Reviews

The Devil's Own by K.A. Fox

chllybrd's review

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3.0

I'm a little on the fence about this one. On one hand I liked it, but then again, it didn't blow me away.

I think THE DEVIL'S OWN started off strong, but didn't really keep me in the zone. The heroine starts off as a bad ass which was great, but we don't get a lot of badass moments for her to really shine through. The story had a really interesting premise, but it felt rushed to me. I would have liked a little more development of the story, world and characters.

THE DEVIL'S OWN was a bit on the short side, so I think I will give book two a chance to blow me away like book one didn't do.

* This book was provided free of charge from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

jody_j's review

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3.0

** 2 3/4 stars **

When I started reading the book I thought to myself this is going to be a kickass book, with a badass heroine, and it was at first. I got the feeling that the author had her characters right on in the first three chapters, it was exciting and she brought the first few characters to life for me. I was really getting into it as if I was watching everything go down and then the story just got rushed as if the author were on a timeline to finish a test. I lost touch somewhere around the end of the fourth chapter. I wanted so bad to like this book. When I read the blurb I thought the book sounded really different, and it is. Every book, in my opinion, is a to each there own book. You either like it or you don't. We all have our own individual opinions. Was it really bad? No! Is it worth giving it a shot? Yes! Would I read it again? Um..knowing me yes I probably would.

I received an ARC from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

energyrae's review

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4.0

Someone is taking out local girls working in bars and Delaney wants to take him down. She's confident that all the defensive training she's received can be put to good use. I mean, her father has excellent resources to train her, he is the devil after all. But now, something or someone is coming after Laney, but why?

Even though she's chosen her home for a reason, Laney's father, Agnus, doesn't like her living out in the middle of nowhere alone. So he's sent along some protection and she's going to have to get used to having some extra company while they wait for the inevitable.

There are some great characters in The Devil's Own. Laney herself is strong and assertive, my most favorite kind of main character. Miss Tilly in town, who "sees" is a strict, no-nonsense woman, and I would love to see more of her and her abilities. Moose is a hellhound her father has sent, and he's instantly likable. I wouldn't mind a Moose of my own. Callum is a demon, he's strong and talented, and even though he's been ordered by Agnus to be there, you can tell he wants to be. The three of them are an unlikely trio and even though Laney is used to being alone, they might just break down the walls she's built.

An unexpected man, a detective no less, enters the already crowded mix. Torren was an unexpected character in the story and I don't have high hopes for him. He's not an overly deep character and I wasn't as drawn to him as the other characters. To me, Torren just doesn't fit into the already existing Trio. I do have high hopes for Cal and I think the whole situation is easier with him because he lives this kind of life.

The writing and storyline are good. I thought Fox's take on the devil was super fun. While I knew this was the first book, I was a bit disappointed that it's more of a serial than a series, as you don't get a wrap-up and will need the following books to finish the story. But, Fox has me hooked, and I cannot wait to continue Laney's story and see where the story takes us. Overall a really fun read!

herbalmoon's review

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3.0

Did I like it? Sure, it's been an entertaining distraction the last few days.

Would I read it again? No--it seems to lack the inexplicable pizzazz I associate with books I want to read repeatedly.

Biggest faults?
SpoilerThe whole book is one giant, freaking plothole. I'm thirty pages from the end and there is still no satisfactory explanation to why Angus can't control his demons. No hints of rebellion, no smartass creature who thinks he knows better than Master, nothing. In fact, I have a really hard time believing he's The Devil, the way he seems to be so underpowered in this book.

And for someone who swears he cares for his daughter every time he sees her, Angus seems remarkably disengaged. None of the usual "I promise I'll get to the bottom of this" or "I think I have some leads". Some readers might think that sort of dialog is trite; but without it, it appears that Angus just doesn't give a damn (if you'll excuse the pun). He just adds more protection, reminds Laney that she'd be safer in Hell...and that's about it.


Oh well. Thanks to NetGalley for a halfway decent read, at any rate.

bookloverr's review

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3.0

I received this book from Netgalley. It was fun and if you didn’t think about the plot too much then it was a great read. I didn’t really understand why it was so necessary that the protagonist go off by herself and no explanation is given. It also felt like a lot was brushed over in terms of world building. I also felt the protagonist was a bit self-absorbed and woe-is-me, imagine an Elena Gilbert type character. 100% self righteous and uppity.

I’d probably the read the next one if it came out fairly quickly and I was bored - otherwise this is quite forgettable in a sea of thousands of YA novels. It reminded me a little of the demon trapper series by Jana Oliver except her books are better, harsh, but this series is just starting out and has plenty of time to grow - fingers crossed it does.

alysh_ugh's review

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4.0

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

Basic Premise:
Delaney Murphy is the daughter of deceased rock legend...who also happens to be the Devil himself. Half human and half...not, Delaney possess powers that she hasn’t quite learned to master yet and certainly doesn’t want. She’s spent two years in hell trying to overcome her father’s gifts, but is still wrought with guilt over what could be. When her father sends guardians to protect her from what’s coming, she has to battle not only the evil foretold, but also her own inner demons.

The Good:
Delaney is a very relatable protagonist, she has her own quirks that I immediately related to and tries to live her life by doing what she thinks is right, regardless of the consequences. Fox built an interesting world that really drew me in as a reader and left me wanting more.

The Challening:
The timeline. This was extremely confusing to me and something that kept popping up in my mind and kept me from enjoying the book - how old is Delaney?? From what I gathered, she left for Hell when she was 16. She spent two years in Hell and clearly has been above for an undetermined amount of time. Perhaps I missed it, but I’m still not sure how old she’s supposed to be. Delaney is NOT a realistic 18 year old. She doesn’t act like a teenage and to me, the other characters (including both love interests) are way too old to be into an 18 year old. Additionally, someone her own age shows up and she calls him a man. When I was 18 I certainly didn’t think of my male peers as men, so I’m still confused on how old she is.

The ending. This is clearly meant to be a series, because Fox left us hanging at the end, unable to provide a full resolution. I felt like the arc of climax to resolution was just too flat. Maybe too much time was spent on building up to the climax and building the world, but it just seemed to wrap up too tidily and easily. I expected more - more action, more drama, more planning, more plotting, more questioning, more romancing. More of basically everything.

The romance. I struggled with deciding on whether to put this in the The Good section or here, but ultimately it landed here. I liked the romance...kind of. There are two love interests...maybe. As a reader, I wasn’t sure if one of the men was a viable candidate, but Fox didn’t rule him out immediately. To be honest, I felt like this character was contrived mostly to make Delaney feel guilty and otherwise didn’t serve any purpose. However, I am rooting for the other love interest and hope that book 2 will give us more of them.

Overall, I’d give this book a solid 3.5 stars. I wish there had been more build up at the climax and more resolution at the end and also more of the romance, however Fox did an excellent job building this world and I’m excited for the next book in the series!

nikolirma's review

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1.0

**I have received a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

Let’s take it reeeeeaaal and painfully slow since it’s a beginning of a series.

K. A. Fox’s young adult urban fantasy novel The Devil’s Own tries to lure the readers into a world where demons and, most importantly, the Devil are real via a story of a girl who has it all—the Devil for a father, demon powers, and a dark past that still haunts her. The premise of the book—Devil’s daughter hunts down murderers while getting in terms with her infernal powers—sounded good. Maybe too good for its own good (see what I did there?!). It had the vibes of Charmed gone wrong, you know, like if Phoebe decided to stay with Cole, this book could be about their kid. It also reminded me of Laurell K. Hamilton’s urban fantasy world full of vampires, vampire hunters, and other supernatural creatures. But… all of my excitement was kind of extinguished with Fox’s slow-motioned and somewhat irritating writing style. I mean—I do not necessarily need to know what kind of shirt the Devil’s daughter wears at what moment. Nor do I need to know when she bites her lip. What I’d like to know, though, is what the hell did she do while stuck in hell. And what the hell happened when she unleashed her hell powers at the high school ball she went to. And by “I want to know” I mean that I would like to learn this all in a way that does not go “I will streeeeeeeetch this precious moment of you not knowing anything of importance about the main character named Delaney so far that you will become totally weary and by the time I finally decide to spring it on you, to tell you what exactly happened at the ball when Delany was there and her classmates were there and the whole school was there - you will not really care anymore.” Moreover, Delaney is... how to put it… dull. And not because she has no potential to attract the readers; she’s the Devil’s daughter for crying out loud. But—she’s pampered by everyone and everything in her vicinity, including herself—despite the fact that we are all the time reminded that she is strong, strong, strong, the strongest.

So… let’s talk about all the plot-line holes.

Delaney is a badass girl. She lives on her own farm far from her family, far from other people; she does not require any human contact (apart from calling her mom once in a while) because she knows she shouldn’t crave it—her infernal powers might unleash otherwise. She goes about her routine; working from home, eating, sleeping, and exercising. She’s a true soldier. And a self-proclaimed warrior, since despite being dangerous to other people, she decides to live on Earth instead staying safely tucked away in Hell. So you could also say that she’s stubborn and a bit selfish at the same time. Now, I know that Fox probably leaves all the juicy, hell stuff for later, since this is supposed to be a series, but I wouldn’t mind knowing why the hell (did it again, hehe) would she decide to live on Earth and alone if she could, apparently, live underneath with all these cool and good-looking demons like that hottie (whose name I conveniently forgot) whom her father sent to look after his daughter? I mean, such deal does not sound half bad to me. Loneliness and suffering versus big hell life with a handsome and muscular dude who you can do stuff with (yeeeessss, true to its genre we get to hear about guy’s muscles several times; they’re so enticing… for some reason)?! Also, if you are the Devil’s daughter, why the hell would you even kill other demons? Can someone please elaborate? If all of the demons are born out of your father… wouldn’t you just leave them be free? Oh, hey, you have my father’s genes as well? Cool, let me kill you. Also, just like Delaney, Delaney’s father has a terrible effect on people—he drains them of energy and eventually has to leave her wife because he drains her, accidentally (ooops), and almost kills her. But, as is apparent from Delaney’s infrequent encounters with other people, there is a way of controlling this. So - you’re telling me the Devil doesn’t know how to control it? Obviously he’s been around for a bit, right? Did he not manage to get it under control over the years? And Delaney - she’s quite good at controlling her powers when no one's touching her, so—why does she not live with her mom again? If not touching means you’re ultimately not going to drain the people around... I mean… man, is this confusing. Oh, and did I tell you about the little golems running around punching everyone? Or about the fact that Laney’s father pops in as deux ex machine only to plant a kiss on her forehead and look at her worriedly? I mean, man, was this frustrating AS HELL.

YA guys with strong muscles, united.

You know how it goes in YA fiction, right? There is this girl. And then there’s this guy. And then there’s this other guy. And both guys are pretty handsome. And they both kind of want her, one way or another. Yes, Fox incorporate the infamous love triangle cliche into The Devil’s Own; in addition, she manages to squeeze in the “first time” plot line, as Delaney has never you know what because of you know what (= the infernal super powers). So when Delaney’s beloved father sends her way a yummy guy—because obviously, there’s something terrible about to happen any second now, something that he can’t further explain and because of this she needs a bodyguard, despite her nonstop training with dumbbells and other heavy stuff—and then a bit creepy detective decides to kiss Delaney, out of nowhere, you get the whole YA cliche triangle and first time love package. Oh, and did I tell you about the obviously so-forced detective storyline? Like—I need to create an obstacle in the relationship that Delaney could have with this real sexy guy, let’s throw in a detective who follows the bread crumbs, finds Delaney, and on the third meeting comes up to her when she leaves the bathroom and kisses her. Yes. That’s it. Right there. True love story.

So, what’s it about again?

Now I’m guessing you’d like to know what the story ultimately is about. I’d like to know too. Fox’s fantasy world didn’t feel innovative or clever. Her characters did not really strike me as likeable or fascinating. The plotline was shaky. And overall, I really missed having a deeper meaning to the story. I mean, with all these issues—loneliness due to otherness, struggling with alien powers, having the Devil for a father, fighting unknown evil—the Devil’s Own seemed to have this promise of being more than just another tasteless YA fantasy. It honestly felt like some bigger issue, some theme of real importance, should be looming on its horizon (but it wasn’t, of course). Instead, I got basically this: a girl trains a lot, then smashes demons, cries a little until some guy tells her to stop crying, and of course kisses guys for a bit and feels their biceps. If this is what you’re looking for then by all means, go read it. If you were hoping for some deeper meaning, some innovative descriptions of Hell and a deeper analysis of the Devil, then go search somewhere hell’s.

ania_star's review

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5.0

Received from Xpresso Book Tours

Such a cool book, full of amazing powers and devil and demons and magic and .... just awesome. :)

So Delaney is the daughter of the devil and she didn't inherit just his looks, but also lots of his powers. Only, she refuses to use them. When she first discovered them, it has a disastrous effect and it hurt people, the fact still hunts her and she is afraid she will hurt anyone close to her. Instead, she pushed people away and doesn't get close to anyone. My favorite part of her is the vigilante thing on the side (love it ! :)).

In order to protect her, father send two special friends to stay with her. She is reluctant at first to let anyone near her heart, but they grew on her. And that is only the start of an amazing story. :)

I loved reading it! It's one of those books that you have to read in one sitting. The writing is amazing and the characters are so vivid, they just jump from the pages.

Highly recommend to anyone who loves paranormal. :)

condygurl's review

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5.0

Great story, I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

purplebookfox's review

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4.0

3.8
A fast read with a likable FMC who is trying to keep everyone safe from her. The version of the Devil is interesting and a fresh take. This is a good setup and looking forward to seeing how it unfolds.