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tristenkozinski 's review for:
The Diabolic
by S.J. Kincaid
The Diabolic sits a little outside my usual reading selection in that it's Science Fiction where I normally choose fantasy, which probably led me to enjoy the book more than someone who is accustomed to the genre and its tropes. As it stands, though, I greatly enjoyed the setting for the Diabolic. Its premise is what hooked me into the reading the book. It centers around a cultivated, human-like entity, called Diabolics, named Nemesis who is genetically manipulated to love and protect one human absolutely. Beyond the love for this one human, Diabolics are engineered to be almost entirely devoid of emotion, their existence revolves entirely around their one "bound" human. I found this premise to be wonderfully compelling as you have the contrast of Nemesis's love for her Misstress contrasting with the acts of sheer brutality she's capable of. The author then adds a burgeoning sense of humanity along with the self-imposed stigma that it's impossible for her to be human. All in all, it made for an extremely compelling lead protagonist through most of the book (interrupted only by the occasional teen heroine trope.)
The romance in the book is a little simple, but still stands a little over many of the romances in the action fantasy/Sci-fi genre because of how dangerous it's two participants are. Both are capable of brutality, and where Nemesis is physically superior in every way (and intelligent to boot) her counterpart is wonderfully conniving, a boasts all the cold intellect and political deception you could desire (while still being likeable.)
There is a revolution aspect to book, but it takes the shape of a political coup instead of grunt warfare, which is a refreshing change.
The book does have some minor flaws. I thought its prose was a little weak and I feel it wasted some of the potential in the Diabolic premise. Still, those are some very minor gripes.
If you're interested in checking out some of my work, you can find it here for free-http://www.keeganandtristenkozinski.com/
The romance in the book is a little simple, but still stands a little over many of the romances in the action fantasy/Sci-fi genre because of how dangerous it's two participants are. Both are capable of brutality, and where Nemesis is physically superior in every way (and intelligent to boot) her counterpart is wonderfully conniving, a boasts all the cold intellect and political deception you could desire (while still being likeable.)
There is a revolution aspect to book, but it takes the shape of a political coup instead of grunt warfare, which is a refreshing change.
The book does have some minor flaws. I thought its prose was a little weak and I feel it wasted some of the potential in the Diabolic premise. Still, those are some very minor gripes.
If you're interested in checking out some of my work, you can find it here for free-http://www.keeganandtristenkozinski.com/