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. 

Personal Blog - Seetec and Other Stuff

So things have not been going great lately. This whole ongoing back and forth with Seetec is going to give me grey hair, it is most certainly denying me my fair share of regular sleep. Add to that the pushback I am getting at my Seetec interviews is not helping, apparently I am being stubborn and not cooperating. Not that my advisor can tell me in what way I am not cooperating so I find that hard to take seriously.

She also has this way of constantly questioning me which is unhelpful, mostly regarding interview feedback where I am sometimes described as serious, apparently she knows me so well that I must be failing to put my true personality across. There are a few things more condescending then someone who sees you once a month telling you about your own personality.

The back and forth argument with her pretty much starts with her saying "Smile more" and "You're not putting your personality forward during the interview" apparently there is this huge blindspot where serious people are incapable of working in an office but that is a subject for a different time and I have to move on or I will wind myself up.

In terms of the complaint I have sent it off to Indepenent Case Examiner they now have the full details but I have not heard from them in about a week or so I will chase it up because they didn't do a very good job explaining the timeframe. I will keep you informed. Something worth mentioning with Seetec and their complaint procedure is that their so called final complaint is sent back to the local Seetec branch to be dealt with.

So let us look at that let us say there was an issue with staff bullying you, which happened to me at Seetec when I was a part of the New Deal, if I made a complaint at the local level which would be unlikely in the first place as it was the local manager who was bullying me but if I did and she rejected it I would send it to the head office... only for her to be the one to reject it again ending the formal complaint process.