The Beast of Callaire - Saruuh Kelsey
I'm not sure I completely understand everything that happened in The Beast of Callaire - there was a lot of talk about Majick (bleurgh) and Legendaries and Crea and Pures and I'm not clear on how all of it fits together - but it boils down to a paranormal romance between Yasmin, who becomes a Manticore, a ravenous mythical beast, at the full moon each month, and Fray, who seems human. Yasmin, in true YA fashion, tries to avoid Fray as she thinks she'll hurt her, but we all know it won't work, particularly because her friends keep telling her that Fray is her One True Love. Or something.
It's a little - well, a lot - cringeworthy in places: anyone who spells "magic" with a "k" desperately needs the help of a dictionary, and Kelsey insists on using the word "predications" when I assume she means "predictions". The book feels a little unedited - there are a handful of spelling issues that feel like mistakes rather than typos ("leant" for "lent", for example), and while the writing is technically competent there's little emotion to the story, with battle scenes having the same pacing as conversations between friends. But it was fun to read: there's something indulgent in just going with the flow of this kind of fantasy, and the romance is done fairly well ("JUST KISS ALREADY" may have streaked across my mind at one point). Not fantastic, but readable.
