The Exorsistah by Claudia Mair Burney

Title: The Exorsistah (Book 1)
Author: Claudia Mair Burney
Pages: 272
Publisher: Pocket
Publication Date: July 22, 2008

She just wants a home, a hottie, and some kickin' boots. Does she really have to fight the devil to get them?

After the creep who's married to her friend Kiki tries to assault her, Emme Vaughn finds herself in an all-night Walgreens at 3 A.M. with a quarter in her pocket and a rumble in her stomach. She sure does wish she'd gotten to eat her french fries before she had to kick and run. But God has his plan, and apparently tonight He means for her to whip some serious demon butt.

Ever since her mom went crazy, Emme's been wary of the gift they share for seeing demons, but she's not about to let one get to her. So when an ugly beast lurks into Walgreens behind a dude who's clearly up to no good, Emme tells it exactly where it can go. Problem is, the beautiful guy beside her at the magazine rack just helped her conquer the nasty duo, and now he wants her to join a group of demon-fighters led by his father, and aging exorcist bombarded with requests to deliver people from evil. Shoot, and all she really hoped for was some breakfast...

I had mixed feelings about The Exorsistah (I love the title! It's so cool!). I loved the characters and the execution, but I hated the religious-related stuff in this book. That's what ultimately, put me off. Even though I'm Catholic, I still didn't like the religious references in this book. It seemed like everything had to do with religion. Some people might get offended when reading this book.

The characters in this book were exciting and unique. The protagonist, Emme, was a sassy, don't-you-mess-with-me African American who totally cracked me up. She reminded me of Susannah from The Mediator series a little bit. But what was most fun in this book, were the secondary characters. They were flat out hilarious; especially Penny Pop. She was the character that stood out to me the most. She was cheeky and always tried to 'fatten' everyone up!

The plot itself was okay. I wasn't crazy about the whole book revolving around religion, but it was still a good read. There were many references to Santeria, Voodoo, and Catholicism. It was abundantly clear that Burney had done research on the 'religions' thoroughly. The execution of all the information was slipped in cleverly. I learned about how these religions work without even knowing it, until the end of the book! Clever!

The Exorsistah was very realistic. The slang and language was dead-on perfect. Burney caught the way people like Emme talked, with phrases like 'Find yourself another mama' and 'Brotha'. It was the best part of the book.

The Bottom Line: The Exorsistah was an okay read. I want to read the next book in the series, but I'm not crazy for it. It's a unique and one-of-kind book. Burney did a good job. I didn't like the ending for reasons that you will know if you read this book. It was bitter-sweet (more bitter than sweet). Go ahead and get it! B+ :-)

---Report Card---
Originality: 10/10
Ending: 6.5/10
Characters: 9/10
Plot: 7.5/10
My reaction/enjoyment: 8/10
Theme: 7/10
Imagery: 8/10
Setting: 5/5
Voice: 4/5
Style: 4/5
Tone: 5/5
Cover: 10/10
Total Score: 84/100 (B+)

Note: This book is a little subject-sensitive. If I offended you in anyway, I'm sorry. I don't mean any insults or harm to your beliefs.