Format: E-Galley, 336 pages
Release Date: August 8, 2017
Publisher: Amulet Books
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
American Born Chinese meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this grounded supernatural YA mash-upThe struggle to get into a top-tier college consumes sixteen-year-old Genie’s every waking thought. But when she discovers she’s a celestial spirit who’s powerful enough to bash through the gates of heaven with her fists, her perfectionist existence is shattered.
Enter Quentin, a transfer student from China whose tone-deaf assertiveness beguiles Genie to the brink of madness. Quentin nurtures Genie’s outrageous transformation—sometimes gently, sometimes aggressively—as her sleepy suburb in the Bay Area comes under siege from hell-spawn.
This epic YA debut draws from Chinese folklore, features a larger-than-life heroine, and perfectly balances the realities of Genie’s grounded high school life with the absurd supernatural world she finds herself commanding.
The Epic Crush of Genie Lo is the debut novel from author F.C Yee. 16-year old Genie Lo (Pei-Yi) is a Chinese-American girl who is driven to get into the best Ivy Leagues schools. Things become rather intriguing after she watches 6 men beat the hell out of a unknown boy who she tries to help by throwing her book bag at. A unknown boy who shows up at her school unblemished, and perfectly fine. A boy who calls himself Quentin Sun. A boy who is soon stalking Genie because he believes he knows who she really is.
According to Chinese Mythology, the Monkey King made a fateful journey to the West alongside his master Xuanzang, a monk in the Tang Dynasty, and his trusty weapon Ruyi Jingu Bang in exchange for his freedom. The author also imports yet another Chinese myth in the form of Bodhisattva Guanyin who really stands out. This story becomes something of a full pledged demon hunt after 100 demons escape from Chinese Hell known as Diyu. Most of them already have been defeated by the Monkey King. Now, the clock is ticking. Quentin and Genie must put aside their conflicts and join together to save not only her town, but California.
Not only does the author flip the script by creating a kickass female demon hunter, but he also writes Quentin as being small in stature, while Genie is tall for a female, which is bloody brilliant since it is absolutely amazing to finally have a character who is similair to me in height being a kick ass heroine in an action packed story. One of the more interesting twists in this story is Genie's anger issues. They give her what's called battle rage, or if you like, blood lust enough to do what needs to be done to save her town from a wild Demon invasion that seems unstoppable.
One of the highlights for me in this entire story is the Chinese Mythology that encapsulates every single character in this book. There is so much humor and crazy banter between Genie and Quentin that you can't help but giggle and laugh your butts off. Yes, Genie has a dry humor. Yes, Genie does have anger issues at times. But it is these anger issues that makes her such a kickass heroine. One that I look forward to following to the next installment in this series.
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