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justabluebee 's review for:
The Demon King
by Cinda Williams Chima
Istyria book blog ~ A world of enchanted books
3.5 stars
Boy, my "should've read ages ago"-list is ever growing these days, isn't it? The Demon King is yet another one I can add to it. And yes, I did love it, though maybe not as much as others did.
The Demon King is the first book in the Seven Realms series and takes place in the queendom of Fells. It's about Han Alister and Princess Raisa. Han is a reformed thief, doing anything he can to take care of his mother and sister. Han has always had thick silver cuffs engraved with runes on his wrist but he's always been unable to get them off. His life gets even harder when he takes a powerful amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard. This amulet once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world ages ago. Meanwhile, Raisa has her own battles to fight. She'll be eligible for marriage soon, but isn't looking forward to it. She'd rather be like Hanalea, the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But her mother has different plans for her. Plans that include a suitor who goes against everything their queendom stands for.
Yes, this is a really good book and a great series starter. It's not without its flaws though. Not for me at least. So let's get those out of the way first. First, I must say it, I didn't like Raisa that much most of the time. It took me a while for me to actually care about her, which I didn't until she finally got a clue in the second half of the book. I can't get into this more because of spoilers, so I'll leave it at that. She'll grow on me in the next few books, I'm sure. Second, for me this was a bit predictable. I knew how some things would turn out right at the start. Which made some plot twists not as shocking. And lastly, it started out so slow! Once I got through the first half, things got better for me, but I did struggle to get through those first chapters.
Now for the good! A queendom! Yes, that's awesome! I loved that and this world. I can't wait to discover this world more. I also loved the rest of the characters. Dancer, Lucius and Amon were awesome. I liked Willo, Bird, Elena and the other smaller characters, but I do hope I get to know them better in the next books. The bad guys were also great, but yeah, I hated them, which I'm supposed to do, right? The main reason for me to keep reading though, was Han. He's a great main character and I adore him. I felt for him and I rooted for him all the way through. Though yes, I did kind of predict what the cuffs were for. I liked the reveal though and I can't wait to see Han grow stronger. Though I also hope that there'll still be after effects from something that happened to him near the end.
The Demon King is a great first book in what will undoubtedly be an awesome series. It has a great main character, a fantastic new world with a queendom and magic! I love magic. Will there be dragons, though? There better be.
3.5 stars
Boy, my "should've read ages ago"-list is ever growing these days, isn't it? The Demon King is yet another one I can add to it. And yes, I did love it, though maybe not as much as others did.
The Demon King is the first book in the Seven Realms series and takes place in the queendom of Fells. It's about Han Alister and Princess Raisa. Han is a reformed thief, doing anything he can to take care of his mother and sister. Han has always had thick silver cuffs engraved with runes on his wrist but he's always been unable to get them off. His life gets even harder when he takes a powerful amulet from Micah Bayar, son of the High Wizard. This amulet once belonged to the Demon King, the wizard who nearly destroyed the world ages ago. Meanwhile, Raisa has her own battles to fight. She'll be eligible for marriage soon, but isn't looking forward to it. She'd rather be like Hanalea, the legendary warrior queen who killed the Demon King and saved the world. But her mother has different plans for her. Plans that include a suitor who goes against everything their queendom stands for.
Yes, this is a really good book and a great series starter. It's not without its flaws though. Not for me at least. So let's get those out of the way first. First, I must say it, I didn't like Raisa that much most of the time. It took me a while for me to actually care about her, which I didn't until she finally got a clue in the second half of the book. I can't get into this more because of spoilers, so I'll leave it at that. She'll grow on me in the next few books, I'm sure. Second, for me this was a bit predictable. I knew how some things would turn out right at the start. Which made some plot twists not as shocking. And lastly, it started out so slow! Once I got through the first half, things got better for me, but I did struggle to get through those first chapters.
Now for the good! A queendom! Yes, that's awesome! I loved that and this world. I can't wait to discover this world more. I also loved the rest of the characters. Dancer, Lucius and Amon were awesome. I liked Willo, Bird, Elena and the other smaller characters, but I do hope I get to know them better in the next books. The bad guys were also great, but yeah, I hated them, which I'm supposed to do, right? The main reason for me to keep reading though, was Han. He's a great main character and I adore him. I felt for him and I rooted for him all the way through. Though yes, I did kind of predict what the cuffs were for. I liked the reveal though and I can't wait to see Han grow stronger. Though I also hope that there'll still be after effects from something that happened to him near the end.
The Demon King is a great first book in what will undoubtedly be an awesome series. It has a great main character, a fantastic new world with a queendom and magic! I love magic. Will there be dragons, though? There better be.