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Bye-Bye, Evil Eye
A summer trip to Greece seems like the perfect chance for thirteen-year-old Dani to spend some time on the beach, help her bookish best friend Kat get her first kiss, and maybe find some summer romance of her own. But when bad luck begins to strike over and over, and continues to strike when she returns to her home in Toronto, Dani starts to wonder if she is cursed. Literally. Kat tells of the "evil eye," and warns that a curse may have been put on Dani by a mysterious girl whose path she crossed in Greece. Dani gets sick, injured, and her family car is vandalized. Is it the "evil eye," or is someone out to get Dani? And what bizarre lengths will Dani go to as she tries to get the curse lifted? Combining the humorous and the sinister, Bye-Bye, Evil Eye is an engaging read from Governor General's Literary Award finalist Deborah Kerbel.
- GenresFictionYoung AdultCanada
224 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2014
About the author
Deborah Kerbel
46 books216 followersDeborah Kerbel was born in London, England, but grew up in Toronto, Canada.
A finalist for the 2012 Governor General's Literary Award, the 2010 Canadian Library Association YA Book of the Year Award, 2019 Blue Spruce Award Honour Book, and winner of the 2020 IODE Jean Throop Book Award, Deborah is the author of ten books for young readers of all ages.
Currently, Deborah lives and writes in Thornhill, Ontario, with her husband, two book loving teens, and a schnoodle named Fred.
Visit her at www.deborahkerbel.ca
A finalist for the 2012 Governor General's Literary Award, the 2010 Canadian Library Association YA Book of the Year Award, 2019 Blue Spruce Award Honour Book, and winner of the 2020 IODE Jean Throop Book Award, Deborah is the author of ten books for young readers of all ages.
Currently, Deborah lives and writes in Thornhill, Ontario, with her husband, two book loving teens, and a schnoodle named Fred.
Visit her at www.deborahkerbel.ca
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 14, 2015
13 year old Daniella is a typical teen girl concerned with beauty and boys. When she and her friend Kat visit Greece for three weeks, Dani thinks it's the perfect opportunity to find a boyfriend for Kat. That is until Dani is stricken by the evil eye and her life becomes a string of bad luck. Only Kat's superstitious mother Mrs. P. can help her but the cure isn't all she wishes it to be. Teens who love romance novels will enjoy this page-turner with a classic surprise ending.
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July 4, 2014Dani's bad luck makes for charming summer reading - romance, mystery and the beguiling sunny skies and blue-green tides of Greece! There's so much to love here that I hope Deborah Kerbel will revisit friends Dani and Kat in a future novel.
June 30, 2014
I Am Reading This Book Right Now And It Is Amazing So Far! I Defently Recomend This Book
November 8, 2014
Read an author Q & A on Worn Pages and Ink.
My copy was provided by Dancing Cat Books as part of Deborah Kerbel's blog tour.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything middle grade, but this was actually a really fun and light-hearted read. It’s exactly the kind of story I would have loved as an elementary school reader. Dani is a fun loving, relatable young girl whom you can’t help but love. She and her friend Kat have a friendship that’s loyal and true. Their friendship pulls this story together well and shows young readers that the bonds of friendship can pull you through any trials, growing stronger as you experience and survive struggles together.
My copy was provided by Dancing Cat Books as part of Deborah Kerbel's blog tour.
It’s been a long time since I’ve read anything middle grade, but this was actually a really fun and light-hearted read. It’s exactly the kind of story I would have loved as an elementary school reader. Dani is a fun loving, relatable young girl whom you can’t help but love. She and her friend Kat have a friendship that’s loyal and true. Their friendship pulls this story together well and shows young readers that the bonds of friendship can pull you through any trials, growing stronger as you experience and survive struggles together.
July 20, 2022
Good teen book
August 21, 2022
Fun read with just the right amount of over-the-top evil eye drama.
December 3, 2014
Originally reviewed on One More Page...
[I received a copy of this book from its publisher Dancing Cat Books (an imprint of Cormorant Books) for a blog tour. This does not affect my opinion of the novel.]
I’ve been itching to travel lately but since I already went to Vancouver this year, I doubt I’ll be able to go anywhere else soon. So, when Dancing Cat Books invited me to be a part of their blog tour for Bye-Bye, Evil Eye by Deborah Kerbel, I jumped at the chance as the first half of the novel is set in Greece. (The second half of the book is set in Toronto!)
Bye-Bye, Evil Eye is a young adult novel that follows 13-year-old Dani as she vacations in Greece with her best friend Kat. Dani is “pretty, rich, and popular” and, at times, a bit vain. She’s committed to finding her shy best friend Kat a boy to kiss for the first time while in Greece, and everything seems to be going well. That is, until she’s cursed. Bad things keep happening to her and it only gets worse. Now, she has to figure out a way to undo the curse or risk bringing danger to her friends and family.
I had fun reading Bye-Bye, Evil Eye. My travel bug was tempered as I followed Dani and Kat to Greece’s beaches, lying in the sun and checking out the cute boys. It definitely made Toronto’s cold, rainy weather a little more bearable. Dani and Kat’s friendship was entirely believable, so I enjoyed reading about them and tagging along on their vacation. I also found myself quite invested in finding out who cast the curse on Dani. Thanks to my English degree, I’m the type of reader who has to analyze everything and dissect the implications of certain plots. Thus, it really mattered to me who the spell-caster was.
**SPOILER ALERT – please skip the next two paragraphs if you do not want to know who was the one behind Dani’s misfortunes.**
It turns out that Kat’s mom, who was with the girls on their vacation, was meddling with Dani’s stuff – poisoning her food, vandalizing her car, etc – because Dani was getting too close to a boy named Nick who was in an arranged marriage of sorts with Kat. In the end, Kat expresses that she does not want to marry Nick at all, and Kat’s mom learns the hard way that love can’t be forced.
Initially, I wasn’t sure about the ending, but after thinking about it for a while I think it was ultimately about the mother-daughter relationship and how sometimes, what a mother thinks is best isn’t always right. I do think that Mrs. P learns a lesson by the end of the book and I am hopefully that she will become more open and accepting of her daughter’s wishes moving forward. I think this ended up being a great way to end the novel and the mystery of the “evil eye” curse!
**SPOILER SECTION ENDS**
Overall, Bye-Bye, Evil Eye was an entertaining adventure. It was a quick, light read and assuaged my desire to travel (for now!). If you want a book to make you feel like you’re on a warm vacation but also has a bit of drama to it, Bye-Bye, Evil Eye may be the book for you!
Verdict: A quick, fun book. I’m satisfied with the way I’ve interpreted the book, but I was initially unsure.
Read if: You’ve ever wanted to go on a vacation in Greece, like reading about young friendships, want to read a book that is more complex than it initially lets on.
[I received a copy of this book from its publisher Dancing Cat Books (an imprint of Cormorant Books) for a blog tour. This does not affect my opinion of the novel.]
I’ve been itching to travel lately but since I already went to Vancouver this year, I doubt I’ll be able to go anywhere else soon. So, when Dancing Cat Books invited me to be a part of their blog tour for Bye-Bye, Evil Eye by Deborah Kerbel, I jumped at the chance as the first half of the novel is set in Greece. (The second half of the book is set in Toronto!)
Bye-Bye, Evil Eye is a young adult novel that follows 13-year-old Dani as she vacations in Greece with her best friend Kat. Dani is “pretty, rich, and popular” and, at times, a bit vain. She’s committed to finding her shy best friend Kat a boy to kiss for the first time while in Greece, and everything seems to be going well. That is, until she’s cursed. Bad things keep happening to her and it only gets worse. Now, she has to figure out a way to undo the curse or risk bringing danger to her friends and family.
I had fun reading Bye-Bye, Evil Eye. My travel bug was tempered as I followed Dani and Kat to Greece’s beaches, lying in the sun and checking out the cute boys. It definitely made Toronto’s cold, rainy weather a little more bearable. Dani and Kat’s friendship was entirely believable, so I enjoyed reading about them and tagging along on their vacation. I also found myself quite invested in finding out who cast the curse on Dani. Thanks to my English degree, I’m the type of reader who has to analyze everything and dissect the implications of certain plots. Thus, it really mattered to me who the spell-caster was.
**SPOILER ALERT – please skip the next two paragraphs if you do not want to know who was the one behind Dani’s misfortunes.**
It turns out that Kat’s mom, who was with the girls on their vacation, was meddling with Dani’s stuff – poisoning her food, vandalizing her car, etc – because Dani was getting too close to a boy named Nick who was in an arranged marriage of sorts with Kat. In the end, Kat expresses that she does not want to marry Nick at all, and Kat’s mom learns the hard way that love can’t be forced.
Initially, I wasn’t sure about the ending, but after thinking about it for a while I think it was ultimately about the mother-daughter relationship and how sometimes, what a mother thinks is best isn’t always right. I do think that Mrs. P learns a lesson by the end of the book and I am hopefully that she will become more open and accepting of her daughter’s wishes moving forward. I think this ended up being a great way to end the novel and the mystery of the “evil eye” curse!
**SPOILER SECTION ENDS**
Overall, Bye-Bye, Evil Eye was an entertaining adventure. It was a quick, light read and assuaged my desire to travel (for now!). If you want a book to make you feel like you’re on a warm vacation but also has a bit of drama to it, Bye-Bye, Evil Eye may be the book for you!
Verdict: A quick, fun book. I’m satisfied with the way I’ve interpreted the book, but I was initially unsure.
Read if: You’ve ever wanted to go on a vacation in Greece, like reading about young friendships, want to read a book that is more complex than it initially lets on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2015
Thirteen year old Dani is invited to join her best friend Kat and her mother at a family resort in Greece. Dani and Kat enjoy the Greek food, culture, ocean and beaches, while seeking the inevitable teenage summer romance. After a series of unfortunate events happen specifically to Dani, the girls begin to believe she has fallen under the "Evil Eye" spell. The novel is a relatively quick, mostly enjoyable read, but lacks depth that would make it more noteworthy.
2.5/5 stars
Short-listed for the 2016 MYRCA.
2.5/5 stars
Short-listed for the 2016 MYRCA.
November 4, 2014
This is a cute and fun middle grade book, and I have rated it 4 stars with that in mind. If I read this at a younger age, I know I would have enjoyed it even more than I did at 26. It was a short, easy read and I read it all in one sitting. It was definitely a fun story, and it was well written.
Check out my video review here: http://youtu.be/Oj17szAZsk0
Check out my video review here: http://youtu.be/Oj17szAZsk0
November 2, 2014
Review to follow on Tuesday as part of the Blog Tour
March 19, 2015
A cute story about curses, crushes and friendship with a Greek backdrop. It felt like it wrapped up a little bit too neatly in the end, but overall a quick, breezy read that tweens will enjoy.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews