The Willing

by Suzanne Young

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Program comes a thrilling new novel about the lust and lure of darkness.


Amelia Cardone has spent her entire life under the guardianship of the Building, a cult of believers who made a pact with her father—the Devil. In exchange for protecting Satan’s child, the Building’s leader was promised untold power after Amelia completes the ceremony on her twenty-third birthday. A ceremony that will permanently raise the Devil from the depths of Hell.


But the half-breed child of Satan has power of her own . . . and a secret that threatens to destroy them all. Betrothed since birth, Amelia defied the Building’s prophecy by marking another as her mate when she was a child. The boy—long-thought dead—has grown in captivity, and has now returned to kill the girl who cursed him. But, bearing her mark, Jonas Wells finds himself unable to harm her.


The passion that ignites between them will bring forth the wrath of everyone in Amelia’s life, including her soulless half-brother (the only person she’s ever truly trusted), and a demon who is determined to make Amelia his own. Amelia knows that to survive she’ll either have to kill Jonas, or go against the Building, her father’s pact, and everything she was brought up to believe.


In the end, her only way out might be to embrace the demon she was meant to become—and face the Devil’s consequences.

Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Fantasy, Paranormal, Adult

163 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 2, 2014

About the author

Suzanne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of The Program, The Treatment, and several other novels. She currently lives in Tempe, Arizona where she teaches high school English and obsesses about books. Learn more about Suzanne at www.suzanne-young.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Annamaria · Rating 1 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT!!!!



This is the worst thing I've ever had the misfortune to read! Have I ever skipped entire paragraphs just to read the dialogues to get to the end in the fastest way possible? Never! Until now. BORING BORING BORING!



Let me tell you why I am so angry at this book. The synopsis sounds interesting, I never read about demons (if we don't count my old friend Good Omens) so I wanted to give it a go, plus I kinda trusted the author, I did really enjoy the Program series.

Now, this book. There wasn't a plot. Really, if you were to look for a book that gives you a nice beginning and a story that proceedes logically from A to B you are in the wrong place. Amelia, the main character, is the daughter of Satan and is capable of marking her life-long partner and this union will help summon Satan from the underworld. When she's 8 (I think she's 8, I really don't understand the American school system) she marks a boy, Jonas, because he has pretty eyes and is nice to her. She fucks up obviously (also because she's promised to someone else) and is made to believe that Jonas has been killed soon after the marking. Before we move on let me tell you about Amelia: she's whiny and self-absorbed, is so sexy for her shirt that everyone wants to rape her (believe me, there was no man who talked to her without first drooling over even her big toe and who tried to get in her pants before asking her consent first), is so endangered by her sexiness, and by the fact that she has to choose a Satan worthy mate, that was given her brother as body guard (their relationship was so obsessive that made me cringe more than Cercei and Jamie Lannister's did). Now, if I were Satan I would have given my daughter something more than just another person to protect her, she's just weak and doesn't make rational decisions ever and blames her brother for every time she fucks up.
Eleven years after she has marked that kid she's still obsessed over him. I don't know you, but I don't remember jack from when I was a little kid but I guess that the power of true love can do anything. Meanwhile Jonas is not dead, he was kidnapped by a village of Christians that, in order to free him from his mark, torture, beat and rape him. Ah, Christians! What a bunch of dear old people! Anyway, Jonas hates Amelia, Amelia loves Jonas, Jonas wants to kill Amelia, he escapes the Christians, goes looking for Amelia, finds her, thinks she's hot, chockes her, she loves him, he chockes her a little more, he thinks she's hot, she loves him, he stops chocking her and there it is, true love just blossomed! Ah, and then they say romance is dead!
Remember when I said Amelia was promised to this other guy? He's Bastian, a violent and manipulative little human capable of scaring and threatening the daughter of the almighty Satan. Satan, really? Weren't you able to create someone more... intimidating?



I guess that tiny women who get overly controlled by big ass men are the new sexy. Who am I to disagree? Anyway Amelia is freaked out by this Bastian but loves Jonas oh so much. Here the plot stops because they're far too occupied doing the naughty stuff. Jonas still hates Amelia but the power of the mark is so strong that he cannot live without her. Amelia, on her part doesn't admit to Jonas that she's the daughter of Satan and that if Bastian ever found out they were together he'd kill him. Who said comminucation and trust are the basis for an healthy realtionship?! Obsession is the way! Anyway with the relationship started the book gets worse and even worse, the plot doesn't go on (if not for the part in which an entire population of Satanists coerce Amelia to get married by drugging her.)

I think this book has massive problems with the deciption of realationships (you wouldn't have thought that now, would you?) and of rape. I know that once a guy makes a pass on Amelia her brother cuts his fingers off but that's not enough, it shouldn't be so easy to say "See? He wants to rape her. He attempts to rape her. But that's WRONG! You shouldn't do that!" because even for Amelia that's a normal thing to happen! I think that the character of Jonas was a good and promising one but you don't overcome years of depression due to child abuse in a couple of nights just because the girl who is the main cause of your sufferings shows you her fu fu!



Finally, dear Suzanne, if you want one of your characters to be a native speaker of a foreign language, in this case Italian, please, DO. NOT. USE. GOOGLE. TRANSLATE. As luck would have it I am Italian and had to go through actual cringeworthy moments while interpreting your idea of my toungue.

Oh, my rant is finally over. *Annamaria out*

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here is what the synopsis says:

"Amelia Cardone has spent her entire life under the guardianship of the Building, a cult of believers who made a pact with her father—the Devil."

Wow(!!) this is pretty awesome. This should be very Rosemary's Baby-ish, my favorite!!

"But the half-breed child of Satan has power of her own . . . and a secret that threatens to destroy them all."

Oh man!! She sounds like a kick ass heroine. I bet she's got like super awesome powers and is really menacing and evil. But she's only part demon so she might be struggling with her dark side. I can't wait to see what happens!

"The passion that ignites between them will bring forth the wrath of everyone in Amelia’s life, including her soulless half-brother (the only person she’s ever truly trusted), and a demon who is determined to make Amelia his own."

::wiggles eyebrows:: Sexy time!! Show them who's boss Amelia!

"In the end, her only way out might be to embrace the demon she was meant to become—and face the Devil’s consequences."

See I told you she'd be awesome!! I mean her dad's the devil!!



Reality:

The synopsis is pretty deceptive. It makes you believe that you're about to read this book about the devil's daughter. Which is true. But it makes you think that she's going to be a bad-ass who can, like, incinerate a man just by looking at him, after all, she's the daughter of freaking Satan. But nope. Amelia is described as fragile and weak, someone who needs to be protected. Amelia is the daughter of Lucifer, yet she can't protect herself. Does that make sense to anyone? She has no powers except compulsion which is pretty lame considering who she is. She isn't fierce; she's just a scared 23 year old girl who is obsessed with a dead boy who turns out to not be dead after all. When Amelia (what kind of name is Amelia for the daughter of Satan?) finds Jonas eleven years after his supposed death it's instant love for her. She literally drops her purse and runs to him. What?! Jonas on the other hand loathes her because she's cursed him and a bunch of religious wackos kidnapped him and tortured him for years (trigger warning: rape and child abuse). He blames her for everything. He goes to attack her and he realizes he can't do it; he'd do anything to protect her and keep her safe. ::sigh:: She should be able to protect herself! From then on they, Jonas and Amelia, get it on like rabbits despite the fact that Amelia has gone against the Building as well as her father. The fact is that Amelia has to raise her father, but that entire story line gets put on the back burner to simmer while she rolls around in a sleeping bag with Jonas.

In conclusion the world building in this novel was seriously lacking. The character development, especially Amelia, was a disappointment. The plot would have been excellent if it hadn’t been for the poor character development and world building. I was looking for something darker. I feel like this book is more so a romance novel then a thriller/horror novel. I don’t mind the romance aspect of it but I feel like it should have been marketed differently.


I’m just really disappointed in how weak Amelia was portrayed. Why? Because she’s the daughter of Satan. I know, I know, I keep saying that, but think about it. In most movies and books it would be the son of Satan (ie Rosemary’s Baby – I always wondered what happened after he was born, that’s why I was interested in this book in the first place) that was born not a daughter. Instead of making her strong, a leader, someone who is in control the author made her submissive, controlled, and delicate. There isn’t anything wrong with those characteristics but it’s just not what you would expect the child of the devil to be like. I didn’t hate this book but I think the synopsis was misleading which raised my expectations.

Rating: ★★★ (2.5/5)

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Willing is a very dark and violent read. We meet Amelia when she's just a child, she has beautiful red hair and she likes Jonas, and he likes her. Amelia bites his wrist marking him as her mate. Amelia's father is Satan, and she is part of a prophecy she must fulfill in order to raise him. On her 23rd birthday Amelia is supposed to give herself to the landlord and have her blood spilled on the alter in order to raise her father so he can walk among the living. Amelia lives in the building, and the whole building is in on the prophecy, having been promised great power once Satan has been raised by his daughter. Amelia's brother Vincent protects her, he is much stronger than her and he kills anyone who dares harm his sister. Her brother has no conscience, Vincent and Amelia are half demon. I loved Vincent as a character, he's so cocky and sure of himself and he won't hesitate to break some bones or worse if anyone is stupid enough to lay a hand on his sister. Amelia was a very vulnerable person, she was very weak. On her 23rd birthday when she raises her father she is supposed to become much more powerful and able to fend for herself. The man Amelia is promised to, the landlord, is an absolute asshole. He is pure evil and he is promised great power once he and Amelia have given themselves to each other and Satan is raised. I despised him just as much as Amelia did, unfortunately for her she was betrothed to him before she was born by her father. Amelia grew up thinking Jonas was dead, killed by the building because of Amelia marking him. But Jonas was kidnapped by the church of the savoir, a bunch of twisted religious lunatics. The crazy old man and woman who took Jonas tortured him for eleven years trying everything they can to get the mark off his wrist. They put him through torture of all kinds and threaten to kill his family if he ever dares to try and escape. I really despised these religious loons that had done all this to him. They caused him so much pain and torture, and these are supposed to be people who worship god. And the scary reality is that whether in fantasy or reality, these sick fucks actually exist and under the right circumstances would probably do this to a person. It's so sickening, these people think they're so righteous, They think that "They're gods tool" and "Through him i can do no wrong" What a load of crap. I'm not a believer in Satan, i believe in god a bit, but not to this sickening level like the people in this book. I mean what god loving person would harm a little boy because of a mark on his wrist? And abuse him for years on end. It's just so sad to think that people like this really exist in the real world. But enough of that. When Amelia discovers Jonas is alive she very happy. They have a very deep pull to one another because of the mark Amelia gave him. It doesn't take long before things get hot and steamy for them, Amelia was supposed to remain a virgin until her 23rd birthday. The sex in this book is very yummy and explicit. A very bloody and dark read, I loved it! It's so new and refreshing. This book deserves 5 stars for sure!

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was...

a) a disappointment
b) something I couldn't finish
c) disjointed
d) all of the above

This read like a rough draft of a story. Where you have the basic plot, you know at least one thing you want each character to be, but none of it is polished or fleshed out. There's so much TELL without the show, but on the other hand there's a lot of SHOW that falls flatter than it should have.

I figured it wouldn't be my favorite thing I'd read, but The Program was readable and at least middle of the road -- interesting concept, etc.

I expected some Rosemary's baby grown up sort of thing.

I'm just...not going to waste more time on it. 25% was enough to know I wasn't enjoying it at all.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

AHHHHHHH!
This books was epic. I love Suzanne's writing and this book did not disappoint. Amelia was so kickass and sassy and Vincent was so bad and hot and Jonas was that tortured soul that you just wanted to fix and then fool around with.
The concept of this was different. I expected magic or at least something to that effect, but nope.
I just really loved this book.

[Novel Novice · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. It was so much fun to read - horror and all. Suzanne's premise, "What if Rosemary's Baby grew up?" is intriguing enough on its own. But Suzanne really delivers, with intriguing characters, creepy mystery, and steamy star-crossed romance. I couldn't put this book down!!!

[Sara (sarabara081)]

4-4.5 stars! Crazy and different and awesome! Review to come!

[Sarah Beck · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although the writing was good, I just couldn't get behind the story. I'm all for a good demon romance (guilty pleasure) but this would not be at the top of my list. That being said, I would try another book by Young. Personally, not my cup of tea.

[Sarah King · Rating 1 out of 5]

Check your content warnings if you plan to read this. I started this when it first came out and dnf’d around a third of the way through. I decided to give it one more shot and I finished it, but I wanted so much more and also so much less.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book of Suzanne's. I love all her books.

[Linda Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 3.5

I quite enjoyed The Willing. It is so different from everything else the author has written. I absolutely adore Suzanne Young. There's a reason she is among my top five favorite authors of all time. However, while the story succeeded in compelling me to keep reading and reading to find out how the hell things are going to end, the writing of The Willing just isn't as strong as Suzanne's other books. And for an author that usually does a pretty good job at surprising me, I found The Willing to be a bit predictable.

If you have not read anything by this author before, I highly recommend that you put The Willing down for now, and start with one of her other books first because this one is not her best work. If you have read her other works and enjoyed her stories, then definitely pick this up for something a little different.

[Shannon Swackhamer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonas was a bit of a sissy. Liked The Program better but, not bad.

[O.R.]

Sounds damn good I hope it won't turn out to be a pathetic cliche love story but live up to the interesting description