Diabolical (Tantalize) [Hardcover]

Cynthia Leitich Smith (Author)

Book Description

Release date: January 24, 2012 | Series: Tantalize

Prepare for a hell of a ride as Cynthia Leitich Smith calls on characters from her previous novels - and conjures up new ones - for a climactic showdown.

When "slipped" angel Zachary and his werewolf pal, Kieren, arrive under suspicious circumstances to a mysterious New England boarding school, they quickly find themselves in a hellish lockdown with an intriguing assortment of secretive, hand-picked students. Plagued by demon dogs, hallucinatory wall décor, a sadistic instructor, and a legendary fire-breathing monster, will they somehow manage to escape? Or will the devil have his due? Best-selling author Cynthia Leitich Smith unites heroes from the previous three novels in the Tantalize Series - including Zachary's girl, Miranda, and Kieren's love, Quincie - along with a fascinating cast of all-new characters for a suspenseful, action-packed clash between the forces of heaven and hell.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Runs full force on the fires of hell and the sword power of heaven... The ultimate showdown is a Harry Potter-worthy battle between good and evil-but with a welcome dose of devilish humor...Demonically inspired by Stoker's DRACULA and divinely imagined into the present day, the series blends supernatural adventure with real adolescent preoccupations, from homework to hormones.
—The Horn Book

If the HARRY POTTER and TWILIGHT series conceived a child, DIABOLICAL would be it. This supernatural story takes place at a mysteriously dangerous boarding school... Think Hogwarts. But move over Jacob, there is a new werewolf in town named Kieren. His girlfriend, Quincie, is a vampire and his best friend, Zachary, is a fallen angel who lost his wings when he revealed himself to a human teen and fell in love with her. Together, this menagerie of magical creatures pretend to enlist at this spooky academy in order to protect another friend, Lucy, who has recently enrolled and whose life may be in peril due to the supernatural shenanigans that occur... For readers who are thirsting for more dark, paranormal fiction, this novel fits the bill.
—VOYA

About the Author

Cynthia Leitich Smith is the acclaimed and best-selling author of Tantalize, Eternal, and Blessed as well as Tantalize: Kieren's Story, a graphic novel illustrated by Ming Doyle. She lives in Austin, Texas.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1 edition (January 24, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763651184
• ISBN-13: 978-0763651183
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 1.3 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #701,571 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhere Between Deliciously Devious Menus & Heavenly Memos January 30, 2012

By anne-marie

Format:Hardcover

Heaven and Hell collide in Smith's latest tantalizing installment Diabolical.

Zachary has fallen. He's fallen far from grace, fallen short in his duties, and if he doesn't get his act together he'll end up taking a final fall into that eternal inferno. Zachary maybe an angel belonging to the Order Guardian but he's not particularly good at it, GA probably isn't his calling.

So when word comes down that his girlfriend's bestie is in danger, he doesn't hesitate to break all the rules. Zachary, Kieren, and Quincie are crashing purgatory's prep school in hopes of saving Miranda's best friend Lucy. But the stakes become higher as he realizes that there are a few more souls worth saving attending satan's schoolhouse, and Zachary isn't willing to give up any of them without a fight.

It defies all reason in my mind at how under rated this series is. Diabolical like it's predecessors are more interesting and better written than a lot of it's more popular shelve mates. Again Smith puts a new spin on the arcane giving limbo a modern update and hell an earthly campus. All of our favorite characters are back plus Smith has added a few new players, that I am hoping will become more of a feature in future installments.

Somewhere between deliciously devious menus and heavenly memos lies Diabolical. It's a smart, fresh, and witty take on the whole paranormal YA scene and if you haven't given it a try, you are solely missing out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Diabolical (YA) January 21, 2013

By Melissa A. Palmer VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Book #6 Read in 2013
Diabolical by Cynthia Leitich Smith (YA)

This is the fourth book in a young adult paranormal series. I read this book in a day so I guess that is telling of the fact that I love this series. In this book, the main focus returns to Zachary and Miranda. Zachary is a fallen angel who is earth bound and is the guardian angel of Quince, the vampire with the soul. Miranda is Zachary's true love and she is in a sort of heavenly limbo--reconciling herself with the evils that she did as a vampire queen. Since she can watch over those still on Earth, Miranda sees that Lucy, her best friend, has transferred to a new school that is sending off creepy vibes. She gets a message to Zachary to go and save Lucy. But to do so, Zachary puts himself and his friends at terrible risk. This school is hell. . . . literally.

I do not know if this series will have a book 5, but I hope it does. This series features great characters who have flaws but also great strength, interesting plots that involve good action and romance and the ability to keep readers hooked from beginning to end.

[...]

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Smith Should Have Ended This Series With Blessed February 7, 2012

By Christina (A Reader of Fictions) TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Installment four in Cynthia Leitich Smith's gothic series returns the reader to the format of book two, which, for those who haven't read it, means that the story is told from multiple points of view. For the first time, Kieren gets to 'speak,' along with Miranda, Zachary and Quincie. Yes, that's right. Miranda, my superfav (hint: this is sarcasm) is back.

The story is just as readable and fantastical as the previous ones. If you enjoyed them, I imagine you'll like this one too, especially since you'll actually get a happy ending. Unfortunately, the story is marred by numerous plot holes. Honestly, I think this would have been better had she ixnayed the happy ending.

So much of what happened here is not believable within the context of her own universe. For example, why is Miranda in heaven? This of course, I knew before, and was not entirely cool with, but mostly accepted. Now, though, she's sitting in the Penultimate, a sort of purgatory for Heaven which I'll talk about more later, surrounded by all of these people she killed. What really made me question Smith's decision here was not so much the evidence that Quincie was a completely freaking awful person/eternal, but the fact that not one of her victims is really mad at her. In every case, she saved them from a terrible fate one way or another. Bull.

Along a similar vein, how does Harrison end up in Heaven? This seems like the equivalent of the belief that, no matter what you've done previously, if you're killed after confessing your sins, you get heaven. Umm, why? The one plus of more Harrison in the book was finding out that he is super gay, which was kind of amusing.

The frame story, where they're going into the school to save Lucy, also continually seemed fabricated.... Lucy's a plot point and that's all there is to it. The parts that really didn't make sense were at the end, which means I can't be especially specific. I just want to state for the record that what happened to Kieren and Zachary at the end was completely absurd. Especially Zachary. In what way does that make sense? Argh!

Okay, I want to end my review with something more positive, so I'll go back to the beginning of the book again. As I've already mentioned, Miranda's chilling in the Penultimate, where she can watch over whoever she wants to via a device called the monitor-com until she's ready to pass on to Heaven. (For those who are interested, this is very similar to a vision of the afterlife I wrote about in a short story. Funny that.) The setup is pretty cool, and I do love theories of life after death. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Chapter by Chapter's review of Diabolical January 30, 2012

By MaryAnn

Format:Hardcover

As soon as I started reading, I was once again fully immersed into this hauntingly beautiful world created by Cynthia Leitich Smith. I personally think that you can get by without reading the other three books from the Tantalize series as Smith does a fantastic job of explaining the backstory with each character. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have read them because you'll have a more in-depth knowledge of the characters histories.
We are once again reunited with characters we have grown to love in the previous books of this series, and this particular book did not disappoint. True fans of Cynthia Leitich Smith will immediately fall in love with this story. With her classic back and forth point of views presented in each chapter, we are treated with a clearer understanding of what is going on in each character's mind, and see what sort of struggles they are trying to get through. We are also introduced to a few new characters that the readers will come to love, as they do the original cast.
Even though Zach and Miranda are not "physically" together, you can see through Smith's beautiful writing how much love they still have for each other, even in the afterlife. By having Miranda "report" from Penultimate (somewhere between earth and heaven), we are able to see what is going on in the story from a bird's eye view. I love that Smith incorporated this style of writing in the story.
There were various points throughout the book where I actually gasped out loud, and my eyes did a little bit of a bulging out thing, and my mouth hung open! It was so creepy, and gross and intriguing all at the same time. Even through all that, I couldn't turn away. I had to keep reading. Like seriously....snakes coming out of the mouth? Ewwwwwww! Must keep reading on......
Smith has a writing style that is so addictive! With all the different twists and turns throughout the book...omgosh! Sooo good. How many more plot twists can Smith come up with? Just when I think that there couldn't possibly be anything else she can come up with, I'm foiled yet again! I just love, love love (!) her writing so much...
The pace in her writing is just perfect, leaving the reader with so many different emotions. I've found myself "eeping" out loue, and uttering "whaaaat?!?" so loud that I would startle other family members here and get the stink eye... Everything is just so descriptive that there is no way the reader cannot visualize everything being read. You can almost smell the surroundings, and even feel what the characters are feeling. Smith's vivid description of Hell is absolutely terrifying. I could pretty much hear the moan and wails, feel the touching and scraping of the hands and fingers...so creepy.
And don't even get me started about the build up towards the end. I just hearted this book so much. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a heaven vs. hell read, craves paranormal romance, and love to get creeped out from time to time. Come see how epic vampire/angel love story pans out. You won't be disappointed... Read more ›