms with it. Now what she wants more than ever is a better job: one that doesn’t involve sweating for eternity in Hell’s kitchens, and one which gets her closer to the mysterious Mitchell Johnson. Mitchell is very cute – but that isn’t why Medusa is interested. In fact, Medusa has been searching for Mitchell ever since she got to Hell because in 1967, when she was still alive, she caught a glimpse of him, outside her home, along with two other devils. Which is odd, because Mitchell was born in 1992, and died in 2009. No Devil can escape from Hell, so how could Mitchell; have visited her on earth decades before he was even born? In her search for answers, Medusa will unwittingly become a part of TeamDEVIL – the group of friends working closely with the Devil’s accountant Septimus – as they travel through time and supernatural dimensions, trying to unravel one of the greatest heists of all time: the theft of the Devil’s dreamcatcher. Even worse, the thief is Medusa’s step-father: the brutal wife and child beater whose nature was so vile that he was deemed unfit to walk amongst other Devils, and was locked away by the frighteningly vicious Skin Walkers. As Medusa gains true friends and a purpose in the afterlife, she pays the price of having to face again the nightmares of her life before death.
Skipping through time and space, The Devil’s Dreamcatcher is a wonderfully rich portrayal of the traditional battleground of good and evil. Modern realism clashes with traditional horror and fantasy conventions to produce a novel that is refreshingly original. The only downside is that it is definitely a series offering; you need to read The Devil’s Intern to fully appreciate this sequel. For those who love horror and supernatural adventure, however, this series is well worth reading.
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About Donna Hosie
Donna Hosie is a hybrid YA author (repped by Beth Phelan, The Bent Agency, NY) and full time geek. Part Potterhead, Ringer, Whovian and Sherlockian with sprinkles of Whedonite on top. If it’s fantastical, she’s in. Originally from England, Donna currently resides in Australia with her husband, three children, and a crazy Golden Retriever named Harry (after a certain boy wizard, of course)!
Donna’s first foray into writing came about from her time working on a Harry Potter website. Warner Bros and EA Games asked her to be a fan consultant on the Order of the Phoenix computer game. Her reports and podcasts were relayed around the world as fans of the books patiently awaited the next installment. From writing reports, she turned to fan fiction, eventually writing her own time-traveling novels while studying for an BA(Hons) in Modern Languages.
The Devil’s Dreamcatcher, by Donna Hosie, was reviewed by Dr. Jen Harrison. Discover more books like The Devil’s Dreamcatcher by following along with our reviews and articles tagged with Adventure, Horror, Magic, Supernatural Powers Books, Donna Hosie, and Young Adult Fiction.