Another Faust by Daniel & Dina Nayeri

[supranee]

How do I explain my attraction to this book?  It seems like a typical YA novel about high school drama and magic.  Yet, I was reading it while I was standing in line for coffee, while I was riding the MRT, while I was waiting for the elevator to reach my floor... I could not keep my hands off this book.  There was plenty of action and mystery, and the story is not hard to predict.  Simply put, this was good entertainment.  This is a read for those moments in life when you're busy and stressed and about to yank your hair out, and you're desperate for a book to take you away.

 

Another Faust starts off with a myth.  There's a mystery in some parts of the world about ten-year-old children who simply disappear from their bedrooms at midnight.  This book starts with five of those children, and the woman who lured them.  However, the children did not go unwillingly.  They sold their soul to this woman, often referred to as the devil or Mephistopheles, for various desires - glory, fame, beauty, strength.  Because she is keen on making bargains, she offers them their wishes (with a few setbacks) for their soul.  Five years later, after they have honed their powers, they enter Marlowe High School and take over the reigns.  But magical or not, high school comes with its own set of problems.  And two of the children aim to claim their souls back.

Read my review at my blog, A Bookworm in Bangkok.