Book review: 'Personal Demon,' Kelley Armstrong.
Personal Demon, by Kelley Armstrong.
Spectra, paperback
544 pages, dark urban fantasy/supernatural romance, demon girls just wanna have fun
Currently in print
***
Again, the disclaimer: Personal Demon is another of those books that really benefited from my tendency to re-read complete series, including the books I didn't like very much the first time through. Because quite honestly, the first time I read this book, it left me cold. Maybe I was missing Jaime; maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace. Either way, the book was much improved on a second reading, and while it still isn't among my favorites in the series, it is an enjoyable read.
In Personal Demon, we hook up with Hope Adams, a half-human, half-chaos demon tabloid reporter whom we had previously met in her own stand-alone novella (Chaotic) and in Jaime's volume (No Humans Involved). That may actually be part of my initial issue with the book: I hadn't read Hope's novella before picking up Personal Demon, because I didn't realize that I needed to. Hope's story consequentially feels like it starts much more 'in the middle' because, well, it does.
Hope owes Benicio Cortez a favor due to the events of, right, Chaotic, and as soon as Karl Marsden -- Hope's on-again off-again werewolf boyfriend -- is out of the country, Benicio pounces with a request for a 'little favor'...one that will clear Hope's debts and, coincidentally, show her what a sweet time she could have working for the Cortez Cabal. Because, see, most half-demons get the powers of their demonic parent without the thirst for chaos. Hope got the hunger for chaos, and nothing else. No spiffy spells, no supernatural mojo. Just the biological hunger to watch things die.
Despite this, she is surprisingly fun at parties.
Armstrong mixes things up by periodically inserting chapters told from Lucas Cortez's point of view, which utterly and completely delights me; I love Lucas under any circumstances, and actually seeing things from his perspective is fantastic. Getting to see Paige from his point of view is especially nice, because it really gives some solid ground for why the man is so over-the-moon in love with her (beyond the fact that hey, she's Paige). The plot is solid and engaging, and pulls heavily on the past mythology of the series. You can skip Chaotic and still know what's going on (I mean, I did), but I don't recommend skipping any actual books. Not at this stage of the game.
Is Hope Adams my favorite of Armstrong's heroines? No. But she's resourceful and she's interesting, and she can carry a story. She features heavily in the next book, Living With the Dead; the book after that, Frostbitten, is slated to be another Clay and Elena book, and is likely to be a little more Hope-less.
This concludes our series of reviews of the Kelley Armstrong Women of the Otherworld books. The exits are at the back of the theater. Please tip your waitress.
Goodnight.
Spectra, paperback
544 pages, dark urban fantasy/supernatural romance, demon girls just wanna have fun
Currently in print
***
Again, the disclaimer: Personal Demon is another of those books that really benefited from my tendency to re-read complete series, including the books I didn't like very much the first time through. Because quite honestly, the first time I read this book, it left me cold. Maybe I was missing Jaime; maybe I just wasn't in the right headspace. Either way, the book was much improved on a second reading, and while it still isn't among my favorites in the series, it is an enjoyable read.
In Personal Demon, we hook up with Hope Adams, a half-human, half-chaos demon tabloid reporter whom we had previously met in her own stand-alone novella (Chaotic) and in Jaime's volume (No Humans Involved). That may actually be part of my initial issue with the book: I hadn't read Hope's novella before picking up Personal Demon, because I didn't realize that I needed to. Hope's story consequentially feels like it starts much more 'in the middle' because, well, it does.
Hope owes Benicio Cortez a favor due to the events of, right, Chaotic, and as soon as Karl Marsden -- Hope's on-again off-again werewolf boyfriend -- is out of the country, Benicio pounces with a request for a 'little favor'...one that will clear Hope's debts and, coincidentally, show her what a sweet time she could have working for the Cortez Cabal. Because, see, most half-demons get the powers of their demonic parent without the thirst for chaos. Hope got the hunger for chaos, and nothing else. No spiffy spells, no supernatural mojo. Just the biological hunger to watch things die.
Despite this, she is surprisingly fun at parties.
Armstrong mixes things up by periodically inserting chapters told from Lucas Cortez's point of view, which utterly and completely delights me; I love Lucas under any circumstances, and actually seeing things from his perspective is fantastic. Getting to see Paige from his point of view is especially nice, because it really gives some solid ground for why the man is so over-the-moon in love with her (beyond the fact that hey, she's Paige). The plot is solid and engaging, and pulls heavily on the past mythology of the series. You can skip Chaotic and still know what's going on (I mean, I did), but I don't recommend skipping any actual books. Not at this stage of the game.
Is Hope Adams my favorite of Armstrong's heroines? No. But she's resourceful and she's interesting, and she can carry a story. She features heavily in the next book, Living With the Dead; the book after that, Frostbitten, is slated to be another Clay and Elena book, and is likely to be a little more Hope-less.
This concludes our series of reviews of the Kelley Armstrong Women of the Otherworld books. The exits are at the back of the theater. Please tip your waitress.
Goodnight.