Review: The Boy Who Could See Demons

The Boy Who Could See Demons by Carolyn Jess-Cooke
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Wow, wow, wow. I wish I could un-read the last chapter of this book because I am not at all okay with anything that occurred between pages 250 – 263. If you take a look at my other book reviews, it’s an understatement to say that I am frequently disappointed, but even I wasn’t prepared for the tragic nose dive that occurred here. I’ve since discovered that there is an alternate ending for this novel, and the nonsense I unfortunately had to endure is the “US” edit. This thirteen page atrocity was crafted especially for us ‘Mericans as we apparently don’t deserve a decent conclusion. I am offended, and whether or not you’ve read this book, you should be too.

With that opening paragraph, you’re probably thinking it doesn’t track to award this book 3 stars, and you’re probably correct. But despite myself, I did enjoy much of what was given to me on the first 249 pages and I am choosing to focus on that. I am always going to be captivated by the debate of demons vs. mental illness, which also sounds like a Netflix original I would happily binge watch. Additionally, I am hedging my bets that in the version every other country except the good ol’ U S of A had the pleasure of consuming, the final chapter wasn’t the literary equivalent of a wet sock. There is a time and place for the “Sike! What you just spent hours reading was all a dream/lie/figment of someone’s imagination and it will now be shoddily discredited in thirteen pages – sucker!” plot twist. But this was neither the time nor the place, and it was done in a way that wasn't even mildly cohesive with the rest of the story.

The clandestine alternate ending could be nothing more than a full page of hastily drawn stick figures and human genitalia and I would have left this book feeling much more satisfied, and it may even make more sense – Alex was a 10 year old boy after all. Honestly, if I turned to page 250 and the book rudely declared that I was ugly before bursting into flames and singeing both of my eyebrows off – I still would have been less insulted than I was by the actual finish. And hell, a book about demons catching fire as the grand finale? Um yeah, that would be pretty epic. My eyebrows would eventually grow back.


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