Virals is a light, breezy way for young readers to delve into the wonderful world of supernatural powers and murder. The novel follows 15-year-old Tory Brennan as she and her friends investigate a decades-old murder, while simultaneously dealing with the impossible, yet true, supernatural changes to themselves. Our story centers around the slightly creepy, and definitely spooky, Loggerhead Island. Loggerhead Island (which isn’t a real place, I googled) is right off the coast of the always lovely Charleston, South Carolina. When the band of teens discovers something not quite right about the dealings on Loggerhead Island, they begin to investigate and discover a darker truth than they ever expected. But our story doesn’t end there! Loggerhead Island contains more than just scary ass monkeys and weird wolf-dogs; it also holds a new type of power that will infect the teens and change their lives forever (or at least for this book but forever sounds all cool and ominous).
Now onto our adorable band of misfit toys, Tory and her friends. We have Tory Brennan, Shelton Devers, Benjamin (Ben) Blue, and Hiram (Hi) Stolowitski – together they cause general mayhem that occasionally delves into what might be considered a felony in the great state of South Carolina. Tory, the youngest of the group, is what I like to call a girl who believes she’s not like other girls. I would call her a slightly stereotypical tom-boy who finds all things pink and girly to be superficial and slightly beneath her. While I remember with slight revulsion what it was like to be 15, I did get the sense that Tory’s own ‘othering’ was an odd attempt by the authors to make her different and cool. For me, however, it kinda just made her a little unlikeable and gave the strong sense that she is not ‘for the girls’ which is not the message I love for current tweens and teens, or even myself. In the end her characterization already feels dated in the midst of so many other literary examples in which young girls are not dismissed for their femininity, but instead valued for it. Going beyond Tory’s own internalized misogyny, because she is the focus and point of view of this story I didn’t feel as though I got that strong of a sense of the boys within the group. Rather what came through the strongest was the deep friendship they all have. They are the “virals” and only together can they solve this mystery.
This book is distinctly separate from so many other crime novels geared towards a more adult audience and is instead set within the halls of a high school clouded with teen hormones and Axe body spray. I’m going to be frank, it became very clear very quickly that I was not the prime target for this book. I found myself writing, ‘where are your parents’ and ‘aren’t you 16 what the hell are you talking about’ which made me feel incredibly elderly at my ripe age of 21. However, even though the 21 year old me couldn’t gel with every plot line of the book, I think the 14 year old me would have absolutely loved it. If nothing else because this book is really the beginning of Tory Brennan becoming a certified badass and (in her own words) lookin’ great while doing it. I mean, I have to applaud the strength and the confidence of any teenage girl who can have her DNA be altered by a supernatural virus, while she is simultaneously investigating a murder, all the while she’s dealing with boy drama and school and her dad’s new terror of a girlfriend. This book may not change your life, but it will undoubtedly be a fun read for anyone regardless of age, and the twist at the end will definitely knock your socks off.
Rating: 3 ½ of 5 stars
Genres: Young Adult, Supernatural, Crime novel, mystery
Sub-Genres: Teen, Adventure, Fantasy, Murder-Mystery