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elvenavari's review
3.0
I kept getting distracted while reading this one... I'm not sure why. I was finally getting into it around the last couple of chapters and then it lost me completely. I guess if there's another I'll have to read it just to figure it out.
thereadingcat's review
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
The sequel is better than the first book, "Witch Eyes" as the plot, as well as the worldbuilding is a lot more focused, and events unravel in a rather fast paced. The story progress nicely and you started to see the flaws of the main character, as well as the development of other supporting characters such as Riley and Drew, who is now my favorite one as he is so sarcastic yet overprotective of the people he holds dear. The one minus point is that I do not buy the romance and do not really understand how the MC falls for the main love interest, but luckily it wasn't focused as much and the actions still take priority in this sequel. Maybe it IS because it is not well-developed that it can sometimes feel clunky and one-sided. The main love interest, Trey, was not as well developed and while I still think that Drew is a better choice for the MC, I'll finish the 3rd book to see if he develops in a much more meaningful way and not just a patronising and on-and-off lover.
talysalankil's review
4.0
Full review (including a recap with spoilers) on my blog, the Snark Theater.
Demon Eyes is an excellent follow-up to an already good book. Its plot feels much more cohesive, the stakes are upped, and overall everything is better.
Everything, but the romance. It grew a little stale and repetitive. Until the end, that is. This is the sort of mid-series romantic twist I hope/intend to achieve someday (hopefully without the "stale and repetitive" part beforehand).
Aside from that, it is a little sad that there was an entire subplot that only serves to set something up for the next book, but I guess it is necessary. Also, I wish the ladies of the book could have done a little more. Or, in Catherine's case, that there had been a little more hints of what she was doing. But I can't have everything, I guess.
Overall, a really good book. If the next one improves on this like this improves on Witch Eyes, we may get something really good.
Demon Eyes is an excellent follow-up to an already good book. Its plot feels much more cohesive, the stakes are upped, and overall everything is better.
Everything, but the romance. It grew a little stale and repetitive. Until the end, that is. This is the sort of mid-series romantic twist I hope/intend to achieve someday (hopefully without the "stale and repetitive" part beforehand).
Aside from that, it is a little sad that there was an entire subplot that only serves to set something up for the next book, but I guess it is necessary. Also, I wish the ladies of the book could have done a little more. Or, in Catherine's case, that there had been a little more hints of what she was doing. But I can't have everything, I guess.
Overall, a really good book. If the next one improves on this like this improves on Witch Eyes, we may get something really good.
rogiercaprino's review
4.0
3.5/5
My thoughts
Expectations : my expectations aren’t mile high. Maybe that’s a good thing. I hope it will be better and here’s hoping there’s more history on the founding of Belle Dam.
Cover : The sequel has another floating head but a grey one this time and the lighthouse from book one is shown. I like it less than its predecessor.
Book : Living in Belle Dam has become more welcoming and the drama at the end of book 1 has settled a bit. He has made some close friends and a relationship with the person he has strong feelings for. But the ugly heads of literal and figuratively demons begin to rear their heads again in Belle Dam and in his life. Local girls have been disappearing and a silver smooth haired being has appeared. Town secrets and history are exposed, how the feud came to be is further clarified and doubt creeps in his life and relationship. The headaches are still a major pain. Will Braden ever have peace of mind?
I will address the dislikes and likes of the sequel the same as I did in the review of Witch eyes.
The positives: I longed for more town secrets and history in Belle Dam and my wish came true. Finding out how a lot was connected with each other including: the founders of Belle Dam, the kidnappings and the visions that motivated his traveling to Belle Dam, was fun.
2nd. I went with no real attachments towards the romantic interest starting book two but he has grown on me. I don’t know him like a character on his own and he’s still just the boyfriend of a paranormal creature,but. You start feeling compassion towards him after the ending of book two and learning of the effects the feud has had on him.
3th. Demon eyes should have been the first book in a trilogy. It started with a bang and closed with firecrackers though I have to admit the middle felt like it was fizzling out but still far better than the first. Kidnappings are often used and it was cool how to see how Mr. Tracey handled it. It is sad that he didn’t write that way in the first book. I’m not an editor or a language expert but I could notice his progress as an author. If the last book in the trilogy is even better, it improves my desire to read the last book in the trilogy.
The negatives has somewhat stayed the same.
Braden has kind of improved. He was a lot darker and was becoming a master of lies and that resulted in thinking that people he cared about were going to turn on him and Braden redeemed himself a little bit more than in Witch eyes. But the whining stayed and still not getting attached to him is the reason why he’s still a negative.
2nd. My feelings towards the towns people and the romance has stayed the same. The romance has developed slightly that’s a plus but it still feels forced.
My reading experience was a better than witch eyes but sadly there were still some parts that were annoying. It does not deserve a 4 out 5, hence I’m giving it a 3.5. Give it a try if you read the first.
My thoughts
Expectations : my expectations aren’t mile high. Maybe that’s a good thing. I hope it will be better and here’s hoping there’s more history on the founding of Belle Dam.
Cover : The sequel has another floating head but a grey one this time and the lighthouse from book one is shown. I like it less than its predecessor.
Book : Living in Belle Dam has become more welcoming and the drama at the end of book 1 has settled a bit. He has made some close friends and a relationship with the person he has strong feelings for. But the ugly heads of literal and figuratively demons begin to rear their heads again in Belle Dam and in his life. Local girls have been disappearing and a silver smooth haired being has appeared. Town secrets and history are exposed, how the feud came to be is further clarified and doubt creeps in his life and relationship. The headaches are still a major pain. Will Braden ever have peace of mind?
I will address the dislikes and likes of the sequel the same as I did in the review of Witch eyes.
The positives: I longed for more town secrets and history in Belle Dam and my wish came true. Finding out how a lot was connected with each other including: the founders of Belle Dam, the kidnappings and the visions that motivated his traveling to Belle Dam, was fun.
2nd. I went with no real attachments towards the romantic interest starting book two but he has grown on me. I don’t know him like a character on his own and he’s still just the boyfriend of a paranormal creature,but. You start feeling compassion towards him after the ending of book two and learning of the effects the feud has had on him.
3th. Demon eyes should have been the first book in a trilogy. It started with a bang and closed with firecrackers though I have to admit the middle felt like it was fizzling out but still far better than the first. Kidnappings are often used and it was cool how to see how Mr. Tracey handled it. It is sad that he didn’t write that way in the first book. I’m not an editor or a language expert but I could notice his progress as an author. If the last book in the trilogy is even better, it improves my desire to read the last book in the trilogy.
The negatives has somewhat stayed the same.
Braden has kind of improved. He was a lot darker and was becoming a master of lies and that resulted in thinking that people he cared about were going to turn on him and Braden redeemed himself a little bit more than in Witch eyes. But the whining stayed and still not getting attached to him is the reason why he’s still a negative.
2nd. My feelings towards the towns people and the romance has stayed the same. The romance has developed slightly that’s a plus but it still feels forced.
My reading experience was a better than witch eyes but sadly there were still some parts that were annoying. It does not deserve a 4 out 5, hence I’m giving it a 3.5. Give it a try if you read the first.
opalamber's review
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
shutupnread's review
2.0
The Witch Eye series is definitely one that is original and different from your typical story with magic, romance and violence. It wasn’t what I had expected but that being said, it didn’t exactly disappoint either.
The one main thing that I enjoyed about this book was how the main character, Braden, is gay and is in love with Trey, the son of his father’s rival and long time enemy, Catherine. To be perfectly honest, it threw me off guard when I first found out about his sexual orientation mainly because I just simply did not expect it. Most LGBT books out there are set to be realistic and in the modern world and are certainly not in the fantasy genre. So this fact alone surprised me a lot and I really liked that – I feel like there aren’t enough books like this being written out there and that needs to be changed. Anyways this was something I highly applaud the author for thinking of and incorporating it in the series.
The storyline, otherwise, was a mix of cliché and originality. Cliché in the sense that there are always two sides – good vs bad, light vs dark, family vs family, Capulet vs Montague, etc. and the Witch Eye series was no exception to this. In fact, it incorporated a lot of those I just listed. There was a family feud between Braden’s family and Trey’s family. There was a light side versus the dark side with humans on the light and demons on the dark. However, it was also pretty original. There were elements that were surprising such as the Widow and her powers, the Witch Eyes itself, the history of Belle Dam, etc. So while I found this book to be intriguing enough to complete, it didn’t suck me in as much as I would have wanted.
Another thing I didn’t enjoy so much was the writing style. For some reason, it just didn’t sit right with me. There were many times when I couldn’t completely follow with the author’s train of thought because there were simply so many variables to consider. It was not a book where I could read it lightly – it was a book where I had to actually concentrate. And that made things difficult for me because if I wanted to read a book that I had to focus a lot on, I would’ve picked something more in depth than a fantasy book with magic and witches. It was not something I had signed up for so it wasn’t expected nor was it wanted, to be perfectly honestly.
Overall, it was an okay book. I think the last book was definitely the best but overall, it was just meh to me. I didn’t dislike it nor did I particularly enjoy it. I think I just liked the fact that Braden was gay.
The one main thing that I enjoyed about this book was how the main character, Braden, is gay and is in love with Trey, the son of his father’s rival and long time enemy, Catherine. To be perfectly honest, it threw me off guard when I first found out about his sexual orientation mainly because I just simply did not expect it. Most LGBT books out there are set to be realistic and in the modern world and are certainly not in the fantasy genre. So this fact alone surprised me a lot and I really liked that – I feel like there aren’t enough books like this being written out there and that needs to be changed. Anyways this was something I highly applaud the author for thinking of and incorporating it in the series.
The storyline, otherwise, was a mix of cliché and originality. Cliché in the sense that there are always two sides – good vs bad, light vs dark, family vs family, Capulet vs Montague, etc. and the Witch Eye series was no exception to this. In fact, it incorporated a lot of those I just listed. There was a family feud between Braden’s family and Trey’s family. There was a light side versus the dark side with humans on the light and demons on the dark. However, it was also pretty original. There were elements that were surprising such as the Widow and her powers, the Witch Eyes itself, the history of Belle Dam, etc. So while I found this book to be intriguing enough to complete, it didn’t suck me in as much as I would have wanted.
Another thing I didn’t enjoy so much was the writing style. For some reason, it just didn’t sit right with me. There were many times when I couldn’t completely follow with the author’s train of thought because there were simply so many variables to consider. It was not a book where I could read it lightly – it was a book where I had to actually concentrate. And that made things difficult for me because if I wanted to read a book that I had to focus a lot on, I would’ve picked something more in depth than a fantasy book with magic and witches. It was not something I had signed up for so it wasn’t expected nor was it wanted, to be perfectly honestly.
Overall, it was an okay book. I think the last book was definitely the best but overall, it was just meh to me. I didn’t dislike it nor did I particularly enjoy it. I think I just liked the fact that Braden was gay.
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