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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
I'm blasting through these books so quickly, I'm having a hard time keeping up with reviewing them before I've already sunk my teeth into 1 or 2 more books.
I really loved this! I think it really breathed new life into the worldbuilding and it was a really fun, interesting starter for Robin's story. Robin and Zylas are a really wonderful, natural team, and I could genuinely listen to them banter for the rest of my life and not get tired of it, I'd say.
A lot of authors suffer from trying too hard to extend a series, but Annette Marie is the sort of writer who gets better the more she gets to live in a world and this only proves that.
I'm writing this as I've already read Amaretto and begun Slaying Monsters so it is not an understatement when I say this made me incredibly excited to see what happens next in this world!
I really loved this! I think it really breathed new life into the worldbuilding and it was a really fun, interesting starter for Robin's story. Robin and Zylas are a really wonderful, natural team, and I could genuinely listen to them banter for the rest of my life and not get tired of it, I'd say.
A lot of authors suffer from trying too hard to extend a series, but Annette Marie is the sort of writer who gets better the more she gets to live in a world and this only proves that.
I'm writing this as I've already read Amaretto and begun Slaying Monsters so it is not an understatement when I say this made me incredibly excited to see what happens next in this world!
This was a nice read. I'm pleasantly relieved. I've been in something of a bad reading streak lately.
Usually, I steer away from urban/paranormal fantasy, finding the contemporary beats within them wildly annoying most of the time(anyone else ever notice that every urban fantasy heroine has a quirk, like trying to convince people that drinking wine is a hobby, and they always use cringe-worthy, outdated slang/ways of speaking that no human actually uses?), but seeing as I loved [b:Red Winter|31829155|Red Winter (Red Winter Trilogy, #1)|Annette Marie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1473668941l/31829155._SY75_.jpg|52488792] so much, I wanted to try this one out, hoping the author would be consistent in her ability to write a worthwhile story.
I got through this entire installment fairly quickly and am interested in continuing with the other three books in the series. Demons are an interesting subject and I want to see where this story goes.
I will mention, however, that I have little experience with this world, having never read [b:Three Mages and a Margarita|39676313|Three Mages and a Margarita (The Guild Codex Spellbound, #1)|Annette Marie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533628669l/39676313._SY75_.jpg|61271822], which I assume is meant to be the more introductory series, seeing as it was published first. I didn't see anywhere on this book's blurb that reading the other Guild Codex books was necessary, so I didn't, since all the alcohol references in the titles make me think I won't care much for the content (I don't drink; alcohol tastes nasty and bar culture is boring. Fight me).
With that in mind, I do feel like the story is missing a lot of world building and background establishing information that I expect out of any decent fantasy set up, even if the real world is the basic backbone for it. We're thrown into Robin's life so quickly, but the structure of the magic world or even why Robin is in this situation were only very briefly touched upon, so I have a sort of not-anchored feeling about the overall universe. I don't know if the idea is for me to fill in the blanks with generalized knowledge of magic or if she didn't carry over explanations from her other series, but it's definitely the book's weakest point.
I'm also pretty sure this series will have some romantic element at some point, that's just sort of the author's style as far as I can tell, but so far, I'm thrilled that the author is taking a slow approach. Practically nothing romantic happens, instead the focus is on establishing relationships and characters through actions and dialogue first and foremost, so I'm hopeful any romantic interactions for Robin will be satisfying because they'll have been built up from something.
The fact that this is an NA that didn't immediately hop into instalove and some unwarranted erotic scene to try to take advantage of that sweet 17+ rating is already doing wonders.
I'll give it 4 stars for being a fun, enjoyable read this morning after so many disasters. Onward to book #2!
Usually, I steer away from urban/paranormal fantasy, finding the contemporary beats within them wildly annoying most of the time
I got through this entire installment fairly quickly and am interested in continuing with the other three books in the series. Demons are an interesting subject and I want to see where this story goes.
I will mention, however, that I have little experience with this world, having never read [b:Three Mages and a Margarita|39676313|Three Mages and a Margarita (The Guild Codex Spellbound, #1)|Annette Marie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1533628669l/39676313._SY75_.jpg|61271822], which I assume is meant to be the more introductory series, seeing as it was published first. I didn't see anywhere on this book's blurb that reading the other Guild Codex books was necessary, so I didn't, since all the alcohol references in the titles make me think I won't care much for the content (I don't drink; alcohol tastes nasty and bar culture is boring. Fight me).
With that in mind, I do feel like the story is missing a lot of world building and background establishing information that I expect out of any decent fantasy set up, even if the real world is the basic backbone for it. We're thrown into Robin's life so quickly, but the structure of the magic world or even why Robin is in this situation were only very briefly touched upon, so I have a sort of not-anchored feeling about the overall universe. I don't know if the idea is for me to fill in the blanks with generalized knowledge of magic or if she didn't carry over explanations from her other series, but it's definitely the book's weakest point.
I'm also pretty sure this series will have some romantic element at some point, that's just sort of the author's style as far as I can tell, but so far, I'm thrilled that the author is taking a slow approach. Practically nothing romantic happens, instead the focus is on establishing relationships and characters through actions and dialogue first and foremost, so I'm hopeful any romantic interactions for Robin will be satisfying because they'll have been built up from something.
The fact that this is an NA that didn't immediately hop into instalove and some unwarranted erotic scene to try to take advantage of that sweet 17+ rating is already doing wonders.
I'll give it 4 stars for being a fun, enjoyable read this morning after so many disasters. Onward to book #2!
Fun quirky read
I love Robin. She is sweet and a big nerd but it's great. I love the tidbits of information you gather along the way and trying to guess what is happening. And their relationship is hilarious. A forced acceptance of each other that somehow works perfectly.
I love Robin. She is sweet and a big nerd but it's great. I love the tidbits of information you gather along the way and trying to guess what is happening. And their relationship is hilarious. A forced acceptance of each other that somehow works perfectly.
I tried reading a different series by this author (set in the same world) a few months ago and while it was decent, it wasn’t quite what I was looking for and felt a little too YA for me. But I found myself in an audiobook rut and this one was free, so I gave it a try while knowing what to expect. It was really quite engaging and I am glad I gave it a shot. Demons are my kryptonite and I love a cool magical system, which this book has. The FMC is a little immature (the narrator is great, but her youthful sounding voice doesn’t help), but she grew on me enough that I want to see her continued development. The demon was kind of enigmatic and aloof. He was well written in that we don’t really know his true motives. Is he acting in a way he’s being forced? From the end, it does seem like maybe he has a streak of true feelings in there. So yes, I am interested in seeing where it goes. If you’re looking for romance, there is none here. I was okay with that for once haha. Overall a solid story that has the right elements and gives me hope that it might get better with each book (all of which have very high ratings on here).
Classic case of ‘it’s me, not the book’. I’m personally not a fan of Urban Fantasy, but I’m a sucker for pretty book covers, so here we are. Unfortunately, I still haven’t changed my mind about the genre, so keep that in mind if you plan on reading on...
Plot wise, Taming Demons for Beginners was intriguing enough but if you’re already familiar with deal-with-the-devil/contracting-demon tropes, it’s probably not going to be anything new to you. Everything I expected to happen, happened. Thankfully this book was fast paced and had a good amount of mystery, so even when I wasn’t fully invested, I never felt bored.
Robin was an interesting character… I feel like readers will either love or hate her. She’s not your typical badass heroine – she’s timid, shy and way out of her depth. And normally I love heroines like her because there's an element of relatableness there, but I found it hard to root for her because she doesn't do much to warrant support. I’m assuming her character development occurs later in the series, so I won’t go on about it.
As for our demon boy Zylas… he was okay. He’s everything you would expect from a hot demon.
Overall, I can definitely appreciate this book for what it is, but alas, it just really wasn’t for me. I know readers who’ve loved this series, so if you like UF and don’t mind an extreme (and I mean EXTREME) lack of romance, this book might be worth a read.
Note: Taming Demons for Beginners is a spin-off and while it can be read as a standalone, many other reviewers have pointed out that this series is far more enjoyable having read the Guild Codex Universe series first.
Rating: 3/5
Plot wise, Taming Demons for Beginners was intriguing enough but if you’re already familiar with deal-with-the-devil/contracting-demon tropes, it’s probably not going to be anything new to you. Everything I expected to happen, happened. Thankfully this book was fast paced and had a good amount of mystery, so even when I wasn’t fully invested, I never felt bored.
Robin was an interesting character… I feel like readers will either love or hate her. She’s not your typical badass heroine – she’s timid, shy and way out of her depth. And normally I love heroines like her because there's an element of relatableness there, but I found it hard to root for her because she doesn't do much to warrant support. I’m assuming her character development occurs later in the series, so I won’t go on about it.
As for our demon boy Zylas… he was okay. He’s everything you would expect from a hot demon.
Overall, I can definitely appreciate this book for what it is, but alas, it just really wasn’t for me. I know readers who’ve loved this series, so if you like UF and don’t mind an extreme (and I mean EXTREME) lack of romance, this book might be worth a read.
Note: Taming Demons for Beginners is a spin-off and while it can be read as a standalone, many other reviewers have pointed out that this series is far more enjoyable having read the Guild Codex Universe series first.
Rating: 3/5
Literally killin it as always and writing fantastic fantastic enrapturing stories like i cannot even believe ugh everything is just SO. GOOD.
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes