Devil's Kiss
By Sarwat Chadda
Published by Puffin
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Following in a male family tradition, Billi SanGreal is fifteen and facing her Ordeal – to murder a toddler – before she becomes the first girl to be initiated into the Knights Templar.
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Children's Book review
Following in a male family tradition, Billi SanGreal is fifteen and facing her Ordeal – to murder a toddler – before she becomes the first girl to be initiated into the Knights Templar, to protect the masses from the Unholy, the thousands of evil, tortured souls that prey on humanity.
Currently a popular subject for fiction, in this horror fantasy the Templars meet another cult obsession, vampire hunting. Chadda offers an unsettling text, heavy on the blood and guts aspects of vampirism, but also engages with folktale and myth, as well as posing deeper questions concerning family relationships and inter-generational expectations.
Placing the Templars within an accurate historical context, he also challenges readers to consider religion and tolerance in contemporary British society.
Reading age: 9+
Interest level: 12+
