The Accidental Demon Slayer by Angie Fox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m giving this book a solid 3 stars for corniness and preposterous-ness. Okay, maybe a 3 1/2? I can’t knock something because it’s not what I like to read, can I? I do not particularly care for vanilla, sugar & spice- type stories. Cutesy and Demon Slaying doesn’t do it for me.

Plot: The plot and its believability? Eh. I think more world development would have made this a better story. I’ve read quite a few books of “magic among us” themes, but this one was all over the place. And the spells were ridiculous, and I’m not talking Boggarts. Here are a few of them by name: Giggle Spell, Mange Spell, Anaconda Spell (with No SNAKE involved???), Lose your Keys Spell, Hot Foot Spell, Stubbed Toe Spell, and my favorite (not really): the Mexican Food Craving Spell. The silliness for me did not match the peril Lizzie (M/C) was supposedly en route to face.

Characters: This story has witches and werewolves, a sexy but lying griffin (aren’t they all?), demons, a talking dog, and many other colorful characters and elements. In fact, I kinda liked everyone else, except Lizzie. She was white bread- dull when everyone else was burnt-pumpernickel that’s been run through a blender and ended up tasting like chocolaty-goodness once put back together… Yeah, you see how corny and stupid that description was and how much of the (M/C) wasn’t described, elaborated upon, nor developed?? That’s the kind of frustration I had when reading this book. To be fair, I get that Lizzie was a preschool teacher literally 5 minutes before she found out about her supposed lineage, but damn… If everyone is cussing up a storm (which they are/and do), it’s hard for me to accept a cutsie girly girl, becoming a total bad a-s-s and defeating a demon, JUST by ‘looking within’, in the short span of a few days.

In Case you wanted to know: Not that cussing has ANYTHING to do with it. I’m just saying that if she is so squeaky clean and NEVER knew she had ANY powers, what-so-ever… then there’s NO WAY in a time frame of THREE DAYS, this (reinforced several times in through the descriptions) goodie-goodie, was able to completely and fully accept her powers, while being (perceivably) kidnapped and forced to ride around with a coven of old lady witchy bikers that she’s apparently related to the leader of???... and then subsequently accomplish her tasks. The culture shock alone would’ve done her in. Maybe all that this story needed was a longer suggested timeline to be a bit more believable; then the cutsie/silliness could’ve been stomached.

Overall: The writing was done well and flowed nicely for what it’s worth. I’m not saying I totally hated this book because I didn’t. There were elements in certain scenes where I could see the brilliance of the author’s imagination shine through. I just felt that the execution of and ESPECIALLY the development and illustration OF THOSE ELEMENTS were not adequately fleshed out. I do have book 2 in my Kindle ready to read, and in all honesty, after seeing that this book is from 2008 and the series itself is quite a number of books long, AND has done quite well over the years… I’m willing to be a better person and read a few more from Ms. Fox and see just how she has evolved over the years as a writer. As I said, the elements to a great story were there, just delivered in an underdeveloped, vomit of the brain, serving of-bleh. I’m sure it gets better. At least, I’m hoping.

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Darkest Perception by Shari J. Ryan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This review is for “Darkest Perception,” by Shari J. Ryan

Yet another win, for Shari Ryan! She went Dark… like, REALLY Dark, with her newest literary addition to her fictional world of characters. Without spoilers, here’s my take on this 5-star story…

Plot: Given the taglines and synopsis of the book, I still wasn’t prepared for what was in store as I began reading. I was definitely NOT disappointed, however, with the way the twists and turns played out. Shari has a special way of making the most audacious of scenarios appear almost commonplace, with her unique storytelling abilities.

Characters: Her characters have always been fully-fleshed, so I expected to fall in love with Harley and Axel, right away. But… I didn’t. Why? Because Shari quite nicely hooked me with more questions about motives and what the heck was going on, that the mystery surrounding these two, intrigued me past the point of distraction. There wasn’t time, in the beginning, to “love” the characters because the situations they find themselves in, and the way they handle (it), took up most of my time trying to find out why.

The Writing: There isn’t much more I can add to this particular section that I haven’t said before. Shari J. Ryan is an extremely gifted master of weaving stories. This one, a darker tale full of deception, just proves that point. She’s the Queen of the Hook.

In Case You Wanted to Know: There is both violence and sex(not combined) in this novel. This isn’t for the faint of heart. If four lettered words bother you, this also isn’t for you. Do NOT read this book if you’re looking for a story that has been (until recently) typical of Shari, where there aren’t master assassin-type, bad guys lurking around and someone might die. This novel plays by a totally different set of rules.

Overall: I enjoyed reading a story about two individuals who each have mysterious paths that were destined to cross. It was easy to read, easy to follow… Seeing this “other side” of Shari as she explores her scope of writing abilities is truly exciting, and I can’t wait to read whatever she dishes out next!


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