Review ~ Diabolical (Tantalize #4) ~ Cynthia Leitich Smith

Title: Diabolical

Author: Cynthia Leitich Smith

Published: 24th January 2012

By: Candlewick Press

Source: netgalley

First line: Until the night I was taken, demonically infected, the Guardian Angel Zachary watched over me.

Last line: With my angel at my side, I cross into the divine.

Fave Line: I whisper songs into her sweet skin.

Having already read the first three books in the Tantalize series I was looking forward to reading Diabolical and I’m glad to say that it doesn’t disappoint. If anything, I would say that this is probably better than it’s predecessor.

In Diabolical all our familiar favourites return. Quincie, Kieren and Zachary are still working at Sanguinis, the vampire themed restaurant where Zachary, a slipped angel works at saving neophytes whom he considers to be redeemable. He does all of this in the hope of earning the return of his wings so that he can return home to Miranda. Which leads me to the return of Miranda’s character. Miranda now resides within the penultimate, a half-way house if you will where those ascending to the pearly gates are helped to find peace within themselves before they fully ascend.

From there she is able to observe the goings-on on earth, watching Zachary as he attempts to find his way back to her and also keeping an eye on Lucy, her best friend who continues to search for her. When she realises that Lucy has moved schools it dawns on her almost immediately that something isn’t right. Further investigation shows that the Scholomance Preparatory Academy is a branch of the Eastern European institute of the same name and also happens to be the place that was once attended by Draculus Prime and Lucifer. Using Joshua, Zachary’s friend as a go-between she gets word to Zachary that Lucy is in trouble which leads to a rescue attempt being instigated by Zachary, Kieren and Quincie. Things do not go as planned however and Zachary and Kieren find themselves trapped in the school along with Lucy and several other students. It soon becomes clear that Lucy’s decision to attend is not as clear cut as it first appears and that more than one of our favourite characters is a target in this battle between good and bad.

Diabolical is written from several points of view and we see things this time through the eyes of Kieren, Zachary and Miranda. This is a style of writing that I particularly enjoy and it was great to see Miranda back in the fray and seeing everything from her perspective, especially the role that she plays in ensuring the safety of her best friend. It was also good to see all the characters that I’ve read about so far finally getting together within the one book. There are some excellent twists in the plot and fab new characters, especially Vesper and Nigel and the relationships between Miranda and Zachary and Quincie and Kieren are as sweet as ever. The final battle in the story is nailbiting and more than one characters life is on the line which makes for an exciting ending.

4/5 Diabolical is as good as if not better than the preceding books in the series. If you enjoyed those then you won’t be disappointed.