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Demon Road #2
Höllennacht in Desolation Hill
Desolation Hill ist nur scheinbar ein friedliches Städtchen. Jedes Jahr findet hier ein großes Festival statt. Alle Fremden müssen die Stadt verlassen und die Kinder werden in Panikräumen eingeschlossen. Nur die Erwachsenen wissen genau, was in der Höllennacht passiert. Und sie können gar nicht erwarten, dass es endlich losgeht.
Als kurz vor Einbruch der Dämmerung ein kleiner Junge verschwindet, ist Amber Lamont eines klar: Hier hat mal wieder jemand einen Pakt mit Dämonen geschlossen und eine unschuldige Seele muss geopfert werden. Aber da schaut Amber nicht lange zu!
Als kurz vor Einbruch der Dämmerung ein kleiner Junge verschwindet, ist Amber Lamont eines klar: Hier hat mal wieder jemand einen Pakt mit Dämonen geschlossen und eine unschuldige Seele muss geopfert werden. Aber da schaut Amber nicht lange zu!
448 pages, Hardcover
First published April 7, 2016
115 people are currently reading
1860 people want to read
About the author
Derek Landy
253 books5,283 followersDerek Landy is an Irish writer and screenwriter. In addition to the bestselling children's/YA series of Skulduggery Pleasant books, a supernatural mystery series starring Skulduggery Pleasant, a skeleton detective, and Valkyrie Cain, a young female magician, he has written two screenplays that have been made into films: the IFTA award winning "Dead Bodies" and the IFTA nominated "Boy Eats Girl". Landy himself was nominated for an IFTA for Best Script.
He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List.
Derek plays too many video games, reads too many comics, and watches too many movies. He lives in Ireland with too many cats. Occasionally he talks to real people, but only when he absolutely has to.
He doesn’t like to brag about all the awards he’s won, such as the Irish Book of the Decade, or the Red House in the UK, or all the other awards that he humbly displays on his mantelpiece. He is also far too modest to mention things like the first book being a Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, but would like to extend an invitation to Oprah to pop around one day for tea, in thanks for selecting his book for the Oprah’s Book Club Kids Reading List.
Derek plays too many video games, reads too many comics, and watches too many movies. He lives in Ireland with too many cats. Occasionally he talks to real people, but only when he absolutely has to.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 297 reviews
March 29, 2016
There is a level of disappointment that can be pretty quickly summarized with simply me giving Demon Road 5 stars and giving Desolation 1. The problem here is that Desolation isn’t just disappointing. It’s skin crawlingly uncomfortable and promotes harmful stereotypes while simultaneously being a really, really bad book.
There’s no possible way for me to do this review without spoiling a lot of the first half of the book, and a couple things from the second half, so if you want to find out on your own - or don’t want my views to bias you - stop here. But if you are concerned about skeeviness - or, honestly, a lot of things that would deserve a trigger warning - march on ahead.
Desolation picks up almost immediately after Demon Road leaves off. Amber is still 16, something repeated in the text often. We open immediately with a BRS esque serial killer capturing Amber and lovingly, painstakingly, breaking each of her fingers. This goes on for about two pages - two pages of Amber crying and screaming as he takes his time. This was the preview for the book in the back of the first one’s paperback. It is, in hindsight, a rather accurate representation of what you’re getting into. Get ready for a lot of torture porn.
Milo bursts in, conveniently after every finger has already been broken (good job being a bodyguard, bro! No, he has no excuse for being late.). Amber’s torturer recognizes him as an old friend, from before Milo’s amnesia. Even knows Milo’s not his real name. Excited for that to pay off? It doesn’t. Milo just kinda sits around in this book. He gets a few good exchanges with Amber - which were easily my favorite part - but it’s certainly not enough to count.
We then get introduced to my first major problem with the book - the pointless new supporting cast. We have Virgil, a retired horror actor, and his friend, Javier. They’re clearly an homage to horror actors, who the book is dedicated to. The entire thing reads like Landy needed to pad the book, so he just added a ton of POV chapters from these “funny” old men. And by “funny” I mean Scapegrace/Ping/Thrasher level. Like those aforementioned characters there’s also a few jokes about Javier and Virgil being gay. This isn’t paid off or used as anything other than a joke.
I want to note that Demon Road was 100 percent Amber’s POV the entire way through. We now have 4 POV characters. This is really jarring - most of the time when books add another POV in the sequel, one additional character is added. If it was just Kelly, it’d be fine. But as is even at the beginning of the book I was struggling to get through chapters about brand new characters who were brought in out of nowhere.
Then there’s Kelly. Oh, Kelly. Kelly is a member of a demon hunting Scooby Gang (they even have a dog!). This group includes her, a “19 or 20” year old red haired lesbian (described as having “a small chest” in the text), Warrick, a white guy who’s the comic relief/Shaggy of the gang (and the only other one to have an actual personality), Linda, who is described only with “a Chinese girl” and “huge boobs”, and Ronnie, who is black and apparently has nothing else interesting about him, despite being the leader of the gang. Kelly’s squad is a group of monster hunters/”good guys” who go down the demon road in the interest of saving people’s lives. This contrasts with everything we were told about the world in the first book, but honestly, that is such a minor complaint compared to everything else we get with Kelly. We’ll get back to that.
Curious as how Amber and Milo finally became friends? What was the turning point between partners and genuine friends? This is something Landy does really well - Dark Days, in hindsight, is about how Skulduggery finally realizes Valkyrie is a person and someone he genuinely cares about. What about Milo and Amber? What was their moment?
You don’t get one. Suddenly Milo and Amber are cozy enough to talk and tease each other about their (lack of) flirting abilities. Very friendly and cute and fun. Here’s the problem: it doesn’t feel earned. Just a couple scenes earlier Amber tries to engage in small talk with Milo and it fails completely because Milo does not know how to. It especially doesn’t feel earned because we get several scenes long after this where Milo struggles to talk genuinely with Amber about things like her nightmares or other things she’s dealing with. Yet they have no problem gently teasing each other like old friends here?
Milo suggests Amber flirt with a boy in the restaurant and she says “not my type”. Which was the moment I figured out exactly what this book was trying to do.
Because Kelly is Amber’s love interest. “19 or 20 year old” Kelly is sixteen year old Amber’s love interest. Not only is Kelly 3-4 years older, she’s far more experienced in every way - she’s an out lesbian, she’s an expert on the Demon Road, she’s confident and tattoo’d and unshakable. Amber has never been kissed. Amber has abusive parents and the confidence of a two legged chihuahua. Amber’s complete and utter lack of self esteem (which takes a steady nose dive in this book as she constantly refers to her human self as ugly and grows to hate it) is a huge issue because it puts her in a very easy position to be manipulated by an adult. Most relationships between young girls and older men are horribly toxic because the girl is so inexperienced or self loathing that she can be pushed into situations or decisions and not be in a position to even know better. But the thing is, of course, Kelly is not a man. No, she’s a girl. And girl on girl is hot.
Kelly and Amber meet in a jail cell, where they make small talk and Amber immediately admires her for her confidence, experience with demons, and her looks. They part, and the next day Amber takes a dying Milo to Kelly and her friends for help.
This is their second ever interaction, when Kelly gets her first look at Amber’s demon form:
Kelly raised her hand. Traced her fingertip along Amber’s cheek, down to her chin, let it drop.
“You know what?” Kelly said. “I think I prefer you the other way.”
Amber reverts, and Kelly smiles. “There’s my cutie,” she says.
Amber and Kelly work together a bit the next 48~ hours, but don’t talk much. And then, right the fuck out of nowhere, we get … this. Kelly comes to dress Amber’s wounds and helps her to take her shirt off; when Amber is awkward about this, Kelly responds by taking off her own. She also suggests that she could “take my pants off, if it’d make you more comfortable”, which flusters Amber even more. Amber talks about how much she hates her body and how beautiful Kelly is, which Kelly dismisses and asks Amber if she’s coming on to her. Kelly tells Amber, in a “””’sexy””” way, that she can’t kiss Amber while she’s fixing her bandage because it’d be unprofessional. She can’t “grab (her) and kiss (her)”, “pull you into me and press my lips against yours”, “I can’t pull your hair (...) I can’t grab a fistful of your hair to pull your head back to kiss your throat. It’s against all the rules, Amber.” “I can’t kiss the length of your jawline. I can’t do it, Amber. It wouldn’t be right.”
An adult woman is telling a 16 year old she can’t kiss her because it’s wrong, and ‘against the rules’. Forbidden is sexy. Breaking the rules - breaking the law - is desirable.
Through this entire interaction - Amber stays completely silent, flustered and unsure of how to respond.
Then, of course, Kelly finishes tending to her wound and they make out. Amber feels another surge of self hatred and shifts into her demon form, who’s a lot more horny (ha). Demon Amber deepens the kiss, pulls Kelly towards the bed and tries to take off her pants. Kelly realizes that Amber’s shifted and pushes her away, disgusted. Kelly makes it clear she prefers human Amber, whom she nicknamed “beautiful”. With everything else, it feels less sweet and more manipulative. And why does Amber have to be beautiful? She clearly isn’t. So what does experienced, gorgeous, heroic, all around nearly perfect person Kelly sees in Amber … besides a young girl who’s inexperienced, lacking in confidence, and easy to manipulate?
This is the only kiss between them - they talk about it later, with Amber apologizing for being “nervous” because it was her first real kiss, and Kelly assuring her they can practice later - because the plot remembers it’s supposed to be there and prevents any further development. I’m not going to go much into the second half of the book because 1. Spoilers, 2. It’s really boring.
I could talk about how much I hated the ending. And I really, really hated it, because Kelly is now apparently Amber’s moral compass despite knowing her for four days, because apparently their deep connection is enough to justify Kelly slapping Amber across the face, and because it was a great ending on paper ruined by the execution and the fact that the character who should have been the one lecturing Amber doesn’t say a single word in the entire last chapter. But I’m not going to. Because it being a bad, out of character, padded book isn’t the problem.
This scene - everything that has to do with Kelly - is. Because it’s not okay. It’s not okay to give a 16 year old an adult love interest. It’s not okay to further the stereotype that lesbians are preying on young girls. It’s not okay to write a scene this heavy and have another character who spied on it call it “hot and steamy lesbian action”. It’s not okay that this is a scene that takes place two days after they meet and they almost have sex. It’s not okay that Kelly is called “d*ke” and “rug muncher’. It’s not okay that this is being written by a straight man in his 40s who already paired a 15 year old with an 18 year old and a 110 year old in his previous series. (I’m not going to even touch Valkyrie/Skulduggery “hints”.) It’s not okay that this is coming from an author who is dating someone half his age, who he got involved with when she was 19. It’s not acceptable.
Most problems I have with this book can be explained by outside factors - such as a brutal deadline that gave him less than 6 months to finish the book. The first book sold poorly and produced very little fanwork (I know, because I’m the one who drew/wrote 80 percent of it, lol.) Maybe there was just a lack of ideas in general. But everything with Kelly is inexcusable. It takes 5 seconds to google the age of consent in Florida (where Amber is from) and California (where Kelly is from) and see that it’s 18. And see that this is not okay, even if there’s not an inherent sense of “wrong”. Not once does anyone mention this age gap - and not once is Kelly’s age ever clarified. And there is no excuse.
I’m done with defending Derek Landy. I’m done with ignoring the descriptions that emphasize Amber and Valkyrie’s bodies. I’m done pretending characters like Tanith or Aurora or Scapegrace were “queer representation.” I’m done looking the other way. Landy likes to complain about 1 star reviews on his blog/twitter. I’d love to see him take on this one.
Assorted extra thoughts:
-YA is a very broad category, and concepts of appropriateness are hard to judge, but there’s a lot, a LOT of swearing, including derogatory terms like the ones I mentioned above. The gore is the worst I’ve read in any YA book (like, if you thought SP or the first book was bad, ho boy). The sexual content is also very high, like the aforementioned scene with Amber and Kelly, as well as a scene with many demons killing each other and having orgies on the street (“three demons having sex in a store window suddenly started arguing”).
-Amber has an encounter with a serial killer for the fondness for the word “bitch”, which Amber gently but sternly tells him to “stop it with the misogyny”. Despite this speech, the word is still used afterwards. The word bitch is said 9 times total, mostly by Kirsty to Amber.
-Betty calls Amber a hypocrite, because “(Amber) went to the rallies, signed the petitions, chanted the chants, showed support for a woman’s right to choose”, and yet thinks Betty is “evil” for trying to kill Amber and having killed her other children. A subject as heavy as abortion is being compared to Demons killing and eating their children.
-As mentioned before, there’s a weird focus on boobs - Linda’s and Kelly’s, as mentioned, as well as a new character, Lucy, who the other girls applaud for her lack of “sag” despite being over 60. Most disturbing is from a nightmare Amber has where she sees her parents and demon self serving up her human self. Amber’s mother asks if Bill would like “leg or breast?”, and he chooses the former. Demon Amber replies “She doesn’t have much of the other.” And they all laugh.
There’s no possible way for me to do this review without spoiling a lot of the first half of the book, and a couple things from the second half, so if you want to find out on your own - or don’t want my views to bias you - stop here. But if you are concerned about skeeviness - or, honestly, a lot of things that would deserve a trigger warning - march on ahead.
Desolation picks up almost immediately after Demon Road leaves off. Amber is still 16, something repeated in the text often. We open immediately with a BRS esque serial killer capturing Amber and lovingly, painstakingly, breaking each of her fingers. This goes on for about two pages - two pages of Amber crying and screaming as he takes his time. This was the preview for the book in the back of the first one’s paperback. It is, in hindsight, a rather accurate representation of what you’re getting into. Get ready for a lot of torture porn.
Milo bursts in, conveniently after every finger has already been broken (good job being a bodyguard, bro! No, he has no excuse for being late.). Amber’s torturer recognizes him as an old friend, from before Milo’s amnesia. Even knows Milo’s not his real name. Excited for that to pay off? It doesn’t. Milo just kinda sits around in this book. He gets a few good exchanges with Amber - which were easily my favorite part - but it’s certainly not enough to count.
We then get introduced to my first major problem with the book - the pointless new supporting cast. We have Virgil, a retired horror actor, and his friend, Javier. They’re clearly an homage to horror actors, who the book is dedicated to. The entire thing reads like Landy needed to pad the book, so he just added a ton of POV chapters from these “funny” old men. And by “funny” I mean Scapegrace/Ping/Thrasher level. Like those aforementioned characters there’s also a few jokes about Javier and Virgil being gay. This isn’t paid off or used as anything other than a joke.
I want to note that Demon Road was 100 percent Amber’s POV the entire way through. We now have 4 POV characters. This is really jarring - most of the time when books add another POV in the sequel, one additional character is added. If it was just Kelly, it’d be fine. But as is even at the beginning of the book I was struggling to get through chapters about brand new characters who were brought in out of nowhere.
Then there’s Kelly. Oh, Kelly. Kelly is a member of a demon hunting Scooby Gang (they even have a dog!). This group includes her, a “19 or 20” year old red haired lesbian (described as having “a small chest” in the text), Warrick, a white guy who’s the comic relief/Shaggy of the gang (and the only other one to have an actual personality), Linda, who is described only with “a Chinese girl” and “huge boobs”, and Ronnie, who is black and apparently has nothing else interesting about him, despite being the leader of the gang. Kelly’s squad is a group of monster hunters/”good guys” who go down the demon road in the interest of saving people’s lives. This contrasts with everything we were told about the world in the first book, but honestly, that is such a minor complaint compared to everything else we get with Kelly. We’ll get back to that.
Curious as how Amber and Milo finally became friends? What was the turning point between partners and genuine friends? This is something Landy does really well - Dark Days, in hindsight, is about how Skulduggery finally realizes Valkyrie is a person and someone he genuinely cares about. What about Milo and Amber? What was their moment?
You don’t get one. Suddenly Milo and Amber are cozy enough to talk and tease each other about their (lack of) flirting abilities. Very friendly and cute and fun. Here’s the problem: it doesn’t feel earned. Just a couple scenes earlier Amber tries to engage in small talk with Milo and it fails completely because Milo does not know how to. It especially doesn’t feel earned because we get several scenes long after this where Milo struggles to talk genuinely with Amber about things like her nightmares or other things she’s dealing with. Yet they have no problem gently teasing each other like old friends here?
Milo suggests Amber flirt with a boy in the restaurant and she says “not my type”. Which was the moment I figured out exactly what this book was trying to do.
Because Kelly is Amber’s love interest. “19 or 20 year old” Kelly is sixteen year old Amber’s love interest. Not only is Kelly 3-4 years older, she’s far more experienced in every way - she’s an out lesbian, she’s an expert on the Demon Road, she’s confident and tattoo’d and unshakable. Amber has never been kissed. Amber has abusive parents and the confidence of a two legged chihuahua. Amber’s complete and utter lack of self esteem (which takes a steady nose dive in this book as she constantly refers to her human self as ugly and grows to hate it) is a huge issue because it puts her in a very easy position to be manipulated by an adult. Most relationships between young girls and older men are horribly toxic because the girl is so inexperienced or self loathing that she can be pushed into situations or decisions and not be in a position to even know better. But the thing is, of course, Kelly is not a man. No, she’s a girl. And girl on girl is hot.
Kelly and Amber meet in a jail cell, where they make small talk and Amber immediately admires her for her confidence, experience with demons, and her looks. They part, and the next day Amber takes a dying Milo to Kelly and her friends for help.
This is their second ever interaction, when Kelly gets her first look at Amber’s demon form:
Kelly raised her hand. Traced her fingertip along Amber’s cheek, down to her chin, let it drop.
“You know what?” Kelly said. “I think I prefer you the other way.”
Amber reverts, and Kelly smiles. “There’s my cutie,” she says.
Amber and Kelly work together a bit the next 48~ hours, but don’t talk much. And then, right the fuck out of nowhere, we get … this. Kelly comes to dress Amber’s wounds and helps her to take her shirt off; when Amber is awkward about this, Kelly responds by taking off her own. She also suggests that she could “take my pants off, if it’d make you more comfortable”, which flusters Amber even more. Amber talks about how much she hates her body and how beautiful Kelly is, which Kelly dismisses and asks Amber if she’s coming on to her. Kelly tells Amber, in a “””’sexy””” way, that she can’t kiss Amber while she’s fixing her bandage because it’d be unprofessional. She can’t “grab (her) and kiss (her)”, “pull you into me and press my lips against yours”, “I can’t pull your hair (...) I can’t grab a fistful of your hair to pull your head back to kiss your throat. It’s against all the rules, Amber.” “I can’t kiss the length of your jawline. I can’t do it, Amber. It wouldn’t be right.”
An adult woman is telling a 16 year old she can’t kiss her because it’s wrong, and ‘against the rules’. Forbidden is sexy. Breaking the rules - breaking the law - is desirable.
Through this entire interaction - Amber stays completely silent, flustered and unsure of how to respond.
Then, of course, Kelly finishes tending to her wound and they make out. Amber feels another surge of self hatred and shifts into her demon form, who’s a lot more horny (ha). Demon Amber deepens the kiss, pulls Kelly towards the bed and tries to take off her pants. Kelly realizes that Amber’s shifted and pushes her away, disgusted. Kelly makes it clear she prefers human Amber, whom she nicknamed “beautiful”. With everything else, it feels less sweet and more manipulative. And why does Amber have to be beautiful? She clearly isn’t. So what does experienced, gorgeous, heroic, all around nearly perfect person Kelly sees in Amber … besides a young girl who’s inexperienced, lacking in confidence, and easy to manipulate?
This is the only kiss between them - they talk about it later, with Amber apologizing for being “nervous” because it was her first real kiss, and Kelly assuring her they can practice later - because the plot remembers it’s supposed to be there and prevents any further development. I’m not going to go much into the second half of the book because 1. Spoilers, 2. It’s really boring.
I could talk about how much I hated the ending. And I really, really hated it, because Kelly is now apparently Amber’s moral compass despite knowing her for four days, because apparently their deep connection is enough to justify Kelly slapping Amber across the face, and because it was a great ending on paper ruined by the execution and the fact that the character who should have been the one lecturing Amber doesn’t say a single word in the entire last chapter. But I’m not going to. Because it being a bad, out of character, padded book isn’t the problem.
This scene - everything that has to do with Kelly - is. Because it’s not okay. It’s not okay to give a 16 year old an adult love interest. It’s not okay to further the stereotype that lesbians are preying on young girls. It’s not okay to write a scene this heavy and have another character who spied on it call it “hot and steamy lesbian action”. It’s not okay that this is a scene that takes place two days after they meet and they almost have sex. It’s not okay that Kelly is called “d*ke” and “rug muncher’. It’s not okay that this is being written by a straight man in his 40s who already paired a 15 year old with an 18 year old and a 110 year old in his previous series. (I’m not going to even touch Valkyrie/Skulduggery “hints”.) It’s not okay that this is coming from an author who is dating someone half his age, who he got involved with when she was 19. It’s not acceptable.
Most problems I have with this book can be explained by outside factors - such as a brutal deadline that gave him less than 6 months to finish the book. The first book sold poorly and produced very little fanwork (I know, because I’m the one who drew/wrote 80 percent of it, lol.) Maybe there was just a lack of ideas in general. But everything with Kelly is inexcusable. It takes 5 seconds to google the age of consent in Florida (where Amber is from) and California (where Kelly is from) and see that it’s 18. And see that this is not okay, even if there’s not an inherent sense of “wrong”. Not once does anyone mention this age gap - and not once is Kelly’s age ever clarified. And there is no excuse.
I’m done with defending Derek Landy. I’m done with ignoring the descriptions that emphasize Amber and Valkyrie’s bodies. I’m done pretending characters like Tanith or Aurora or Scapegrace were “queer representation.” I’m done looking the other way. Landy likes to complain about 1 star reviews on his blog/twitter. I’d love to see him take on this one.
Assorted extra thoughts:
-YA is a very broad category, and concepts of appropriateness are hard to judge, but there’s a lot, a LOT of swearing, including derogatory terms like the ones I mentioned above. The gore is the worst I’ve read in any YA book (like, if you thought SP or the first book was bad, ho boy). The sexual content is also very high, like the aforementioned scene with Amber and Kelly, as well as a scene with many demons killing each other and having orgies on the street (“three demons having sex in a store window suddenly started arguing”).
-Amber has an encounter with a serial killer for the fondness for the word “bitch”, which Amber gently but sternly tells him to “stop it with the misogyny”. Despite this speech, the word is still used afterwards. The word bitch is said 9 times total, mostly by Kirsty to Amber.
-Betty calls Amber a hypocrite, because “(Amber) went to the rallies, signed the petitions, chanted the chants, showed support for a woman’s right to choose”, and yet thinks Betty is “evil” for trying to kill Amber and having killed her other children. A subject as heavy as abortion is being compared to Demons killing and eating their children.
-As mentioned before, there’s a weird focus on boobs - Linda’s and Kelly’s, as mentioned, as well as a new character, Lucy, who the other girls applaud for her lack of “sag” despite being over 60. Most disturbing is from a nightmare Amber has where she sees her parents and demon self serving up her human self. Amber’s mother asks if Bill would like “leg or breast?”, and he chooses the former. Demon Amber replies “She doesn’t have much of the other.” And they all laugh.
July 24, 2016
Thank you to HarperCollins UK, Children's & Derek Landy for my copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is only the second book I have read from Landy and it was pretty good I must admit. Usually, I like a little romance or a huge love triangle but the book is so action packed I didn't even think about it, even when it does happen!
The book picks up from where it left off, after cheating the Shinning Demon and killing his representative Milo & Amber are back on the Demon Road seeking refuge from the five Hounds, demon bikers that Astaroth has sent to fetch her. Finally, they come across their destination Desolation Hill which shields them from Astaroth's grip. It becomes clear to Amber Desolation Hill isn't the little quiet village that she thought it was but nothing can prepare her for what's about to happen.
Ok, so I won't lie the book was hella confusing at some points as there is a bunch of new characters and it jumps from one person's POV to the next but it's like you are reading a completely different story and I never had a clue what was going on, did I get used to this? yes but only after more than half the book. The story did still keep my attention and I never expected what was going to happen in the end I was in a total state of OH MY GOD.
Some of the new characters were amazing and I found myself absolutely loving them! Only thing is the gang really reminded me of Scooby-Doo & Mystery Inc. There was a dog, a shaggy guy with a beard, a hot lesbian redhead, Linda who reminded me of Thelma and Ronnie who would just be Fred if Fred was African American. They go about kicking demon ass and solving mysteries... just like Scooby-Doo but not revealing that the scary man's really the creepy janitor at your school, they are actually real demons.
I would say, Ricky, Dave & Party Monster were my favourites, what can I say I'm a sucker for cheeky overly confident types in books. I liked when the gang kicked their asses but I also laughed when I thought they were going to get their revenge and Ricky ended up getting his ass handed to him again all on his own doing!
Milo & Amber have grown their relationship into more of a friendship rather than traveling companions. I don't know when this happened but I like it because it didn't go all soft explaining when they reached BFF mode and should plait each other's hair while talking about boyfriends, they just start to understand and become protective of each other. Milo even tries to help Amber with sort of relationship advice which I found pretty amusing, it felt the way my brother would approach a conversation then decide it wasn't a good idea haha!
So there're a few kinks that need to be ironed out in the book but overall I really enjoyed it and would give it 3.5 stars.
Check out my blog www.amandaminnockx.tumblr.com thanks :).
"Guess we're a little ruder than we'd like to be when we're horned up."
Milo looked at her.
"I should probably use a different word for that," she said.
"Probably," he agreed, and they started moving again.
This is only the second book I have read from Landy and it was pretty good I must admit. Usually, I like a little romance or a huge love triangle but the book is so action packed I didn't even think about it, even when it does happen!
The book picks up from where it left off, after cheating the Shinning Demon and killing his representative Milo & Amber are back on the Demon Road seeking refuge from the five Hounds, demon bikers that Astaroth has sent to fetch her. Finally, they come across their destination Desolation Hill which shields them from Astaroth's grip. It becomes clear to Amber Desolation Hill isn't the little quiet village that she thought it was but nothing can prepare her for what's about to happen.
Ok, so I won't lie the book was hella confusing at some points as there is a bunch of new characters and it jumps from one person's POV to the next but it's like you are reading a completely different story and I never had a clue what was going on, did I get used to this? yes but only after more than half the book. The story did still keep my attention and I never expected what was going to happen in the end I was in a total state of OH MY GOD.
Some of the new characters were amazing and I found myself absolutely loving them! Only thing is the gang really reminded me of Scooby-Doo & Mystery Inc. There was a dog, a shaggy guy with a beard, a hot lesbian redhead, Linda who reminded me of Thelma and Ronnie who would just be Fred if Fred was African American. They go about kicking demon ass and solving mysteries... just like Scooby-Doo but not revealing that the scary man's really the creepy janitor at your school, they are actually real demons.
I would say, Ricky, Dave & Party Monster were my favourites, what can I say I'm a sucker for cheeky overly confident types in books. I liked when the gang kicked their asses but I also laughed when I thought they were going to get their revenge and Ricky ended up getting his ass handed to him again all on his own doing!
Milo & Amber have grown their relationship into more of a friendship rather than traveling companions. I don't know when this happened but I like it because it didn't go all soft explaining when they reached BFF mode and should plait each other's hair while talking about boyfriends, they just start to understand and become protective of each other. Milo even tries to help Amber with sort of relationship advice which I found pretty amusing, it felt the way my brother would approach a conversation then decide it wasn't a good idea haha!
So there're a few kinks that need to be ironed out in the book but overall I really enjoyed it and would give it 3.5 stars.
Check out my blog www.amandaminnockx.tumblr.com thanks :).
"Guess we're a little ruder than we'd like to be when we're horned up."
Milo looked at her.
"I should probably use a different word for that," she said.
"Probably," he agreed, and they started moving again.
May 10, 2018
As I really enjoyed the first book of the Demon Road series, I picked the next book up asap. Although this book is a little darker than the first, I enjoyed. If you don't know that I like really dark, gory, creepy things, then you obviously dont read my reviews (which is fine, but now you know). Derek Landy really impressed me with upping the ante in this one, a lot changes in this book, from the last.
Picking up right where Demon Road left off, Amber and Milo are back on Demon Road, but now on the run from the Hell Hounds, five demonic bikers sent by Astaroth to capture them. There destination, Desolation Hill, a place where the hellish bikers and Astaroth cannot touch them until they can work out a way out of the mess they have found themselves in.
This isn't the quiet little town Amber and Milo thought it would be, the town and the townspeople hide dark secrets, and the night were all hell breaks loose is fast approaching. And they aren't the only one snooping around, trying to uncover the secrets of Desolation Hill.
Unlike the first book, this book was read in multiple perspectives, which worked well for the story once I got through the confusion of what the hell was going on. I didn't really have an issue reading it like this, as you kind of needed the multiple perspectives for the book to work and make sense, but without warning at the beginning or some identifying way of showing whos perspective we are in, it was very confusing.
This book also felt a little slower than the first. It could be because the first book was more like a road trip and this book had more of a small little town hiding vibe to it. As I said before, it has gotten quite darker than the first book. To me, it kind of felt a bit Harry Potter-esk, in the sense of how the first book compared to the last, and how it gradually grows darker as the books progress. Obviously being a trilogy, it's going to get a lot darker, a lot quicker.
The characters were well written, Amber and Milo who we know. The gang, who reminded me of the Scooby-Doo gang who consisted of, a dog(no he doesn't talk), a shaggy guy with a beard, a hot lesbian redhead, Linda who is the Velma of the group and Ronnie who was an African American version of Fred. Instead of chasing goons dressed in masks, these guys hunt down demons! The one thing I wanted more of was Glen, that little weirdo really grew on me in the first book and there just wasn't enough of him at all in the book. I think I missed his banter with Amber more than anything.
Ambers constant referral to her human self as fat, unattractive and her demon self as beautiful and slim, kind of got on my nerves. Its referred to over and over again. There's more to a person than their looks, and although the author kind of touches on this, it wasn't enough to make a huge impact on me as a reader.
One thing people have had an issue with is the scene with Amber and Kelly. Personally, I didn't have an issue with the scene. Although it is stated that Amber is 16, I imagined her as a bit older than that, so in my head it was someone 17/18 making out with a 19/20 year old. Yes, Kelly is around 19/20. And if we go on the scene alone, a 16-year-old shouldn't be making out/being sexual with a 19/20-year-old. I cannot really talk though, as I was seeing an 18-year-old when I was 15. It might make some people uncomfortable, but others not so much. I thought I would just touch on the subject more as a (trigger warning/spoiler) for those who might be affected, by a scene such as this.
Recommended for: YA/Horror/Fantasy
March 21, 2016
Stars. Sigh. Always a difficult issue. Maybe, if Goodreads had half stars, I'd be tempted to give it two and a half stars; as it is, when having to choose between "it was ok" and "liked it", I'm leaning far more towards the "it was ok" side, overall. So two stars it is.
Sigh.
I'll attempt to flesh this review out a bit (if I can manage it) closer to actual release date or when it's out, because there were some rather specific things I had specific problems with that would require me to go into spoiler territory, but ... well, in general, the very knowledge that it took me five days to make my way through the book, where until now I've basically devoured every Derek Landy book in a day, two at the most, is probably saying something.
I'm fairly sure a lot of readers will love it. It's not a horrible book (I know some will disagree but when I'm rating it "it was ok", that's basically what I mean) and I think that for many who aren't as sensitive to specific issues (which I'm not, but there were things that made me wince because of the way they were included), don't mind the new side characters and - perhaps even more importantly - aren't solid fans of the Skulduggery Pleasant series, it will feel like a rather entertaining, fresh, action-filled book with a relatively solid central plot.
To me... well. It felt tired. Boring, even. Going through the motions, for a lot of it. There were some really good bits - most of the scenes where it was just Milo and Amber, really - but unfortunately, for me, those bits were in the minority. The banter in particular, which has generally been the highlight of any Derek book, just felt so ... drained. It didn't sparkle. It was very samey and very little of it was actually funny. It could be just that I'm drifting away from this sort of stuff, I'm not sure, but .. the new characters and their banter was so interchangeable so often that it wasn't fun to read page after page after page of it.
I'm not going to complain about the tedious gore because that's what this series is about to a big extent but since I'm not a big fan, it didn't help.
The very ending .. I'm not entirely happy about how it was written but the premise is intriguing enough that in spite of all my grumbling, I think I will want to see how this trilogy ends.
* ARC of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thanks!
Sigh.
I'll attempt to flesh this review out a bit (if I can manage it) closer to actual release date or when it's out, because there were some rather specific things I had specific problems with that would require me to go into spoiler territory, but ... well, in general, the very knowledge that it took me five days to make my way through the book, where until now I've basically devoured every Derek Landy book in a day, two at the most, is probably saying something.
I'm fairly sure a lot of readers will love it. It's not a horrible book (I know some will disagree but when I'm rating it "it was ok", that's basically what I mean) and I think that for many who aren't as sensitive to specific issues (which I'm not, but there were things that made me wince because of the way they were included), don't mind the new side characters and - perhaps even more importantly - aren't solid fans of the Skulduggery Pleasant series, it will feel like a rather entertaining, fresh, action-filled book with a relatively solid central plot.
To me... well. It felt tired. Boring, even. Going through the motions, for a lot of it. There were some really good bits - most of the scenes where it was just Milo and Amber, really - but unfortunately, for me, those bits were in the minority. The banter in particular, which has generally been the highlight of any Derek book, just felt so ... drained. It didn't sparkle. It was very samey and very little of it was actually funny. It could be just that I'm drifting away from this sort of stuff, I'm not sure, but .. the new characters and their banter was so interchangeable so often that it wasn't fun to read page after page after page of it.
I'm not going to complain about the tedious gore because that's what this series is about to a big extent but since I'm not a big fan, it didn't help.
The very ending .. I'm not entirely happy about how it was written but the premise is intriguing enough that in spite of all my grumbling, I think I will want to see how this trilogy ends.
* ARC of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thanks!
March 20, 2016
Kind of half and half about it. I thought Amber was more a unique main character and there were some good bits of humor. I kept thinking about Buffy through out it. There's a scene with some bikers that reminded me of season six and a monster that was similar to either the slender man or the Gentlemen in Buffy.
I don't think it was brilliantly written, there was so much action at one point put together that around 50%-90% mark - reading on Kindle so book pages aren't always reliable- things just blured together that I had to re-read things to make sense. There's a different format to the first book which felt very episodic with sort of a mini quest, driving then another mini quest on repeat. This book mostly stays in the same area so not much of the Demon Road
I am beyond fed up with people calling Amber ugly in her human form, its ridiculous, I was so happy when one person preferred her but that got slightly ruined for me by the persons character.
Also an explanation about Glen would have been nice and less coincidences
I don't think it was brilliantly written, there was so much action at one point put together that around 50%-90% mark - reading on Kindle so book pages aren't always reliable- things just blured together that I had to re-read things to make sense. There's a different format to the first book which felt very episodic with sort of a mini quest, driving then another mini quest on repeat. This book mostly stays in the same area so not much of the Demon Road
I am beyond fed up with people calling Amber ugly in her human form, its ridiculous, I was so happy when one person preferred her but that got slightly ruined for me by the persons character.
Also an explanation about Glen would have been nice and less coincidences
July 16, 2019
It struck Amber that hell, no matter its faults and its cruelties, was at the very least honest. She wondered if heaven was half as trustworthy.
I don't even know what to say about this book. It's Derek Landy's doing, so it's amazing.
This second part was even better than the first one, full of action and full of characters I just had to fall head over heels in love with. I mean... Javier and Virgil are awesome and somehow I always picture them like Bobby and the old version of Dean from Supernatural. Kelly's awesome, too. And of course there's Amber and Milo who are just as amazing as in the first novel. If not better because they've been on the road together for a while now. I'm glad I reread this and I'm really looking forward to doing the dame with the third book.
July 24, 2017
Dämonisch, bissig, blutrünstig und wirklich böse! Bin ein FAN! xD
Nach der grandiosen Skulduggery Reihe war ich ja Feuer und Flamme für seine neue Reihe "Demon Road" und schon der erste Band hatte mich total begeistert!
Amber steht hier im Mittelpunkt, wieder eine jugendliche, weibliche Protagonistin, die sich nicht mit anderen aus der gängigen Buchlandschaft vergleichen lässt! Keine Romantik oder kitschigen Liebesgeschichten, keine naiven großen Augen wenn die Welt aus den Fugen gerät, sondern knallharte Action, brutale Dämonen und ein rasanter Road-Trip stehen hier auf dem Programm.
Natürlich auch im zweiten Band, der mich von Anfang an mitgerissen hat. Schon die Anfangsszene zeigt ein typisches Szenario wie aus einem Horrorfilm - und ja, es ist ein Jugendbuch und ich denke, dass viele 14jährige schon sehr gut damit klar kommen, besser, als manche Erwachsene oder Eltern denken würden ;) Aber manche vielleicht auch nicht, also wer keine Gewalt, Brutalität und dämonisches Benehmen mag, sollte lieber die Finger davon lassen!
Amber ist weiter auf der Flucht vor den Höllenhunden des leuchtenden Dämons und ihr ständiger Begleiter Milo beschützt sie mit allem, was ihm zur Verfügung steht: und das ist NICHT wenig! Der Tipp mit Desolation Hill scheint eine Goldgrube zu sein, denn hier soll sie erstmal vor den Verfolgern sicher sein. Doch das mit diesem beschaulichen Städtchen etwas nicht stimmt, wird den beiden sehr schnell klar.
Als auch noch ein Quartett Dämonenjäger auftaucht, ein alternder Schauspieler einen Mord beobachtet und die Höllennacht näherrückt, wird das Chaos perfekt.
Die Geschichte ist wieder absolut fesselnd! Es gibt jede Menge Abwechslung auch durch die wechselnden Perspektiven und das Tempo nimmt immer mehr zu. Die bissigen Dialoge geben dem ganzen einen bitterbösen Sarkasmus, der mir super viel Spaß gemacht hat und gerade in der zweiten Hälfte hat man kaum noch Zeit, zu Atem zu kommen, weil sich die Ereignisse überschlagen.
Sie alle hangeln sich von einer ausweglosen Situation zur anderen und obwohl alles schief zu gehen scheint, was nur schief gehen kann, gelingt es ihnen immer wieder, ihren Kopf aus der Schlinge zu ziehen. Gerade auch Milo mit seiner stoischen, pragmatischen Art ist einfach grandios; aber auch Amber, die in ihrer Dämonengestalt einen unglaublichen Selbstbewusstseinsschub durchmacht, entwickelt sich weiter - ob zum Guten muss man noch sehen.
Das Thema, das schon im ersten Teil angesprochen wurde, wird auch hier zwischendurch immer wieder aufgegriffen: ihre Unsicherheit und ihr mangelndes Selbstwertgefühl und ihre Angst, wertlos zu sein. In ihrer Dämonengestalt fällt das alles von ihr ab und sie fühlt sich einfach nur gut. Groß, schlank, schön und gefährlich - zu gefährlich, auch für sich selbst? Denn der Dämon in ihr hat keine Skrupel, kein Mitleid und keine Scheu, über Leichen zu gehen ... ich bin hier auch sehr gespannt, wie das ganze im dritten und letzten Band mit ihr enden wird!
Ich fand es jedenfalls durchweg super spannend, Kugeln sind geflogen, es gab Verschwörungen, Überraschungen, tolle neue Charaktere und vor allem viel Blut! Man muss damit klar kommen, das rüde Gewalt hier im Vordergrund steht, Knochen aus Spaß gebrochen werden und der ein oder andere Dämon gegessen wird, um seine Kräfte in sich aufzunehmen ... Es erinnert natürlich an die Serie Supernatural und wenn ihr ein Fan davon seid, werdet ihr diese Reihe auf jeden Fall auch lieben!
© Aleshanee
Weltenwanderer
Demon Road
1 - Hölle und Highway
2 - Höllennacht in Desolation Hill
3 - in Vorbereitung
Nach der grandiosen Skulduggery Reihe war ich ja Feuer und Flamme für seine neue Reihe "Demon Road" und schon der erste Band hatte mich total begeistert!
Amber steht hier im Mittelpunkt, wieder eine jugendliche, weibliche Protagonistin, die sich nicht mit anderen aus der gängigen Buchlandschaft vergleichen lässt! Keine Romantik oder kitschigen Liebesgeschichten, keine naiven großen Augen wenn die Welt aus den Fugen gerät, sondern knallharte Action, brutale Dämonen und ein rasanter Road-Trip stehen hier auf dem Programm.
Natürlich auch im zweiten Band, der mich von Anfang an mitgerissen hat. Schon die Anfangsszene zeigt ein typisches Szenario wie aus einem Horrorfilm - und ja, es ist ein Jugendbuch und ich denke, dass viele 14jährige schon sehr gut damit klar kommen, besser, als manche Erwachsene oder Eltern denken würden ;) Aber manche vielleicht auch nicht, also wer keine Gewalt, Brutalität und dämonisches Benehmen mag, sollte lieber die Finger davon lassen!
Amber ist weiter auf der Flucht vor den Höllenhunden des leuchtenden Dämons und ihr ständiger Begleiter Milo beschützt sie mit allem, was ihm zur Verfügung steht: und das ist NICHT wenig! Der Tipp mit Desolation Hill scheint eine Goldgrube zu sein, denn hier soll sie erstmal vor den Verfolgern sicher sein. Doch das mit diesem beschaulichen Städtchen etwas nicht stimmt, wird den beiden sehr schnell klar.
Als auch noch ein Quartett Dämonenjäger auftaucht, ein alternder Schauspieler einen Mord beobachtet und die Höllennacht näherrückt, wird das Chaos perfekt.
Die Geschichte ist wieder absolut fesselnd! Es gibt jede Menge Abwechslung auch durch die wechselnden Perspektiven und das Tempo nimmt immer mehr zu. Die bissigen Dialoge geben dem ganzen einen bitterbösen Sarkasmus, der mir super viel Spaß gemacht hat und gerade in der zweiten Hälfte hat man kaum noch Zeit, zu Atem zu kommen, weil sich die Ereignisse überschlagen.
Sie alle hangeln sich von einer ausweglosen Situation zur anderen und obwohl alles schief zu gehen scheint, was nur schief gehen kann, gelingt es ihnen immer wieder, ihren Kopf aus der Schlinge zu ziehen. Gerade auch Milo mit seiner stoischen, pragmatischen Art ist einfach grandios; aber auch Amber, die in ihrer Dämonengestalt einen unglaublichen Selbstbewusstseinsschub durchmacht, entwickelt sich weiter - ob zum Guten muss man noch sehen.
Das Thema, das schon im ersten Teil angesprochen wurde, wird auch hier zwischendurch immer wieder aufgegriffen: ihre Unsicherheit und ihr mangelndes Selbstwertgefühl und ihre Angst, wertlos zu sein. In ihrer Dämonengestalt fällt das alles von ihr ab und sie fühlt sich einfach nur gut. Groß, schlank, schön und gefährlich - zu gefährlich, auch für sich selbst? Denn der Dämon in ihr hat keine Skrupel, kein Mitleid und keine Scheu, über Leichen zu gehen ... ich bin hier auch sehr gespannt, wie das ganze im dritten und letzten Band mit ihr enden wird!
Ich fand es jedenfalls durchweg super spannend, Kugeln sind geflogen, es gab Verschwörungen, Überraschungen, tolle neue Charaktere und vor allem viel Blut! Man muss damit klar kommen, das rüde Gewalt hier im Vordergrund steht, Knochen aus Spaß gebrochen werden und der ein oder andere Dämon gegessen wird, um seine Kräfte in sich aufzunehmen ... Es erinnert natürlich an die Serie Supernatural und wenn ihr ein Fan davon seid, werdet ihr diese Reihe auf jeden Fall auch lieben!
© Aleshanee
Weltenwanderer
Demon Road
1 - Hölle und Highway
2 - Höllennacht in Desolation Hill
3 - in Vorbereitung
June 25, 2017
Desolation picks not long after Demon Road signed off, and it wastes no time getting back into the action.
The rest of this review can be found HERE!
Some of them had been attacked where they sat, others as they tried to escape. Bludgeoned to death, every one of them. A woman in a brown cardigan was slumped over her table, blood leaking from the mess in the back of her head. A trucker in a plaid shirt had half his face caved in. The waitress had been dragged across the counter. Blood dripped from the dented gash in her temple, forming a growing pool on the floor beneath her. Amber couldn’t see the cook, but knew he was lying on the floor of the kitchen. She could see his blood on the wall.Landy offers up some new characters to enrich the banter and round out the team, including retired cult-actor, Virgil Abernathy, who’s just witnessed something worrying through his neighbour’s window.
Virgil turned off the lights. Time for bed. Another day over with. Another one under his belt. He was building up quite a collection. Had more days than he could count. He wasn’t quite sure what he would do with them, once he’d collected them all. Maybe he’d set them free. Maybe he’d go to Eddison’s Shard, the rocky outcrop overlooking the disused quarry in the hills behind his house and throw the days to the wind, watch them flutter and fly and disappear. Or maybe he’d just stuff them in a jar bury them in the backyard. Either one would suffice. No one would be using them again.And our very own Scooby Gang, complete with van, and dog who likes to hump… everything.
Kelly sighed. “Sorry, van,” she said. “Next time I’ll have more faith in your awesome ability to keep going. There were times, it is true, when I doubted this ability. Uphill, especially. Even, to be honest, sometimes downhill. You have proven me wrong.”
“Now swear everlasting allegiance.”
“I’m not doing that.”
“Ronnie,” Warrick called, “she won’t swear everlasting allegiance to the van.”
The rest of this review can be found HERE!
July 6, 2020
Затегнете коланите, защото отново се понасяме с мръсна газ по „Демон шосе”. Втората част от трилогията на Дерек Ланди пристига с мирис на бензин и нагорещен асфалт. Продължението на хитовия свръхестествен YA трилър се нарича „Опустошение” (изд. „Студио Арт Лайн”) и в него Амбър и Майло ще преминат през много изпитания и ужас, преследвани от неумолитиме Хрътки и попаднали на неподходящото място, във възможно най-най-неподходящото време... Прочетете ревюто на "Книжни Криле": https://knijnikrile.wordpress.com/202...
Read
March 26, 2016Full review to follow on my blog, but I broke my nose a couple of days ago so haven't felt well enough to write one yet! This was a NetGalley read hence the pre-publication review.
My main thought? "Derek Landy, writer of seatbelt propaganda." Seriously. Between this and the Skulduggery Pleasant books, I'm beginning to think he's trying to make a point. A good point, but nonetheless a point.
While there were some very funny bits and also some emotional bits, this didn't quite have the effortless banter I've come to expect from Landy, so that was a shame. Then again, at the speed he's writing these... book one came out, when, September? And book three is due in August? I have questions, namely: what demon deal did he make to get that sort of speed? That said, despite the speed I couldn't remember what had happened in book one beyond a few vague details, so it took me a while to get into it as I struggled to recall the context. I'm still not sure I've remembered all of it correctly -- I probably should have reread the first one before tackling this, but it made it clear that if someone picked these books up in the wrong order, they'd definitely struggle.
Anyway, there were some really good moments here but I wouldn't say it was perfect. I liked that it featured queer characters, and that this was treated with humour that felt like it was laughing WITH the characters rather than AT them. Although I'd have liked that to be more developed, I'm glad these books don't have too much of a romantic focus because I'm not the romance type, so it worked in its current ratio of queerness to adventure. I like that a heroine gets to be LGBTQ in passing, that her main storyline is about fighting demons and whatnot, but she just happens to be into girls. That's refreshing.
There's a lot of violence here, and some of it is downright unpleasant, and this series definitely feels like it's aimed at an older audience than the Skulduggery Pleasant books -- neither a good nor a bad thing in and of itself, but something to be aware of as a reader.
Like I said, full review to come. When my nose stops hurting.
My main thought? "Derek Landy, writer of seatbelt propaganda." Seriously. Between this and the Skulduggery Pleasant books, I'm beginning to think he's trying to make a point. A good point, but nonetheless a point.
While there were some very funny bits and also some emotional bits, this didn't quite have the effortless banter I've come to expect from Landy, so that was a shame. Then again, at the speed he's writing these... book one came out, when, September? And book three is due in August? I have questions, namely: what demon deal did he make to get that sort of speed? That said, despite the speed I couldn't remember what had happened in book one beyond a few vague details, so it took me a while to get into it as I struggled to recall the context. I'm still not sure I've remembered all of it correctly -- I probably should have reread the first one before tackling this, but it made it clear that if someone picked these books up in the wrong order, they'd definitely struggle.
Anyway, there were some really good moments here but I wouldn't say it was perfect. I liked that it featured queer characters, and that this was treated with humour that felt like it was laughing WITH the characters rather than AT them. Although I'd have liked that to be more developed, I'm glad these books don't have too much of a romantic focus because I'm not the romance type, so it worked in its current ratio of queerness to adventure. I like that a heroine gets to be LGBTQ in passing, that her main storyline is about fighting demons and whatnot, but she just happens to be into girls. That's refreshing.
There's a lot of violence here, and some of it is downright unpleasant, and this series definitely feels like it's aimed at an older audience than the Skulduggery Pleasant books -- neither a good nor a bad thing in and of itself, but something to be aware of as a reader.
Like I said, full review to come. When my nose stops hurting.
August 27, 2016
Okay, I think this will be the first Landy book I give less than 5 stars :(. I did enjoy this. It takes place in one mysterious town, as opposed to the road trip story of the last book, which is cool. We also have some new supporting characters which I am sooo down for. However, I feel like this book is a bit off-balance. Some of the characters are a bit underdeveloped, while there is a ridiculous amount of gore and violence compared with the last book. I feel like this is because Derek Landy only had 6 months to smash this out, and these are things that would have been reshaped if he had more time.
I'm still keen to read the last book, because I still feel like the main story arc is super strong.
I'm still keen to read the last book, because I still feel like the main story arc is super strong.
May 24, 2016
Vapid, lazy and offensive
This is book 2 in a trilogy. Middle books are notoriously difficult and given the short time frame between the first and second book of this series one can surmise that either the author already had this one written or he rushed it. I really can't tell which and to be blunt, I don't care. I feel a little annoyed with this book. Scratch that, I feel a LOT annoyed. I was given a copy to review, just a few pages in I was so impressed I bought the first book: this was a mistake. Why? Because the first one was excellent, interesting characters, great imagery, a fascinating set up and fast moving pace that left me desperate for more. Then I continued reading "Desolation" and am left feeling short changed, frustrated and very uncomfortable with the badly handled love interest.
Without spoiling anyone Amber and Milo have fled north after the brutal encounter in New York. On their trail are the Hounds of Hell (five demonic bikers - nice idea ...). Amber and Milo find Desolation Hill – a small town with a big secret; one night every year evil takes to the streets and all hell breaks loose.
All sounds good so far. The first few pages are great, exactly what I was hoping for, then it got weird, boring and creepy (not in a good way). At the risk of rambling here's the basics;
• Not enough Milo
• Too many new characters that I just don't care about
• Too many POVs - George R. R. Martin does this brilliantly, Derek Landy does not
• Seriously, where was Milo?!
• Borderline torture porn in places
• Sudden change in two relationships with no real investment in building to that point
Quite a lot of this I could forgive based on the whole 'middle book' thing but there are a few things I just cannot look past; describing a character by their appearance or ethnicity in stereotypical generalisations (slightly chubby and plain, red haired lesbian, a Chinese girl with huge boobs, black) is lazy. It's not just offensive and jarring, it's lazy. Amber’s appearance is constantly discussed and thought about both by herself and the other characters. She is constantly called ugly, people tell her they prefer her as a demon and she consistently thinks badly of herself for her appearance. There's no payoff - there' no big moment where this is justified by showing Amber growing to love herself (maybe this is planned for the final book?).
The worst part though, by a country mile, is the love interest. It's not OK to give a 16-year-old an adult love interest. It's just not. The age difference and illegality is barely commented on, the relationship is clearly manipulative and dangerous. Amber is groomed in front of us and as far as I can tell were not supposed to worry about this. Whether this is due to bad writing, a homophobic author or one who genuinely doesn't see anything wrong with an adult seducing a child is largely irrelevant (although very concerning if it's the latter); it doesn't fit, the relationship is not believable and not enough is invested in making the new character one we care about.
This book gets the worst note I can give: I won't let my daughter near it with a barge poll.
Lucy
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
This is book 2 in a trilogy. Middle books are notoriously difficult and given the short time frame between the first and second book of this series one can surmise that either the author already had this one written or he rushed it. I really can't tell which and to be blunt, I don't care. I feel a little annoyed with this book. Scratch that, I feel a LOT annoyed. I was given a copy to review, just a few pages in I was so impressed I bought the first book: this was a mistake. Why? Because the first one was excellent, interesting characters, great imagery, a fascinating set up and fast moving pace that left me desperate for more. Then I continued reading "Desolation" and am left feeling short changed, frustrated and very uncomfortable with the badly handled love interest.
Without spoiling anyone Amber and Milo have fled north after the brutal encounter in New York. On their trail are the Hounds of Hell (five demonic bikers - nice idea ...). Amber and Milo find Desolation Hill – a small town with a big secret; one night every year evil takes to the streets and all hell breaks loose.
All sounds good so far. The first few pages are great, exactly what I was hoping for, then it got weird, boring and creepy (not in a good way). At the risk of rambling here's the basics;
• Not enough Milo
• Too many new characters that I just don't care about
• Too many POVs - George R. R. Martin does this brilliantly, Derek Landy does not
• Seriously, where was Milo?!
• Borderline torture porn in places
• Sudden change in two relationships with no real investment in building to that point
Quite a lot of this I could forgive based on the whole 'middle book' thing but there are a few things I just cannot look past; describing a character by their appearance or ethnicity in stereotypical generalisations (slightly chubby and plain, red haired lesbian, a Chinese girl with huge boobs, black) is lazy. It's not just offensive and jarring, it's lazy. Amber’s appearance is constantly discussed and thought about both by herself and the other characters. She is constantly called ugly, people tell her they prefer her as a demon and she consistently thinks badly of herself for her appearance. There's no payoff - there' no big moment where this is justified by showing Amber growing to love herself (maybe this is planned for the final book?).
The worst part though, by a country mile, is the love interest. It's not OK to give a 16-year-old an adult love interest. It's just not. The age difference and illegality is barely commented on, the relationship is clearly manipulative and dangerous. Amber is groomed in front of us and as far as I can tell were not supposed to worry about this. Whether this is due to bad writing, a homophobic author or one who genuinely doesn't see anything wrong with an adult seducing a child is largely irrelevant (although very concerning if it's the latter); it doesn't fit, the relationship is not believable and not enough is invested in making the new character one we care about.
This book gets the worst note I can give: I won't let my daughter near it with a barge poll.
Lucy
Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.
May 31, 2016
2.5 Stars.
Desolation begins shortly after the massacre of New York, with Amber and Milo fleeing the clutches of Astaroth, the Shining Demon Amber's parents entered a pact to sacrifice their daughter. After killing his representative, the unlikely duo are back on the Demon Road, destination Desolation Hill in the hope of seeking refuge from Astaroth's Hounds.
Milo and Amber haven't had the best working relationship, seeing he was firstly employed to ensure her safety. Now the two have fallen into an awkward partnership under the guise of a being on a road trip with her Uncle. But along their journey, their relationship begins to change, the usually gruff and stoic Milo seeming more at ease with his teen companion. And Amber could really use a friend.
The town of Desolation Hill reminds me of Pleasantville, a facade of perfection but under the surface lies a sinister secret and Amber and Milo aren't the only tourists in town on the eve of the pending festival. It was a strange mix of lightheartedness and horror, and while the main storyline kept me intrigued, the new characters introduced were a little too many and left me unable to connect with the storyline. The introduction of Kelly and her group of van driving investigators of the strange and paranormal were akin to the Scooby Gang, dog included. In among the death and destruction, it was a bit too jovial and as a reader, it felt a little awkward and forced.
I can understand why Amber is lacking in self confidence, but the emphasis placed upon how plain and ordinary she is as a human and how extraordinarily beautiful she is in demon form still makes my eye twitch. The romance was welcomed in that regard as Amber's love interest could see her human beauty, but I had wished that she wouldn't have needed that potential romance to feel validated.
There's also a reappearance of a past character that seems to make little sense. Appearing with little fanfare and disappearing just as quickly in a blink and you'll miss it series of moments. I'm hoping readers will learn more about why he's hanging on, in an incredibly creepy form that's at odds with his original character.
I loved Demon Road, the humour, the adventure and the horror elements blended seamlessly to create a wonderfully entertaining storyline and although I did enjoy Desolation overall, it felt a little too busy with the introduction of too many new characters. I hope the third series installment will return to the magic that was Demon Road, with Amber's storyline at the forefront once again rather than trying to be a little too funny and falling flat.
Desolation begins shortly after the massacre of New York, with Amber and Milo fleeing the clutches of Astaroth, the Shining Demon Amber's parents entered a pact to sacrifice their daughter. After killing his representative, the unlikely duo are back on the Demon Road, destination Desolation Hill in the hope of seeking refuge from Astaroth's Hounds.
Milo and Amber haven't had the best working relationship, seeing he was firstly employed to ensure her safety. Now the two have fallen into an awkward partnership under the guise of a being on a road trip with her Uncle. But along their journey, their relationship begins to change, the usually gruff and stoic Milo seeming more at ease with his teen companion. And Amber could really use a friend.
The town of Desolation Hill reminds me of Pleasantville, a facade of perfection but under the surface lies a sinister secret and Amber and Milo aren't the only tourists in town on the eve of the pending festival. It was a strange mix of lightheartedness and horror, and while the main storyline kept me intrigued, the new characters introduced were a little too many and left me unable to connect with the storyline. The introduction of Kelly and her group of van driving investigators of the strange and paranormal were akin to the Scooby Gang, dog included. In among the death and destruction, it was a bit too jovial and as a reader, it felt a little awkward and forced.
I can understand why Amber is lacking in self confidence, but the emphasis placed upon how plain and ordinary she is as a human and how extraordinarily beautiful she is in demon form still makes my eye twitch. The romance was welcomed in that regard as Amber's love interest could see her human beauty, but I had wished that she wouldn't have needed that potential romance to feel validated.
There's also a reappearance of a past character that seems to make little sense. Appearing with little fanfare and disappearing just as quickly in a blink and you'll miss it series of moments. I'm hoping readers will learn more about why he's hanging on, in an incredibly creepy form that's at odds with his original character.
I loved Demon Road, the humour, the adventure and the horror elements blended seamlessly to create a wonderfully entertaining storyline and although I did enjoy Desolation overall, it felt a little too busy with the introduction of too many new characters. I hope the third series installment will return to the magic that was Demon Road, with Amber's storyline at the forefront once again rather than trying to be a little too funny and falling flat.
June 16, 2016
I received a copy of Desolation from HarperCollins New Zealand to review. You can read my review of the first book in the trilogy, Demon Road, here.
I thought Desolation would be a bit like Demon Road, with Amber and Milo on the road for a while before they found Desolation Hill. But they spent a few chapters on the road before they found the small town which is where the rest of the book takes place. But Desolation Hill was full of surprises so it’s not like it was boring.
There were a few new characters and I think some of them will be in the next book. There
were some friends that traveled across the country in a van (two girls, two guys and a dog) hunting the supernatural and put an end to whatever they found. Sound familiar to you? Well, they reminded me of Scooby Doo. They even had a dog. But unlike Scooby Doo, I didn’t find them cheesy and they were after the real deal, not people pretending to be ghosts and demons. One of the guys was kind of an idiot, in a good way though.
I think Amber and Milo are a pretty good team. They’ve come a long way since the first book. They both have their flaws, and some of them are annoying, but I like them. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen to them in the next book after what Amber did at the end of Desolation.
I have to say though, there were parts of this book that grossed me out a bit. The parts where some demons were eating other demons… I get why they do it but it’s still gross. It’s weird because I can watch all the “gross” stuff on The Walking Dead, like intestines falling from a ceiling, and it doesn’t bother me but reading about a demon eating another demon while they’re still alive? No thank you. Aside from the cannibalism, I actually liked the rest of the story.
I’ve liked both Demon Road and Desolation. I’m looking forward to reading the last book in the trilogy when it comes out next year. There’s a long wait for the next one so I hope I don’t forget everything that happened in the first two books by the time I can read the last book. This is why I like to marathon a series or trilogy, no long wait for the next book. But that’s not always possible. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Amber and Milo.
I thought Desolation would be a bit like Demon Road, with Amber and Milo on the road for a while before they found Desolation Hill. But they spent a few chapters on the road before they found the small town which is where the rest of the book takes place. But Desolation Hill was full of surprises so it’s not like it was boring.
There were a few new characters and I think some of them will be in the next book. There
were some friends that traveled across the country in a van (two girls, two guys and a dog) hunting the supernatural and put an end to whatever they found. Sound familiar to you? Well, they reminded me of Scooby Doo. They even had a dog. But unlike Scooby Doo, I didn’t find them cheesy and they were after the real deal, not people pretending to be ghosts and demons. One of the guys was kind of an idiot, in a good way though.
I think Amber and Milo are a pretty good team. They’ve come a long way since the first book. They both have their flaws, and some of them are annoying, but I like them. It’ll be interesting to see what will happen to them in the next book after what Amber did at the end of Desolation.
I have to say though, there were parts of this book that grossed me out a bit. The parts where some demons were eating other demons… I get why they do it but it’s still gross. It’s weird because I can watch all the “gross” stuff on The Walking Dead, like intestines falling from a ceiling, and it doesn’t bother me but reading about a demon eating another demon while they’re still alive? No thank you. Aside from the cannibalism, I actually liked the rest of the story.
I’ve liked both Demon Road and Desolation. I’m looking forward to reading the last book in the trilogy when it comes out next year. There’s a long wait for the next one so I hope I don’t forget everything that happened in the first two books by the time I can read the last book. This is why I like to marathon a series or trilogy, no long wait for the next book. But that’s not always possible. I can’t wait to see what’s next for Amber and Milo.
April 1, 2016
An excellent follow up to Demon Road as Landy drives his readers even further into a dark world of demonic ritual and horror.
Desolation doesn't quite follow the same set up as it's predecessor, with Landy choosing to settle Amber and Milo in one place for the duration of the novel, moving away from the American road narrative that he adopted brilliantly for Demon Road. That's not to say the unlikely duo don't endure as many testing encounters, quite the contrary, as the Shining Demon continues to throw all he has at the two of them. Team that up with a very shady town called Desolation, where the people are all a little bit off key and a terrifying myth eerily referred to as the Narrow Man is used to frighten the town's children, and Amber has more than enough battles to fight.
Landy has also done a wonderful job of bringing in a host of new characters, pushing Amber's development much harder and creating a bigger network of people that I am sure we can expect to encounter as the story continues. I would very much like to see Two again, a dog that has an unhealthy predisposition to humping everything in sight, providing light relief at every available opportunity when events are taking some very dark turns.
Well written, funny, vicious and with yet another brilliant ending, I can't wait to see what comes next.
Desolation doesn't quite follow the same set up as it's predecessor, with Landy choosing to settle Amber and Milo in one place for the duration of the novel, moving away from the American road narrative that he adopted brilliantly for Demon Road. That's not to say the unlikely duo don't endure as many testing encounters, quite the contrary, as the Shining Demon continues to throw all he has at the two of them. Team that up with a very shady town called Desolation, where the people are all a little bit off key and a terrifying myth eerily referred to as the Narrow Man is used to frighten the town's children, and Amber has more than enough battles to fight.
Landy has also done a wonderful job of bringing in a host of new characters, pushing Amber's development much harder and creating a bigger network of people that I am sure we can expect to encounter as the story continues. I would very much like to see Two again, a dog that has an unhealthy predisposition to humping everything in sight, providing light relief at every available opportunity when events are taking some very dark turns.
Well written, funny, vicious and with yet another brilliant ending, I can't wait to see what comes next.
May 14, 2016
~I received a copy courtesy of HarperCollins New Zealand~
Desolation continues right where Demon Road left off. Having cheated the Shining Demon, Amber and Milo are on the run from the hounds of hell, five demonic bikers who will stop at nothing to bring them back to their master. Their only hope lies in a small town in Alaska called Desolation Hill, rumoured to be able to keep out the demons.
When they arrive, nothing is as it seems. They are told they must leave before the town festival happens. Curious, Amber and Milo start sniffing around, to no avail.
Desolation is told from three third person perspectives, two of which introduce two new character sets that are quickly entwined in the plot. Amber, as always remains the main narrator.
Glen is a very minor character in Desolation, but I feel as if he may be the source of some issues with the plot. He appears briefly near the end of the book, yet isn't mentioned again.
Derek Landy is a skilled writer, always making the plot twist and turn to confuse his guessing readers. I can't wait for book 3, American Monsters! The ending of Desolation was unexpected, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
Desolation continues right where Demon Road left off. Having cheated the Shining Demon, Amber and Milo are on the run from the hounds of hell, five demonic bikers who will stop at nothing to bring them back to their master. Their only hope lies in a small town in Alaska called Desolation Hill, rumoured to be able to keep out the demons.
When they arrive, nothing is as it seems. They are told they must leave before the town festival happens. Curious, Amber and Milo start sniffing around, to no avail.
Desolation is told from three third person perspectives, two of which introduce two new character sets that are quickly entwined in the plot. Amber, as always remains the main narrator.
Glen is a very minor character in Desolation, but I feel as if he may be the source of some issues with the plot. He appears briefly near the end of the book, yet isn't mentioned again.
Derek Landy is a skilled writer, always making the plot twist and turn to confuse his guessing readers. I can't wait for book 3, American Monsters! The ending of Desolation was unexpected, and I can't wait to see what happens next.
March 12, 2017
DNF'ed this about halfway through.
Okay, so I liked the first book in the series a lot, and Derek Landy is a good writer, but seriously. You do not pull the 'oh my MC is actually gay' in the second book. Just…no. I do not like those kind of surprises. If you're gonna go there, at least have the courtesy not to hide it. And that wasn't the only thing wrong with this book either, as I honestly felt it didn't handle self image issues very well either. And what's up with the Scooby Gang? Because, honestly….
Why can't we have a series about Milo and the Charger instead? Or just a book? That would be an awesome story. Milo was my favorite character anyway, and now I don't even feel like reading the rest of this trilogy. I'm just done with authors doing this.
Okay, so I liked the first book in the series a lot, and Derek Landy is a good writer, but seriously. You do not pull the 'oh my MC is actually gay' in the second book. Just…no. I do not like those kind of surprises. If you're gonna go there, at least have the courtesy not to hide it. And that wasn't the only thing wrong with this book either, as I honestly felt it didn't handle self image issues very well either. And what's up with the Scooby Gang? Because, honestly….
Why can't we have a series about Milo and the Charger instead? Or just a book? That would be an awesome story. Milo was my favorite character anyway, and now I don't even feel like reading the rest of this trilogy. I'm just done with authors doing this.
Want to read
May 22, 2017YES ALMOSTTTTTT
May 8, 2017
4.5 Really enjoying this series but it just cant beat Skulduggery.
July 17, 2018
Es ist der zweite Teil der Reihe und hat sich auf keinen Fall verschlechtert. Ich werde den ersten Teil der Reihe unten wieder ganz am Schluss der Rezension verlinken, falls jemand Interesse hat.
Dieses Buch hat es in sich und verspricht definitiv nicht zu wenig. Man kann es gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen und der Autor hat es wieder geschafft, mich vollkommen in seine Welt zu entführen.
Derek Landy ist und bleibt einfach einer der besten Autoren die ich kenne.
Amber und Milo haben ein neues Ziel und dieses Ziel bringt auch viele neue Charaktere und Handlungen mit sich. Die Handlung ist genauso spannend wie schon im ersten Teil, ich muss ehrlich sagen ich finde sogar dass sie ich ein wenig gesteigert hat.
Auch wenn der etwas eigenartige Glenn aus dem ersten Teil nicht wirklich dabei ist, sind dennoch ein paar neue und genauso außergewöhnliche Charaktere aufgetaucht und somit hat wieder einmal nichts gefehlt.
Die Handlung hat sich in einem guten Tempo entwickelt und es hat einfach Spaß gemacht wieder in die extrem detaillierte Welt von Derek Landy einzutauchen. Man bekommt sofort dieses gewisse Feeling und man kann sich einfach komplett fallen lassen und alles anderen vergessen. In dem Moment gibt es nur Milo, Amber und deren Probleme was die Höllennacht angeht.
Es gibt wieder mal jede Menge Action und auch super tolle und witzige Dialoge, die nur so vor trockenem Humor strotzen.
Auch die Charaktere haben sich weiter entwickelt. Amber hat mehr Selbstwertgefühl bekommen und ich finde es irgendwie toll und interessant, dass der Autor eine kleine Lesbische-Liebesgeschichte mit eingebaut hat. Auch wenn sie definitiv nicht im Vordergrund steht, ist es trotzdem eine erfrischende Wendung und mit etwas das ich absolut nicht gerechnet hätte. Da ich schlicht und einfach nicht davon ausging, dass der Autor so etwas einbaut. Und er hat es eingebaut ohne großes Drama und das hat mir gefallen. Es war w´das natürlichste auf der Welt und das hat es umso erfrischender gemacht. Es klang nicht so als hätte der Autor das gewollt, sondern als wäre es einfach so im Laufe der Geschichte eben passiert, weil sich die Protagonistin dort hin entwickelt hat.
Ich kann nicht so viel über dieses Buch und seine Handlung sagen, da es sich wie gesagt um einen zweiten Teil handelt. Dennoch ist das buch eine gelungene Fortsetzung. Die Charaktere sind außergewöhnlich, die Handlung spannend und es gibt erfrischende und tolle Nebenaspekte und Wendungen, mit denen man nicht gerechnet hätte. Ich konnte es kaum aus der Hand legen und jetzt nach dem zweiten Teil wurden mir die Charaktere nur noch sympathischer. ich bin schon sehr gespannt auf den dritten und letzten Teil der Reihe. Wer also den ersten Teil gelesen hat, sollte auch definitiv zum zweiten greifen.
definitiv eine Leseempfehlung von mir.
Dieses Buch hat es in sich und verspricht definitiv nicht zu wenig. Man kann es gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen und der Autor hat es wieder geschafft, mich vollkommen in seine Welt zu entführen.
Derek Landy ist und bleibt einfach einer der besten Autoren die ich kenne.
Amber und Milo haben ein neues Ziel und dieses Ziel bringt auch viele neue Charaktere und Handlungen mit sich. Die Handlung ist genauso spannend wie schon im ersten Teil, ich muss ehrlich sagen ich finde sogar dass sie ich ein wenig gesteigert hat.
Auch wenn der etwas eigenartige Glenn aus dem ersten Teil nicht wirklich dabei ist, sind dennoch ein paar neue und genauso außergewöhnliche Charaktere aufgetaucht und somit hat wieder einmal nichts gefehlt.
Die Handlung hat sich in einem guten Tempo entwickelt und es hat einfach Spaß gemacht wieder in die extrem detaillierte Welt von Derek Landy einzutauchen. Man bekommt sofort dieses gewisse Feeling und man kann sich einfach komplett fallen lassen und alles anderen vergessen. In dem Moment gibt es nur Milo, Amber und deren Probleme was die Höllennacht angeht.
Es gibt wieder mal jede Menge Action und auch super tolle und witzige Dialoge, die nur so vor trockenem Humor strotzen.
Auch die Charaktere haben sich weiter entwickelt. Amber hat mehr Selbstwertgefühl bekommen und ich finde es irgendwie toll und interessant, dass der Autor eine kleine Lesbische-Liebesgeschichte mit eingebaut hat. Auch wenn sie definitiv nicht im Vordergrund steht, ist es trotzdem eine erfrischende Wendung und mit etwas das ich absolut nicht gerechnet hätte. Da ich schlicht und einfach nicht davon ausging, dass der Autor so etwas einbaut. Und er hat es eingebaut ohne großes Drama und das hat mir gefallen. Es war w´das natürlichste auf der Welt und das hat es umso erfrischender gemacht. Es klang nicht so als hätte der Autor das gewollt, sondern als wäre es einfach so im Laufe der Geschichte eben passiert, weil sich die Protagonistin dort hin entwickelt hat.
Ich kann nicht so viel über dieses Buch und seine Handlung sagen, da es sich wie gesagt um einen zweiten Teil handelt. Dennoch ist das buch eine gelungene Fortsetzung. Die Charaktere sind außergewöhnlich, die Handlung spannend und es gibt erfrischende und tolle Nebenaspekte und Wendungen, mit denen man nicht gerechnet hätte. Ich konnte es kaum aus der Hand legen und jetzt nach dem zweiten Teil wurden mir die Charaktere nur noch sympathischer. ich bin schon sehr gespannt auf den dritten und letzten Teil der Reihe. Wer also den ersten Teil gelesen hat, sollte auch definitiv zum zweiten greifen.
definitiv eine Leseempfehlung von mir.
March 28, 2016
Quality Rating: Four Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars
◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆
Desolation felt like it dipped a lot further into the horror genre than its predecessor, and though I'm not the biggest fan of horror I trust Derek pretty much unconditionally and it paid off because I enjoyed this book. It wasn't my favourite of what he's written, but I really respect the steps he's taken away from Skulduggery, especially after the response of Demon Road being very reminiscent of his other series. This feels like a different story now, and I'm slowly getting over the fact that Skulduggery is actually over.
Derek's a really skilled writer, though I have to admit I didn't really get the feeling of his trademark humour this time; it mostly works on lightheartedly joking about darker subjects - but when it gets this dark it's hard to joke around it. (Having said that, I liked that there are some very dark and twisted parts to these books, it's just not what I immediately expect from Derek.)
Something I noticed particularly in Desolation was how well Derek writes age diversity, and when I think about it he's always done it incredibly well. There's such a range of generations when it comes to characters, even within the 'main' cast of people, and we get to jump around in all their stories, and each is told just as convincingly as another. We can shift from a fourteen-year-old kid being immature but kind, to an elderly man tired with the modern world, to a seventeen-year-old girl going through your average teenage crisis while also running for their lives across America - okay maybe not that average.
I kind of miss the slow discovery of all these supernatural parts of the world that we had in the first book; everything felt a little static in Desolation after the whirlwind of last time. It was good in the end, but it did take a while to pick up after establishing that Desolation town was weird. I wanted to get past the 'weird' bit and onto the chaos and action and, well, desolation that Amber and Milo tend to leave in their wake. But I wasn't disappointed by those standards in the end.
You've also got to love these books for their geeky little references that sneak their way in (I can definitely see where Game of Thrones and maybe X-Men have had their influences - and of course every horror film ever). I'm generally not a huge fan of spending all your time making little in jokes for your own characters that don't mean a whole lot to your reader, but Derek's subtle and clever enough to make them very relatable without being directly real.
Desolation had a good ending, and I like where it leaves us for the finale, but I have to say it felt a bit rushed right at the very end when everything else before has taken so long. Arguably this whole trilogy follows directly on from one another but I was left feeling a little bit like we had cut off before the proper climax - which understandably will probably be the entire last book knowing Derek - but it just felt a bit off for me.
Character-wise I'm so, so, so happy with what he's done. When it comes to diversity, sexuality, human nature and relationships, hero tropes and character roles, Derek just has this way of making you think it's a good quality norm, and then turning things on their heads so you're left wondering why you would ever make assumptions about someones identity. And at the same time, he can joke around with it honestly and fairly, but keep up that humour and satirical atmosphere. Characters are a lot more interesting when you're invited to appreciate what they're going through, but also to not take them entirely seriously all the time.
Amber herself is a great protagonist. There's almost a trend in Young Adult fiction at the moment around trying to ignore the 'chosen one' trope by making the protagonist an antihero - what I've found is that mostly antihero has been condensed down to not being a nice person all of the time, but still ultimately saving the day and having people treat you like a saviour anyway. In a lot of ways you could see Amber as this too, but in a lot of ways she's not that: she's not a good person. I'm not rooting for her anymore, but hell it's so interesting to read about, because I don't see her as the good guy anymore, and that's not her fault, but that's the way it is. And she isn't going to waste time crying over how unfair it is. She owns it and she goes out and kicks ass instead.
My one criticism when it comes to characters in Desolation was that there was no way near enough Milo. I said last year that Milo basically had my reaction to everything going on, and I needed more of that this time around. Because Milo is great and Amber values his friendship even if she's got slightly bigger problems that keeping up conversation with him.
Derek took his sweet time in this book. I was starting to get a little worried near the beginning because I just could not get into it, but then when he actually started his story things went pretty smoothly from there. Derek writes chaos (both its loud and quiet moments) very well, but it means that the set up can sometimes be a bit awkward if it takes some time to establish - after going from such a huge climax at the end of the last book I can understand why suddenly there had to be a bit of a lull in activity before things started up again.
Looking at the release times for this trilogy I'm very impressed that they're coming out so close together (the last book is supposed to be with us in August of this year), and to a high quality. There's no shame in taking time with redrafting but it's quite a skill to be able to churn them out to such a tight deadline as well. And I think we can expect to go even deeper into the horror genre for the conclusion of the series, though I have to say I still haven't exactly been scared by Derek's books yet - they're creepy and weird (and very gory), but not scary. Not yet. Don't hold me to that for the future.
Enjoyment Rating: Four Stars
◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆
Desolation felt like it dipped a lot further into the horror genre than its predecessor, and though I'm not the biggest fan of horror I trust Derek pretty much unconditionally and it paid off because I enjoyed this book. It wasn't my favourite of what he's written, but I really respect the steps he's taken away from Skulduggery, especially after the response of Demon Road being very reminiscent of his other series. This feels like a different story now, and I'm slowly getting over the fact that Skulduggery is actually over.
Derek's a really skilled writer, though I have to admit I didn't really get the feeling of his trademark humour this time; it mostly works on lightheartedly joking about darker subjects - but when it gets this dark it's hard to joke around it. (Having said that, I liked that there are some very dark and twisted parts to these books, it's just not what I immediately expect from Derek.)
Something I noticed particularly in Desolation was how well Derek writes age diversity, and when I think about it he's always done it incredibly well. There's such a range of generations when it comes to characters, even within the 'main' cast of people, and we get to jump around in all their stories, and each is told just as convincingly as another. We can shift from a fourteen-year-old kid being immature but kind, to an elderly man tired with the modern world, to a seventeen-year-old girl going through your average teenage crisis while also running for their lives across America - okay maybe not that average.
I kind of miss the slow discovery of all these supernatural parts of the world that we had in the first book; everything felt a little static in Desolation after the whirlwind of last time. It was good in the end, but it did take a while to pick up after establishing that Desolation town was weird. I wanted to get past the 'weird' bit and onto the chaos and action and, well, desolation that Amber and Milo tend to leave in their wake. But I wasn't disappointed by those standards in the end.
You've also got to love these books for their geeky little references that sneak their way in (I can definitely see where Game of Thrones and maybe X-Men have had their influences - and of course every horror film ever). I'm generally not a huge fan of spending all your time making little in jokes for your own characters that don't mean a whole lot to your reader, but Derek's subtle and clever enough to make them very relatable without being directly real.
Desolation had a good ending, and I like where it leaves us for the finale, but I have to say it felt a bit rushed right at the very end when everything else before has taken so long. Arguably this whole trilogy follows directly on from one another but I was left feeling a little bit like we had cut off before the proper climax - which understandably will probably be the entire last book knowing Derek - but it just felt a bit off for me.
Character-wise I'm so, so, so happy with what he's done. When it comes to diversity, sexuality, human nature and relationships, hero tropes and character roles, Derek just has this way of making you think it's a good quality norm, and then turning things on their heads so you're left wondering why you would ever make assumptions about someones identity. And at the same time, he can joke around with it honestly and fairly, but keep up that humour and satirical atmosphere. Characters are a lot more interesting when you're invited to appreciate what they're going through, but also to not take them entirely seriously all the time.
Amber herself is a great protagonist. There's almost a trend in Young Adult fiction at the moment around trying to ignore the 'chosen one' trope by making the protagonist an antihero - what I've found is that mostly antihero has been condensed down to not being a nice person all of the time, but still ultimately saving the day and having people treat you like a saviour anyway. In a lot of ways you could see Amber as this too, but in a lot of ways she's not that: she's not a good person. I'm not rooting for her anymore, but hell it's so interesting to read about, because I don't see her as the good guy anymore, and that's not her fault, but that's the way it is. And she isn't going to waste time crying over how unfair it is. She owns it and she goes out and kicks ass instead.
My one criticism when it comes to characters in Desolation was that there was no way near enough Milo. I said last year that Milo basically had my reaction to everything going on, and I needed more of that this time around. Because Milo is great and Amber values his friendship even if she's got slightly bigger problems that keeping up conversation with him.
Derek took his sweet time in this book. I was starting to get a little worried near the beginning because I just could not get into it, but then when he actually started his story things went pretty smoothly from there. Derek writes chaos (both its loud and quiet moments) very well, but it means that the set up can sometimes be a bit awkward if it takes some time to establish - after going from such a huge climax at the end of the last book I can understand why suddenly there had to be a bit of a lull in activity before things started up again.
Looking at the release times for this trilogy I'm very impressed that they're coming out so close together (the last book is supposed to be with us in August of this year), and to a high quality. There's no shame in taking time with redrafting but it's quite a skill to be able to churn them out to such a tight deadline as well. And I think we can expect to go even deeper into the horror genre for the conclusion of the series, though I have to say I still haven't exactly been scared by Derek's books yet - they're creepy and weird (and very gory), but not scary. Not yet. Don't hold me to that for the future.
October 31, 2024
Вторият том определено ми хареса повече от първия. Разбира се, имаше ги нещата, дето ме придразваха в „Демон шосе“ (хореографията на битките си остана все така дървена), но пък декорът на романа - Дезълейшън Хил, малко, забутано в Аляска градче, привличащо демони, серийни убийци, всякакви гадове и чешити, по някакъв странно перверзен начин успя да ми влезе под кожата. А тежкият финален избор на Амбър загатна, че в трети том ще стане още по-интересно.
June 17, 2018
I enjoyed this more than Demon Road. It was a tighter plot. Full of violence and horror. Amber and Milo are growing on me. I was so pleasantly surprised by the lesbian relationship. I'm interested in finishing this trilogy, but I miss the magic that I found in Skulduggery's world.
February 19, 2024
Zwischendurch für meinen Geschmack ein bisschen viel Action und ein bisschen wenig Handlung. Insgesamt hat es aber Spaß gemacht!
November 16, 2023
Tja, wo fange ich am besten an? Der zweite Band der Demon Road Trilogie „Höllennacht in Desolation Hill“ bietet zunächst einmal wieder kurzweilige Unterhaltung.
Die Handlung knüpft in etwa nahtlos an den Vorgänger an – es sind maximal ein paar Tage seit dem teuflischen Finale des Reihenauftakts vergangen - Unterschiede machen sich doch schnell bemerkbar. Obwohl ich unmittelbar nach Lesen der letzten Seite von „Hölle und Highway“ das erste Kapitel von „Höllennacht in Desolation Hill“ gelesen habe, gestaltet sich der Einstieg schleppend. Glen, so nervig er gewesen sein mochte, fehlt einfach. Er war das Ventil, über das die teils dicke Luft im Charger entweichen konnte. Das Comic Relief, von dem man meinen sollte, dass es der durchweg sarkastische Stil von Derek Landy nicht benötigen würde. Scheinbar doch. Von all meinen ungeklärten Fragen zu Glens Verbleib mal abgesehen. Hoffentlich gibt es diesbezüglich im Finale noch etwas Erbarmen, Band 2 enttäuschte mich in diesem jedoch Belang vollkommen.
Zusätzlich werden gleich mehrere neue Perspektiven eingeführt und keine dieser Personen erhält vorab eine Einführung – Amber begegnet ihnen zum Teil nämlich erst in der zweiten Hälfte des Buches. Diese Charaktere und anfänglichen Nebengeschichten sind deswegen nicht schlecht, doch zu Beginn störten sie meinen Lesefluss. Je mehr man über diese Figuren erfährt und je näher sich die einzelnen Erzählstränge kommen, desto interessanter wird es natürlich.
Während „Hölle und Highway“ uns auf einen rasanten, episodenartigen Roadtrip à la Supernatural mitnimmt, lässt uns „Höllennacht in Desolation Hill“ nun in einer Stadt stranden, deren jährliches Festival stark an The Purge angelehnt ist. Durch den Stillstand ändert sich die ganze Tonart der Erzählung. Ob das nun von Vorteil ist, ist vermutlich Geschmackssache. Witzigerweise schien der Autor selbst nicht ganz zu wissen, was er damit anfangen soll (zumindest schätze ich das so ein), denn der klassisch große Showdown ist im Grunde einfach die komplette, zweite Hälfte des Buches. So kommt es, dass ich tatsächlich mal sagen muss: hier hätte man sich auch kürzer fassen können.
Sicher, wir haben da unsere 3 oder 4 Perspektiven. Amber hat sich jede Menge Feinde und einige wenige Freunde in der Zwischenzeit gemacht. Alles natürlich während der titelgebenden Höllennacht. Da geht ganz schön was ab. Buchstäblich. Körper werden zerrissen. Orgien gefeiert. Amber wird wieder und wieder und wieder geschlagen, angeschossen, gekratzt, gebissen, EXTREM oft durch die Luft geschleudert. Alle möglichen Leute stehen kurz vor dem Tod…und sind dann wieder putzmunter. Es war zu viel! Zu repetitiv! Das Grauen wurde im ersten Band von dem leichten und sarkastischen Ton überspielt. Hier stumpft man einfach so schnell ab, dass man gar nichts mehr empfinden kann.
Beispiel dazu: ich bin aktuell in der Welt von The Walking Dead gefangen. Ja, gefangen, denn 60% der Zeit bin ich kein großer Fan, aber meine Zwangsstörung erlaubt es mir nicht, aufzuhören, bis ich alles gesehen habe. Nun gibt es in einer Welt voller Zombies natürlich auch ganz viel Grauenvolles. Blut, Gedärm und andere eklige Dinge und Geräusche überall. Auch hier bin ich total abgestumpft und kann es ganz gut nebenbei laufen lassen, ABER alle paar Folgen passiert etwas besonders Ekliges, Grausames, Trauriges, das mich irgendwie berührt. Ich zucke zusammen. Sehe angewidert weg. Lasse mir den Appetit verderben…Demon Road schafft das nicht mehr. Und ist das nicht irgendwie…tragisch?
Nun war mein größter Kritikpunkt bei „Hölle und Highway“ der Umgang mit Abers Äußerem. Als Dämon ach so wunderschön, als Mensch so hässlich. Wieso? Weil sie Übergewicht hat. (Anmerkung: ich bleibe bei meiner These, dass sie maximal leichtes Übergewicht hat. Die Kleidung, die ihr passt, ist ihrer wunderschönen, größeren, schlankeren Dämonenvariante nur etwas zu groß und zu kurz. 1+1 und so) Munter geht die Teufelsspirale aus Selbsthass in Menschenform und Selbstliebe in Dämonenform weiter. Mit dem einen Unterschied, dass das Negative zum Großteil von ihr selbst ausgeht. Endlich gibt es vermehrt positives Feedback von Außenstehenden. Natürlich sollte man nicht allzu großen Wert auf die Meinung anderer legen - das ist eine sehr wichtige Lektion für jeden Menschen-, aber ich kritisiere hier ja den Autor, den ersten außenstehenden Beobachter, der sich all das ausgedacht hat. Also, freue ich mich natürlich, dass es in diesem Band viele Stimmen gibt, die Amber, den Menschen, wertschätzen. Dazu gehört auch das erste Love-Interest (etwas, was ich im ersten Band überhaupt nicht vermisst habe) von Amber und an dieser „Beziehung“ ist SO VIEL falsch.
Amber ist ein 16-jähriges Mädchen, das keine Freunde im realen Leben hat. Sie hatte noch nie eine Beziehung oder auch nur einen Schwarm und nun wird ihr eine 20-jährige sexuell erprobt und erfahrene „Dämonenjägerin“ vor die Nase gesetzt, die zwar ihre menschliche Seite mag, dafür aber ihre Dämonenseite nicht. Muss ich dazu noch viel mehr sagen? Mal abgesehen davon, dass jede sexuelle Handlung strafbar wäre, ist Amber aufgrund ihrer eigenen Unsicherheiten bzgl. ihres Körpers dermaßen offen für jede Form von Manipulation, dass dies nur zum Scheitern verurteilt sein kann. Lassen wir das Alter mal außen vor, wird hier auf einmal ein Kompass für Gut und Böse implementiert, der Amber und Milo in eine Kategorie zwingen wird. Wozu? Diese Welt ist eine einzige Grauzone und das ist wundervoll. Wieso muss man das nun so zerstören? Zudem schwenkt es nun ins andere Extrem. Hat Amber es nicht verdient, dass ein potenzieller Partner beide Seiten von ihr akzeptiert?
Passend zu dem Thema komme ich nicht umhin, Derek Landys Einstellung gegenüber Frauen zu hinterfragen. Die Art und Weise wie er weibliche Figuren beschreibt, ist absolut grenzwertig. Siehe die Obsession mit Ambers Äußeren. Nun wird in die Geschichte eine Gruppe von jungen Erwachsenen geworden, die in ihrem Van auf der Demon Road unterwegs sind und das Gute bekämpfen. Mit Hund. Hallo, Scooby-Doo! In dieser Gruppe gibt es auch 2 Frauen. Sie werden in etwa wie folgt beschrieben: Kelly, eine große, rothaarige Schönheit mit wenig Busen. Linda, eine Chinesin mit sehr großen Möpsen. Ach ja, es gibt auch noch eine Polizistin. Sie ist blond, trägt wohl gerne einen straffen Dutt und – ganz wichtig – hat für ihr Alter erstaunlicherweise noch keinen Hängebusen. Merkt Ihr, worauf ich hinauswill?
Zu dem Thema könnte ich noch weiter ausholen, aber lassen wir das. Ich habe das Buch in einer Nacht verschlungen. Ich hatte meinen Spaß und der letzte Band liegt bereits griffbereit. Zu meiner Schande muss ich also gestehen, dass mir die o.g. Themen beim Lesen erst mal nur peripher bewusst waren. Mit etwas Abstand und einer Mütze voll Schlaf wiederum lässt sich darüber nicht hinwegsehen. Ob das „Finale Infernale“ das Ruder noch mal rumreißen kann, wird sich zeigen.
Die Handlung knüpft in etwa nahtlos an den Vorgänger an – es sind maximal ein paar Tage seit dem teuflischen Finale des Reihenauftakts vergangen - Unterschiede machen sich doch schnell bemerkbar. Obwohl ich unmittelbar nach Lesen der letzten Seite von „Hölle und Highway“ das erste Kapitel von „Höllennacht in Desolation Hill“ gelesen habe, gestaltet sich der Einstieg schleppend. Glen, so nervig er gewesen sein mochte, fehlt einfach. Er war das Ventil, über das die teils dicke Luft im Charger entweichen konnte. Das Comic Relief, von dem man meinen sollte, dass es der durchweg sarkastische Stil von Derek Landy nicht benötigen würde. Scheinbar doch. Von all meinen ungeklärten Fragen zu Glens Verbleib mal abgesehen. Hoffentlich gibt es diesbezüglich im Finale noch etwas Erbarmen, Band 2 enttäuschte mich in diesem jedoch Belang vollkommen.
Zusätzlich werden gleich mehrere neue Perspektiven eingeführt und keine dieser Personen erhält vorab eine Einführung – Amber begegnet ihnen zum Teil nämlich erst in der zweiten Hälfte des Buches. Diese Charaktere und anfänglichen Nebengeschichten sind deswegen nicht schlecht, doch zu Beginn störten sie meinen Lesefluss. Je mehr man über diese Figuren erfährt und je näher sich die einzelnen Erzählstränge kommen, desto interessanter wird es natürlich.
Während „Hölle und Highway“ uns auf einen rasanten, episodenartigen Roadtrip à la Supernatural mitnimmt, lässt uns „Höllennacht in Desolation Hill“ nun in einer Stadt stranden, deren jährliches Festival stark an The Purge angelehnt ist. Durch den Stillstand ändert sich die ganze Tonart der Erzählung. Ob das nun von Vorteil ist, ist vermutlich Geschmackssache. Witzigerweise schien der Autor selbst nicht ganz zu wissen, was er damit anfangen soll (zumindest schätze ich das so ein), denn der klassisch große Showdown ist im Grunde einfach die komplette, zweite Hälfte des Buches. So kommt es, dass ich tatsächlich mal sagen muss: hier hätte man sich auch kürzer fassen können.
Sicher, wir haben da unsere 3 oder 4 Perspektiven. Amber hat sich jede Menge Feinde und einige wenige Freunde in der Zwischenzeit gemacht. Alles natürlich während der titelgebenden Höllennacht. Da geht ganz schön was ab. Buchstäblich. Körper werden zerrissen. Orgien gefeiert. Amber wird wieder und wieder und wieder geschlagen, angeschossen, gekratzt, gebissen, EXTREM oft durch die Luft geschleudert. Alle möglichen Leute stehen kurz vor dem Tod…und sind dann wieder putzmunter. Es war zu viel! Zu repetitiv! Das Grauen wurde im ersten Band von dem leichten und sarkastischen Ton überspielt. Hier stumpft man einfach so schnell ab, dass man gar nichts mehr empfinden kann.
Beispiel dazu: ich bin aktuell in der Welt von The Walking Dead gefangen. Ja, gefangen, denn 60% der Zeit bin ich kein großer Fan, aber meine Zwangsstörung erlaubt es mir nicht, aufzuhören, bis ich alles gesehen habe. Nun gibt es in einer Welt voller Zombies natürlich auch ganz viel Grauenvolles. Blut, Gedärm und andere eklige Dinge und Geräusche überall. Auch hier bin ich total abgestumpft und kann es ganz gut nebenbei laufen lassen, ABER alle paar Folgen passiert etwas besonders Ekliges, Grausames, Trauriges, das mich irgendwie berührt. Ich zucke zusammen. Sehe angewidert weg. Lasse mir den Appetit verderben…Demon Road schafft das nicht mehr. Und ist das nicht irgendwie…tragisch?
Nun war mein größter Kritikpunkt bei „Hölle und Highway“ der Umgang mit Abers Äußerem. Als Dämon ach so wunderschön, als Mensch so hässlich. Wieso? Weil sie Übergewicht hat. (Anmerkung: ich bleibe bei meiner These, dass sie maximal leichtes Übergewicht hat. Die Kleidung, die ihr passt, ist ihrer wunderschönen, größeren, schlankeren Dämonenvariante nur etwas zu groß und zu kurz. 1+1 und so) Munter geht die Teufelsspirale aus Selbsthass in Menschenform und Selbstliebe in Dämonenform weiter. Mit dem einen Unterschied, dass das Negative zum Großteil von ihr selbst ausgeht. Endlich gibt es vermehrt positives Feedback von Außenstehenden. Natürlich sollte man nicht allzu großen Wert auf die Meinung anderer legen - das ist eine sehr wichtige Lektion für jeden Menschen-, aber ich kritisiere hier ja den Autor, den ersten außenstehenden Beobachter, der sich all das ausgedacht hat. Also, freue ich mich natürlich, dass es in diesem Band viele Stimmen gibt, die Amber, den Menschen, wertschätzen. Dazu gehört auch das erste Love-Interest (etwas, was ich im ersten Band überhaupt nicht vermisst habe) von Amber und an dieser „Beziehung“ ist SO VIEL falsch.
Amber ist ein 16-jähriges Mädchen, das keine Freunde im realen Leben hat. Sie hatte noch nie eine Beziehung oder auch nur einen Schwarm und nun wird ihr eine 20-jährige sexuell erprobt und erfahrene „Dämonenjägerin“ vor die Nase gesetzt, die zwar ihre menschliche Seite mag, dafür aber ihre Dämonenseite nicht. Muss ich dazu noch viel mehr sagen? Mal abgesehen davon, dass jede sexuelle Handlung strafbar wäre, ist Amber aufgrund ihrer eigenen Unsicherheiten bzgl. ihres Körpers dermaßen offen für jede Form von Manipulation, dass dies nur zum Scheitern verurteilt sein kann. Lassen wir das Alter mal außen vor, wird hier auf einmal ein Kompass für Gut und Böse implementiert, der Amber und Milo in eine Kategorie zwingen wird. Wozu? Diese Welt ist eine einzige Grauzone und das ist wundervoll. Wieso muss man das nun so zerstören? Zudem schwenkt es nun ins andere Extrem. Hat Amber es nicht verdient, dass ein potenzieller Partner beide Seiten von ihr akzeptiert?
Passend zu dem Thema komme ich nicht umhin, Derek Landys Einstellung gegenüber Frauen zu hinterfragen. Die Art und Weise wie er weibliche Figuren beschreibt, ist absolut grenzwertig. Siehe die Obsession mit Ambers Äußeren. Nun wird in die Geschichte eine Gruppe von jungen Erwachsenen geworden, die in ihrem Van auf der Demon Road unterwegs sind und das Gute bekämpfen. Mit Hund. Hallo, Scooby-Doo! In dieser Gruppe gibt es auch 2 Frauen. Sie werden in etwa wie folgt beschrieben: Kelly, eine große, rothaarige Schönheit mit wenig Busen. Linda, eine Chinesin mit sehr großen Möpsen. Ach ja, es gibt auch noch eine Polizistin. Sie ist blond, trägt wohl gerne einen straffen Dutt und – ganz wichtig – hat für ihr Alter erstaunlicherweise noch keinen Hängebusen. Merkt Ihr, worauf ich hinauswill?
Zu dem Thema könnte ich noch weiter ausholen, aber lassen wir das. Ich habe das Buch in einer Nacht verschlungen. Ich hatte meinen Spaß und der letzte Band liegt bereits griffbereit. Zu meiner Schande muss ich also gestehen, dass mir die o.g. Themen beim Lesen erst mal nur peripher bewusst waren. Mit etwas Abstand und einer Mütze voll Schlaf wiederum lässt sich darüber nicht hinwegsehen. Ob das „Finale Infernale“ das Ruder noch mal rumreißen kann, wird sich zeigen.
February 8, 2017
I'm absolutely loving the darker turn this one has taken, and it also has a very Skulduggery Pleasant-esque feel in regards to what's going on with Amber. I can't wait to see where Derek is going to go with the last book!
Want to read
December 27, 2015Ok, I love that the covers are relevant to the stories, but oh my god that is a shitty cover.
April 21, 2016
NOBODY TOUCH ME.
MY FEELS ARE EVERYWHERE.
I JUST. I CANT. I DONT EVEN.
MY FEELS ARE EVERYWHERE.
I JUST. I CANT. I DONT EVEN.
September 16, 2022
We re-join Amber and Milo on the run, but this time from the Hounds of Hell themselves. They are heading to Desolation Hill, apparently the only place they will be safe from the Hounds and Astaroth's wrath. But Desolation Hill has a dark side, one that comes out on the same day every year; Hell Night.
Our duo gets joined by several new characters for this book, all quirky and great in their own ways. Together, they work out what's really going on in Desolation Hill, and Amber comes up with a plan to get the Hounds off her back that just might work.
I just have to say, before I go any further, Milo is the best. It's right at the beginning, end of chapter 2, when he rushes in to save Amber. He talks her into shifting back into human form, so he can get her help, and I just couldn't.
Then there are the scenes like the conversation in the diner about flirting, where I couldn't stop laughing. The "shut up" from Milo at the end of that scene was great.
And then there's also the scene where they shift not of their own volition:
We also got to see and learn more about his demon form, which I thought was great. We only saw him shift briefly at the end of the first book to fight Amber's parents, and he had been cagey about that part of himself. But he shifts multiple times in Desolation, and we get more clues about his past.
I love this series, this book, and I love its characters. Derek is just such a good writer, adding the perfect amount of snark and teasing and wholesome moments between our dynamic duo. Not to leave out the other characters, they shine too. The banter between Virgil and Javier was great, and was rather entertaining how many times people thought they were together. I suppose they did act like an old married couple. The gang was a nice addition, trying to prove that there is good in the world. That it's not all demons and monsters, but there's also the people fighting the demons and monsters. They sort of morally balance out Amber and Milo, who are there for their own gain.
The ending was a slippery slope, one bad thing snowballing into more. But, despite everything, I still closed the book smiling.
Our duo gets joined by several new characters for this book, all quirky and great in their own ways. Together, they work out what's really going on in Desolation Hill, and Amber comes up with a plan to get the Hounds off her back that just might work.
I just have to say, before I go any further, Milo is the best. It's right at the beginning, end of chapter 2, when he rushes in to save Amber. He talks her into shifting back into human form, so he can get her help, and I just couldn't.
But now the true pain came at her. No longer blocked by her demon form, it rushed at her all at once and burst behind her eyes. Her vision swam and the world tilted, but instead of falling to the ground she was lifted off her feet. The last thing she was aware of was Milo carrying her to the door,and then she blacked out.
Then there are the scenes like the conversation in the diner about flirting, where I couldn't stop laughing. The "shut up" from Milo at the end of that scene was great.
And then there's also the scene where they shift not of their own volition:
"Revert," said Milo. "And hold."
"Give me a minute."
"Now, Amber."
"I'll try again in a minute, you dick!"
"Now," Milo snarled, his eyes starting to glow red, and Amber snarled back and reverted and this time she held it
[...]
"Sorry for calling you a dick," she said.
"That's okay. Sorry I snarled."
"Guess we're a little ruder than we'd like to be when we're horned up."
Milo looked at her.
"I should probably use a different word for that," she said.
"Probably," he agreed, and they started moving again.
We also got to see and learn more about his demon form, which I thought was great. We only saw him shift briefly at the end of the first book to fight Amber's parents, and he had been cagey about that part of himself. But he shifts multiple times in Desolation, and we get more clues about his past.
I love this series, this book, and I love its characters. Derek is just such a good writer, adding the perfect amount of snark and teasing and wholesome moments between our dynamic duo. Not to leave out the other characters, they shine too. The banter between Virgil and Javier was great, and was rather entertaining how many times people thought they were together. I suppose they did act like an old married couple. The gang was a nice addition, trying to prove that there is good in the world. That it's not all demons and monsters, but there's also the people fighting the demons and monsters. They sort of morally balance out Amber and Milo, who are there for their own gain.
The ending was a slippery slope, one bad thing snowballing into more. But, despite everything, I still closed the book smiling.
Milo watched Amber approach, and started the engine. The passenger door clicked, and swung open. He was with her. She knew that, just by the roar of the Charger.
November 20, 2017
4 Sterne, damit ist es das von mir am besten bewertete Buch, was ich je Derek Landy gelesen habe!
Nach dem ich in letzter Zeit einige Bücher gelesen habe, wo sich der Plot wirklich gezogen hat (Zum Bsp. These broken Stars) war es unglaublich angenehm Demon Road 2 zu lesen. Jedes (und ich meine wirklich JEDES) Kapitel hat entweder die Handlung vorangebracht oder auf irgendeine Art und Weise zur Chrakaterentwicklung beigetragen. Da könnten sich einige Autoren echt mal ne Scheibe abschneiden *hust* Cassandra Clare *hust*. Nur weil ein jugend fantasy Buch 800 Seiten hat, wird es dadurch nicht automatisch besser oder gut. Nicht, dass ich keine dicken Bücher mag oder diese direkt schlecht sind. Aber wenn man einfach merkt, dass einige Kapitel nur dazu dienen, dass das Buch eine gewisse Länge bekommt, tut das meiner Meinung nach nichts für die Geschichte.
So, jetzt aber wieder zum eigentlichem Buch. Wie schon gesagt, kann man sich was die Spannung und die Aktion angeht, wirklich nicht beklagen. Aber auch die Charaktere (Vor allem Amber) haben sich deutlich entwickelt. Dazu kommen noch einige neue Gestallten, die sicherlich noch eine Rolle im nächsten Band spielen werden, die alle wirklich gut in die Story gepasst haben. Allem voran haben mir besonders Vergil und Jarvie super gefallen. Die Kapitel aus deren Sicht war einfach die besten. Ich konnte mir perfekt vorstellen, wie diese beiden alten Rentner durch die Gegend rennen und nochmal die Helden von früher sein wollten :D
Dazu gibt es dieses mal sogar eine kleine Liebesgeschichte, die aber eher im Hintergrund passiert. Darüber war ich auch ganz froh, da es doch einige andere Geschehnisse gab, die mich mehr interessierten. Zudem fand ich die Beziehung am Anfang etwas unglaubwürdig, da die beiden ja nicht wirklich viel Zeit miteinander verbracht hatten. Im nachhinein gefällt sie mir dann aber doch, da die beiden sich nicht gerade ewige Liebe geschworen habe, sondern einfach gemerkt haben, dass sie sich grundsätzlich sympathisch finden und da vielleicht mehr draus werden könnte. Was das angeht, habe ich die Hoffnung auch noch nicht verloren ;)
Und als letztes würde ich gerne noch kurz was zu dem deutschen Cover sagen. An sich finde ich es sehr gut und passend. Genau so wie den Titel. Allerdings finde ich auch, dass das Cover vermuten lässt, dass es sich um ein Buch für junge Jugendliche handelt. Das tut es meiner Meinung nach aber absolut nicht. Die Bücher gehören definitiv dem Gerne Horror an und einige Verstümmelungen werden sehr explizit beschrieben, sodass ich an einigen Stellen sehr froh war, nur darüber zu lesen und es nicht zu sehen (Zum Bsp. als Film). Daher hätte ich es gut gefunden, wenn sich der Verlag vielleicht doch mehr an das englische Cover gehalten hätte, da sie nicht ganz so kindlich aussehen.
Ich bin auf jeden Fall mega gespannt wie es nach diesem Ende weiter gehen wird. Diverse Möglichkeiten bietet es alle male und mal schauen, wen man so wieder sehen wird ;)
Nach dem ich in letzter Zeit einige Bücher gelesen habe, wo sich der Plot wirklich gezogen hat (Zum Bsp. These broken Stars) war es unglaublich angenehm Demon Road 2 zu lesen. Jedes (und ich meine wirklich JEDES) Kapitel hat entweder die Handlung vorangebracht oder auf irgendeine Art und Weise zur Chrakaterentwicklung beigetragen. Da könnten sich einige Autoren echt mal ne Scheibe abschneiden *hust* Cassandra Clare *hust*. Nur weil ein jugend fantasy Buch 800 Seiten hat, wird es dadurch nicht automatisch besser oder gut. Nicht, dass ich keine dicken Bücher mag oder diese direkt schlecht sind. Aber wenn man einfach merkt, dass einige Kapitel nur dazu dienen, dass das Buch eine gewisse Länge bekommt, tut das meiner Meinung nach nichts für die Geschichte.
So, jetzt aber wieder zum eigentlichem Buch. Wie schon gesagt, kann man sich was die Spannung und die Aktion angeht, wirklich nicht beklagen. Aber auch die Charaktere (Vor allem Amber) haben sich deutlich entwickelt. Dazu kommen noch einige neue Gestallten, die sicherlich noch eine Rolle im nächsten Band spielen werden, die alle wirklich gut in die Story gepasst haben. Allem voran haben mir besonders Vergil und Jarvie super gefallen. Die Kapitel aus deren Sicht war einfach die besten. Ich konnte mir perfekt vorstellen, wie diese beiden alten Rentner durch die Gegend rennen und nochmal die Helden von früher sein wollten :D
Dazu gibt es dieses mal sogar eine kleine Liebesgeschichte, die aber eher im Hintergrund passiert. Darüber war ich auch ganz froh, da es doch einige andere Geschehnisse gab, die mich mehr interessierten. Zudem fand ich die Beziehung am Anfang etwas unglaubwürdig, da die beiden ja nicht wirklich viel Zeit miteinander verbracht hatten. Im nachhinein gefällt sie mir dann aber doch, da die beiden sich nicht gerade ewige Liebe geschworen habe, sondern einfach gemerkt haben, dass sie sich grundsätzlich sympathisch finden und da vielleicht mehr draus werden könnte. Was das angeht, habe ich die Hoffnung auch noch nicht verloren ;)
Und als letztes würde ich gerne noch kurz was zu dem deutschen Cover sagen. An sich finde ich es sehr gut und passend. Genau so wie den Titel. Allerdings finde ich auch, dass das Cover vermuten lässt, dass es sich um ein Buch für junge Jugendliche handelt. Das tut es meiner Meinung nach aber absolut nicht. Die Bücher gehören definitiv dem Gerne Horror an und einige Verstümmelungen werden sehr explizit beschrieben, sodass ich an einigen Stellen sehr froh war, nur darüber zu lesen und es nicht zu sehen (Zum Bsp. als Film). Daher hätte ich es gut gefunden, wenn sich der Verlag vielleicht doch mehr an das englische Cover gehalten hätte, da sie nicht ganz so kindlich aussehen.
Ich bin auf jeden Fall mega gespannt wie es nach diesem Ende weiter gehen wird. Diverse Möglichkeiten bietet es alle male und mal schauen, wen man so wieder sehen wird ;)
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