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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Mae’s life has spun out of control.
She’s just learned that her brother Jamie is a magician and Nick, the boy she’d set her heart on, has an even darker secret.
Jamie has been meeting with the new leader of the Obsidian Circle, who is hell-bent on persuading Jamie to join the magicians. When Mae calls on Nick and Alan to save her brother, the Circle sets in motion a plot to bring Nick down – by convincing his own brother to spring a deadly trap.
With brother set against brother and everyone’s loyalties divided, Mae sees a chance to save them all – but it means approaching the mysterious and dangerous Goblin Market alone ...
Several weeks after THE DEMON’S LEXICON and Mae and Jamie are back home when Mae discovers that Jamie has been secretly meeting Gerald, the leader of the Obsidian Circle, who wants him to join his magicians. Mae calls Alan and Nick for help but their plan backfires and the magicians exploit the tension between Alan and Nick (specifically Nick’s frustration at the fact that he can’t be the caring human his brother wants) and Gerald makes Alan an offer that necessitates him betraying Nick.
Stuck in the middle between the warring brothers and with her relationship with Jamie deteriorating, Mae sees only one chance to save them all. The problem is that this involves her visiting the Goblin Market and convincing Sin to help her, even though the Market has no reason to help a magician’s sister ...
One of the reasons I enjoyed THE DEMON’S LEXICON was because Mae was more than just a love interest. Unfortunately, here she is nothing but and it’s mainly used as a device to keep her in the plot as the story is told from her point of view and there’s otherwise very little for her to do. The result is to make her rather passive and someone who’s constantly played rather than someone truly in control of her destiny. This is a shame.
The book only really comes alive when Alan and Nick are on the page. Their confused relationship is nonetheless a loving one and is intelligently depicted. Jamie and Mae’s relationship is less interesting in contrast – told rather than shown, although there are some lovely moments – particularly when the two create fictional backgrounds when dancing.
Nick, for me, remains the most fascinating character in the book – comfortable with the fact that he’s a demon and yet frustrated that he can’t be human enough for his brother. The sections with his adoptive father’s journal really illuminate their relationship. Jamie is less successful. While it’s great to have a gay character who’s not angsty, his stupidity with Gerald is annoying despite the fact that Brennan clearly wants the reader to see him as vulnerable.
As with THE DEMON’S LEXICON, while there are some clever lines in the book, sometimes the humour goes on for too long, deadening the scene instead of enlivening it.
All in all, while I will read the final volume, I’d hoped for so much more from this book.
The Verdict:
A disappointing sequel to the promise of THE DEMON’S LEXICON, this sees Mae become much more of a stereotypical love interest rather than the strong independent character she was in the first book. Told through her eyes, there’s a curious passivity to the story, with the most interesting events happening off-page. There are some clever lines and good moments, but it’s not enough to turn it around and while I’ll read the concluding volume, this just didn’t meet my expectations.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the free copy of this book.
She’s just learned that her brother Jamie is a magician and Nick, the boy she’d set her heart on, has an even darker secret.
Jamie has been meeting with the new leader of the Obsidian Circle, who is hell-bent on persuading Jamie to join the magicians. When Mae calls on Nick and Alan to save her brother, the Circle sets in motion a plot to bring Nick down – by convincing his own brother to spring a deadly trap.
With brother set against brother and everyone’s loyalties divided, Mae sees a chance to save them all – but it means approaching the mysterious and dangerous Goblin Market alone ...
Several weeks after THE DEMON’S LEXICON and Mae and Jamie are back home when Mae discovers that Jamie has been secretly meeting Gerald, the leader of the Obsidian Circle, who wants him to join his magicians. Mae calls Alan and Nick for help but their plan backfires and the magicians exploit the tension between Alan and Nick (specifically Nick’s frustration at the fact that he can’t be the caring human his brother wants) and Gerald makes Alan an offer that necessitates him betraying Nick.
Stuck in the middle between the warring brothers and with her relationship with Jamie deteriorating, Mae sees only one chance to save them all. The problem is that this involves her visiting the Goblin Market and convincing Sin to help her, even though the Market has no reason to help a magician’s sister ...
One of the reasons I enjoyed THE DEMON’S LEXICON was because Mae was more than just a love interest. Unfortunately, here she is nothing but and it’s mainly used as a device to keep her in the plot as the story is told from her point of view and there’s otherwise very little for her to do. The result is to make her rather passive and someone who’s constantly played rather than someone truly in control of her destiny. This is a shame.
The book only really comes alive when Alan and Nick are on the page. Their confused relationship is nonetheless a loving one and is intelligently depicted. Jamie and Mae’s relationship is less interesting in contrast – told rather than shown, although there are some lovely moments – particularly when the two create fictional backgrounds when dancing.
Nick, for me, remains the most fascinating character in the book – comfortable with the fact that he’s a demon and yet frustrated that he can’t be human enough for his brother. The sections with his adoptive father’s journal really illuminate their relationship. Jamie is less successful. While it’s great to have a gay character who’s not angsty, his stupidity with Gerald is annoying despite the fact that Brennan clearly wants the reader to see him as vulnerable.
As with THE DEMON’S LEXICON, while there are some clever lines in the book, sometimes the humour goes on for too long, deadening the scene instead of enlivening it.
All in all, while I will read the final volume, I’d hoped for so much more from this book.
The Verdict:
A disappointing sequel to the promise of THE DEMON’S LEXICON, this sees Mae become much more of a stereotypical love interest rather than the strong independent character she was in the first book. Told through her eyes, there’s a curious passivity to the story, with the most interesting events happening off-page. There are some clever lines and good moments, but it’s not enough to turn it around and while I’ll read the concluding volume, this just didn’t meet my expectations.
Thanks to Simon & Schuster for the free copy of this book.
