Reviewed by Alana Joli Abbott

[This review originally appeared in Mythprint 47:8 (#337) in August 2010.]

There are plenty of teen novels out there about demon and monster slayers, so if Marrone had penned just another story of good vs. evil, I might have passed it by. But Revealers is more than just a coming of age story, or the social tale of girls finding their pecking order in a society of slayers — it’s a tale of mothers and daughters, of the sacrifices both are willing to make to save the other, and the bravery it takes to bring change to a broken tradition. Jules and her friends have the power to make were creatures, vampires, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures “reveal” themselves, binding them and destroying them. When they reach the age of eighteen, they are initiated into the circle of their mothers, who were slayers before them. But as each of the girls turns, she realizes just what it means to be a part of that inner circle. Jules, the youngest, is the last to find out — and the secret causes her to rethink everything she knew about her calling.

Jules is a complex and caring narrator, concerned with friendship as well as her rank among her peers. She rebels against certain restrictions but believes in her calling, in her inheritance from her mother — and doesn’t want to doubt what she believes to be the truth. In that way, the novel deals with the nature of faith, and truth, and what to do when the two come into conflict. It’s also a spooky adventure, full of action, treachery, and danger.