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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
So I am pretty much in love with this series now. I'm sad that I have to wait so long for the last book to come out, and will keep my fingers crossed that Mae and Nick will end up together in the end. I don't know if that will happen, but I am ever the optimist.
An excellent read, and a weirdish character shift I'm not sure I stuck with, but very well done all the same. Lots of fun, and moving.
Mae thought she had left all of her troubles behind in London. Certainly nightmares followed her home to Exeter, but that was okay because her brother Jamie was safe from the magicians and the Ryves brothers were too far away to draw either of them into their more complicated web of lies and trouble.
That's what Mae thought when her life finally seemed to be getting back to normal.
But trouble has its eye on Mae. The magicians who wanted to kill Jamie are now trying to lure him into their ruthless circle. Nick and Alan Ryves are, of course, uniquely qualified to help. Their return brings its own unique blend of exhilaration and mayhem to Mae's life. The lure of magic is tantalizing but the danger is greater than ever before as Mae tries to make sense of her own, normal, world and the magical one that glitters just out of her reach in The Demon's Covenant (2010) by Sarah Rees Brennan.
If Sarah Rees Brennan's first book, The Demon's Lexicon, crackled with intensity then this book is burning with it. Brennan has taken a story that already seemed at the breaking point with tension and emotion and made it all even more taut and thrilling. As ever, the characters shine with a unique blend of action and humor throughout the story.
The Demon's Covenant necessarily spends more time looking at what it means to be human and, more importantly, what it means to love. Watching Nick stumble through what it means to really care about someone and try to decide if he even can care for someone is heartbreaking and utterly compelling to follow as Mae tries to explain alien concepts like comfort to one who never had use for such feelings. It's a strange thing to say about what is largely an adventure fantasy, but this book brims over with brotherly love and friendship. There are few writers who handle those themes as well as Brennan does here.
Some reviews expressed disappointment that the story shifted to Mae's point of view in this installment but, really, the transition was seamless. The writing here is spot-on with a dynamo combination of exposition and character development to create an exciting story with substance besides. And, of course, Mae is an awesome girl (with awesome pink hair) ready to not only save herself but also everyone else! All in all, The Demon's Covenant was even better than Brennan's rather great first installment in her Demon Trilogy.
Possible Pairings: White Cat by Holly Black, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
That's what Mae thought when her life finally seemed to be getting back to normal.
But trouble has its eye on Mae. The magicians who wanted to kill Jamie are now trying to lure him into their ruthless circle. Nick and Alan Ryves are, of course, uniquely qualified to help. Their return brings its own unique blend of exhilaration and mayhem to Mae's life. The lure of magic is tantalizing but the danger is greater than ever before as Mae tries to make sense of her own, normal, world and the magical one that glitters just out of her reach in The Demon's Covenant (2010) by Sarah Rees Brennan.
If Sarah Rees Brennan's first book, The Demon's Lexicon, crackled with intensity then this book is burning with it. Brennan has taken a story that already seemed at the breaking point with tension and emotion and made it all even more taut and thrilling. As ever, the characters shine with a unique blend of action and humor throughout the story.
The Demon's Covenant necessarily spends more time looking at what it means to be human and, more importantly, what it means to love. Watching Nick stumble through what it means to really care about someone and try to decide if he even can care for someone is heartbreaking and utterly compelling to follow as Mae tries to explain alien concepts like comfort to one who never had use for such feelings. It's a strange thing to say about what is largely an adventure fantasy, but this book brims over with brotherly love and friendship. There are few writers who handle those themes as well as Brennan does here.
Some reviews expressed disappointment that the story shifted to Mae's point of view in this installment but, really, the transition was seamless. The writing here is spot-on with a dynamo combination of exposition and character development to create an exciting story with substance besides. And, of course, Mae is an awesome girl (with awesome pink hair) ready to not only save herself but also everyone else! All in all, The Demon's Covenant was even better than Brennan's rather great first installment in her Demon Trilogy.
Possible Pairings: White Cat by Holly Black, City of Bones by Cassandra Clare, Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins, The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud, The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner, Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld
Oh great. The sequel is from the point of view of my least favorite character from the first book.
...
Aaand it's even better than the first one.
...
Aaand it's even better than the first one.
The Demon's Covenant is a wonderfully constructed work of equal parts creativity and twisting plot lines. Building on to the oh-so-greatness of the Demon's Lexicon, Brennan delivers another bout of the same old tag team of Nick, Jamie, Alan and Mae.
As I read more and more of this series, I'm beginning to like it even more. The ideas of power, magic, and even the interesting rituals are quite unique, and seem to be wholly original - contrary to most of YA literature. Nick, in my mind is more and more humanized and seems to mature and grow as the series goes on. Interestingly enough The Demon's Covenant is narrated by Mae, her enigmatic, well more like eccentric leading lady. Her own sense of right from wrong and romance are deeply challenged as she tries to help the both Nick and Alan as well as her own brother Jamie deal with new challenges amidst the same old enemies.
What really interests me is how Brennan will orchestrate the group dynamics even more. The relationship between Jamie and Mae seems to be splintering, while Nick and Mae seem to have a blossoming understanding, and even Alan shows more of his own past/real ideas. The two brothers are a particularly mysterious pair - every action seems contrary to their appearances and as the series goes on, I want to know more and more about both of them.
With a flair of new ideas and changing characters, Brennan easily dazzles any reader, and will leave them eagerly anticipating the Demon's Surrender!
As I read more and more of this series, I'm beginning to like it even more. The ideas of power, magic, and even the interesting rituals are quite unique, and seem to be wholly original - contrary to most of YA literature. Nick, in my mind is more and more humanized and seems to mature and grow as the series goes on. Interestingly enough The Demon's Covenant is narrated by Mae, her enigmatic, well more like eccentric leading lady. Her own sense of right from wrong and romance are deeply challenged as she tries to help the both Nick and Alan as well as her own brother Jamie deal with new challenges amidst the same old enemies.
What really interests me is how Brennan will orchestrate the group dynamics even more. The relationship between Jamie and Mae seems to be splintering, while Nick and Mae seem to have a blossoming understanding, and even Alan shows more of his own past/real ideas. The two brothers are a particularly mysterious pair - every action seems contrary to their appearances and as the series goes on, I want to know more and more about both of them.
With a flair of new ideas and changing characters, Brennan easily dazzles any reader, and will leave them eagerly anticipating the Demon's Surrender!
If I could give half stars, this would probably be 3-1/2 instead of 4, but I'll err on the side of generosity, I think. Some aspects of this book—the second in a trilogy—I liked more than the first and some I liked less.
For instance, I love hearing the story of Nick's childhood through the eyes of his adoptive father; it gives the narrative a depth that had been (necessarily, for plot reasons) missing from the first book.
On the other hand, the main characters all felt older than their supposed ages, and (again necessarily, for plot reasons) they demonstrated a degree of freedom and autonomy that's oddly unquestioned by the adults in their lives.
Over all, though, I enjoyed the story—and the performance of narrator James Langton, as well.
For instance, I love hearing the story of Nick's childhood through the eyes of his adoptive father; it gives the narrative a depth that had been (necessarily, for plot reasons) missing from the first book.
On the other hand, the main characters all felt older than their supposed ages, and (again necessarily, for plot reasons) they demonstrated a degree of freedom and autonomy that's oddly unquestioned by the adults in their lives.
Over all, though, I enjoyed the story—and the performance of narrator James Langton, as well.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
June 30th, 2020:
This is one of my favorite books of all time, and I'm so glad I re-read it. All of the scenes with Nick interacting with people (especially Alan) are just SO incredible and make me weepy and emo. The plot of this book is kinda weird and Mae can be occasionally annoying but I literally could not give two shits because I love this book A LOT.
Nick is also that #badboyaggressive throughout this book, but I actually didn't mind it as much as I did the first time. Not that I don't think he shouldn't be aggressive, but maybe I was just expecting him to act all dickish towards Mae and it didn't effect me as much. There's still like one scene where the language used ain't GREAT that definitely still needs to be called out.
I can't wait to finish the trilogy! I know the last book is from Sin's POV which is kinda disappointing because like I don't care about her sorry not sorry but as long as Nick and Alan are there I DON'T CARE!
December 14th, 2017:
So this series is literally like my heart and soul and I love it to pieces.
I gave this book five stars because there was stuff I loved about this book that I loved more than the first one, and some things that I disliked more than the first one as well.
What I loved:
I LOVE ALAN AND NICK. Like I love Mae and Jamie but fo realz I could read a whole book of just Alan and Nick doing stuff. Their relationship is the backbone of the series and they carry it so well. I LOVED Daniel Ryves's journal SO much and how we got to see how much Alan has always loved Nick, even when they were children. I loved Jamie and Nick and their banter, I loved Mae and Nick, I just. These characters bruh.
The humor is amazing I laughed out loud so many times. Nick's humor especially. ("You can't spell demon without EMO")
I thought I was going to be upset that this book was from Mae's perspective instead of Nick's, but I actually really enjoyed it. I really feel like I know her character WAY more now, and it was nice to see Nick from a different person's eyes.
That thing I didn't love:
(this will def be getting spoilery so)
So I really loved Mae and Nick's romance, but there were definitely some parts...... Like, part of me knows that this book was written about ten years ago, and in that time the BAD BOY WHO IS MEAN BECAUSE HE DON'T WANNA HURT YOU thing was way more popularized then. I mean, Nick was 100% that. I mean, another part of me is like "well, he has a legit reason and that reason is because he literally doesn't know what emotions are and stuff so like how can he know" but there were a couple scenes were I was like "EEHAHS Maeeee I dunno bout this." Like, don't get me wrong--Nick is my favorite character in this series, and of course there is nothing in the book that is un-consensual in any way, but there was still some stuff that I knew if this book were published today people would leap at it. I just wish there was a bit more talk about it in the book? Like there are two parts of this book I can think of where Nick is wAYYY too aggressive. Once Mae is specifically like, "I asked for this demon mark so we j chilling" and I was like "alright that's okay then?" even though I wish it had actually been talked about between the two of them. But there was another part earlier on where Nick gets frustrated and yells at her, and later he's like "Sorry for yesterday--" but then Mae cuts him off and is like "ITSFINE." And I wanted to be like, "It's not fine! Make that bitch apologize!" Anyway. While I tried to ignore it because I love this book so much, this stuff is still important and I felt like I should still mention it.
This is one of my favorite books of all time, and I'm so glad I re-read it. All of the scenes with Nick interacting with people (especially Alan) are just SO incredible and make me weepy and emo. The plot of this book is kinda weird and Mae can be occasionally annoying but I literally could not give two shits because I love this book A LOT.
Nick is also that #badboyaggressive throughout this book, but I actually didn't mind it as much as I did the first time. Not that I don't think he shouldn't be aggressive, but maybe I was just expecting him to act all dickish towards Mae and it didn't effect me as much. There's still like one scene where the language used ain't GREAT that definitely still needs to be called out.
I can't wait to finish the trilogy! I know the last book is from Sin's POV which is kinda disappointing because like I don't care about her sorry not sorry but as long as Nick and Alan are there I DON'T CARE!
December 14th, 2017:
So this series is literally like my heart and soul and I love it to pieces.
I gave this book five stars because there was stuff I loved about this book that I loved more than the first one, and some things that I disliked more than the first one as well.
What I loved:
I LOVE ALAN AND NICK. Like I love Mae and Jamie but fo realz I could read a whole book of just Alan and Nick doing stuff. Their relationship is the backbone of the series and they carry it so well. I LOVED Daniel Ryves's journal SO much and how we got to see how much Alan has always loved Nick, even when they were children. I loved Jamie and Nick and their banter, I loved Mae and Nick, I just. These characters bruh.
The humor is amazing I laughed out loud so many times. Nick's humor especially. ("You can't spell demon without EMO")
I thought I was going to be upset that this book was from Mae's perspective instead of Nick's, but I actually really enjoyed it. I really feel like I know her character WAY more now, and it was nice to see Nick from a different person's eyes.
That thing I didn't love:
(this will def be getting spoilery so)
So I really loved Mae and Nick's romance, but there were definitely some parts...... Like, part of me knows that this book was written about ten years ago, and in that time the BAD BOY WHO IS MEAN BECAUSE HE DON'T WANNA HURT YOU thing was way more popularized then. I mean, Nick was 100% that. I mean, another part of me is like "well, he has a legit reason and that reason is because he literally doesn't know what emotions are and stuff so like how can he know" but there were a couple scenes were I was like "EEHAHS Maeeee I dunno bout this." Like, don't get me wrong--Nick is my favorite character in this series, and of course there is nothing in the book that is un-consensual in any way, but there was still some stuff that I knew if this book were published today people would leap at it. I just wish there was a bit more talk about it in the book? Like there are two parts of this book I can think of where Nick is wAYYY too aggressive. Once Mae is specifically like, "I asked for this demon mark so we j chilling" and I was like "alright that's okay then?" even though I wish it had actually been talked about between the two of them. But there was another part earlier on where Nick gets frustrated and yells at her, and later he's like "Sorry for yesterday--" but then Mae cuts him off and is like "ITSFINE." And I wanted to be like, "It's not fine! Make that bitch apologize!" Anyway. While I tried to ignore it because I love this book so much, this stuff is still important and I felt like I should still mention it.
It was slow getting started... but about halfway through I realized I couldn't put it down. How long do we have to wait for the next one??
One of the best reads of 2010. EXCELLENT sequel, I love the way SRB ups the emotional ante as much as the danger and excitement. DELICIOUS!!!!!