Thursday, 16 June 2011
The Demon’s Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan
I love Sarah Rees Brennan’s triology and The Demon’s Surrender was pretty much the perfect ending to it.
(I’ve tried very hard to avoid spoilers, but if you are spoiler obsessed you might want to skip this.)
The Funny
I have raced through all three books, grinning most of time, and laughing out loud at others. Even though these books are quite dark (murder, betrayal, demons, double crosses) they are infused with humour. During one scene, when a character I love was in danger, something horrible had just happened, and I knew something even more horrible was about to happen I still laughed out loud at the line “Nick grim faced behind the wheel seemed to be taking street corners personally.”
It’s all about Family
While the humor is definitely a plus in these books ~ who doesn’t like laughing? ~ it’s the relationships that make them one of my favourite series. In the dedication Sarah Rees Brennan says these books are all about family, and it’s so true ~ Sin, Lydia and and Toby, Mae and Jamie and, at their heart, Nick and Alan. Ah those Ryves brothers, I do love them so, and they made me cry – again! The siblings in these books are fiercely loyal, protective, loving and most definitely there for each other, no matter what.
She wanted to look at him, but she had other responsibilities: the kids came first, always,She couldn’t let them down.If Lydie was scared looking at a demon, if she felt unsafe even for a moment, she had to be able to look around and see that Sin’s eyes were on her, that Sin was there for her.
Soul Mates
I love that these books don’t feature soul mates. Not that I have anything against soul mates, it’s just so nice to see people choosing to be with each other. And basing those decisions on interactions with the other person, where they see their strength and loyalty and real nature and humour and, ability to lie 😀 I also loved that the characters weren’t paired up straight away. There is no love triangle here, more of a love web! Which means lots of kissing – yay!
Kick Ass Girls!
I loved Mae from the beginning and I love how she has grown as a character. We really get to know Sin for the first time in this book, and now I love her too. They are both so complex and well drawn and even though they are pitted against each other in this book, they manage to be friends and see the good about each other. It doesn’t get all hair pully and cat fighty.
POV
Each of the books has a different point of view character. The first book it’s Nick, the second it’s Mae and the third it’s Sin. I thought this worked brilliantly in the first two books, and Mae’s book remains my favourite. Although I really liked Sin, I’d become invested in the other characters and I did miss them, especially Mae and Jamie (who has a lot less page time in this one). Also, because there are many story threads that don’t involve her, Sin did do a lot of eavesdropping, so we could learn information essential to the plot.
These are small quibbles though, overall I loved this trilogy. It made me laugh, cry and cheer and I really liked the ending. As Sin points out “victory is always bitter”, and this ends with just the right amount of darkness mixed into the light.
I highly recommend this one.
The Demon’s Surrender is out in the US and the UK. I have the UK version, but I think I need the US one too, seeing as Alan is on the cover!
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i read the first sentence 😛 I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE SO BADLY. I'm so glad to hear it doesn't disappoint, I'll come back when I've read it! I can't wait!!!! =D
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I love books that are dark and funny. I definitely need to move this up my TBR stack. Great review 🙂
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I about to start this. Like, the minute I finish this comment start it. I'm so excited but also nervous – "the demon's surrender"? What does that mean for Nick?!
But anyway, great review! Right on about the relationships in this series!
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Sounds brilliant. I love the points you had to make about humour, and not having "soul mates" but rather characters who choose each other. That alone is enough to sell me on something, but the different POV for each book? Very cool. Sarah xx
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liked this book but didn't love it as much as the previous two. Glad you enjoyed it – and I loved that line about Nick too! :P. He will always be my favourite in this series 🙂
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Audrey – ENJOY!!!
Nic- ooh I think you will like these, although it did take me a while to get into the first one, well worth keeping going though.
Skye – Oh enjoy, it's so good. i couldn't put it down.
Sarah – yes it's really great and the POV switch is brave, but she really pulls it off.
Liz R – Numer Two remains my favourite, because of Mae and all the kissing, and because Nick is shirtless a lot 🙂
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I must, must, must read these books! They sound like so much fun!
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OH, I have the exact same qualms about the POV, while Sin is an amazing protagonist, I was just way too invested in Ryves/Davies that I was constantly wanting more of them instead of Sin, you know? Also, I think the fact that this book is focused so much on family makes me love them that much more (and yes, book 2 is still my favorite too!) this was such a great conclusion 🙂 I had no idea how to properly review this when I finished so I split my review up into categories too! 😛 fantastic review!
I can't wait for whatever Sarah Rees Brennan comes out with next! *fangirls*
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