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whovian223's review against another edition
4.0
A nice ending to the series, though a bit of an anti-climatic finale. Loved the interplay between the characters, and Morgan's narration is top notch.
kathydavie's review against another edition
3.0
Fifth and end of the Morgan Kingsley urban-fantasy series set in an alternate Philadelphia.
The Story
Shae, the illegal demon who owns the Seven Deadlies, comes to Morgan with some disturbing news. Seems she's seeing a lot of new demons coming into her club who aren't the usual gorgeous beauties. Instead they seem to be addicts and beggars. Since no demon wants to be in anything less than a gorgeous body, the news is disturbing enough that Lugh's Council realizes they'll have to push Dougal into a confrontation.
The Characters
Morgan Kingsley is a pain-in-the-ass albeit extremely strong exorcist although she's only doing one to two exorcisms a month these days compared to the four or more per week she used to do. Seems she can't leave Philly until Lugh's problems are solved, after all, Lugh is possessing her body. Brian is a corporate lawyer and Morgan's boyfriend. He's also incredibly patient in putting up with Morgan's issues although he's not too happy to find out that Lugh is "listening in" when they make love nor that Lugh is attracted to him! Eeek!!
Lugh is the Demon King fighting against a coup attempt by his brother, Dougal. The brothers have a conflict of opinion as to the proper method of possession. He's also rather intent on seducing Morgan…and, if he can get away with it, Brian.
Adam White is demon-possessed and the head of the Special Forces branch of the police force which, ahem, polices demons while Domenic, his lover, finally gets to open his Italian restaurant. Seems Adam may be in some trouble as he's been caught one too many times covering up for Lugh/Morgan.
Andrew is Morgan's brother and used to be Raphael's host. He's the reason we now know why some hosts are damaged after a demon is exorcised. Yet, even though his demon-hosting experience was traumatic, Andrew steps up when it's needed.
Raphael is Lugh's youngest brother. From being part of Dougal's conspiracy to fully supporting Lugh, Raphael seems to have learned some new ways of thinking…who knew!!?
Saul is Raphael's son with absolutely no love lost on his side; he's also Lugh's heir. Barbara Paget is a private investigator who has fallen in love with Saul. All the above characters—except Dougal—are on Lugh's Royal Council.
My Take
Bummer! I am so going to miss Adam and Lugh! Domenic's meals are going to be missed even more—he takes such delight in creating incredible food! Even Morgan seems to have learned something during Lugh's residence even if she is merely boring now instead of incredibly irritating.
Black does a lovely ending even as she leaves us in some suspense for Adam's job.
My reason for the 3 is that this was rather tame and a touch boring. There was some tension in the lead up to the duel between Lugh and Dougal with a bit of the snarkiness I do love from Adam but I think Black was more interested in tidying everything up before she shut the door on the series.
The Cover
The cover is rather odd. I like the black fanciful scroll that borders the bottom with its green and blue feathery smoke that rises up around the intense woman glaring out at us whom I assume is Morgan.
The title, The Devil's Playground, refers [I'm guessing] to the Mortal Realm where the demons like to come and play in and amongst the humans.
The Story
Shae, the illegal demon who owns the Seven Deadlies, comes to Morgan with some disturbing news. Seems she's seeing a lot of new demons coming into her club who aren't the usual gorgeous beauties. Instead they seem to be addicts and beggars. Since no demon wants to be in anything less than a gorgeous body, the news is disturbing enough that Lugh's Council realizes they'll have to push Dougal into a confrontation.
The Characters
Morgan Kingsley is a pain-in-the-ass albeit extremely strong exorcist although she's only doing one to two exorcisms a month these days compared to the four or more per week she used to do. Seems she can't leave Philly until Lugh's problems are solved, after all, Lugh is possessing her body. Brian is a corporate lawyer and Morgan's boyfriend. He's also incredibly patient in putting up with Morgan's issues although he's not too happy to find out that Lugh is "listening in" when they make love nor that Lugh is attracted to him! Eeek!!
Lugh is the Demon King fighting against a coup attempt by his brother, Dougal. The brothers have a conflict of opinion as to the proper method of possession. He's also rather intent on seducing Morgan…and, if he can get away with it, Brian.
Adam White is demon-possessed and the head of the Special Forces branch of the police force which, ahem, polices demons while Domenic, his lover, finally gets to open his Italian restaurant. Seems Adam may be in some trouble as he's been caught one too many times covering up for Lugh/Morgan.
Andrew is Morgan's brother and used to be Raphael's host. He's the reason we now know why some hosts are damaged after a demon is exorcised. Yet, even though his demon-hosting experience was traumatic, Andrew steps up when it's needed.
Raphael is Lugh's youngest brother. From being part of Dougal's conspiracy to fully supporting Lugh, Raphael seems to have learned some new ways of thinking…who knew!!?
Saul is Raphael's son with absolutely no love lost on his side; he's also Lugh's heir. Barbara Paget is a private investigator who has fallen in love with Saul. All the above characters—except Dougal—are on Lugh's Royal Council.
My Take
Bummer! I am so going to miss Adam and Lugh! Domenic's meals are going to be missed even more—he takes such delight in creating incredible food! Even Morgan seems to have learned something during Lugh's residence even if she is merely boring now instead of incredibly irritating.
Black does a lovely ending even as she leaves us in some suspense for Adam's job.
My reason for the 3 is that this was rather tame and a touch boring. There was some tension in the lead up to the duel between Lugh and Dougal with a bit of the snarkiness I do love from Adam but I think Black was more interested in tidying everything up before she shut the door on the series.
The Cover
The cover is rather odd. I like the black fanciful scroll that borders the bottom with its green and blue feathery smoke that rises up around the intense woman glaring out at us whom I assume is Morgan.
The title, The Devil's Playground, refers [I'm guessing] to the Mortal Realm where the demons like to come and play in and amongst the humans.
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
2.0
Whilst it definitely felt like an ending (I don't know if there are other books planned), it seemed to be the same ground being covered as before. Plot was a bit wishy-washy but that happens when you have too many characters in a short book.
adowling's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this book a lot. I went in not knowing it was the last book and I'm still not sure it should be. Things are kind of wrapped up at the end but so much is left to be done. Just because the big bad dies doesn't mean the story ends. What happens with Morgan and Brian? What about Adam and Dom? I felt a little let down.
ckjaer88's review against another edition
3.0
This one started off a bit slow, but really picked up at the end! It's great getting under the skin of the demons and get more personality to them. But a bit disheartening to not find anything on Google about book 6.
sunnydee's review against another edition
5.0
Dies ist eine meiner ersten Paranormal-Romance- und eine meiner absoluten Lieblings-Reihen. Ich habe diesen letzten Band lange vor mir hergeschoben, weil ich der Reihe und den Charakteren einfach nicht Lebewohl sagen wollte. Den ersten Band habe ich 2012 gelesen und er hat mich so richtig mitgerissen. HIER findet ihr meine Review dazu und darin erkläre ich auch das Worldbuilding und stelle die Hauptcharaktere vor. Ich möchte eigentlich zum Inhalt und zu den Charakteren nichts mehr sagen, da alles einfach nur spoilern würde. Dieser fünfte und letzte Teil der Reihe ist ein echtes Finale. Charaktere haben sich sehr entwickelt von Band 1 zu Band 5 und daher würde es einfach nur spoilern mehr zu sagen. Was ich sagen kann, dass es hier auf den finalen Kampf der beiden Dämonenbrüder herausläuft, die den Thron in der Dämonenwelt besteigen wollen. Das ganze läuft sehr, sehr taktisch ab, was mir sehr entgegen kommt. Ich mag zwar durchaus auch Actionszenen, aber bin immer froh, wenn dieser den Band nicht dominieren. Geschickte Planung und ein paar unerwartete Wendungen, Charaktere, die man nicht so eindeutig einschätzen kann, so etwas macht für mich die Spannung aus, die ich mir wünsche. Und das bekam ich hier. Die Charaktere sind mir in diesen 10 Jahren, die ich die Reihe nun lese, sehr ans Herz gewachsen. Es waren diese Art von Charakteren, bei denen man am Ende das Gefühl hat, sie wirklich zu kennen. Ich habe mich nur sehr ungern von Morgan, Lugh, Adam und Brian verabschiedet. Das ganze Konzept, wie die Dämonen in der Menschenwelt 'leben' fand ich unglaublich originell. Die Reihe hatte genau die richtige Mischung aus Fantasy, Humor, Spannung und Unterhaltung. Lediglich die Liebesgeschichte(n) hätte für meinen Geschmack noch etwas mehr Platz einnehmen können.
Alles in allem war dieser letzte Band ein würdiger Abschluss und hat mich sehr gut unterhalten. Ich bleibe nun mit einem lachenden und einem weinendem Auge zurück.
Jenna Black wird immer eine Autorin sein, nach der ich weiter Ausschau halte. Eine weitere Reihe von ihr habe ich bereits begonnen und werden nun diese weiterverfolgen.
Story 4,6/5
Emotionen 5,0/5
Charaktere 5+/5
Unterhaltung 4,6/5
Schreibstil 4,6/5
Lesegefühl 5,0/5
Gesamt 4,6/5
Alles in allem war dieser letzte Band ein würdiger Abschluss und hat mich sehr gut unterhalten. Ich bleibe nun mit einem lachenden und einem weinendem Auge zurück.
Jenna Black wird immer eine Autorin sein, nach der ich weiter Ausschau halte. Eine weitere Reihe von ihr habe ich bereits begonnen und werden nun diese weiterverfolgen.
Story 4,6/5
Emotionen 5,0/5
Charaktere 5+/5
Unterhaltung 4,6/5
Schreibstil 4,6/5
Lesegefühl 5,0/5
Gesamt 4,6/5
aknas22's review against another edition
4.0
This is my favorite of the series. These books really do get better. Morgan and the other characters have experience major character growth and there is an end to one story arc.
delaneybull's review against another edition
4.0
I liked that the confrontation that has been building up for five books was confronted, but not in a way that made the prospect of future novels in the series seem unnecessary. As usual, I love Lugh and Morgan, Brian and Andy annoyed me, and Adam and Dom are perfect.
This installment had some serious twists that I appreciated, and a few that I didn't. I liked the twist at the end of the novel, I think it was very redeeming for one character which I appreciated, since I have always liked him.
I'm a little concerned that future novels will be weird to match stylistically and thematically because the goal of the series thus far has been accomplished, but I will continue reading and I have hope that the series will continue to flourish.
This installment had some serious twists that I appreciated, and a few that I didn't. I liked the twist at the end of the novel, I think it was very redeeming for one character which I appreciated, since I have always liked him.
I'm a little concerned that future novels will be weird to match stylistically and thematically because the goal of the series thus far has been accomplished, but I will continue reading and I have hope that the series will continue to flourish.
audiobookmel's review against another edition
3.0
This book was very good. There were several surprises that I did not see coming. I am very curious as where Morgan goes from here.