Review: The Demon's Covenant by Sarah Rees Brennan

Title: The Demon's Covenant
Author(s): Sarah Rees Brennan
Genre: YA Supernatural, Family, Romance
Page Count: 440
Publisher: Simon & Schuster

The Summary:Mae always thought she was in control, but in the past few weeks control has turned into chaos. She’s learned that her brother Jamie has magical powers and that Gerald, the new leader of the Obsidian Circle, is trying to persuade Jamie to join the magicians. The same magicians who tried to kill Mae and Jamie last month in London. The magicians who get their power by feeding people to demons.

Mae turns to brothers Nick and Alan to help her rescue Jamie, but they are in danger themselves. Every magician in England now knows what Nick really is—and they all want him dead.

Nick’s new power has also caused a rift between the brothers. In the weeks they were gone something terrible happened, something that haunts them both. With Nick as unreadable as ever and Alan making secret bargains with a demon, Mae finds herself attracted to both brothers—though she knows she can’t trust either of them. The magicians are closing in on one side and the dangerous, seductive Goblin Market is tempting her on the other, and Mae has to form her own plan to save them all. She's going to find that the price she must pay is more than she ever imagined.

The covenant is binding. There is no escape.

- From US Hardcover

Note: This is a second book in the trilogy. I've done my best to omit spoilers for both the First and Second book in this review, but there are some hints for one of the big reveals for the first book. If you're a complete spoiler-phobe then please proceed with caution.

The Review: Before I begin, I think I ought to confess how this book utterly ruined my week. People, I had plans. I was going to write up multiple reviews here, do more memes, leave comments on posts, go out into that big blue room with the giant yellow fireball in the ceiling and actually socialize with friends and family, but no, ever since I read The Demon’s Covenant last Tuesday, I could think of nothing else. I cancelled all plans, my to-read posts on google reader is at this atrocious triple digit number, and basically I’ve neglected everything just so I could read this book over a total of four times in six days and a small part of me whispers that if I didn’t have to spend a good chunk of my day going to work, the reread count would have at least been double. I even loved this book so much that I went and dug up a copy of the FIRST book to reread as well. (For the record, I reread it twice in these six days. Apparently my revelation for the week was that a day not reading SRB’s writing was a day wasted.) I harassed my family with constant squeals and sighs as I made a public spectacle of myself going all emotional over the book, roping my siblings into listening to various passages I re-enacted for them, whipped out the book from my purse (yes, I lugged that hardcover book everywhere with me) to wave its gorgeous cover in front of the faces of my friends, and even called a friend long distance the second she told me she finished the novel so that I could TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK with someone. This is the kind of sequel that makes the first book a better rereading experience. In fact, this is probably the most amazing sequel book I’ve ever read, and just a really amazing YA book overall and I love it to bits and it’s going to make it on my top 20 books I read this year, I know it, I can feel it in my bones.

I was actually surprised that I loved this book so much, because I wasn’t wow’ed by the first book. I mean, I really enjoyed it, but it wasn’t my favourite read of the year or anything. The first book had its moments of emotional intensity, and a really fast paced plot, (It reminded me of The Hunger Games’ pace, but with a much more careful eye at her choice of words, and interesting metaphor usage. Yes, I am indeed implying that Sarah Rees Brennan writes better than Suzanne Collins.) but for the most part I was mostly swept by apathy towards all the characters unless their name was Alan or Nick (For the record, I liked Jamie’s lines, but I didn’t get attached to his character like the way I did with Alan or Nick.). In many ways, Nick’s world was very small, with very few people he considered important in his life, and this apathy towards anyone who wasn’t his brother was reflected throughout the writing of the first book and ended up generating a lack of story connectivity for me unless it was an emotional moment between the brothers. I also found the dialogue rather forced, with Nick’s lines trying a little too hard to be sarcastically funny (which looking back, I think was on purpose as it was Nick’s way to try to make Alan happy, but I didn’t see it this way a year ago) and the worldbuilding wasn’t to my taste. (Briefly, I prefer my fantasy based strongly on a body of related folklore/mythology instead of a mishmash of different myths/stories mixed together, and the magic here, while neatly laid out, feels a little flat in its tidiness and simplicity.)

The world building still isn’t to my taste, to be honest, but I don’t care about any of that because, my gawd, the characters just blew me away here. I was doubtful about this character POV change to Mae, whom I had a mostly reserved reaction to in the first book, but this story from Mae’s POV was so good . It gave me all the very human moments that neither Nick nor Gerald (who was also considered as a possible narrator for Book 2 and I praise the heavens that this didn’t happen) could have provided, and I got her now, understood her in the ways I couldn’t gleam out of Nick’s narration in Book 1. Mae is totally a female protagonist you can root for, determined and good hearted and funny and all-around fun, and how she doesn’t sit around being a passive narrator and takes measures into her own hands. I’m sorry I doubted the strength of Mae as a narrator for even a second, or Sarah Rees Brennan’s ability to make her sympathetic. Because if there is only one thing I could name in terms of the author’s strengths in her writing abilities, the first and foremost thing that comes to mind is her way of drawing her characters so vividly, through amazing interpersonal character interaction that not only brings out the protagonist’s characteristics, but the other person she’s interacting with as well. Mae’s POV illuminated the very raw and achingly beautiful brother relationship between Alan and Nick that was different from the first book, but in no way less powerful. I love how we got to really know a good slew of people in this novel that we didn’t get in the first book, and there was none of that character disconnection I felt in the first book, which I believe probably stems from the fact that Mae herself is anything but apathetic towards the people she meets and interacts with around her. The experience of reading this novel was just so intense, because you feel like you really got these characters, and you care so much and there’s so much stuff happening and thrown at the character’s way, and you want everything to work out so bad. I wish I could explain this ability of Sarah Rees Brennan’s more clearly, but I’m not skilled enough with my words to do so, and instead I’m going to direct you this reaction post to The Demon’s Covenant that explains the character interaction thing in this novel much better than I have done here.

A large part of The Demon’s Covenant dealt with the idea of consequences. To the best of my abilities in talking about this without spoiling, in the first book people were willing to do the “wrong” thing to “protect” the important person in their lives, and in the second book, it deals with what happens after you do the unforgivable thing. Sarah Rees Brennan doesn’t hesitate to blur the line between Good and Bad, complicating her characters with varying shades of grey, and I really enjoy that, how not only does she challenge the rights and wrongs but is willing to take this a step further and examine the good/bad decisions her characters have made.

I really, really love the theme of family in this trilogy. Of course Nick and Alan was very lovely, and my fondness towards darling lying Alan continues to grow. I really enjoyed seeing the sibling interaction between Mae and Jamie, as a lovely contrast to Nick and Alan, and of course on its own right. It’s nice to see siblings in YA novels who don’t hate each other or the stereotypical Annoying Younger Sibling vs. Distant Older Sibling. I mean, they fight, but they love each other, the kind of family bond siblings share, and they always come through for each other no matter what. I'm so glad we got a better handle of Jamie in this book, because while I liked his lines in the first book, I didn't feel like I really got to know him. All that is rectified in this book. I loved how he was gay without making the whole coming out and what not stuff a Big Issue and he gets a love story and everything, and it was just really, really well done and I want him to be happy. I also enjoyed Mae’s interactions with her mother. Mae’s mom is seriously badass. I may have been a little in love. Actually all the women were rather badass in this novel. No helpless damsels as victims here. Sin in particular was my favourite. (Who is gorgeous and a dancer and an older sister and good with knives and incidentally biracial in the Not Making Race A Dominant Part of Her Identity way and will be the narrator of the third book! So excited!)

I also loved the string of makeout scenes in this novel, but that may be influenced by the fact that I am shallow. Also these kissing scenes were just really hot and sizzling in general. Mmmmmm... *coughs* Er, the fight scene was brilliant too! Very intense, especially the one on the bridge. The dialogue here was much smoother and flowed well to boot, and this book made me laugh and gush sniff and broke my heart and brought it back together all at once. I honestly can’t recommend it enough.

The Verdict: If you’ve read the first book and haven’t put the second book on your to-read this 1) there is something very wrong with you and 2) RECTIFY THIS TERRIBLE AND HEINUOUS ERROR OF YOURS NOW. If you’ve haven’t read the first book, read that first, and then run immediately to grab a copy of the second book. Theorectically I suppose you could read the second book without having read the first, since there’s enough context to pick up what’s going on without getting too lost, but it spoils the first book terribly and the experience of reading the first book would be utterly ruined, so I don’t suggest this. This is one of those rare special sequels that not only tops the first book in every way, but makes the first book better by proxy, and you’d be missing out if you skip out on reading covenant. Plus, the US version is all repackaged with a new gorgeous look with some amazingly beautiful cover models, and HOW CAN YOU RESIST THAT. Dark, intense, funny, and heartwrenching, the story will stay with you long after you’ve finished reading it. And it'll also make you want to commit ritual sacrifices to get your hands on the third book.

Rating: 5/5
Enjoyment: Look, I’ve read this over FOUR TIMES already since having bought it less than a week ago. If this doesn’t make it obvious that this is the book I enjoyed reading the most so far this year, I don’t know what will.

Title and Cover Discussion: EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS IS BEAUTIFUL. EVERYTHING. I’M SO HAPPY THE US COVERS GOT REDESIGNED. I am in love with the font style and colour choice, the dynamic movement of the models, the beautiful blue flames of beauty, the twirling white dress. I am no longer jealous of the UK covers, as this beats the UK version, hands down. I loved it enough to pay full price for the hardcover, which I wasn’t supposed to do since I’m making an attempt to “save money” but I couldn’t let the precious book out of my hands. (I do miss the secret cover of the first US hardback though, as I was kind of hoping for the same thing with the second book, but blue flames make up for everything.) Although now I’m all ~*conflicted*~ since I don’t have matching covers and I want a matching set for this trilogy and don’t know whether or not I should go and collect this trilogy with the UK covers or US, but I am thoroughly off topic by now so I’m just gonna shut up and give this whole package an A

Title: A
Cover: A+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Review: The Dark Divine by Bree Despain

Title: The Dark Divine
Author(s): Bree Despain
Genre: YA Paranormal Romance
Page Count: 384
Publisher: EgmontUSA

The Summary: A prodigal son

A dangerous love

A deadly secret . . .

I stood back and watched his movements. Daniel had that way about him that could shut me down in an instant. . . . I kicked the gravel a couple of times and worked up my courage again. “Tell me . . . I mean . . . why did you come back? Why now, after all this time?”

Grace Divine, daughter of the local pastor, always knew something terrible happened the night Daniel Kalbi disappeared—the night she found her brother Jude collapsed on the porch, covered in blood. But she has no idea what a truly monstrous secret that night really held. And when Daniel returns three years later, Grace can no longer deny her attraction to him, despite promising Jude she’ll stay away.

As Grace gets closer to Daniel, her actions stir the ancient evil Daniel unleashed that horrific night. Grace must discover the truth behind Jude and Daniel's dark secret . . . and the cure that can save the ones she loves. But she may have to lay down the ultimate sacrifice to do it—her soul.

--Summary from author's website

The Review: I inhaled this in half a day, egged on by the fact that I had limited time to read this before ninefly left, taking her books with her. I'm glad I felt the pressure in finishing off this book, because this novel, as much as I love it, has some serious pacing issues, going too slow in some parts and too fast at other points, so I may have been tempted to slow down or even stop my reading before I got to the good parts.

What I was most amused by in this novel was how... very South Korean melodrama it was. Seriously, it was following the Kdrama formula to the letter, to the point where I was like, "hmm, if this were a kdrama I could basically see the general direction of the story omg it actually happened!!" I mean, we even got the adopted brother who's in love with the sister thing that Kdrama is so fond of, and disapproving in-laws! All we were missing (besides, ya know, starring any hot Korean celebrities), was some amnesia -preferably via car accidents- complications (though the missing or skewed memories thing came close) and a major character with terminal illness (interestingly enough, a minor character was very ill. Close, but no cigar) It almost made me wonder if our author here watches Kdramas but the likelihood of it is so minor that I'll just chalk it up to awesome, happy coincidence. This makes a possibly upcoming Chromatic Casting on this novel too easy. There was something terribly amusing about watching a very familiar storyline that I'm used to seeing on tv unfold in written narrative instead, especially from such an unexpected place.

The christianity allusions were basic enough and elaborated further in the novel for me to follow as a non-Christian, and I personally thought this aspect was handled nicely without banging our heads at the concept over and over. (Um, feel free to give me a different perspective on this. =D) I've seen some complaints about the reveal of the paranormal in the novel to be too sudden, but I dunno, I thought Despain did a fairly even job of dropping noticeable hints all around in the beginning. I do kind of see how we can criticize the accelerated paranormal reveals for being too fast as it is a sudden change of pace from the the first half, but as the second half of this novel with all its paranormal reveals was my favourite aspect of the novel, you aren't going to find me complaining about it here. =D I'd rather make the argument for sooner reveals! and more childhood flashbacks! instead. The story could have definitely been told in less amount of pages and be better off for it.

I love the characters and the romance not so much because they were strong on their own but more because of the fact that the type they represent just hits all my buttons. I'm a big, big sucker for childhood crush that gets separated and meet again in the future (I love kdramas for a reason, y'all). The characters by themselves were pretty much meh for me (I will admit, I was already making fun of the cast name from the first few pages alone. Grace Divine, really?), but slot them into this type of romance and toss in a few awesome paranormal reveals and you'll find me cheering for our characters with the rest of the fans. One thing I did like about it outside of the whole kdrama thing and the paranormal reveals was the whole skewed/missing memory thing Despain played with in the second half. Don't want to spoil it, but the reinterpretations of events past and present and skewed persepectives was a nice touch. The writing too was very nice. For instance:

It used to be a treasure box where Jude, Daniel, and I kept our special things like pogs, and baseball cards, and that strange long tooth we found in the woods behind the house. But now it was a small metal coffin -- a box that held memories I wish would die.

Simple imagery, but very effective, y/y?

Now, for some complaints beyond the pacing, lol. I wish that this novel showed us more of April, Grace's supposedly best friend. It's like, once April got hooked with a boy she completely disappeared from Grace's life. The book says they're friends but I rarely see them doing, you know, basic best friend things like sharing secrets or going to one another when they have problems. The only interactions I remember were just them oogling boys as potential boyfriends. So yeah, this book? Doesn't even come close to passing the bedchel test. It'd be nice to have more of these YA romance books wherein the girls don't ditch each other once they find the Love Of Their Lives. Also, this is one of those books with a "raceless" white default (as it, there's no explicit racial markers but everyone is described as pale, etc etc) but I really didn't expect anything less coming into this novel as YA paranormal romance set in some small white town with new kid in the block who may or may not have powers rarely bother trying to include diversity within the story narrative. Didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of this novel though, for what it's worth.

The Verdict: All in all, a very pleasant read of a good, if a bit flawed, debut book, and I can't wait for the sequel! Daniel/Grace is TRUE LOVE, TRUEEEEEE I SAY! ♥ I for one, am hoping for a more prominent role for April and more interactions that are totally unrelated to boys in general. (Er, hopefully I'm not hoping too much here, lol) And preferably better characterization and pacing next time. And, maybe a new book on just Jude's perspective? *coughs* Basically, what I'm saying is, WHERE IS MY SEQUEL. *shot*

Rating: 3/5
Enjoyment: 90% (loses some points for pacing issues)

Title and Cover Discussion: I do think the title is nice. I like the paradox between Dark and Divine and the alliteration. I um, just have to get over the whole Divine being the last name of a family of pastors, is all. *dies* But the cover just doesn't do it for me. It gives me a twilight-cover vibe, with the whole black background and the shiny bright object that doesn't correspond with the story at all. It'd be eye-grabbing if it weren't for the fact that there's already plenty of covers with this type of motif on the shelves. And it is another purple cover that seems to dominate the shelves this season without having anything interesting within the cover to make up for it. Also, er, her death-white (there's pale, and there's like, ash-white death looking pale) skinny legs kinda creep me out. Surely no legs can be that skinny unless you're anorexic? Instead of otherworldly imagery, the legs on the cover just look the legs of a sickly person who should be admitted to a hospital ASAP.

Title: B+
Cover: C

Review: The Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

Title: The Awakening (and briefly touching on The Summoning)
Author(s): Kelley Armstrong
Genre: YA Paranormal Adventure
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Doubleday Canada

The Review: Now, my dear readers, you may be thinking, what in the world are you doing reviewing a sequel of a novel without having reviewed the first book? I’ll be perfectly honest, my feelings about The Summoning can be summed as ‘meh’ at best and I have nothing particularly constructive to say. (lawl, don’t worry, if you’re still curious about my opinions on The Summoning I give my feelings on that subject a nod in a whole paragraph of this uber long review.) The Summoning was one of those novels that I would have never bothered reading anything more by the author except for the fact that my really good friend lent me the two books in one go and I feel like I should at least try them both before dismissing this series all together. Also, at the time when I first read The Awakening, it was either read what seems to be a mediocre sequel or work on my essay.

On retrospect, I should have just worked on my essay. If The Summoning was a lacklustre premise with minor moments of me eye-twitching at the text, well, The Awakening was… To put it nicely, at least this time around this novel got a deep reaction out of me. Enough so that I have things to rant about to write for a review.

WARNING: As I am discussing the sequel of the novel there will obviously be some spoilers that I've decided to not put under a spoiler highlight tag. But some of these spoilers I consider a matter of Public Service, so whatever. But for the uber spoiler phobic I'm putting the rest of this entry below under cut. =D

This Week's Triple Snapsnots: Evening is the Whole Day, Ten Cents a Dance, February Flowers

(Idea inspired by Hyper-Parfait's now defunct Triple Delights)

In which I discuss three novels at the end of the week (Saturday) in quick paragraph snapshots on my general impressions and reactions.

Evening is the Whole Day by Preeta Samarasan - This is a book that’s seriously hard to love. When I say this, I don’t mean that this is a horribly written book or anything. In fact, I think the writing is lovely, if sometimes a little overwrought. No, what makes this book hard to read is the fact that none of the characters are likeable. The very premise itself is about how people fail each other, and this process is very painful to watch. No one in this story comes off with their hands untainted. I think I could have came to terms with this theme if there was some form of redemption at the end, but Samarasan offers us none. It’s a bleak premise told and contained in luscious prose, like the relation of the Big House (lovely, brightly coloured) to its inhabitants (broken, spiteful, misunderstandings, failure.) Now, I can come to love a book even with awful, mean characters when they are shown in a larger-than-life quality (I like Wuthering Heights for a reason. >D) but here, while the cast do cruel things, they don’t do it because they are particularly vicious and messed up people. They do it almost as if it’s all ordinary and normal, resigned to their fate. And that’s far worse, actions taken and accepted without hope or subversion. The storyline of Chellam the servant and Uncle Balu was the hardest for me to swallow, personally. Hence, I took months to finish reading this novel. Sometimes I think I would have enjoyed this novel more if Samarasan challenged the wrongs and failures of the family and society more, but then again, that wasn’t what Samarasan was trying to illustrate in her work.

Despite all this, I do think the reading experience was worthwhile. Just the writing is really something to behold, how Samarasan perfects the art of out-of-sequence storytelling, jumping seamlessly through time and point-of-views and still tells a coherent and brilliant story, one secret, one bit of failure, revealing one by one with steady pace and rhythm. The ghosts that the youngest child sees was also tastefully done. (This novel kind of has this bizarre fairy tale-esque quality to it, sans the redemption and happy endings, when I look back at it. I think it's the imagery thing and the language Samarasan uses that evokes this impression in my mind, lol.) And I enjoyed this as the first novel I read that takes place in Malaysia and feels real rather than just window dressing. I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to read a novel with beautiful prose and is set in an Asian locale without going down the “exotic” route, and doesn’t mind unresolved tension at the end. (When I say unresolved tension, I mean that the failures are never redeemed, not that the various plotlines are left unresolved.) Just, don’t go in expecting everyone to end up happy. ^^;

Ten Cents a Dance by Christine Fletcher - This has got to be one of the best historical fictions I’ve read in a long, long time. The 1940s in Chicago setting is vibrant and comes to life with Fletcher’s amazing writing ability and paramount research, from the setting descriptions to the dialogue and just, everything. I love Ruby, and I love seeing a YA novel that is really all about our female protagonist and the way she views the world around her, and less about her one-true romance with some creepy stalker-ish guy. (Not to say that there wasn’t a creepy stalker-ish love interest. In fact, they were several. I guess what I’m trying to say it’s a breather to find a YA novel that isn’t all about a romantic relationship. There are other more pressing concerns that Ruby has in her life, like her job, and forging a future for herself.) This novel is really about Ruby and her position as a poor teenage girl growing up in a debt-ridden family above anything else, any ties she has with others, and I enjoy that. I also thought Fletcher handles the various problematic issues of the time (prostitution, gangs, class, race) in a subverting way without ever feeling like she’s just imposing 21st century values on the past, and I appreciated that a lot. I mean, when Fletcher handles the whole racism thing against Pinoys, etc, as realistic as it was back in the 40s without pissing me off, that’s when you know it was done well. (The Filipino guys are actually considered as a main love interest for one of the main girls in this story and they even got married!! I know, I thought I’d never see this happen either.) I also liked how the story was unpredictable in the direction the plot was taking us, and while I thought the ending was a tad bit rushed, I liked the hopeful quality at the end. Highly recommended to EVERYONE. One of the best books I read this year.

February Flowers by Fan Wu - This book is, at the core of it, about the relationship between two university women, and how our protagonist, Yan, is slowly becoming attracted to her best friend Ming. Thing is, I came into this novel thinking it’d be more about Yan’s sexual desire for Ming and let’s just say this novel let me down in this aspect. It was all UST* all the way through with no reconciliation, and the first thought I had after finishing was “Oh come on, I don’t even get a KISS?!” I don’t think I’m being too demanding here about this. There were all sorts of heterosexual sexual scenes in this novel, and even masturbation, but I don’t even get one lousy awkward first time lesbian kiss between Yan and the love of her life? The most we get on any described homosexual fulfilled relationship was an implied scene with two other women on campus holding hands. lol, this makes it sound like I hated the novel, but I didn’t, not really. I mean, I definitely believed that Yan was very smitten by Ming even when she doesn’t realize it, and Wu’s description and narration on Yan’s feelings felt very real. I also liked the setting, how it was strongly grounded in the city of Guangzhou and wasn’t just some vague exotic Chinese city thing going on, how Wu shows us the changes in Guangzhou as time goes past. The prose is very pretty without being extravagant as well. I thought Wu could have done more on the whole bit about Ming being an ethnic minority in a Han dominated China (Ming is Miao, if anyone wondered) but it wasn’t a bad portrayal and I didn’t think her whole ethnic minority status was used by the author to portray her as the exotic love interest or anything. I just, I guess I wished this novel was more than it was.

*Unresolved Sexual Tension