eol's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
octavietullier's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
eclipse777's review against another edition
2.0
Such a promising start to the series in Snake agent then I read this what a let down, won't be carrying on with the series.
ssminski's review against another edition
3.0
I wish Inspector Chen appeared more in this book. While I like the demon, he is not really enough for this series, even with the love interest. This book was also really confusing to me in the beginning, sort of disjointed and not organized. I really enjoyed all of the mythology and the scenery, but the mystery was confusing and the scenes did not flow well. Will definitely be reading the third book because I think the series has a lot of potential, I just hope it brings more to the table.
abookishtype's review against another edition
The Demon and the City is the sequel to Snake Agent, a book I picked up a while ago and enjoyed very much. Liz Williams’ The Demon and the City, unfortunately I think, takes the story away from Inspector Chen and gives it to Chen’s partner, Zhu Irzh–who is the eponymous demon. While I like Zhu Irzh, he just doesn’t appeal to me as much as Chen did. I like him much better in small doses, like in the last book...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
kellanemc's review against another edition
2.0
Kind of disappointing sequel to the excellent Snake Agent
writerlibrarian's review
4.0
I went in this book knowing Chen wasn't the main character and that Inari was not in it either. Knowing this I wasn't annoyed by the focus on Zhu Irzh and how he finds his balance and fits in Singapore 3.
Againg the world building is interesting and kept me reading. The new character, Jhai Teserai, I'm on the fence about. She did felt like a variation of the damsel in distress. Especially since it's having a physical relationship with Zhu Irzh that kinda 'saves' her.
Still the plot kept me reading, I love Zhu Irzh and eventually Chen arrived back from vacation and they were off again trying to save the city and well.. the world.
Againg the world building is interesting and kept me reading. The new character, Jhai Teserai, I'm on the fence about. She did felt like a variation of the damsel in distress. Especially since it's having a physical relationship with Zhu Irzh that kinda 'saves' her.
Still the plot kept me reading, I love Zhu Irzh and eventually Chen arrived back from vacation and they were off again trying to save the city and well.. the world.
ssminski's review against another edition
3.0
I wish Inspector Chen appeared more in this book. While I like the demon, he is not really enough for this series, even with the love interest. This book was also really confusing to me in the beginning, sort of disjointed and not organized. I really enjoyed all of the mythology and the scenery, but the mystery was confusing and the scenes did not flow well. Will definitely be reading the third book because I think the series has a lot of potential, I just hope it brings more to the table.
gibberishmon's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't like this book nearly as much as the first in the series for a number of reasons.
1 there are lesbian characters in the book but one is only a lesbian because it's "fashionable" and the other goes straight once she finds the right man 2 the author seems to dislike women of the female characters in the book one is described as a shrew two are scheming and untrustworthy one can only be her real self when having sex one is called a bitch and described as cow like repeatedly a openly sexist character has nothing really bad happen to him and a major female character in the first book is left out completely 3 the bad guy lost way too easily and the end was really anticlimactic.End the end this book was worse then the first because of a bad representation of LGBT relationships open misogyny and a lack luster ending.
1 there are lesbian characters in the book but one is only a lesbian because it's "fashionable" and the other goes straight once she finds the right man 2 the author seems to dislike women of the female characters in the book one is described as a shrew two are scheming and untrustworthy one can only be her real self when having sex one is called a bitch and described as cow like repeatedly a openly sexist character has nothing really bad happen to him and a major female character in the first book is left out completely 3 the bad guy lost way too easily and the end was really anticlimactic.End the end this book was worse then the first because of a bad representation of LGBT relationships open misogyny and a lack luster ending.
bhalpin's review against another edition
2.0
I loved Snake Agent; this one I struggled to finish. I still love the world Williams has created, but this story is just not as compelling as the story of Snake Agent. Though Zhu Irzh is an interesting character, there's just less at stake for him than there is for Chen--his worst case scenario is just going back to hell, so all of the action of this novel lacks the urgency that made Snake Agent such a compelling read.