I Was a Teenage Death God

Gr 9 Up–Charlie, who is trans, has a dark power that absorbs life force from every person they touch. Every person except for their twin sister, Sam. Lou, a ghost with a bad attitude whom only Charlie can see, can siphon some of the life that Charlie can steal, so Lou is on Charlie’s shoulder encouraging them to drain people every chance that they can get. When Charlie’s best friend Ravi proposes a romantic relationship and his life force is accidentally taken by Charlie for the first time, it sets off a chain of events in which Ravi discovers Charlie’s secret, Sam gets supernaturally ill, and Lou becomes the trio’s adversary. As Charlie travels to New Jersey to try to discover the origin of their power, they encounter a pair of twins who seem to have similar abilities. Calling themselves “death gods” and believing themselves to be reincarnated twin Greek deities, the twins ultimately raise more questions for Charlie than they answer. This novel is inventive, fun, and action-packed. Charlie, Sam, Ravi, and even Lou are engaging characters who will keep readers interested, though it is difficult to imagine real high school students talking to one another the way these characters do, and some of the dialogue reads slightly inorganic. Charlie can be a frustrating protagonist, because they constantly plunge forward on their own as opposed to seeking help from the very willing Ravi and Sam. It takes the plot awhile to start materializing, which may not grab readers who are on the fence for the first couple of chapters. Charlie and Sam cue white; Ravi has deep brown skin.