FRUIT of MISFORTUNE (Creatura #2) by Nely Cab – Science Fiction & Fantasy/Myth & Legends/Paranormal & Urban/Folklore

Fans of YA and supernatural fiction will not be disappointed with Fruit of Misfortune, Nely Cab’s second book in her Creatura series.  It’s an adventurous romp through the paranormal with our heroine, Isis, a young woman whose destiny is intertwined with that of all humankind’s.

Isis is in a seemingly lovely place at the start of Fruit of Misfortune, flying with her adored and adoring boyfriend, David, to Greece to spend time with his family.  Of course, all is not as it seems to be and therein lies the fun and the adventure.  Eighteen-year-old Isis is only days away from transforming into a monstrous beast, the Creatura, and needs the help of David’s family, all of them Greek deities, to halt the mutation.  They rise to the challenge by seeking out a doctor with cutting edge therapies and locating Isis’s long-lost father who knew how “special” his daughter was when she was born.  While encountering demons and monsters, Isis will wonder repeatedly if she shouldn’t make life easier, and safer, for everyone by just calling it a day and ending her life.

While there’s plenty of intrigue and suspense, what makes this book positively hum with energy is Cab’s genius for characterization. Sure, Isis is on a quest to save herself and, by extension, the world, but she’s also a young woman, eighteen-years-old, who loves her boyfriend but can’t help being attracted to his friend, Eros (and with a name like that, who could blame her?).  She has moments of insecurity about her looks, rails at her father for having been a dead-beat dad, makes friends with the splendidly blunt and spunky Galilea, and, oh, yeah, really misses her mom.

The dialogue is often humorous, full of quick-witted banter.  There are references to The Exorcist, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four and Wednesday Adams. It’s easy to imagine ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ telling her friends, “I just read the coolest book about this chick named Isis.” While Isis will be very relate-able for young adult readers, she faces enough maturity issues in Book 2 to engage adult readers as well.

What also sets this book apart from the typical paranormal adventure is the impressive detail.  Cab describes scenes in Greece with the expertise of a cultural anthropologist.  Her writing is experiential; she makes the reader see, taste, and feel.  When Isis undergoes the most bizarre of pregnancy tests, Cab manages to instill the scene with appropriately convincing details of the biological impact of the metamorphoses taking place in Isis’ body.  Likewise, the author astutely chronicles a medical doctor’s reaction to patients with the most baffling symptoms.  Such careful writing makes the pieces of her fiction fit together like an exquisite puzzle.

The book concludes at just the right moment.  Some dire problems have been resolved while others are just beginning.  That’s fine because we don’t want to say goodbye to Isis or her boyfriend and his divine family.  We’ve come to love the whole gang and long to spend more time with them. You can do just that by starting the third book in the entertaining Creatura series.

Being eighteen-years-old can suck. Take heart readers, it’s not as if you’re eighteen and destined to turn into a monstrous beast!  Nely Cab’s Fruit of Misfortune, Creatura #2 delivers everything you love about book one – and more. A must read for YA fans!”