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4.17 AVERAGE
4.17 AVERAGE
This review was originally published on Before We Go Blog
Bloody, gory, and relentlessly dark and disturbing, Demon is a monstrous tale of survival and vengeance unlike any you have read before.
In true Rob J. Hayes fashion, it took exactly one chapter for things to go to utter shit. And the funny thing is, that brutal start truly seems like a jolly good time when you look back on it at the end of the book. Hayes truly doesn't hold back on the brutality in Demon, throwing all kinds of dark shit our way; enslavement, emotional and physical torture, starving, and even (forced) cannibalism. And you know what, I was here for it.
The feisty main character, Dien Hostain, immediately crept her way into my heart the moment I met her. After losing all she holds dear in the demon attack on her village, she commits to a path of defiance and vengeance that honestly brought me chills. Her resilience is truly unmatched, and I loved seeing how she held true to her plans and ideals no matter how dire the situation got.
And believe me, things get unspeakably dire. I really appreciated that Hayes didn't pull any punches in showing the absolute cruelty and savagery that the capured villagers had to endure. Not only cruelty from the deliciously hateable and vicious demon captors, but also from some despicable fellow human prisoners who have clearly lost their moral compass (if they even had one in the first place). The raw exploration of how far different people are willing to go to survive and the exploration of how much emotional and physical trauma people can endure before they completely break was extremely well-written, and I felt so deeply for all the innocent souls that got crushed along the way.
All that said, I do have to admit that I almost started to get a bit numbed out to all the brutality at a certain point, causing supposedly heartbreaking scenes to fall a bit flat for me personally.
Though at the same time, there's no denying that the inescapable sense of darkness and despair made for a morbidly captivating reading experience, not unlike watching a trainwreck that you simply can't pull your eyes away from.
Especially considering that this feels so much like a set-up novel with a very small-scope setting and contained plot, Demon has no business being this inexplicably compelling and unputdownable; and yet it totally is. Hayes creates an alluring air of intrigue by weaving just the most tantalising threads of hidden destinies, shocking backstories (I need to know more about Dien's father, thank you please!!) and rich lore into the narrative, which makes both the characters and the wider world feel so realistic and wonderfully well-realised.
And with the shockingly exciting way that Demon ended, I am so eager for this world to fully blow open and explore all the new dangerous paths that all my favourite broken souls (you know, the ones that survived this first novel) will go down. What's more, I am dying to see how the legacies and legends of these characters will continue to live on in this world as I dive into the later trilogies that make up the wider God Eater Saga; a trilogy of trilogies being released concurrently. There is simply so much potential here, and I think this epic journey has gone off to an amazingly strong start with Demon.
So, I would highly encourage you to pick up Demon and embark on this deliciously dark adventure for yourself as soon as possible, if you dare. Just make sure to be mentally prepared for Hayes' disturbingly dark imagination (can someone please make sure he is okay and give him a hug?), and you should be in for a hell of a bloody wild ride.
This review is based on the Kickstarter edition. Demon will be up for general sale on 23 July 2024.
Bloody, gory, and relentlessly dark and disturbing, Demon is a monstrous tale of survival and vengeance unlike any you have read before.
In true Rob J. Hayes fashion, it took exactly one chapter for things to go to utter shit. And the funny thing is, that brutal start truly seems like a jolly good time when you look back on it at the end of the book. Hayes truly doesn't hold back on the brutality in Demon, throwing all kinds of dark shit our way; enslavement, emotional and physical torture, starving, and even (forced) cannibalism. And you know what, I was here for it.
The feisty main character, Dien Hostain, immediately crept her way into my heart the moment I met her. After losing all she holds dear in the demon attack on her village, she commits to a path of defiance and vengeance that honestly brought me chills. Her resilience is truly unmatched, and I loved seeing how she held true to her plans and ideals no matter how dire the situation got.
And believe me, things get unspeakably dire. I really appreciated that Hayes didn't pull any punches in showing the absolute cruelty and savagery that the capured villagers had to endure. Not only cruelty from the deliciously hateable and vicious demon captors, but also from some despicable fellow human prisoners who have clearly lost their moral compass (if they even had one in the first place). The raw exploration of how far different people are willing to go to survive and the exploration of how much emotional and physical trauma people can endure before they completely break was extremely well-written, and I felt so deeply for all the innocent souls that got crushed along the way.
All that said, I do have to admit that I almost started to get a bit numbed out to all the brutality at a certain point, causing supposedly heartbreaking scenes to fall a bit flat for me personally.
Though at the same time, there's no denying that the inescapable sense of darkness and despair made for a morbidly captivating reading experience, not unlike watching a trainwreck that you simply can't pull your eyes away from.
Especially considering that this feels so much like a set-up novel with a very small-scope setting and contained plot, Demon has no business being this inexplicably compelling and unputdownable; and yet it totally is. Hayes creates an alluring air of intrigue by weaving just the most tantalising threads of hidden destinies, shocking backstories (I need to know more about Dien's father, thank you please!!) and rich lore into the narrative, which makes both the characters and the wider world feel so realistic and wonderfully well-realised.
And with the shockingly exciting way that Demon ended, I am so eager for this world to fully blow open and explore all the new dangerous paths that all my favourite broken souls (you know, the ones that survived this first novel) will go down. What's more, I am dying to see how the legacies and legends of these characters will continue to live on in this world as I dive into the later trilogies that make up the wider God Eater Saga; a trilogy of trilogies being released concurrently. There is simply so much potential here, and I think this epic journey has gone off to an amazingly strong start with Demon.
So, I would highly encourage you to pick up Demon and embark on this deliciously dark adventure for yourself as soon as possible, if you dare. Just make sure to be mentally prepared for Hayes' disturbingly dark imagination (can someone please make sure he is okay and give him a hug?), and you should be in for a hell of a bloody wild ride.
This review is based on the Kickstarter edition. Demon will be up for general sale on 23 July 2024.
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was easily one of my least enjoyable reading experiences of the year. I did not hate the book, in fact I read this as part of a book club / buddy read and I think I was the most positive voice inside that group but I really had a hard time connecting to almost anything within this book.
The whole setting and plot feel very stereotypical and bland. There are not really any memorable characters aside from the protagonist who makes for a mildly compelling character which gets explored through her relationships, strong will and ability to ask the right questions (sometimes). She is the glue that holds everything together, does a good job at it and is probably the best part of the book.
The whole thing is supposed to be very dark and bleak and in parts it succeeded at that but in others it just comes around as very comical. It also ends up being probably unintentionally funny at times.
I’d like to draw a comparison the another book I read this year which also leaned pretty hard into the “Torture / Mysery Porn” and that was Kingdoms of Death. And well, where Ruocchio succeeds in making you really damn uncomfortable all the time, leading up to points where you just have to stop reading because you are so overwhelmed and shocked Hayes almost completely fails in that department. The stuff our protagonist has to go through is shocking to begin with but it quickly loses its impact and just gets jumbled together in this dull mush.
I get that this book is only supposed to be a small part to this really big saga consisting of three trilogies and if you have a little more context to the world and the whole history of it might make it a lot better but I feel like as a standalone novel it just mostly fails.
It is a pretty short book but also on the other hand it felt too long for the story it was telling. I get that you are telling the backstory of this probably very crucial character for the whole saga but man it was just pretty boring at times and felt like it could have been wrapped up way more quickly and still having the same impact.
It is a pretty short book but also on the other hand it felt too long for the story it was telling. I get that you are telling the backstory of this probably very crucial character for the whole saga but man it was just pretty boring at times and felt like it could have been wrapped up way more quickly and still having the same impact.
The ending was pretty cool but I don’t think that will be enough for me to go forward with this series. I heard good things about Rob J. Hayes as an author and this is my first book of his but I’ll probably have to look at some of his other series to make a judgement call.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The "God Eater Saga" is a bit unique in it's execution as it is a trilogy of trilogies that are being written in three phases. Phase 1 is Herald (Book one in "Age of the God Eater"), Deathless (Book one in "Annals of the God Eater"), and Demon (Book one in "Archive of the Death Eater").
Through the Archive of the God Eater series, we will experience events alongside of Dien Hostain and learn the truth of humanity's first interactions with the angels, roughly 3,000 years prior to the events of Herald. What were the "Demons" that humanity and divinity joined forces to battle? What caused them to join forces in the first place?
Through the Annals of the God Eater series, we will get the story of how and why the Hostain family besieged Heaven. This takes place roughly 1,000 years prior to the events of Herald.
Age of the God Eater, the main series, takes place in the "current" time.
While these three series can be read in any order, I would suggest reading each phase starting with Age of the God Eater and ending with Archive of the God Eater. This is because each book's story will affect how you view the characters and events of the others, and starting with the main series will allow you to read the story with the least amount of influence while reading it, and will allow for a different perspective on each series than you would get reading them in a different order.
Through the Archive of the God Eater series, we will experience events alongside of Dien Hostain and learn the truth of humanity's first interactions with the angels, roughly 3,000 years prior to the events of Herald. What were the "Demons" that humanity and divinity joined forces to battle? What caused them to join forces in the first place?
Through the Annals of the God Eater series, we will get the story of how and why the Hostain family besieged Heaven. This takes place roughly 1,000 years prior to the events of Herald.
Age of the God Eater, the main series, takes place in the "current" time.
While these three series can be read in any order, I would suggest reading each phase starting with Age of the God Eater and ending with Archive of the God Eater. This is because each book's story will affect how you view the characters and events of the others, and starting with the main series will allow you to read the story with the least amount of influence while reading it, and will allow for a different perspective on each series than you would get reading them in a different order.
adventurous
dark
tense
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:
Complicated
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
dark
emotional
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No