Jet's Book Reviews

[Jetthebinturong]

So my Youtube channel probably isn't coming any time soon and I simply must talk about this book, so I've made a thread for my reviews.

The book I'll be reviewing first is Demon Road by Derek Landy. I'll do a non-spoilery review first then I'll warn you about spoilers (because spoiler tags don't work).

Demon Road is about sixteen year-old Amber Lamont and the day her parents tried to eat her. She flees across America with a mysterious protector named Milo Sebastian who drives a car he calls a Beast, a black 1970s Dodge Charger. Along the way they meet the deathmarked Irish boy Glen Morrison, who is travelling the Demon Road to see America's monsters before he dies (because "America has the best monsters"). Amber must escape her parents and uphold her end of a bargain wrongly struck.

At the end of this book, I did not come away feeling excited, or even happy. I came away feeling numb. Shell-shocked, if you will. Was it a good book? Undoubtedly. Will I get the next one? Certainly. Did I enjoy it? Yes, for a long time, I did, and then Cascade Falls happened and everything steadily went to Hell.

This book is Derek's worst book. But that's a compliment, because it's Derek. A solid seven out of ten I'd say. The writing was impeccable, the world was intriguing but the book lacked something I need from Derek's writing; humour. I assume Glen is intended as comic relief and sometimes it works, but most of the time it's just pathetic and sad because he's got the deathmark and you're reminded every time he shows up that he's not going to survive this book. There is one moment in the book I remember noting as funny but that's it. This book is dark, not as dark as Skulduggery became, but it lacks the humour to balance it out. Demon Road is a horror story, make no mistake about it.

Our protagonist is Amber Lamont. She's a (supposedly) plain girl obsessed with a book series called In the Dark Places. She's intelligent and, at times witty, but very, very insecure and naive. Over time, she grated on my nerves. But I'm willing to look past that, she's been driven out of her home and her parents want to kill her, she's thrust into a world she doesn't know and she's terrified. I won't begrudge her that. What I do hate though is how superficial she is. Overall, she's a decent protagonist, but she's no Valkyrie Cain.

Our secondary protagonists are Milo Sebastian and Glen Morrison.

Milo is mysterious and taciturn. And for most of the book, that's him summed up. I loved his character, but there wasn't much character there to love. He tries to act unfeeling and uncaring and Amber believes him, but you don't for one second and that's a bit disappointing.

I'm used to Derek weaving characters of such complexity that you never know who they truly are but you know exactly who everyone in this book is.

Then there's Glen. Dear, sweet, precious Glen. He's easily the best character in the entire book. Glen is a sweet guy with a tormented childhood and a deceiving mask of humour and stupidity that belies his smarts, few though they may be. He's clearly modeled on the same archetype as Fletcher was but that works in his favour I think. He's the only character you don't really know, and I'm thankful for that. He's adorable and he doesn't deserve the bad stuff life he's had.

Then there's the villains Bill and Betty Lamont (and their friends, Grant, Kirsty and Alastair). They're plain old villainous psychopaths. They eat people. The end. Disappointing I know.

There's also Imelda, she wants redemption for all the people she's killed. That's her. She's sweet and endearing, but her character can be summed up in a sentence.

The minor characters are more developed than the villains are, even Althea Buxton, the little old lady of Cascade Falls and the messed up kid murderer from the same town who I can't for the life of me remember the name of. The only character who isn't is probably Varga.

I rag on this book too harshly I think, but from Derek Landy I expect better.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

Amber is perhaps the most aggravating protagonist I've ever read about. Her demon form is her ONLY saving grace but even then when her friend gets kidnapped by what are obviously vampires, what does she do? ABANDON HIM TO VAMPIRES AND BARRICADE HERSELF IN HER ROOM?? YOU ARE A DEMON GIRL! GO OUT THERE AND SAVE GLEN!!!

Milo being the Ghost of the Highway was an incredibly obvious plot twist.

The demon's "feeding" scenes were disgusting. I know that was the point but still.

The book up until Cascade Falls was amazing, the book after that was slightly worse and the ending was bitter as Hell. Amber and Milo don't mourn Glen at all, and when he comes back as a vampire to talk to Amber, she closes the curtains on him. WHY?

END SPOILERS

Do I recommend you read this book? Absolutely, but just remember, Derek can do, and has done, better.

[Lady Ashenwyte]

Seems like an interesting read. Could you elaborate more about the time her parents tried to eat her hopefully without major spoilers?

[Jetthebinturong]

... I don't think so. If I think of one, I'll be sure to tell you.

[Skyblade]

Interesting review, Jet! I like it and will read any more you post

[Banya]

That was a fantastic review, Jet.  You hooked me on your character synopses and made me want to read that book.

[Cornflower MM]

Very cool! Now I want to read the book.

Other than that, I can't say much, since I haven't read the book. But good job!

When are you doing another one?

[Jetthebinturong]

I might do one on The Raven Boys. If not, my next review will be when I've finished reading Falling Kingdoms.

[Cornflower MM]

Cool!

[Cornflower MM]

*Hopeful poke*

[Jetthebinturong]

Alright, a review of Falling Kingdoms it is!

With Demon Road I expected to be wowed and was found wanting. With Falling Kingdoms on the other hand, I was expecting something average, and got something great.

Falling Kingdoms follows the stories of several characters; Princess Cleiona of Auranos, Jonas Agallon of Paelsia, and Prince Magnus and Princess Lucia of Limeros. When Princess Cleo's fianc?, Lord Aron Lagaris, stabs a wine-sellers son in Paelsia, he will spark a rebellion that will forever change the world, and bring these characters stories together in one of the most unlikely ways possible. Meanwhile, the mysterious Watchers in the Sanctuary are scouring the world for the Kindred, a magical item of near limitless power. To find the Kindred, they first must find the sorceress, a child born under very specific circumstances, and one with the power to control the elements.

As with Demon Road, the ending of this book was numbing. However, where the two experiences differ is the journey, and how the ending is pulled off. With Falling Kingdoms I enjoyed the journey every step of the way and could barely put the book down, and the cliffhanger ending, rather than being bleak, is charged with tension and has a sort of hopeful feel to it. Think of Kingdoms as a YA version of A Song of Ice and Fire; a book full to the brim with fighting, murder, incest, and betrayal, where no character is ever safe from death. I think I'd probably give this book an eight out of ten.

Princess Cleo is a spoiled, stubborn brat, who learns the power of her station and starts to resent it. She's a strong independent woman who won't stand for being married off to some handsome lord; especially when said handsome lord murdered an innocent man right in front of her eyes. Over the course of the book, she grows from a naive, idiotic brat, into a girl who actually cares about the plights of others but has generally become a much steelier person due to the things that have happened to her.

Jonas Agallon is the brother of the murdered man; he wants revenge on Aron and Cleo. To get his revenge, he intends to start a rebellion. He is very stubborn, but also very wary, and is probably the most intelligent of our four main characters. Unfortunately, he does not have much character development in this book.

Prince Magnus is the dark and brooding prince of the fun-hating country of Limeros. He is struggling to resist getting married off to some pretty lady whilst he deals with the incestuous feelings he has for his sister, Lucia (this is meant to be a spoiler, but it's obvious from the get go). He's very manipulative and deceitful, charming one of the maids to do his spying with the promise that she can be his mistress; a promise he has no intention of keeping. Magnus craves the love of his parents which he knows he will never receive, and is fiercely jealous of his father, King Gaius' aide Tobias, who seems to get all of Gaius' affection, and may be his illegitimate son. He is my favourite character in the book, due to him being the most developed of them all.

Princess Lucia is adorably naive. She is kind and she cares for her brother deeply, but not in the way he wants. That is her character throughout most of this book.

Despite the slight lack of character development, I highly recommend this book, with the caveat that you try not to get attached to the characters, because they might just die. 

[Skyblade]

Nice review...I may actually read this. Someday

[Cornflower MM]

*Claps* Very nice! Who's this by? And is this the second or first, I'm slightly confused.

You worded this very nicely, and I feel like I know the characters already! (Also, good word choice - This really does sound like a more YA ASoIaF)

[Jetthebinturong]

Whoops. It's by Morgan Rhodes and it's the first book in a series.