One Quarter Villain by Cori Cooper – Review by Helen Dawkins

One Quarter Villain by Cori Cooper
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is the first book I have read by the author Cori Cooper. It is a surprising and fun YA fantasy book. There were times that the book was a little on the slow side, but it wasn’t so slow that it took away from the book. It is jam-packed with adventure, quirky & loving characters, wonderful fantasy worldbuilding, teenage drama, magic, emotions all over the place, and so much more!

The concept of doing a DNA test to see if you have “villain” in your heritage is such an interesting idea and then to expand that idea into finding out your ‘tendencies’ is even more interesting! The most fascinating aspect for me is that we all want to be seen for who we are now, or who we are trying to become, not who we used to be. No one wants to be known for the past. What had me hooked was the statement “Every good fairy tale needs a villain” because YES!!

Maddy is less than thrilled when her DNA results come back with 1/4 villain, not only is she not thrilled, she is insanely confused by her mom and grams reactions to the DNA results. What does this even mean?

Maddy figures out quickly that the world she knew is completely incorrect, there are magical realms. After Maddy’s best friend is banished to another realm, she MUST go rescue him. After things take a turn for the worst, Maddy starts to think there is fact to her DNA results – could she actually be villain, does that make her a bad person? Maddy’s black/white view of you can only be good OR evil, but not both, is turned upside down, and I absolutely loved how she grows as a person!

All of the characters involved in the story were so personal and entertaining, especially Leo. There is a wonderful mix of modern day teenager and magical fairytale. The ending was *perfection* – one of the best endings I’ve read! The book does not end on a cliffhanger, BUT, I would love to see where Maddy and Leo’s story goes, so I am looking forward to that. This is an amazing book for YA, while there is some romance, it is wholesome. This would also be a good pallet cleanser for just a clean, fun, and quirky book! Highly recommend too anyone YA (and even older!) who enjoys a little modern mixed with their fairytale magic.

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