Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator

by Jen Klein

[Leah]

When I was accepted to review Jen Klein’s debut YA novel Jillian Cade: (Fake) Paranormal Investigator, I was so pleased because it sounded right up my alley. In fact, it sounded very Veronica Mars-ish, what with the whole teen investigator thing, but with one small difference (and no, I don’t mean no Backup) in that Jillian’s actually a fraud. She dupes people into thinking they have actual paranormal activity going on in their houses (or, actually THEY think they have paranormal activity in their houses) and Jillian gets “rid” of whatever it is. (Except she doesn’t because it’s all boo-hockey).

I really loved Jillian Cade. She’s so snarky and so sure of herself, and I loved her from the off. She’s everything I would want to be, when I was a teenager, that I wasn’t. Confident, capable, able to look after herself (which comes in handy since she has to look after herself), she even lets her cousin Norbert tag along on her cases, which was just so cute and adorable. And can we get a Norbert spin off please? I loved him.

It was actually a really awesome read, until the fake paranormal stuff became very much real paranormal stuff. A succubus? WTF is that when it’s not at home? That’s sort of where my mind started to wander off, because I really thought this was all going to be about Jillian taking the mickey out of everyone she helps (because that was actually super fun). But if takes a turn for the serious when Jillian investigates the disappearance of a boy called Todd, after he disappears and his girlfriend Corabelle freaks out. Enter Sky, who I warmed to immediately, because I liked that he got on Jillian’s nerves for lack of a better way to put it. But his beliefs? I wasn’t so sure. I mean a succubus, REALLY?

Honestly, I’m just not sure about the whole paranormal thing. Vampires I can take. Ditto witches. But succubus? Succubi? I’m not entirely convinced thus far. It seems to have a super interesting (and slightly confusing) back story, but it needed more build up, I think. It all sort of came out of nowhere (not nowhere, because Sky goes on about it FOR AGES but it takes ages to become real) and I felt like I was hit with this information overload which is probably why it felt like I’d stepped into an entirely different book. I am very intrigued to see where it goes, though, as this is very much the start of a brand new series, I was just a bit surprised when it took a more serious turn. It was definitely intriguing, though, and I want way, way more of Jillian, Sky and Norbert. They make quite an awesome team.