themaxdog's review
3.0
Full review now up on the blog: https://www.thewritinggreyhound.co.uk/2019/05/book-review-demon-girls-song-susan-jane-bigelow.html
Well paced throughout, there was enough suspense and intrigue to keep me turning the pages without going at too fast a pace. The plot was also well structured, and I enjoyed getting to know more about each different region through the eyes of the main character, Andin, as she travelled the length and breadth of the land.
Most of the characters were fully fleshed out and each carried their own motivations and unique personality traits - although there were certainly a few surprises hidden along the way! I particularly enjoyed seeing the relationship between Andin and the demon progress as the story continued. Similarly, Yshe was an interesting character that I enjoyed reading about.
In my opinion, I felt that Andin adjusted to events a little too quickly. Not only is she young, but prior to the events of the book she lived quite a sheltered life and I feel she seems rather too worldly at points to be entirely in keeping with her character. However, this is a minor niggle at it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.
Overall, my biggest issue with the book (and the reason it wasn't rated higher) was its ending. Up until the very end, I found little fault with the plot, the characters, the setting, or the writing, then at the very end, I was left feeling both confused and a little cheated by the final chapter. Of course, I don't want to give anything away so I won't leave any spoilers, but I really wish that the author had penned a different ending to what was otherwise a brilliant story!
Well paced throughout, there was enough suspense and intrigue to keep me turning the pages without going at too fast a pace. The plot was also well structured, and I enjoyed getting to know more about each different region through the eyes of the main character, Andin, as she travelled the length and breadth of the land.
Most of the characters were fully fleshed out and each carried their own motivations and unique personality traits - although there were certainly a few surprises hidden along the way! I particularly enjoyed seeing the relationship between Andin and the demon progress as the story continued. Similarly, Yshe was an interesting character that I enjoyed reading about.
In my opinion, I felt that Andin adjusted to events a little too quickly. Not only is she young, but prior to the events of the book she lived quite a sheltered life and I feel she seems rather too worldly at points to be entirely in keeping with her character. However, this is a minor niggle at it didn't detract from my overall enjoyment of the story.
Overall, my biggest issue with the book (and the reason it wasn't rated higher) was its ending. Up until the very end, I found little fault with the plot, the characters, the setting, or the writing, then at the very end, I was left feeling both confused and a little cheated by the final chapter. Of course, I don't want to give anything away so I won't leave any spoilers, but I really wish that the author had penned a different ending to what was otherwise a brilliant story!
gen_wolfhailstorm's review
2.0
I received this as a free eARC, from Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review, but of course that doesn't alter my opinion at all :D
So, going into this I didn't exactly have any solid ideas of what this was about and honestly it was mainly a cover read. I skimmed the synopsis but didn't really absorb much information other than that it had demons in it and a quest, so I think, subconsciously, I had fixed on this idea that it would be some kind of epic fantasy... Of which, I feel it was not... But I can't say that this caused it not to be a great read for me.
One of the general things that disagreed with me was that I constantly felt reluctant to read. I have never DNF'd (is that how you spell it?) a book (intentionally) before so I really wanted to carry on reading it (which may not have been a good thing to do?) but it just never held my attention for very long and I always ended up finding myself having to read large passages over and over to get the words to stick into my head!
I found that the writing style just wasn't for me. Although it wasn't terrible by any means, I just didn't like how some sentences linked up... Or rather, didn't. For a brief example, there was a really ''deep'' paragraph and all of a sudden it was talking about frightening a bear off and I just utterly failed to see a connection there, which broke any kind of connection I had experienced with the previous chapter.
I just want to quickly mention the romance.. Yes this did have romance! Another thing I wasn't expecting (nor found any need to have). Okay, I admit, in some of my progress notes I did come across unfair in how I worded things and after reading more about the author I now know this romance wasn't the author's way of being ''cool'' and ''edgy'', as I had previously mentioned, but I stand by my earlier point that I found it very rushed and a little silly when, if we gave it more of a subtle growth, the romance could have been really beautiful and help to induce emotions from me further on in the story. I just found that the emotions were obvious in one character but I was so unsure of whether there was any acknowledgement or reciprocation from the other character.
History. Every single character seemed to know an unbelievable amount of it. Though it did help to progress back story, I just found it a little aggravating.
There were only a few things I liked about this. One of them was that I found it interesting how periods (as in those horrid, bloody monthly's, not time periods... Lol) were mentioned. Even though I found it a cop out that our main character conveniently stopped having them, I did like how it was mentioned because, no matter what story I'm reading, I am always left wondering about how the females deal with these everyday struggles whilst doing things like epic quests! Especially when it's set in a different or unusual time period, where I assume sanitary towels and tampons don't exist!... Which leads me on to the next point, that is unfortunately one of my dislikes. Sorry to break up the happy times!
Time periods were not well expressed! I found it so terribly difficult to try to imagine the type of time period it was set in and although the novel had a lot of descriptions, it just really lacked imagery and I think that's a core aspect to have in story telling! I believe the reader should be able to play out the words in picture form, in their mind, and to me, that's what I find makes excellent writing!
Back onto some good stuff, I really appreciated that a nice, diverse handful of characters were provided. We had different ethnicities, ages, genders and sexualities which were great, especially for a book that is of a world, I'm gonna assume, that is definitely not as advanced as ours. But even still, a lot of them were, at some point or another, very irritating to read from.
The (almost) last enjoyable element for me was that I liked the political themes and the split between the empire and other countries. Now, it wasn't a fully developed or strategic aspect in this case, but I still enjoyed that this was included.
I thought the ending was clever and almost had an Neverending Story/ Garth Nix's The Old Kingdom feel to it, but because I had problems with the overall story, this carried through to the end, sadly overshadowing the otherwise interesting turn of events, making it feel rather flat.
My final point, which is unfortunately a dislike of sorts, is that I was hoping the 12 years later part would tie loose ends and mean no obvious sequel bate. This is because I find it difficult to not finish a series, so I would feel like I had to continue the series, one of which I'm not hooked on. However, the ending was left very open, a little too much so for my particular tastes. Anyway, I'm not sure if a sequel is confirmed or anything like that... I'm just putting that out there!
I honestly didn't think I would have much to say about this. Clearly I have and it was very unfortunate that they were rather negative. In saying that, I know there will be a lot of people that will enjoy this and hope for more!
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy!
Gén
So, going into this I didn't exactly have any solid ideas of what this was about and honestly it was mainly a cover read. I skimmed the synopsis but didn't really absorb much information other than that it had demons in it and a quest, so I think, subconsciously, I had fixed on this idea that it would be some kind of epic fantasy... Of which, I feel it was not... But I can't say that this caused it not to be a great read for me.
One of the general things that disagreed with me was that I constantly felt reluctant to read. I have never DNF'd (is that how you spell it?) a book (intentionally) before so I really wanted to carry on reading it (which may not have been a good thing to do?) but it just never held my attention for very long and I always ended up finding myself having to read large passages over and over to get the words to stick into my head!
I found that the writing style just wasn't for me. Although it wasn't terrible by any means, I just didn't like how some sentences linked up... Or rather, didn't. For a brief example, there was a really ''deep'' paragraph and all of a sudden it was talking about frightening a bear off and I just utterly failed to see a connection there, which broke any kind of connection I had experienced with the previous chapter.
I just want to quickly mention the romance.. Yes this did have romance! Another thing I wasn't expecting (nor found any need to have). Okay, I admit, in some of my progress notes I did come across unfair in how I worded things and after reading more about the author I now know this romance wasn't the author's way of being ''cool'' and ''edgy'', as I had previously mentioned, but I stand by my earlier point that I found it very rushed and a little silly when, if we gave it more of a subtle growth, the romance could have been really beautiful and help to induce emotions from me further on in the story. I just found that the emotions were obvious in one character but I was so unsure of whether there was any acknowledgement or reciprocation from the other character.
History. Every single character seemed to know an unbelievable amount of it. Though it did help to progress back story, I just found it a little aggravating.
There were only a few things I liked about this. One of them was that I found it interesting how periods (as in those horrid, bloody monthly's, not time periods... Lol) were mentioned. Even though I found it a cop out that our main character conveniently stopped having them, I did like how it was mentioned because, no matter what story I'm reading, I am always left wondering about how the females deal with these everyday struggles whilst doing things like epic quests! Especially when it's set in a different or unusual time period, where I assume sanitary towels and tampons don't exist!... Which leads me on to the next point, that is unfortunately one of my dislikes. Sorry to break up the happy times!
Time periods were not well expressed! I found it so terribly difficult to try to imagine the type of time period it was set in and although the novel had a lot of descriptions, it just really lacked imagery and I think that's a core aspect to have in story telling! I believe the reader should be able to play out the words in picture form, in their mind, and to me, that's what I find makes excellent writing!
Back onto some good stuff, I really appreciated that a nice, diverse handful of characters were provided. We had different ethnicities, ages, genders and sexualities which were great, especially for a book that is of a world, I'm gonna assume, that is definitely not as advanced as ours. But even still, a lot of them were, at some point or another, very irritating to read from.
The (almost) last enjoyable element for me was that I liked the political themes and the split between the empire and other countries. Now, it wasn't a fully developed or strategic aspect in this case, but I still enjoyed that this was included.
I thought the ending was clever and almost had an Neverending Story/ Garth Nix's The Old Kingdom feel to it, but because I had problems with the overall story, this carried through to the end, sadly overshadowing the otherwise interesting turn of events, making it feel rather flat.
My final point, which is unfortunately a dislike of sorts, is that I was hoping the 12 years later part would tie loose ends and mean no obvious sequel bate. This is because I find it difficult to not finish a series, so I would feel like I had to continue the series, one of which I'm not hooked on. However, the ending was left very open, a little too much so for my particular tastes. Anyway, I'm not sure if a sequel is confirmed or anything like that... I'm just putting that out there!
I honestly didn't think I would have much to say about this. Clearly I have and it was very unfortunate that they were rather negative. In saying that, I know there will be a lot of people that will enjoy this and hope for more!
Pick it up, give it a go and enjoy!
Gén
guenhwyvar's review
4.0
I almost put this book down in the first chapter. I'm quite glad that I pushed past those moments of frustration though as I was quite taken with this story as it progressed.
The reason for my initial frustration was that the main character seemed a petulant child at the start of the book, despite being 17 and I found her very difficult to identify with. She thought of herself as smart and a good student, but she exhibited none of the traits that would accompany that personality at the beginning of the story, or if she possessed them she did not show them.
Indeed, it took me quite a while to come to like the main character, however, I still found her story compelling as it unravelled and in the end I was so entranced with the characters and the story itself that I found myself wrapped in the story enough to accept what was by all reckoning a strange and seemingly nonsensical ending.
However, at the time of reading it, my belief was suspended, my willingness open and the ending seemed beautiful and appropriate to the book.
Which is the more real experience, my rational reflection on it now, days later? Or my willing acceptance of it at the time that I first experienced it?
I would argue that, as when I put the book down I felt nothing but satisfaction with the ending and good will toward the author, that that is very telling about the writing and magic behind the book. Meanwhile, thinking about it now, the ending seems strange, disjointed and altogether unsatisfactory in retrospect.
But I will the paradox of that ending lie, and say that I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 for only being temporarily brilliant and satisfying and not permanently so. And in the meantime, I found it so refreshing to read about characters that weren't bound by standard gender norms, or a heteronormative romantic narrative, that the majority of the book holds up to my deepest critics even long after I've put it down.
Make of that what you will.
I will look forward to reading more from this author.
*I received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
The reason for my initial frustration was that the main character seemed a petulant child at the start of the book, despite being 17 and I found her very difficult to identify with. She thought of herself as smart and a good student, but she exhibited none of the traits that would accompany that personality at the beginning of the story, or if she possessed them she did not show them.
Indeed, it took me quite a while to come to like the main character, however, I still found her story compelling as it unravelled and in the end I was so entranced with the characters and the story itself that I found myself wrapped in the story enough to accept what was by all reckoning a strange and seemingly nonsensical ending.
However, at the time of reading it, my belief was suspended, my willingness open and the ending seemed beautiful and appropriate to the book.
Which is the more real experience, my rational reflection on it now, days later? Or my willing acceptance of it at the time that I first experienced it?
I would argue that, as when I put the book down I felt nothing but satisfaction with the ending and good will toward the author, that that is very telling about the writing and magic behind the book. Meanwhile, thinking about it now, the ending seems strange, disjointed and altogether unsatisfactory in retrospect.
But I will the paradox of that ending lie, and say that I give the book 4 stars instead of 5 for only being temporarily brilliant and satisfying and not permanently so. And in the meantime, I found it so refreshing to read about characters that weren't bound by standard gender norms, or a heteronormative romantic narrative, that the majority of the book holds up to my deepest critics even long after I've put it down.
Make of that what you will.
I will look forward to reading more from this author.
*I received an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
jacattack13's review
3.0
So I was excited to read what sounded like a great fantasy book but was instead given a story about an annoying teenager who acted selfish and instead of an awesome ending it fell flat.
Here you follow Andin dal Rovi who wants to get a higher education but girls never go to school and so her father instead sends her younger brother. Andin is smart but daydreams a lot and is a little scatterbrained. Her world changes when a strange women comes out of nowhere and says she is sorry and Andin wakes up with a demon in her head. The demon is thousands of years old and has lived in the bodies of kings and princes and passes on his knowledge to each one. Until he is forced out of the kings line and into Andin's body. Andin now has to deal with an angry demon who wants revenge but soon her world is coming apart at the seams and it's up to Andin to figure out how to put it back together.
The beginning of the story took a really long time and both the demon and Andin got on my nerves very quickly. Andin for me was not a very strong character and although the author tried a different route with Andin on her sexuality it fell flat. The imagery the author used was great and I loved that Andin got to travel around her world and we got to see the different countries. That ending though.....I don't know. I felt like it was a cop-out. It was weird and I didn't think it really worked with this story. :/
Here you follow Andin dal Rovi who wants to get a higher education but girls never go to school and so her father instead sends her younger brother. Andin is smart but daydreams a lot and is a little scatterbrained. Her world changes when a strange women comes out of nowhere and says she is sorry and Andin wakes up with a demon in her head. The demon is thousands of years old and has lived in the bodies of kings and princes and passes on his knowledge to each one. Until he is forced out of the kings line and into Andin's body. Andin now has to deal with an angry demon who wants revenge but soon her world is coming apart at the seams and it's up to Andin to figure out how to put it back together.
The beginning of the story took a really long time and both the demon and Andin got on my nerves very quickly. Andin for me was not a very strong character and although the author tried a different route with Andin on her sexuality it fell flat. The imagery the author used was great and I loved that Andin got to travel around her world and we got to see the different countries. That ending though.....I don't know. I felt like it was a cop-out. It was weird and I didn't think it really worked with this story. :/
joliendelandsheer's review
4.0
Review on my blog, The Fictional Reader
I just realized this book will be released on my birthday! Ha. I don’t know why that’s funny to me. It’s early when I’m writing this, forgive me.
WORLD
The story starts in Viko Station, a small town in the Antrimanian Empire, when Andín finds out her father is sending her little brother to University instead of her, like he promised. Andín has dreamed of leaving her small town for ages. She wants to study, learn and travel the empire. As it states in the synopsis, things don’t quite go her way. Instead, she loses her country and her family, and has to travel to find the answers she’s looking for. As she travels, you get to discover her world. More than just the Empire she grew up in, as she is forced out. You learn about the different countries such as Shuyu and Alavia (Alavesh). She travels through deserts and over seas.
This fantasy world is a mix of the usual medieval style, and more modern technology. Trains have been invented, there is modern plumbing, big cities have electric lamps and guns have been created. That makes it even more interesting to me! You still get the magical aspects of old cities, horses, castles and emperors but you get part of the convenience of modern day tech.
I do have to admit that I could have used a map. Because Andín uses so many different means of transportation (a train, a horse, a boat) it can be hard to keep track of time, and thus of distance. It would have been nice to be able to visualize where the different countries shared a border, and where the mentioned cities were located. Maybe a map will be included in the final book, I’m not sure, but my Kindle ARC didn’t have one.
You learn more about the history of the lands as Andín does. As the demon inside her is 1000 years old, he has so much knowledge about the history which is a fun way to learn!
PLOT
The synopsis doesn’t really reveal much, which is a good thing in my opinion. This story is basically Andín’s journey of discovery. I highly enjoyed the story, and read it in 2 sittings. Her travels and discoveries were incredibly interesting to me, as she not only discovers the world, but so much about herself too.
Like I said before, it was a bit hard to keep track of time throughout this novel. At times, I felt like all these big events and discoveries were happening so quickly to her. Yet when I think about it, I believe this novels spans over more than half a year (last chapter not included). It thus felt quite filled with action and revelations while in fact they happened more spaced out. It made for a captivating, although at times a tad confusing, read.
My only real “issue” with this book is that the events just seem a bit convenient at times. She conveniently meets this person who can take her to this place. There she conveniently meets a person she’s been dreaming about. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence after a while.
To be honest, it’s refreshing to read a fantasy standalone!
CHARACTERS
Obviously, we need to talk about Andín. Andín is described as a provincial girl because she grew up in a small town. She’s also darker-skinned, as you can see from the cover, although it isn’t talked about much by itself. It’s more commented on when she travels through other lands and people notice her darker hair and eyes, and obviously skin. At first, she may come over as a bit childish because she throws a tantrum in the beginning. To me, it didn’t feel that way though. Her reasons for being so angry seemed justified. I was angry for her too, especially because her father literally tells her it’s because she’s a girl that she can’t go to the University. During these months, Andín grows up a lot. She really discovers so much about herself, and I found it an intriguing process to watch. She and the demon gradually converge, and eventually it will be like they are one person. The demon teaches her a lot, and vice versa. I liked her character a lot, especially by the end. She had truly grown a lot as a person.
Next, we have the demon (who actually has a name, but I don’t want to give anything away). At first, I thought it was a horrible being. Obviously, demons aren’t often good beings in our culture and literature. But like Andín, its character grew a lot throughout the story. From a mean and vicious jerk, to a kinder person. Another aspect of this book I enjoyed is that the demon is male, while Andín is female. However part of the demon’s whole being is that he intertwines with the person he inhabits, until they almost become one. So we start from a male demon, but as we go along he becomes more female? And the pronouns change, because that demon now thinks of itself more as female. Intriguing, no? Lastly, the most fascinating aspect of the demon was its knowledge, to me. Being over 1000 years old, he has so much knowledge to offer Andín: languages, skills such as horseback riding and shooting guns, history and so on. While Andín can make use of the memories to learn those skills, she needs to adapt too. For example, she couldn’t just immediately shoot perfectly, her muscles needed to adapt to the feeling and the recoil first. Same with horseback riding. She knows how to do it in theory, yet her body still has to adapt.
There are many more fascinating characters throughout this book. A woman who has become famous because she battles for women’s rights for example. A diplomat’s wife who wants to join that cause. This book embraces conservative viewpoints, and modern ones. Women have no rights, but people notice and women are starting to stand up for themselves. It has quite a bit of feminism mixed in, although it never feels like too much. And there are LGBT characters as well, without making it seem like a big deal. And the main character is darker-skinned! Yay for diversity. I love that the diversity is prevalent in this book, yet it never overshadows the actual plot and fantasy aspect.
I’d definitely recommend this book, especially to fantasy and/or YA fans. Keep your eyes peeled for September 25th, that’s my conclusion. While I would have loved the addition of a map to make the world clearer, and a more set time division to see how much time has truly passed, I still highly enjoyed this book. The fantasy aspect was intriguing, the characters developed massively and there was quite a bit of diversity in this book without making it seem like a big deal. It never overshadowed the plot, it was just there, you know?
I just realized this book will be released on my birthday! Ha. I don’t know why that’s funny to me. It’s early when I’m writing this, forgive me.
WORLD
The story starts in Viko Station, a small town in the Antrimanian Empire, when Andín finds out her father is sending her little brother to University instead of her, like he promised. Andín has dreamed of leaving her small town for ages. She wants to study, learn and travel the empire. As it states in the synopsis, things don’t quite go her way. Instead, she loses her country and her family, and has to travel to find the answers she’s looking for. As she travels, you get to discover her world. More than just the Empire she grew up in, as she is forced out. You learn about the different countries such as Shuyu and Alavia (Alavesh). She travels through deserts and over seas.
This fantasy world is a mix of the usual medieval style, and more modern technology. Trains have been invented, there is modern plumbing, big cities have electric lamps and guns have been created. That makes it even more interesting to me! You still get the magical aspects of old cities, horses, castles and emperors but you get part of the convenience of modern day tech.
I do have to admit that I could have used a map. Because Andín uses so many different means of transportation (a train, a horse, a boat) it can be hard to keep track of time, and thus of distance. It would have been nice to be able to visualize where the different countries shared a border, and where the mentioned cities were located. Maybe a map will be included in the final book, I’m not sure, but my Kindle ARC didn’t have one.
You learn more about the history of the lands as Andín does. As the demon inside her is 1000 years old, he has so much knowledge about the history which is a fun way to learn!
PLOT
The synopsis doesn’t really reveal much, which is a good thing in my opinion. This story is basically Andín’s journey of discovery. I highly enjoyed the story, and read it in 2 sittings. Her travels and discoveries were incredibly interesting to me, as she not only discovers the world, but so much about herself too.
Like I said before, it was a bit hard to keep track of time throughout this novel. At times, I felt like all these big events and discoveries were happening so quickly to her. Yet when I think about it, I believe this novels spans over more than half a year (last chapter not included). It thus felt quite filled with action and revelations while in fact they happened more spaced out. It made for a captivating, although at times a tad confusing, read.
My only real “issue” with this book is that the events just seem a bit convenient at times. She conveniently meets this person who can take her to this place. There she conveniently meets a person she’s been dreaming about. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence after a while.
To be honest, it’s refreshing to read a fantasy standalone!
CHARACTERS
Obviously, we need to talk about Andín. Andín is described as a provincial girl because she grew up in a small town. She’s also darker-skinned, as you can see from the cover, although it isn’t talked about much by itself. It’s more commented on when she travels through other lands and people notice her darker hair and eyes, and obviously skin. At first, she may come over as a bit childish because she throws a tantrum in the beginning. To me, it didn’t feel that way though. Her reasons for being so angry seemed justified. I was angry for her too, especially because her father literally tells her it’s because she’s a girl that she can’t go to the University. During these months, Andín grows up a lot. She really discovers so much about herself, and I found it an intriguing process to watch. She and the demon gradually converge, and eventually it will be like they are one person. The demon teaches her a lot, and vice versa. I liked her character a lot, especially by the end. She had truly grown a lot as a person.
Next, we have the demon (who actually has a name, but I don’t want to give anything away). At first, I thought it was a horrible being. Obviously, demons aren’t often good beings in our culture and literature. But like Andín, its character grew a lot throughout the story. From a mean and vicious jerk, to a kinder person. Another aspect of this book I enjoyed is that the demon is male, while Andín is female. However part of the demon’s whole being is that he intertwines with the person he inhabits, until they almost become one. So we start from a male demon, but as we go along he becomes more female? And the pronouns change, because that demon now thinks of itself more as female. Intriguing, no? Lastly, the most fascinating aspect of the demon was its knowledge, to me. Being over 1000 years old, he has so much knowledge to offer Andín: languages, skills such as horseback riding and shooting guns, history and so on. While Andín can make use of the memories to learn those skills, she needs to adapt too. For example, she couldn’t just immediately shoot perfectly, her muscles needed to adapt to the feeling and the recoil first. Same with horseback riding. She knows how to do it in theory, yet her body still has to adapt.
There are many more fascinating characters throughout this book. A woman who has become famous because she battles for women’s rights for example. A diplomat’s wife who wants to join that cause. This book embraces conservative viewpoints, and modern ones. Women have no rights, but people notice and women are starting to stand up for themselves. It has quite a bit of feminism mixed in, although it never feels like too much. And there are LGBT characters as well, without making it seem like a big deal. And the main character is darker-skinned! Yay for diversity. I love that the diversity is prevalent in this book, yet it never overshadows the actual plot and fantasy aspect.
I’d definitely recommend this book, especially to fantasy and/or YA fans. Keep your eyes peeled for September 25th, that’s my conclusion. While I would have loved the addition of a map to make the world clearer, and a more set time division to see how much time has truly passed, I still highly enjoyed this book. The fantasy aspect was intriguing, the characters developed massively and there was quite a bit of diversity in this book without making it seem like a big deal. It never overshadowed the plot, it was just there, you know?
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