BOOK REVIEW: Demon Road by Derek Landy

Demon Road is a 2015 novel written by Derek Landy and is the first book of the Demon Road series. It was published on 28^th August, 2015 by Harper Collins Children’s Books. The ISBN for lookup is 0008156921.

I received this book from Netgalley after I requested it.

Please be aware that there will be spoilers in this review and it is better for you to read the book BEFORE looking at my review though I will do my best to not talk about the plot in detail.

SUMMARY

Killer cars, vampires, undead serial killers: they’re all here. And the demons? Well, that’s where Amber comes in...Sixteen years old, smart and spirited, she’s just a normal American teenager until the lies are torn away and the demons reveal themselves.

Forced to go on the run, she hurtles from one threat to another, revealing a tapestry of terror woven into the very fabric of her life. Her only chance rests with her fellow travellers, who are not at all what they appear to be… 

WHY I BOUGHT IT (PICKED)

I requested it from Netgalley because you can never have too much urban fantasy in my view. Also people seem to really like Derek Landy’s work so I thought it was worth at least giving it a chance.

WHAT I THOUGHT

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book as I have not read anything from this author before what I got was a fairly enjoyable if somewhat strange ride and a very interesting protagonist. The last time I read a book with a similar sort of feel was the Strange Angels series by Lili St. Crow. I am not saying they are all that similar but reading this did remind me of that excellent series which finished much too soon.

It is interesting that the author chose to go with someone who is viewed as an unattractive female lead. Think back through your YA collections and see how many times the protagonist had actually been physically unattractive. The fact that her “darker” side is viewed as beautiful is interesting it could also be an allegory for drug use or drinking to make yourself.

The road trip aspect of things is interesting but not all the extended class of characters actively work which is a shame because it means those stops on the journey kind of lag and you’re waiting to see what’s next in terms of destination.

If there is a problem with the book it is that there are too many stops on the journey for this initial book. I think instead of the extended journey along the Demon Road we could have done with one or two less complications with the quest and a little more insight into our characters. I suspect it is not the last we have seen of Glen so maybe we might know more of him in the next book but this was certainly some time to fill in a little backstory for Amber the snapshot of her parents coming to the school wasn’t really enough for me it is hard to envision exactly how her parents very unique approach would have felt over the years as she grew up.

I think the plot itself is pretty interesting definitely doesn’t suffer from any aspect of it that makes me think “oh I’ve seen this all before just executed in a slightly different way”. Having a protagonist with limited skills is also interesting yeah she can go horny on command by the end of it but as they have made it clear demon armour won’t stop bullets. When you add that to her non-existent fighting skills it gives you someone to root for.

Do I want to read the next instalment? Yes but how much? I’m not sure if this pushes its way to the top of my TBR but I am still eager to see what happens next. If urban fantasy is your thing and you like imperfect female protagonists this book is definitely worth your time so check it out.