Book Review: Sweet Venom by Tera Lynn Childs

Sweet Venom (Medusa Girls #1) by Tera Lynn Childs

Genre: Young Adult (Mythological Fantasy)

Date Published: September 6, 2011
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books

The Blurb:

Grace just moved to San Francisco and is excited to start over at a new school. The change is full of fresh possibilities, but it’s also a tiny bit scary. It gets scarier when a minotaur walks in the door. And even more shocking when a girl who looks just like her shows up to fight the monster.

Gretchen is tired of monsters pulling her out into the wee hours, especially on a school night, but what can she do? Sending the minotaur back to his bleak home is just another notch on her combat belt. She never expected to run into this girl who could be her double, though.

Greer has her life pretty well put together, thank you very much. But that all tilts sideways when two girls who look eerily like her appear on her doorstep and claim they're triplets, supernatural descendants of some hideous creature from Greek myth, destined to spend their lives hunting monsters.

These three teenage descendants of Medusa, the once-beautiful gorgon maligned by myth, must reunite and embrace their fates in this unique paranormal world where monsters lurk in plain sight.

My Review:

Sweet Venom is the first book in the Medusa Girls Trilogy by Tera Lynn Childs. I had a feeling I would really like this book, but I had  no idea just how much. There's only supposed to be one creature let loose at a time, but all of a sudden there are all kinds of  mythological "beasties" showing up in San Francisco. All of them are evil too, or are they? Things seem to be changing, and change is not always good. I'm going to go google crazy later, because there were some creatures mentioned that I had never heard of so, now I'm curious. Gretchen, Grace, and Greer are amazing main characters. When I saw that we'd be given the perspectives from each of the girls, I thought it might get confusing, but it really didn't. Each character has an entirely different personality and voice, and I couldn't imagine the story being told any other way. There are a few guys within the story who I think may be a little more than they seem too. I really want to know more about them. Like the girls, Thane, Nick, and Milo are completely different from one another. Though it wasn't the focus, there may be a romance or two or (if my suspicions are right) three on the horizon as well. Each page of Sweet Venom captivated me more and more with its unique take on Medusa and her descendants. There was so much action, I never knew what was going to happen or what creature was going to show up next.

The Excerpt:

One—Gretchen

Hydras have a distinctive odor. It’s somewhere between the acid tang of burning hair and a boat full of rotting fish. You can smell them from miles away.

Well, you can’t. But I can.

Some beasties smell mildly unpleasant; others could peel paint. Hydras definitely fall into the latter category.

As I steer my car—Moira, named for the fickle fates as a constant reminder to take charge of mine—into a spot across from a dilapidated seafood shack the stench is practically overwhelming. Moira’s upholstery is going to stink for a week. I pencil in taking her to the car wash on my mental to do list, right after replacing my favorite cargo pants, which got shredded in my last fight, but before polishing the bladed weapons in the armory.

I twist the key out of the ignition and do a quick gear check: Kevlar wrist cuffs in place, smoke bombs in left cargo pocket, zip ties in the right, and my handy dandy, military-grade, metal detector defying, twin APS daggers snug in their sheaths and hidden inside my steel toe Doc Martens. Nothing like a well-stocked pair of black cargoes to make me feel girly.

The hydra shouldn’t be much trouble—balancing nine heads on a massive serpent body throws off their center of gravity so they’re not exactly graceful—but it never hurts to be prepared.

Even if I ever get caught off guard, I’ve got a backup monster-fighting kit stowed under Moira’s driver’s seat and another in my backpack.

Though the gear makes things easier, all I really need to take a beastie out is the pair of retracted canines that will fang down at the first sign of trouble. They’re my built in weapon arsenal. A defense legacy passed down from my ancient ancestor.

“Seriously,” I mutter as I climb out onto the sidewalk. “Can’t they give it a rest for a while? Maybe take an extended vacation somewhere cold and icy.”

This is the fourth time in the last week that the aroma of dark and nasty has pulled me out for the hunt.

One more visitor from the abyss this week and I’ll leave the gear at home and work out my annoyance with my fists. Hand-to-hand combat won’t send a monster back to its prison realm home, but it’ll make me feel a hell of a lot better. Who says keeping the human world monster-free can’t be good therapy at the same time?

I palm the remote for Moira’s keyless entry and am about to lock her sleek, black doors when I realize I’ve forgotten one element of my monster-fighting gear that is critical, at least when I’m hunting in human-heavy territory.

“Slick, Gretchen,” I tell myself. “Real slick.”

You’d think after four years—a quarter of my life—this would be second nature.

Moments later, I’m crossing the street, my sporty mirrored sunglasses shielding my eyes. Not from the sun, of course. It’s not like hydras yearn for daylight. No, they’d rather drag me out in the middle of the night, when dives like this are the only thing open.

Darn inconsiderate when school starts tomorrow.

I walk up to the weathered wood shack, peer through the dirt and grime-crusted window, and scan the late night diners. All distinctly human.

If my eyes weren’t practically tearing at the stench, I’d think it wasn’t here.

Then I catch sight of the narrow staircase off to the right of the bar, leading to an upstairs dining room. Well, at least that will make cornering it easier.

As I push open the door, the combination of putrid eau de hydra and decades of fried fish filet residue is enough to make me nearly lose my heat-and-eat lasagna all over the sandy floor.

But I don’t have time for nausea. There’s a bloodthirsty monster prowling for a meal and if I don’t stop him no one will. I’m the only one who can see him.

“Anyone see a slithering nine-headed serpent pass this way?”

I snicker. I would love to see the reaction if I actually asked the question loud enough for anyone to hear.

Then again, this is San Francisco. They might not react at all.

Bypassing the drowsy bartender, I head for the staircase. Monsters generally prefer dark corners and back alleys—and, apparently, second floor dining areas—which makes them occasionally harder to find, but easier to attack. They’ll take any less-populated area that’s available, though, which is fine by me. The fewer witnesses to our fights the better. The safer. The human world doesn’t need to know monsters walk among them. As long as I do my job right, they never will.

I’m up the stairs, three at a time, in five seconds flat. The instant I step out onto the second floor I see it, cozying up to a trampy redhead doing her best impersonation of a low-class prostitute. Monsters have the worst taste in women.

I scan the room, checking for potential threats and exits. Besides the stairs behind me, there’s an emergency exit at the back. If I position myself behind the redhead, I’ll be able to intercept on either path.

As for threats, there are a pair of mounted swordfish displayed on the wall and some framed pictures of deep sea fishing boats that might hurt if used as projectiles. Nothing really to worry about.

Thankfully, the dining area is sparsely populated. Other than the hydra and his prey there is only a trio of drunken businessmen at the far end. Judging from their raucous volume and the disheveled state of their ties, odds are they’re probably pretty much oblivious to anything but the next round. If I do this right they won’t notice a thing.

Straightening my back, I march over to the unlucky couple and tap the girl on the shoulder, making sure I’m centered between the stairs and the door.

“Can I help you?” Red snaps in a very non-solicitous tone.

“Yes,” I reply. “You can leave.”

“Excuse me?” She crosses her arms defiantly under her chest, like I’m going to be frightened away by her aggressive boobage. “I don’t know who you think you are, but—”

With a quick flick of my wrist, I pop my sunglasses up and lean down to look her directly in the eye.

“You were just leaving,” I say, keeping my tone even.

Her eyes widen as her brain disengages. “I was just leaving,” she repeats.

Then, as if pulled by some unseen rope, she stands and crosses to the stairs, disappearing out of view. When the hypno wears off, she’ll wonder how she got wherever she’s going. But serpent-beastie will be long gone by then.

With the girl safely out of the way, I evaluate the now standing hydra. From the necks down he looks like an overgrown lizard who’s been hitting the gym. Too muscular for my tastes—I don’t go for the bulging reptilian type—but I can see how some girls might want to hit that. From the necks up … well, whoever said two heads are better than one never met a hydra.

Too bad humans can’t see it’s real form.

All monsters can affect a sort of false appearance—in faerie circles known as a glamour—so their hideous, grotesque features are hidden from unsuspecting human eyes. Unfortunately for the monsters, I’m not an unsuspecting human. I’m a descendant of Medusa and I suspect a whole heck of a lot. My eyes see their true nature, and this beastie’s true nature is the slimy, scaly, nine-headed body of a snake. Not exactly the perfect specimen Red thought she was getting.

The hydra’s eyes lock on mine before I drop my sunglasses back into place. Too bad my freaky hypnosis power only works on humans. Then again, that would make my job way too easy. Where’s the fun in that?

“Huntress,” he snarls.

“I prefer Gretchen. But, you know.” I flash him a bored look. “Whatever.”

The freak show moves awkwardly, its undulating tail knocking a chair down behind him.

I check over my shoulder to make sure the drunken trio hasn’t noticed—they haven’t—then turn back to face my foe. He might look big and scary, but this isn’t my first hydra rodeo. I know just how to take him down.

As the freak show reaches for me, I spin right, dodging the grab and sending the monster lurching forward. With the creature off balance, I take a well-aimed leaped onto its back. It writhes, trying to throw me off. I wrap my legs around the scaly body and my arms around one of the necks and squeeze. The table goes flying. I need to hurry, before someone decides to notice all the noise.

Inching my way down its back, I lean off to one side, searching for the spot where its thick, armor-like scales give way to a softer underbelly. My fangs drop. I dive forward, sink my fangs into the tender flesh, and sigh as my snake-girl venom pours into its bloodstream.

There is no better feeling than this sweet surge of victory.

In a flash, he’s gone and I’m thudding to my knees on the floor.

Bye-bye beastie.

About the Author:
Tera Lynn Childs is the award-winning author of the mythology-based OH. MY. GODS. and GODDESS BOOT CAMP, the mermaid tales FORGIVE MY FINS, FINS ARE FOREVER, and JUST FOR FINS (July 3rd, 2012), and a new trilogy about monster-hunting descendants of Medusa beginning with SWEET VENOM and SWEET SHADOWS (September 4, 2012). Tera lives nowhere in particular and spends her time writing wherever she can find a comfy chair and a steady stream of caffeinated beverages.

To learn more about Tera Lynn Childs and her books, visit her website.You can also find her on Goodreads, Facebook, and Twitter.