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4.05 AVERAGE
4.05 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I truly enjoyed this book! (Full review: https://wordpress.com/post/orbitingpluto.wordpress.com/223)
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good! The pacing and tension were uneven/unconventional, but I enjoy less action-y fantasy sometimes. The world-building was info-dumpy in the beginning, and a little puzzling (why are some characters so overtly sexist when this is such a matriarchal society/queendom, and has been for thousands of years? It seems a lazy way to build villains), but I'm just rolling with it because I otherwise liked the book.
One really weird thing I noticed was (mild spoiler about a character)
One really weird thing I noticed was (mild spoiler about a character)
Spoiler
Mellony... Raisa had zero interaction with her sister in the book, and neither did her father (it had me question whether Averill was even her father??) It seemed very very odd that Raisa's father would be concerned only with Raisa and not Mellony's safety as well?? Raisa, Averill, and even Marianna acted like Raisa was an only child, which can't be totally explained away with her being the heir... Even if Raisa is self-centered enough to act like her sister doesn't exist, Averill isn't.
I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook with my kids. I knew it would be a bit slow to start and the book is relatively long, so I wondered if my kids would stick with it, but they did. There is quite a bit of set up in this first book, lots of different characters, descriptions of the realm and its neighbours, and just generally laying out the setting in quite a bit of detail. But they were fine with it, and I actually appreciated the detail.
I quite liked the characters, and the story was interesting enough that the three of us had quite a few discussions speculating about motives and what might happen next. That made the experience pretty enjoyable.
The narrator did a good job with different voices, and again, my kids were happy to learn that the same narrator does the rest of the series too.
All in all, this one gets 4 stars from me. Rating from my 12 year old is 4.5 stars, and from my 9 year old is 4.4 stars - don't ask me about that 0.1 difference between them because I have no idea! They both wanted to start the next book, [b:The Exiled Queen|7801229|The Exiled Queen (Seven Realms, #2)|Cinda Williams Chima|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1285276245s/7801229.jpg|9842102], right away though, which is always a good sign.
I quite liked the characters, and the story was interesting enough that the three of us had quite a few discussions speculating about motives and what might happen next. That made the experience pretty enjoyable.
The narrator did a good job with different voices, and again, my kids were happy to learn that the same narrator does the rest of the series too.
All in all, this one gets 4 stars from me. Rating from my 12 year old is 4.5 stars, and from my 9 year old is 4.4 stars - don't ask me about that 0.1 difference between them because I have no idea! They both wanted to start the next book, [b:The Exiled Queen|7801229|The Exiled Queen (Seven Realms, #2)|Cinda Williams Chima|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1285276245s/7801229.jpg|9842102], right away though, which is always a good sign.
The Demon King is, admittedly, a book that might lose your attention in the first two hundred pages. No one wants to be bored for that long. Generally, I give a book a hundred pages to catch my attention, and if nothing is striking me then I put it down. Thankfully, The Demon King was one of those books that I thought had enough interesting elements and characters that it might get better, and on the advice of a friend I ended up diving back in to the book a month or so later. I finished the last 3/5 in two days time and didn’t want to put it down. If we hadn’t gotten off to such a slow start, this book might even have made my favorites list, as I suspect that future books in the series will.
One of the strongest parts of the story is its characters. The cast is varied but Chima does not scrimp on the development of her large ensemble. Nearly every character is fleshed out and we see different sides of supporting characters like Amon Byrne and Micah Bayar. We visit the clans and come to love Willo and Mother Elena and Bird and Dancer and Averill Demonai. The only characters I would say were not sufficiently developed were Raisa’s mother and sister, but that made sense given Raisa’s need to hide from them herself, and there’s always room for that in the later books if necessary. With such a wide and involved cast of characters I think Chima did a great job balancing them all. I also love that there are some POC in the story (including Raisa!) because sometimes authors write as though we’re living in a world filled with people of one color, which obviously isn’t the case. I respect any author who includes diversity in their cast, and even more so one who so clearly gives us a main WOC heroine to root for.
Of course, I can’t mention characters without commenting in more detail on our two main heroes, Hunts Alone and Princess Raisa. I grew to love both perspectives equally. Hunts Alone is a former gang leader who still sometimes thinks as if he is the leader of the gang, making decisions others would see as bad, but are decisions that make sense to him and allow him to protect and provide for his family. I loved that we were given such a gray area character in Hunts Alone. It’s not often that authors give us a character to root for who has murdered and thieved for a good portion of his life. I thought Princess Raisa was a little less unique, she is your typical princess trying to break out of the shell of what everyone expects of her, but at the same time she was also deeply flawed and incredibly selfish, which gave her a more interesting personality and lots of room to grow throughout the series. I really liked Raisa’s bold and oftentimes inconsiderate personality and am looking forward to watching her develop as the story takes her further away from where she needs to be.
The plot itself is also wonderful. I can’t say too much without giving things away. It’s very involved and very intense. The plot moves in all different directions which keeps it fresh and exciting. It reminds me of the Song of Ice and Fire series in that way, but obviously for a younger audience. I can actually say that I have no idea what direction the story is going to go in, which is rare these days when so many books seem to follow a certain formula, and I cannot wait to read on to the other chapters in this story.
One of the strongest parts of the story is its characters. The cast is varied but Chima does not scrimp on the development of her large ensemble. Nearly every character is fleshed out and we see different sides of supporting characters like Amon Byrne and Micah Bayar. We visit the clans and come to love Willo and Mother Elena and Bird and Dancer and Averill Demonai. The only characters I would say were not sufficiently developed were Raisa’s mother and sister, but that made sense given Raisa’s need to hide from them herself, and there’s always room for that in the later books if necessary. With such a wide and involved cast of characters I think Chima did a great job balancing them all. I also love that there are some POC in the story (including Raisa!) because sometimes authors write as though we’re living in a world filled with people of one color, which obviously isn’t the case. I respect any author who includes diversity in their cast, and even more so one who so clearly gives us a main WOC heroine to root for.
Of course, I can’t mention characters without commenting in more detail on our two main heroes, Hunts Alone and Princess Raisa. I grew to love both perspectives equally. Hunts Alone is a former gang leader who still sometimes thinks as if he is the leader of the gang, making decisions others would see as bad, but are decisions that make sense to him and allow him to protect and provide for his family. I loved that we were given such a gray area character in Hunts Alone. It’s not often that authors give us a character to root for who has murdered and thieved for a good portion of his life. I thought Princess Raisa was a little less unique, she is your typical princess trying to break out of the shell of what everyone expects of her, but at the same time she was also deeply flawed and incredibly selfish, which gave her a more interesting personality and lots of room to grow throughout the series. I really liked Raisa’s bold and oftentimes inconsiderate personality and am looking forward to watching her develop as the story takes her further away from where she needs to be.
The plot itself is also wonderful. I can’t say too much without giving things away. It’s very involved and very intense. The plot moves in all different directions which keeps it fresh and exciting. It reminds me of the Song of Ice and Fire series in that way, but obviously for a younger audience. I can actually say that I have no idea what direction the story is going to go in, which is rare these days when so many books seem to follow a certain formula, and I cannot wait to read on to the other chapters in this story.
An enjoyable read, but too much was left unresolved at the end. Probably won't read the sequel.
I thought this was a fun story, but nothing that I haven't seen before. A lot of parts were cliche and unoriginal. You could see the major plot-twist from a hundred miles away.
This review was originally posted on Caity Reads.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and cannot wait to pick up the second book in the series (even though it’ll be a few months cause I’m broke D:). The Demon King follows two young characters perspectives, the first of which is an ex-streetlord by the name of Han Alister; the second of which is Raisa ana’Marianna, the princess heir of the Queendom. I loved both of these characters very much and I thought the dual perspective really added something to the book. You got to see a lot more of the world and how this world operates while with Han, and how it really differs from how Raisa thinks it operates. You also got to see more of the royalty and how corrupt it is while with Raisa.
The first half or so of this book is very slow, and I think a big part of that is due to the fact that this is the first book in a high fantasy series and there is a lot of character and world building to get through. I know some people may not find this as enjoyable, but I thought it was amazing. Chima has created this amazing fantasy world with an interesting plot and an interesting back story and I’m so glad that there is a lot of world building in this book.
The plot of this book was insane, and in a good way. It wasn’t predictable; I did not see most of the twists and turns coming and I’m incredibly grateful for that. Each of the characters were very well developed, they had unique personalities, and it made the book that much more enjoyable. I thought how the two very different characters come into contact with each other was very interesting and I can’t wait till they cross paths again. They are definitely an interesting duo when together, and I’m excited to see more of it.
I would definitely recommend you pick this up if you’re into young adult high fantasy. It has an amazing world, topped off with an amazing plot and characters. It was just a really fun story all around.
First Read: 3/25/14 to 4/2/14
Second Read:
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and cannot wait to pick up the second book in the series (even though it’ll be a few months cause I’m broke D:). The Demon King follows two young characters perspectives, the first of which is an ex-streetlord by the name of Han Alister; the second of which is Raisa ana’Marianna, the princess heir of the Queendom. I loved both of these characters very much and I thought the dual perspective really added something to the book. You got to see a lot more of the world and how this world operates while with Han, and how it really differs from how Raisa thinks it operates. You also got to see more of the royalty and how corrupt it is while with Raisa.
The first half or so of this book is very slow, and I think a big part of that is due to the fact that this is the first book in a high fantasy series and there is a lot of character and world building to get through. I know some people may not find this as enjoyable, but I thought it was amazing. Chima has created this amazing fantasy world with an interesting plot and an interesting back story and I’m so glad that there is a lot of world building in this book.
The plot of this book was insane, and in a good way. It wasn’t predictable; I did not see most of the twists and turns coming and I’m incredibly grateful for that. Each of the characters were very well developed, they had unique personalities, and it made the book that much more enjoyable. I thought how the two very different characters come into contact with each other was very interesting and I can’t wait till they cross paths again. They are definitely an interesting duo when together, and I’m excited to see more of it.
I would definitely recommend you pick this up if you’re into young adult high fantasy. It has an amazing world, topped off with an amazing plot and characters. It was just a really fun story all around.
First Read: 3/25/14 to 4/2/14
Second Read:
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Classism
Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent
Minor: Vomit