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Infernal Contracts #1
Devil's Deal
When two angels break their deal with the Devil, he comes for the one they’re trying to protect.
16-year-old Eleonora Santos works through the summer break so she can visit her family in Italy when she graduates. With the new school year around the corner, her focus is back on homework and enjoying life with her tight group of friends. But on their first day back, she finds them fawning over two new guys in their class—Ben and Danny.
Not a day goes by before Nora’s life is turned upside down. Her best friend now hates her, and the boys seem eager to get to know her. Despite their charming efforts, she’d rather have her best friend, not a boyfriend.
When Nora discovers Ben and Danny are not who they claim to be, and their nefarious deal goes wrong, Nora is caught in the middle.
To fix their mistakes, she must face the Devil and betray herself—or pay with her life.
Devil's Deal is a YA romance novel with a paranormal twist set in the Dutch fictional city Lakeside. The Infernal Contracts trilogy is perfect for fans of the Twilight Saga, The Vampire Diaries, and Fallen.
16-year-old Eleonora Santos works through the summer break so she can visit her family in Italy when she graduates. With the new school year around the corner, her focus is back on homework and enjoying life with her tight group of friends. But on their first day back, she finds them fawning over two new guys in their class—Ben and Danny.
Not a day goes by before Nora’s life is turned upside down. Her best friend now hates her, and the boys seem eager to get to know her. Despite their charming efforts, she’d rather have her best friend, not a boyfriend.
When Nora discovers Ben and Danny are not who they claim to be, and their nefarious deal goes wrong, Nora is caught in the middle.
To fix their mistakes, she must face the Devil and betray herself—or pay with her life.
Devil's Deal is a YA romance novel with a paranormal twist set in the Dutch fictional city Lakeside. The Infernal Contracts trilogy is perfect for fans of the Twilight Saga, The Vampire Diaries, and Fallen.
ebook
Published December 10, 2021
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49 people want to read
About the author
Tessa Hastjarjanto
11 books80 followersTessa Hastjarjanto is a Dutch/Indonesian writer from the Netherlands. She writes speculative fiction, and blogs at narratess.com about books, fountain pens, and writing.
From a young age, she imitated popular stories and games in creating her own worlds. This love eventually led to a masters degree in media and game studies at the University of Utrecht. However a mundane desk job was enough to inspire her to follower her creative passion. The first fanfics were written in lunch breaks and soon original fiction followed.
With the support of her husband, she now focuses on her writing career while battling chronic pain. Swiss white shepherd, Shiro, acts as a therapy dog to keep her healthy and reduce stress through extensive cuddle sessions.
From a young age, she imitated popular stories and games in creating her own worlds. This love eventually led to a masters degree in media and game studies at the University of Utrecht. However a mundane desk job was enough to inspire her to follower her creative passion. The first fanfics were written in lunch breaks and soon original fiction followed.
With the support of her husband, she now focuses on her writing career while battling chronic pain. Swiss white shepherd, Shiro, acts as a therapy dog to keep her healthy and reduce stress through extensive cuddle sessions.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
November 14, 2019
3.5, rounded up.
Oooo, angels and a deal with the devil! Now how could I say no to that?! Answer: I couldn’t! Especially with #spooktober just around the corner (I received the ARC at the end of September) and Devil’s Deal sounded so delightfully… devilish! The prologue is very promising in terms of devilish goodness (or badness, depending on which way you’re looking at it) with an angel and a fallen angel having a discussion about mortals and shaking things up because angelic life gets old quickly apparently. However, as the story continued, I got more of a Mean Girls vibe than the Lucifer one I had been secretly hoping for. Why? Because it’s the first day of school and two hunky boys (really, am I the only one who didn’t have broad-shouldered hunks in her class in high school?!) have transferred to Nora’s class and suddenly her best friend turns into a jealous b****, not wanting the boys to even talk to Nora, and making sure their friends shun Nora too. All the while the reader knows who these boys are, but the characters do not, and even the reader is not quite sure why precisely the boys are there, doing what they’re doing.
In other words, Devil’s Deal takes its time getting to the point: the supernatural thing is barely even there for most of the novel, and I felt it read more like a regular YA novel, for about the first 80% of it. Did that bother me? Well, perhaps a teeny tiny bit. The paranormal elements, the true nature of two of the main characters and the truth about the actual deal made with the Devil is only elaborated on in the last part of the novel, at which point some Greek mythology is also thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed this part, and I would have liked a little more of this action a little earlier on in the novel. Still, it was also nice to get to know the characters at a leisurely pace. Because of that, the actions that they carried out later on made sense and felt true to their nature, I had got to know them well enough to know. Despite not immediately getting what I had bargained for, Devil’s Deal grabbed and kept my attention throughout. It was a quick and easy read and I quite liked Nora, although she sometimes came across as too much of a goody-two-shoes for my tastes. I very much enjoyed the relationship between Nora and her parents. I hate the YA thing of the main character being able to get into all sorts of mischief because their parents aren’t present (in mind and/or body). As someone with very present parents, that has always felt so unrealistic to me, so Nora’s parents and their bond with their daughter are a breath of fresh air!
Devil’s Deal is Tessa’s debut full novel (she has previously self-published a short story collection, Tales of Lunis Aquaria) and as far as debuts go, this one shows a lot of promise. Devil’s Deal is Book One in the Infernal Contracts series and I’m sure that’s why the reader gets to wade in gently, instead of being thrown in at the deep end. To be perfectly honest, now and then I could feel a certain lack of experience in the writing, but certainly not in a way that spoiled my reading pleasure.
If you like reading YA with a paranormal twist, and want to support an indie author while you’re at it, do check out Devil’s Deal! I for one am an eager beaver to find out what will happen to Nora and her angels next, and I can’t wait for Book Two!
Many thanks to Tessa for the e-ARC! All opinions are my own.
Oooo, angels and a deal with the devil! Now how could I say no to that?! Answer: I couldn’t! Especially with #spooktober just around the corner (I received the ARC at the end of September) and Devil’s Deal sounded so delightfully… devilish! The prologue is very promising in terms of devilish goodness (or badness, depending on which way you’re looking at it) with an angel and a fallen angel having a discussion about mortals and shaking things up because angelic life gets old quickly apparently. However, as the story continued, I got more of a Mean Girls vibe than the Lucifer one I had been secretly hoping for. Why? Because it’s the first day of school and two hunky boys (really, am I the only one who didn’t have broad-shouldered hunks in her class in high school?!) have transferred to Nora’s class and suddenly her best friend turns into a jealous b****, not wanting the boys to even talk to Nora, and making sure their friends shun Nora too. All the while the reader knows who these boys are, but the characters do not, and even the reader is not quite sure why precisely the boys are there, doing what they’re doing.
In other words, Devil’s Deal takes its time getting to the point: the supernatural thing is barely even there for most of the novel, and I felt it read more like a regular YA novel, for about the first 80% of it. Did that bother me? Well, perhaps a teeny tiny bit. The paranormal elements, the true nature of two of the main characters and the truth about the actual deal made with the Devil is only elaborated on in the last part of the novel, at which point some Greek mythology is also thrown in for good measure. I really enjoyed this part, and I would have liked a little more of this action a little earlier on in the novel. Still, it was also nice to get to know the characters at a leisurely pace. Because of that, the actions that they carried out later on made sense and felt true to their nature, I had got to know them well enough to know. Despite not immediately getting what I had bargained for, Devil’s Deal grabbed and kept my attention throughout. It was a quick and easy read and I quite liked Nora, although she sometimes came across as too much of a goody-two-shoes for my tastes. I very much enjoyed the relationship between Nora and her parents. I hate the YA thing of the main character being able to get into all sorts of mischief because their parents aren’t present (in mind and/or body). As someone with very present parents, that has always felt so unrealistic to me, so Nora’s parents and their bond with their daughter are a breath of fresh air!
Devil’s Deal is Tessa’s debut full novel (she has previously self-published a short story collection, Tales of Lunis Aquaria) and as far as debuts go, this one shows a lot of promise. Devil’s Deal is Book One in the Infernal Contracts series and I’m sure that’s why the reader gets to wade in gently, instead of being thrown in at the deep end. To be perfectly honest, now and then I could feel a certain lack of experience in the writing, but certainly not in a way that spoiled my reading pleasure.
If you like reading YA with a paranormal twist, and want to support an indie author while you’re at it, do check out Devil’s Deal! I for one am an eager beaver to find out what will happen to Nora and her angels next, and I can’t wait for Book Two!
Many thanks to Tessa for the e-ARC! All opinions are my own.
June 21, 2022
First of all, I want to thank the author for providing me with a free copy of this first book in the Infernal Contracts series. All opinions are my own.
Now, I am not going to sit here and pretend that YA paranormal fantasy/romance is my preferred genre, but when I heard that this book is written by a Dutch indie author and that it is set in The Netherlands, I knew I wanted to give it a shot.
This story follows 16-year-old Nora, who I’d classify as your typical ‘not like other girls’ YA protagonist. She does have three close friends, but she’s definitely the more straight-laced, studious and nerdy girl of the group. Life is not all that exciting in Lakeside, but when two mysterious (and ridiculously attractive) boys enter into her life at the start of the new school year, her life is turned upside down.
This book gave me really strong Twilight and The Vampire Diaries vibes, which I both loved when I was younger. And while I still enjoyed this book for what it was, I definitely think I have grown out of my love for this type of story.
I do have to say that I liked how the author twisted some of the tropes of this genre on its head. I don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear that there’s romance in this book, but I actually really liked how it was handled. Nora doesn’t just fall head over heels in love with the first mysterious and attractive guy she sees. In fact, she even makes it very clear that she has absolutely zero interest in any kind of romance and I loved that. She was most happy on her own with her books, and girl… I can relate.
All that said, there was a lot, and I mean A LOT, of teenage drama in this book. Seriously, Nora’s friends were awful to her for the majority of the book and it quickly became quite exasperating to read about. That said, there is a twist in the story that gives a somewhat decent explanation for some of the characters’ awful behaviour, so at least there’s that. I can see how all this drama could be realistic and relatable for teenagers, but I don’t think Nora should’ve stayed so loyal to her crappy friends, since it was a pretty toxic friendship in my opinion.
Luckily there were some other side characters outside of this girlfriend group who were way better friends to Nora. These characters were also way more well-developed and I enjoyed every single interaction they had with Nora!
As for the story itself, I was quite surprised by how long it took for any paranormal elements to enter the plot. The majority of this book feels like a YA contemporary, even though we as the reader know from the prologue that there’s more to this story than initially meets the eye. When the supernatural elements do eventually get revealed, it all happens rather quickly and Nora’s reaction to all these revelations didn’t really feel realistic to me. I mean, she does show some apprehension at first, but then goes on as if angels, witches, devils and goddesses are just a part of normal life, no big deal, right?
Lastly, the writing itself was pretty good in my opinion. For an indie book written by a non-native English speaker, I think it reads very nicely. There were a couple of inconsistencies with the tense (slipping into present tense instead of the past tense that is used throughout the book), but aside from that I think this book felt very polished!
Oh and just as a last sidenote, I was really excited to read a story set in The Netherlands, but I have to say that I was a tiny bit let-down by how few references to Dutch culture we get here. If you switched out the few mentions of Dutch cities for American cities, then I wouldn’t have been able to tell that it was set in the Netherlands.
It didn’t end up hindering my enjoyment and it also doesn’t affect my rating, but I was still hoping for a bit more!
All in all, this was a fun and easy read that definitely brought back all the good nostalgic feels for the paranormal subgenre. I think this book showed a lot of potential and it had a really strong ending, so despite my criticisms of this first book, I have a feeling that I will continue on with this series eventually. Hopefully book 2 lives up to its potential, I'm intrigued to see where we go from here.
If you are ever in the mood for a good YA paranormal fantasy, but with an interesting twist on the romance, then I’d 100% recommend this. Perfect for fans of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries or the Lux series.
Now, I am not going to sit here and pretend that YA paranormal fantasy/romance is my preferred genre, but when I heard that this book is written by a Dutch indie author and that it is set in The Netherlands, I knew I wanted to give it a shot.
This story follows 16-year-old Nora, who I’d classify as your typical ‘not like other girls’ YA protagonist. She does have three close friends, but she’s definitely the more straight-laced, studious and nerdy girl of the group. Life is not all that exciting in Lakeside, but when two mysterious (and ridiculously attractive) boys enter into her life at the start of the new school year, her life is turned upside down.
This book gave me really strong Twilight and The Vampire Diaries vibes, which I both loved when I was younger. And while I still enjoyed this book for what it was, I definitely think I have grown out of my love for this type of story.
I do have to say that I liked how the author twisted some of the tropes of this genre on its head. I don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear that there’s romance in this book, but I actually really liked how it was handled. Nora doesn’t just fall head over heels in love with the first mysterious and attractive guy she sees. In fact, she even makes it very clear that she has absolutely zero interest in any kind of romance and I loved that. She was most happy on her own with her books, and girl… I can relate.
All that said, there was a lot, and I mean A LOT, of teenage drama in this book. Seriously, Nora’s friends were awful to her for the majority of the book and it quickly became quite exasperating to read about. That said, there is a twist in the story that gives a somewhat decent explanation for some of the characters’ awful behaviour, so at least there’s that. I can see how all this drama could be realistic and relatable for teenagers, but I don’t think Nora should’ve stayed so loyal to her crappy friends, since it was a pretty toxic friendship in my opinion.
Luckily there were some other side characters outside of this girlfriend group who were way better friends to Nora. These characters were also way more well-developed and I enjoyed every single interaction they had with Nora!
As for the story itself, I was quite surprised by how long it took for any paranormal elements to enter the plot. The majority of this book feels like a YA contemporary, even though we as the reader know from the prologue that there’s more to this story than initially meets the eye. When the supernatural elements do eventually get revealed, it all happens rather quickly and Nora’s reaction to all these revelations didn’t really feel realistic to me. I mean, she does show some apprehension at first, but then goes on as if angels, witches, devils and goddesses are just a part of normal life, no big deal, right?
Lastly, the writing itself was pretty good in my opinion. For an indie book written by a non-native English speaker, I think it reads very nicely. There were a couple of inconsistencies with the tense (slipping into present tense instead of the past tense that is used throughout the book), but aside from that I think this book felt very polished!
Oh and just as a last sidenote, I was really excited to read a story set in The Netherlands, but I have to say that I was a tiny bit let-down by how few references to Dutch culture we get here. If you switched out the few mentions of Dutch cities for American cities, then I wouldn’t have been able to tell that it was set in the Netherlands.
It didn’t end up hindering my enjoyment and it also doesn’t affect my rating, but I was still hoping for a bit more!
All in all, this was a fun and easy read that definitely brought back all the good nostalgic feels for the paranormal subgenre. I think this book showed a lot of potential and it had a really strong ending, so despite my criticisms of this first book, I have a feeling that I will continue on with this series eventually. Hopefully book 2 lives up to its potential, I'm intrigued to see where we go from here.
If you are ever in the mood for a good YA paranormal fantasy, but with an interesting twist on the romance, then I’d 100% recommend this. Perfect for fans of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries or the Lux series.
Want to read
November 22, 2019ARCs can be requested here: [closed - other review opportunities found here]
September 25, 2019
Ever since I discovered how awesome independently published books can be, I'm always eager and excited to try new novels from new authors. So, when the author offered me an ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book, I accepted without a doubt. The blurb made it feel like "classic" YA novels and while others might have outgrown them, I still love them to pieces.
And the prologue of this story was very promising. It immediately crafted a certain kind of atmosphere and tension and I couldn't wait to figure out what was truly going on and what would happen once the bet would start to play out. I also really couldn't wait to meet the two characters placing the bet.
The book that followed, however, screamed loads of potential but a lot of work on the execution. One of the hardest things to do in writing is transferring emotions into words to make the reader feel them while reading those words. I never really got the feeling that the author succeeded in that in this book. I had trouble really connecting with the characters and their emotions and I therefore also had trouble really feeling for them. It's hard to pinpoint why.
Because the words and sentences flow nicely and the book is a fast and easy read. There's a lot happening. However, the dialogues at times felt a little forced and unnatural, with a lot of explaining and info-drops being discussed in a way that didn't seem realistic. I also found the pacing of the story a little off. A big part consists of human drama (at least, it seems) and it takes very long before it becomes clear that there's something supernatural into play and then it goes all very quickly. I think I personally would have enjoyed the story more if the supernatural element had played a much bigger and clearer role from the very beginning, but I think that's personally taste.
For an independently published debut novel, it's absolutely not bad. It has it's amusing moments and there's a lot of potential, especially because the last 50 pages had a lot of awesomeness. And the ending sets an interesting premise for the next book!
And the prologue of this story was very promising. It immediately crafted a certain kind of atmosphere and tension and I couldn't wait to figure out what was truly going on and what would happen once the bet would start to play out. I also really couldn't wait to meet the two characters placing the bet.
The book that followed, however, screamed loads of potential but a lot of work on the execution. One of the hardest things to do in writing is transferring emotions into words to make the reader feel them while reading those words. I never really got the feeling that the author succeeded in that in this book. I had trouble really connecting with the characters and their emotions and I therefore also had trouble really feeling for them. It's hard to pinpoint why.
Because the words and sentences flow nicely and the book is a fast and easy read. There's a lot happening. However, the dialogues at times felt a little forced and unnatural, with a lot of explaining and info-drops being discussed in a way that didn't seem realistic. I also found the pacing of the story a little off. A big part consists of human drama (at least, it seems) and it takes very long before it becomes clear that there's something supernatural into play and then it goes all very quickly. I think I personally would have enjoyed the story more if the supernatural element had played a much bigger and clearer role from the very beginning, but I think that's personally taste.
For an independently published debut novel, it's absolutely not bad. It has it's amusing moments and there's a lot of potential, especially because the last 50 pages had a lot of awesomeness. And the ending sets an interesting premise for the next book!
dnf
November 19, 2019Thank you to Tessa for the review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Unfortunately this book is just not for me at this point in time. However if you like demons and paranormal romance I am sure you will enjoy yourself with this book.
Unfortunately this book is just not for me at this point in time. However if you like demons and paranormal romance I am sure you will enjoy yourself with this book.
October 23, 2019
Written in a tone similar to Lauren Kate’s Fallen series and Becca Fitzpatrick’s Hush, Hush series, the prologue of Devil’s Deal immediately drew me in with the mystery surrounding two angels that make a bet with the Devil. At this point, we have no idea we know that falling in love with a mortal is part of the deal, but the intricacies are something that would be worked out later.
Nora is a typical 16 year old girl who is always in tow with her three best friends: Felicia, Emily, and Josy. Nora is the straight-laced kind of teenager that would rather get lost in romance books in the library rather than get into the kind of trouble her peers thrive on. Nora’s life long goal is to visit Italy and take in all of its romance and art.
What seems like out of the blue, Danny and Ben join Nora’s school. All of the girls are immediately captivated by Danny’s good looks and charms…including Felicia who has staked her claim on him. Felicia is determined to have Danny as hers even if that means ostracizing Nora from their best friend circle. Ben is the mysterious, brooding type only talks to Nora and ignores everyone else. They clearly harbor a lot of secrets, which Nora is determined to uncover.
I think that the prologue sets the story up to be jam packed with supernatural action and that’s not how the story actually unfolds. So what I enjoyed about this story is that Nora is self-assured and confident, and she doesn’t let the drama involving Felicia unhinge her. Felicia was petty and her obsession with Danny was exhausting. I also enjoyed watching Ben slowly open up to reveal himself to Nora, whereas Danny left a trail of tears with the girls that he lead on. The best part of the book comes in the last 20% or so when we finally understand the deal that was made and the consequences associated with it.
What I had a hard time with in this book was the petty teenage drama. I understand that some drama was necessary for the plot, but it went on a bit too long. This definitely affected he pacing of the plot. This is probably also me being incredibly impatient and wanting to get to some angel battles.
Overall, I think this is a good opener for this series. I think book two will definitely heat up in terms of supernatural action, which I look forward to.
Thank you to Dave at The Write Reads for the tour invitation and the author for providing a book for review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
Nora is a typical 16 year old girl who is always in tow with her three best friends: Felicia, Emily, and Josy. Nora is the straight-laced kind of teenager that would rather get lost in romance books in the library rather than get into the kind of trouble her peers thrive on. Nora’s life long goal is to visit Italy and take in all of its romance and art.
What seems like out of the blue, Danny and Ben join Nora’s school. All of the girls are immediately captivated by Danny’s good looks and charms…including Felicia who has staked her claim on him. Felicia is determined to have Danny as hers even if that means ostracizing Nora from their best friend circle. Ben is the mysterious, brooding type only talks to Nora and ignores everyone else. They clearly harbor a lot of secrets, which Nora is determined to uncover.
I think that the prologue sets the story up to be jam packed with supernatural action and that’s not how the story actually unfolds. So what I enjoyed about this story is that Nora is self-assured and confident, and she doesn’t let the drama involving Felicia unhinge her. Felicia was petty and her obsession with Danny was exhausting. I also enjoyed watching Ben slowly open up to reveal himself to Nora, whereas Danny left a trail of tears with the girls that he lead on. The best part of the book comes in the last 20% or so when we finally understand the deal that was made and the consequences associated with it.
What I had a hard time with in this book was the petty teenage drama. I understand that some drama was necessary for the plot, but it went on a bit too long. This definitely affected he pacing of the plot. This is probably also me being incredibly impatient and wanting to get to some angel battles.
Overall, I think this is a good opener for this series. I think book two will definitely heat up in terms of supernatural action, which I look forward to.
Thank you to Dave at The Write Reads for the tour invitation and the author for providing a book for review. This did not influence my review. All opinions are my own.
October 1, 2022
I had so much fun reading this book, but also anxiety! The main character, Nora, loves books and isn’t comfortable around boys for the most part except for friend, Michael.
The story brought me back to those teenage years, which were good and bad. The high school drama was so real, that you wanted to punch someone. Girls could really turn on you quickly. It was surprising how long Nora hoped to straighten things out with Felicia. I thought she would’ve dumped her earlier. But I suppose this shows her goodness because she wants to see the best in people and give them another chance.
A few little things bothered me but not enough to downgrade the book. Since it was located in the Netherlands, I thought we might see more connections to that culture, which I always love to read about. Except for the prologue, we didn’t see much supernatural events. But there were some little occurrences here and there. I hope to see more now after that ending.
When Nora made her decision at the end, I was surprised what her real motivation was. I was wrong in my thinking.
So this was an enjoyable book to read to kickoff the October or fall season!
I will read the second book during this season as well!
The story brought me back to those teenage years, which were good and bad. The high school drama was so real, that you wanted to punch someone. Girls could really turn on you quickly. It was surprising how long Nora hoped to straighten things out with Felicia. I thought she would’ve dumped her earlier. But I suppose this shows her goodness because she wants to see the best in people and give them another chance.
A few little things bothered me but not enough to downgrade the book. Since it was located in the Netherlands, I thought we might see more connections to that culture, which I always love to read about. Except for the prologue, we didn’t see much supernatural events. But there were some little occurrences here and there. I hope to see more now after that ending.
When Nora made her decision at the end, I was surprised what her real motivation was. I was wrong in my thinking.
So this was an enjoyable book to read to kickoff the October or fall season!
I will read the second book during this season as well!
October 31, 2019
Thanks to Dave at The Write Reads for my spot on the blog tour and Tessa for my copy of the book. I’m pleased to be bringing my review for the blog tour today.
This is the first book in a brand-new series. A series that reminds me so much of The Vampire Diaries, which by the way I loved. The fact that this series is independently published didn’t put me off. In fact, some of my favourite books had initially gone down that path and didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. The prologue was intriguing, and my brain was instantly conjuring up ideas to what the story could be focussing on. It left a lot up to the imagination, I enjoy that kind of build up much more than just straight up giving me the information.
I’m the first to admit that I’m not a fan of the love triangle trope. I just think it’s a course of action that is avoidable and completely unnecessary. I think I’ll need to wait and see how this development pans out across the series before I pass judgement on how that aspect of it will conclude. Nora, our main character heroine fluctuated in her responses and emotions constantly – she very much seemed an introverted girl wanting to push herself further, to become more extroverted but she was stuck in her ways. Ben and Danny definitely challenged her comfort zone. I liked her. I loved that she was a big reader and interested in Italian art. It made her more relatable to me. She seems extremely wary/self-conscious of boys and men. I’m unsure if something has happened in her past or not as it seems a bit at odds with how girls usually act.
The friends in my opinion were not friends at all. They were shallow, self-conceited and spoiled girls. As they say there is no honour amongst thieves and well the friction between Nora’s group of friends suggested they were friends on a superficial level. They weren’t very likable to me and struggled to make a connection with them.
I toughly enjoyed the ending. It was strong and piqued my interest and enjoyment. I think overall the book had masses of potential, but it was the execution that the author struggled with. I felt that sometimes the emotion and speech of the characters were at odds with the age group. Often, I found that they spoke with such maturity and language that it was hard to believe that they were YA characters. Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and this is so important for me in a book. It’s absolutely not a bad book but would say that the points above made me rate it 3 stars. It’s really awesome when someone makes the plunge to release their work and that should totally be commended.
This is the first book in a brand-new series. A series that reminds me so much of The Vampire Diaries, which by the way I loved. The fact that this series is independently published didn’t put me off. In fact, some of my favourite books had initially gone down that path and didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the book. The prologue was intriguing, and my brain was instantly conjuring up ideas to what the story could be focussing on. It left a lot up to the imagination, I enjoy that kind of build up much more than just straight up giving me the information.
I’m the first to admit that I’m not a fan of the love triangle trope. I just think it’s a course of action that is avoidable and completely unnecessary. I think I’ll need to wait and see how this development pans out across the series before I pass judgement on how that aspect of it will conclude. Nora, our main character heroine fluctuated in her responses and emotions constantly – she very much seemed an introverted girl wanting to push herself further, to become more extroverted but she was stuck in her ways. Ben and Danny definitely challenged her comfort zone. I liked her. I loved that she was a big reader and interested in Italian art. It made her more relatable to me. She seems extremely wary/self-conscious of boys and men. I’m unsure if something has happened in her past or not as it seems a bit at odds with how girls usually act.
The friends in my opinion were not friends at all. They were shallow, self-conceited and spoiled girls. As they say there is no honour amongst thieves and well the friction between Nora’s group of friends suggested they were friends on a superficial level. They weren’t very likable to me and struggled to make a connection with them.
I toughly enjoyed the ending. It was strong and piqued my interest and enjoyment. I think overall the book had masses of potential, but it was the execution that the author struggled with. I felt that sometimes the emotion and speech of the characters were at odds with the age group. Often, I found that they spoke with such maturity and language that it was hard to believe that they were YA characters. Unfortunately, I had a hard time connecting with the characters and this is so important for me in a book. It’s absolutely not a bad book but would say that the points above made me rate it 3 stars. It’s really awesome when someone makes the plunge to release their work and that should totally be commended.
October 21, 2019
Ok so let’s talk about the plot first and bare with me because I am writing this review about 10 minutes after finishing the book and do not have coherent thoughts (nobody panic😬)
Lest start with main thoughts and the plot:
When I first started this book I was immediately hooked by the prologue. It was so eerie and mysterious and I wanted to know what the bet was about.
I enjoyed the second half of this book more than the first especially the last one hundred pages or so. That’s not to say I disliked the first half of this book. Its just that from reading the synopsis I was expecting more supernatural elements than we were given in the first half of the book which I get because of world building. But when I got to the last 150 pages or so this book really picked up and I found out what the bet was about and learn more about Danny and Ben and there past.
I was a little worried about the love triangle? I don’t know whether you could call it that. Like I said it’s complicated with them being angels and human drama.
For me, Nora was a great main character. She was dealing with a lot of drama and isolation from her friends but with a little help still managed to get on with her life. I have been in Nora’s situation (not with angels) but her friendship situation and feeling left out and so I was proud of her in a way for the way she reacted to her situation.
I don’t want to go into to much detail about the other characters because that may lead to spoilers but I really disliked one of Nora’s friends Felicia for the first half of this book but she did redeem herself in the end as it wasn’t really her fault. Wow that doesn’t make much sense at all unless you have read the book but that’s all I can say. Her other two friends josy and Emily didn’t really help but I get that they where in an awkward position.
Overall, I did enjoy this book is was a fun and easy read. There were some real funny moments in this book which really made me smile as well as some cute moments. The ending was also well written and I’m excited to see what happens in the next one because I need to know more.
Overall rating: 3.75 stars
Lest start with main thoughts and the plot:
When I first started this book I was immediately hooked by the prologue. It was so eerie and mysterious and I wanted to know what the bet was about.
I enjoyed the second half of this book more than the first especially the last one hundred pages or so. That’s not to say I disliked the first half of this book. Its just that from reading the synopsis I was expecting more supernatural elements than we were given in the first half of the book which I get because of world building. But when I got to the last 150 pages or so this book really picked up and I found out what the bet was about and learn more about Danny and Ben and there past.
I was a little worried about the love triangle? I don’t know whether you could call it that. Like I said it’s complicated with them being angels and human drama.
For me, Nora was a great main character. She was dealing with a lot of drama and isolation from her friends but with a little help still managed to get on with her life. I have been in Nora’s situation (not with angels) but her friendship situation and feeling left out and so I was proud of her in a way for the way she reacted to her situation.
I don’t want to go into to much detail about the other characters because that may lead to spoilers but I really disliked one of Nora’s friends Felicia for the first half of this book but she did redeem herself in the end as it wasn’t really her fault. Wow that doesn’t make much sense at all unless you have read the book but that’s all I can say. Her other two friends josy and Emily didn’t really help but I get that they where in an awkward position.
Overall, I did enjoy this book is was a fun and easy read. There were some real funny moments in this book which really made me smile as well as some cute moments. The ending was also well written and I’m excited to see what happens in the next one because I need to know more.
Overall rating: 3.75 stars
April 24, 2023
I really liked that this was based in the Netherlands: I would have liked to see more details of that. It was such a nice change.
This is extremely YA and as such not really my type of reading: but I did think the MC was just superb. She wasn't the pining type.
The ending was a little abrupt, and at times the plot was a tad jittery.
If you like angels/demons and a slow burn romance story then you will probably love this.
This is extremely YA and as such not really my type of reading: but I did think the MC was just superb. She wasn't the pining type.
The ending was a little abrupt, and at times the plot was a tad jittery.
If you like angels/demons and a slow burn romance story then you will probably love this.
February 2, 2021
''When two angels break their deal with the devil, he comes for the one thing they’re trying to protect.''
I have received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.
This review was meant to be part of a blog tour, but due to personal circumstances I had to postpone it. But, hey! Better late than never, right? Especially as I quite enjoyed reading this book and big thumbs up as this is another good indie fantasy! But this book made me realise what difference there is between self published and traditional published books. I have several plus points and some negative ones I want to discuss in this review.
The first thing I want to mention is that it's just super fun to read a book based in your own country. There aren't many English books set in the Netherlands, especially fantasy. When I am reading books set in America, it just feels so weird that all teens are hopping into their car. Here you just take your bike everywhere and even small distances can take you about thirty minutes. Just this small detail makes me able to relate more to the story.
The concept of the plot is very interesting. Two immortal angels make a bargain with the devil out of pure boredom and none of it works out the way they wanted to. These angels have an arrogance you can only obtain by living for hundreds or thousands of years. This combines really well with mortal teenage girls and I love it so much. Especially as those two angels are very handsome and mysterious (we all know how that goes in typical YA...). Though this trope is really fun, I feel like it didn't allow the characters to develop as much as I hoped they'd do.
I really love fantasy stories about angels and demons. Most of these are quite contemporary, and even though I am not the biggest fan of contemporary, these kind of stories are an exception because of the supernatural aspects. But this book pushed it a little for me. When you read a book called The Devil's Deal and with a prologue in which two angels strike a bargain with the actual devil, you don't expect the book to be just contemporary teen drama first two thirds.
I was honestly disappointed when I got to the last third and nothing supernatural had happened yet and it felt like the story arc was far from done. But then all the supernatural aspects were squeezed into that last bit with a much higher pace that didn't fit the rest of the book.
The above hooks in with what I meant about the difference between indie authors and traditionally published ones. The latter have a huge team of professionals behind them to help them make the best of the book possible, but indies are usually on their own. To write a book completely on your own requires a lot of talent, and flaws like the pacing or repetition just happen sometimes. You don't have the professionals to filter out those flaws and in some cases that is just too bad. That's about the only thing that could make this book better, and it really makes me look differently at the difference between indie and traditionally published books (in a good way though!)
Despite being a little let down by the pacing of the book, I quite liked Tessa's writing! It was really to the point, helping the plot move forward without too much nonsense as sidetracking and it definitely didn't have '10 pages to describe a tree-syndrome'. There was a nice balance between dialogue and story telling, which made the story read more natural than books that try really hard to be poetry books.
Based on just writing, I would definitely read more of Tessa Hastjarjanto's work. But for the sequel of this book I want to read the synopsis first to see where this story is headed. I am definitely interested and curious, so we'll see!
I would recommend this book as it is an enjoyable read. Not too long, less than 300, and perfect for lovers of low fantasy and contemporary YA. It's a light read with paranormal aspects and who doesn't love the hot exchange students-trope in YA?!
October 25, 2019
I received an ARC copy of this book from the wonderful The Write Reads for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Warning, while I try my best to make sure there are no spoilers in my review, there is always a chance that something any review says could count as a spoiler for you. If you want to just know my overall opinion on the book, please skip to my Overall section.
It is always amazing to see an author take the jump and publish their book, it’s even more wonderful to see when it’s a book blogger who takes this plunge and I applaud Tessa Hastjarjanto for her work and am excited to see her grow in the future.
The Devil’s Deal was a fun easy read that had a very interesting take on a young adult love triangle. The story has unique elements of both heaven and hell and was a fun easy read. In my opinion, this primarily is because the book is not filled with nothing but the paranormal/religious aspects. While I do love it where there is a lot of paranormal and magical aspects to these kinds of books, I really enjoyed the smooth way the paranormal aspects were introduced in this book and how they have played. It actually allowed me to feel more like I was in Nora’s shoes.
I also must say that the main character, Nora, was, for the most part, and interesting character to read about. There were some aspects of her personality that had me very lost at times, but it was not enough to make me lose the connection I had to the character. I loved how driven she was and how she did not allow the party atmosphere of her peers to influence her. There winds up being a lot of drama in her life, that I will admit at times it reminded me a bit of over the top teenage angst. While I could have done with less of this kind of drama, I liked how she handled it and the way in which it affected her.
I will admit, there were some things that really took me out of the story. I’d say one thing that really got to me was the way her friend Felicia was portrayed. I really did not like her much until the end, and at times I found some of the things she said or did odd and perhaps stereotypical. I am not saying this is a bad thing, but it was not my cup of tea. The other thing that threw me out of the story at times comes down to either a misstep in descriptions, or a lack of research that would leave me confused, and at times made me question Nora’s grasp on the world. For instance, there is a moment in the story where strength was measured by something that everyone I know can do, and has done, so it really did not mark a person as being strong. This could have been a misstep in the description itself but instances like this and others threw things off track for me a bit.
I will say, I really enjoyed the men in Nora’s life, Ben and Danny too. I felt these characters were really well done considering what they actually were. Usually when there is a paranormal aspect to characters that character has some similarities to the problems humans have but not that many, which is fine, but I felt these two had a lot in common with humans and I did enjoy that aspect.
Overall:
The Devil’s Deal was a very interesting read and had a unique storyline. There are some bumps that did cause me to be thrown from the story, but it was still an enjoyable read. I am looking forward to seeing how future books from this author grow and evolve.
Warning, while I try my best to make sure there are no spoilers in my review, there is always a chance that something any review says could count as a spoiler for you. If you want to just know my overall opinion on the book, please skip to my Overall section.
It is always amazing to see an author take the jump and publish their book, it’s even more wonderful to see when it’s a book blogger who takes this plunge and I applaud Tessa Hastjarjanto for her work and am excited to see her grow in the future.
The Devil’s Deal was a fun easy read that had a very interesting take on a young adult love triangle. The story has unique elements of both heaven and hell and was a fun easy read. In my opinion, this primarily is because the book is not filled with nothing but the paranormal/religious aspects. While I do love it where there is a lot of paranormal and magical aspects to these kinds of books, I really enjoyed the smooth way the paranormal aspects were introduced in this book and how they have played. It actually allowed me to feel more like I was in Nora’s shoes.
I also must say that the main character, Nora, was, for the most part, and interesting character to read about. There were some aspects of her personality that had me very lost at times, but it was not enough to make me lose the connection I had to the character. I loved how driven she was and how she did not allow the party atmosphere of her peers to influence her. There winds up being a lot of drama in her life, that I will admit at times it reminded me a bit of over the top teenage angst. While I could have done with less of this kind of drama, I liked how she handled it and the way in which it affected her.
I will admit, there were some things that really took me out of the story. I’d say one thing that really got to me was the way her friend Felicia was portrayed. I really did not like her much until the end, and at times I found some of the things she said or did odd and perhaps stereotypical. I am not saying this is a bad thing, but it was not my cup of tea. The other thing that threw me out of the story at times comes down to either a misstep in descriptions, or a lack of research that would leave me confused, and at times made me question Nora’s grasp on the world. For instance, there is a moment in the story where strength was measured by something that everyone I know can do, and has done, so it really did not mark a person as being strong. This could have been a misstep in the description itself but instances like this and others threw things off track for me a bit.
I will say, I really enjoyed the men in Nora’s life, Ben and Danny too. I felt these characters were really well done considering what they actually were. Usually when there is a paranormal aspect to characters that character has some similarities to the problems humans have but not that many, which is fine, but I felt these two had a lot in common with humans and I did enjoy that aspect.
Overall:
The Devil’s Deal was a very interesting read and had a unique storyline. There are some bumps that did cause me to be thrown from the story, but it was still an enjoyable read. I am looking forward to seeing how future books from this author grow and evolve.
November 9, 2019
First of all I would like to thank Tessa for providing me with an ARC ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.
The book is a typical YA story. I really enjoyed reading about Nora and her friends. I often had to think back about my teenage days and couldn’t help laughing sometimes about things that were said or how they were said, so teenager-like. Thinking about that time makes me realise how horrible it was to be in your teens and to struggle with all these feelings about boys and love and how to grow. I think Tessa did a good job of formulating these struggles.
As a big fan of the Netflix series “Lucifer” I was very excited to read this book and expecting a lot of divine interfering. Sadly I was left hungry for more. Only about 2/3 in the book it became apparent that something divine was was interfering in Nora’s life. After that it all went fast, a bit too fast at times for me.
The ending was both frustrating as brilliant. Frustrating because you want to know what it’s all about and how it all will continue and brilliant at the same time as it makes you want to read book 2 as soon as possible. And that is were I am now: I really, really want to have book 2 now!
About the characters I wish I could say I loved Nora but I didn’t. Maybe because I am not a teen anymore (luckily!) and I am past all these struggles finding out who I am and what I want, but I think she is a bit of a nag. Then I liked the boys, Ben, Danny and Michael, a lot more. They know what they want and the just go for it. I also have a clear picture of them in my mind and less of Nora and her girlfriends.
I do think that the writing in itself was a bit less fluent although it was getting better towards the end. I am confident that it’ll be even more fluent in book 2.
Overall a nice introduction to a great story and I am waiting for an even better next instalment!
The book is a typical YA story. I really enjoyed reading about Nora and her friends. I often had to think back about my teenage days and couldn’t help laughing sometimes about things that were said or how they were said, so teenager-like. Thinking about that time makes me realise how horrible it was to be in your teens and to struggle with all these feelings about boys and love and how to grow. I think Tessa did a good job of formulating these struggles.
As a big fan of the Netflix series “Lucifer” I was very excited to read this book and expecting a lot of divine interfering. Sadly I was left hungry for more. Only about 2/3 in the book it became apparent that something divine was was interfering in Nora’s life. After that it all went fast, a bit too fast at times for me.
The ending was both frustrating as brilliant. Frustrating because you want to know what it’s all about and how it all will continue and brilliant at the same time as it makes you want to read book 2 as soon as possible. And that is were I am now: I really, really want to have book 2 now!
About the characters I wish I could say I loved Nora but I didn’t. Maybe because I am not a teen anymore (luckily!) and I am past all these struggles finding out who I am and what I want, but I think she is a bit of a nag. Then I liked the boys, Ben, Danny and Michael, a lot more. They know what they want and the just go for it. I also have a clear picture of them in my mind and less of Nora and her girlfriends.
I do think that the writing in itself was a bit less fluent although it was getting better towards the end. I am confident that it’ll be even more fluent in book 2.
Overall a nice introduction to a great story and I am waiting for an even better next instalment!
December 2, 2019
I received a copy for an honest review.
3 stars for me | 4 stars for the intended demographic.
The Devil's deal is the first in the series and I suppose that this is why the reader gets to experience a regular bit of YA for the first 2/3 of the book. The supernatural I expected popped in sporadically before being fully used in the final third. I suspect this will pick up more in the final book.
As I am not the intended audience, I, at times, had trouble relating to the main character. After all it's been 10 years since I was 16 and I've never been a girl. So quite a lot of this felt a bit much, yet this doesn't diminish the fact that according to my cousin this was all real drama in the current high school life. Minus the supernatural of course.
I blasted through parts at times and other times it took me ages to finish a chapter. I attribute this to the fact that I am of a different demographic and found the characters to be a bit much. Just as my opinion of teenagers today, haha.
I have no doubt that this series will pick up in the next instalment. I am just not as sure if I'll pick it up.
3 stars for me | 4 stars for the intended demographic.
The Devil's deal is the first in the series and I suppose that this is why the reader gets to experience a regular bit of YA for the first 2/3 of the book. The supernatural I expected popped in sporadically before being fully used in the final third. I suspect this will pick up more in the final book.
As I am not the intended audience, I, at times, had trouble relating to the main character. After all it's been 10 years since I was 16 and I've never been a girl. So quite a lot of this felt a bit much, yet this doesn't diminish the fact that according to my cousin this was all real drama in the current high school life. Minus the supernatural of course.
I blasted through parts at times and other times it took me ages to finish a chapter. I attribute this to the fact that I am of a different demographic and found the characters to be a bit much. Just as my opinion of teenagers today, haha.
I have no doubt that this series will pick up in the next instalment. I am just not as sure if I'll pick it up.
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