Title: The Demon's Lexicon
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.
Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.
This is the Demon's Lexicon. Turn the page.
I have serious love for the characters in this book. All four main characters in this book have great characterization and are the kind of memorable that most other authors never achieve. First there's Nick, the bad boy who is actually a bad boy and has difficulty connecting to anyone around him. This peek inside the head of a bad boy. Alan's love for his brother knows no bounds and his lies are near-perfect, unrealized sometimes by even the people closest to him. (I normally don't take sides on this kind of stuff, but I know which boy I like better.)
Mae was a great female lead, spunky and brave and willing to give anything for others. The whole reason I read this book was so I could get to The Demon's Covenant, the second book in the series and a book she narrates through third person point-of-view. Jamie is less memorable than his counterparts, but his easy interactions with Nick and the revelations about him near the novel's climax make me want to see more of him.
The plot, while it wasn't able to grip me at first, did eventually get me interested as the four sought out magicians to cure Alan and Jamie of the demon marks, going everywhere from the Goblin Market to a house for possessed humans. My favorite part of the plot was the contrast between Nick and Mae during the efforts to find magicians and cure Alan and Jamie. One character is almost emotionless; the other is overly emotional at points, even without Nick's narrative bias. Despite this, they share the same single-minded determination to cure their brothers of the demon marks. I have no clue why it did this, but that little thing stuck out to me as one of the strongest points of the book: how two people, different as they are, become the same through how much they care for their family.
The plot and characters may have been strong points, but they were not enough to keep me glued to the story. You know some books capture you and make you finish reading it in one sitting, or how they may at least make you think about the characters when not reading and then sneak away to read about them when you have the chance? The Demon's Lexicon was missing that essential spark. I planned to finish it on a certain day and I put it off for three more days. There was literally a moment where I said to myself, "I have to stop reading this book." And not because it was too much for me--I just got so sick of reading it. Good books aren't supposed to make you do that, right?
The writing had its weak points, too. Some of you may know of Cassandra Clare and her unusual similes. I ,for one, remember hair being compared to the startled tendrils of an octopus in the half of City of Bones I could stand to read before I gave it back to my friend because I got bored. It appears that her writer friend Brennan picked up this penchant for similes, though hers did not leave me asking "what the hell?" the way Clare's did. Simile overdoses happened to me a few times in the course of The Demon's Lexicon where there seemed to be a simile for at least every other description! Simile haters will want to avoid this book.
The final flaw may be a subjective one that is influenced to all the research I did before picking up this book, but I just have to mention it. I came into the book with the ending twist spoiled for me, but I feel that if I had come into the book unspoiled, I may have been able to call that twist early on. I know how to connect two and two. Considering Nick's narration and... I wish I could talk further about it, but I don't want to turn this into a spoiler review and I may have given away too much already.
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Simon and Schuster/Margaret K. McElderry Books
Pages: 336 pages (paperback)
How I Got the Book: Read it on my KindleNick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.
Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.
This is the Demon's Lexicon. Turn the page.
Review:
Alan and Nick Ryves are no strangers to sudden moves with their unbalanced mother, who carries a charm the magicians want and constantly pursue the family for. While staying in Exeter, the brothers are approached for help by two local teens. Pink-haired Mae and her little brother Jamie have a problem--one related to demons, the very beings Nick and Alan regularly fight. Jamie has been marked by demons and Mae is willing to do anything to save him. Nick does not plan to help them, but reluctantly agrees to do so after Alan is given a demon's mark too. After discovering that Alan has been lying to him, Nick will stop at nothing to uncover what's been hidden from him and may find more than he wants to know.I have serious love for the characters in this book. All four main characters in this book have great characterization and are the kind of memorable that most other authors never achieve. First there's Nick, the bad boy who is actually a bad boy and has difficulty connecting to anyone around him. This peek inside the head of a bad boy. Alan's love for his brother knows no bounds and his lies are near-perfect, unrealized sometimes by even the people closest to him. (I normally don't take sides on this kind of stuff, but I know which boy I like better.)
Mae was a great female lead, spunky and brave and willing to give anything for others. The whole reason I read this book was so I could get to The Demon's Covenant, the second book in the series and a book she narrates through third person point-of-view. Jamie is less memorable than his counterparts, but his easy interactions with Nick and the revelations about him near the novel's climax make me want to see more of him.
The plot, while it wasn't able to grip me at first, did eventually get me interested as the four sought out magicians to cure Alan and Jamie of the demon marks, going everywhere from the Goblin Market to a house for possessed humans. My favorite part of the plot was the contrast between Nick and Mae during the efforts to find magicians and cure Alan and Jamie. One character is almost emotionless; the other is overly emotional at points, even without Nick's narrative bias. Despite this, they share the same single-minded determination to cure their brothers of the demon marks. I have no clue why it did this, but that little thing stuck out to me as one of the strongest points of the book: how two people, different as they are, become the same through how much they care for their family.
The plot and characters may have been strong points, but they were not enough to keep me glued to the story. You know some books capture you and make you finish reading it in one sitting, or how they may at least make you think about the characters when not reading and then sneak away to read about them when you have the chance? The Demon's Lexicon was missing that essential spark. I planned to finish it on a certain day and I put it off for three more days. There was literally a moment where I said to myself, "I have to stop reading this book." And not because it was too much for me--I just got so sick of reading it. Good books aren't supposed to make you do that, right?
The writing had its weak points, too. Some of you may know of Cassandra Clare and her unusual similes. I ,for one, remember hair being compared to the startled tendrils of an octopus in the half of City of Bones I could stand to read before I gave it back to my friend because I got bored. It appears that her writer friend Brennan picked up this penchant for similes, though hers did not leave me asking "what the hell?" the way Clare's did. Simile overdoses happened to me a few times in the course of The Demon's Lexicon where there seemed to be a simile for at least every other description! Simile haters will want to avoid this book.
The final flaw may be a subjective one that is influenced to all the research I did before picking up this book, but I just have to mention it. I came into the book with the ending twist spoiled for me, but I feel that if I had come into the book unspoiled, I may have been able to call that twist early on. I know how to connect two and two. Considering Nick's narration and... I wish I could talk further about it, but I don't want to turn this into a spoiler review and I may have given away too much already.
With such feelings for The Demon's Lexicon, I'm not as sure I want to read its sequel The Demon's Covenant anymore, though Mae narrates that one and I love Mae. I guess I'll keep it in mind, but it won't be a priority read. So many delicious threads left hanging, but the fear of another book that will lack the ability to keep me reading...! Oh, what a dilemma! Something tells me that fans of Supernatural might enjoy this book and demon fans would too.
What am I reading next?: Fallout by Ellen Hopkins
