Genre City Review: Driven
Title: Driven
Author: Shellie Neumeier
Publisher: Risen Books
Genre: YA / Supernatural
Release date: March 2011
ISBN: 978-0984093151
Reviewed by: Darlo Gemeinhardt
Driven will drive you to think deeper about the spiritual realm.
Driven is Shellie Neumeier’s debut young adult novel. Neumeier reflects her experience working with youth in her understanding of high school life. Her characters are developed well, and her teens speak as teens do.
The story is a young adult version of C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters—though not a copy. Neumeier’s readers are privy to conversations between the demon Sebastian and Satan. She makes you think about the spiritual realm, about what may be occurring all around you.
The main character, Robyn Stanley, is a typical Christian teen and is the leader of her school’s prayer team. After a news reporter challenges the validity of her team’s right to pray at school, Robyn must decide between defending their right and backing down, per her principal’s request.
Page after page, Neumeier keeps the reader guessing what the outcome will be. Will Robyn learn what God wants her to do before a supernatural enemy, whose sole purpose is to stop her by whatever means necessary, wins? Angels are on guard, and while you can’t see all they’re doing, you do get a hint that God allows the demons to go only so far before He steps in.