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A review by shannonleighd
The Devil's Playground by Jenna Black
1.0
I wanted to add that I do still read Black's books; I haven't given up on her. In fact, here newest series (my review of the first book, Dark Descendant) is actually really, really good. I also liked her YA series as well (I have a review for the second book only though) and these are both really good examples of why I don't give up on an author completely because of one or two bad books. I think over time she's only gotten better, so if you disliked this one as much as I did, maybe give another one of her series a chance, especially if you may have liked parts of this series but not the whole. I think she's worth giving a second chance, definitely.
Now, on to the review of this book!
Sigh ... where to start? Let's just say I was very disappointed with this book. I was hoping things would improve from the previous one but it seems I was wrong to even think that. I'm frustrated with this series now like I'm frustrated with Laurell K. Hamilton's two series and there isn't even a lot of sex in Black's books to distract me from the poorly developed plot. Let me see if I can explain myself.
Morgan Kingsley is a demon executioner, and we find out in the beginning of this book that her life has returned to some semblance of normalcy. She's still hosting the Demon King Lugh but she's come to terms with a lot of what's happened in the previous books. She's building a better relationship with Brian and her friends, and trying hard not to be a stubborn bitch all the time. But then the owner of the Seven Deadlies demon club, Shae, comes to Morgan with some information. She tells her that increasing amounts of demons have been showing up at the club in less than perfect bodies and she thinks it might have something to do with Dougal and his plan to kill Lugh. So Morgan decides to investigate and once again gets caught up in demon politics.
Now, where did this book go wrong? This series has such an interesting premise and it's the main reason I keep coming back to read more even though the quality seems to go downhill with each additional book. This book should have been called The Devil's Meeting in Morgan's Apartment. I should have tried to keep track of the amount of times Lugh's counsel was called to convene and drink copious amounts of coffee in Morgan's living room. It honestly got ridiculous and if I had to guess I'd say they met at least six times to discuss what action to take. About 75% of this book was them sitting around talking about what they should do! And good lord, WE GET IT, YOU LIKE COFFEE! I'm surprised the other 25% of this book didn't take place in Morgan's bathroom.
Another thing I had a problem with was the repetitive feel of almost all of Morgan's thoughts and conversations. She has a hard time letting people in, she's stubborn, Lugh taking control makes her sick, she's gets cranky when she gets a headache, people can't change, blah blah blah. It's the same thing over and over and over again. Thankfully, she's FINALLY starting to trust people, but now we have Brian to take up the whiny bitch throne. He doesn't like the fact that Lugh is there when he and Morgan have sex and he throws a hissy fit because Lugh happens to have feelings for him. Lugh is inside her head and has no body! There's no chance for any wiener-wackin' so get over your homophobic self! (I might be being a little unfair but his whining is super annoying. He spent four books pissed that Morgan was stubborn and wouldn't let him in and now he pulls this crap when Lugh has been there the whole time!)
And now this kind of gets me back to the whole LKH comparison. Hamilton's Anita Blake raises the dead as a job in the beginning of her series. As the plot gets more convoluted with vampire and werewolf stuff the zombie raising is left behind. Now though it seems like LKH is trying to get back to Anita's roots and I saw a glimmer of hope in [b:Flirt|6726595|Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #18)|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1310494369s/6726595.jpg|6922779] that the series might take a turn for the better. I think this is what the Morgan Kingsley series needs to do too. Morgan hardly does exorcisms anymore. She's been so caught up in the demon politics that she's lost her identity, and also her charm. At this point she's just an annoying human that happens to host the Demon King. And sometimes I question her intelligence too; on two separate occasions, her only weapon-her taser-was at the bottom of her gigantic purse. How is that the smart thing to do? It's her only weapon! I just thought that was beyond stupid. At least Anita doesn't root around in her purse looking for her gun.
Apparently, this is the end of the series for the time being. See Jenna's goodbye to the series here. I can understand an author not wanting to drag something out if she's run out of ideas, and I can very well see that being the case here, but if this turns out to be the end of Morgan Kingsley then I'll be left forever feeling frustrated and disappointed. It will also make me question if I want to read [a:Jenna Black's|51118|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243367862p2/51118.jpg] books in the future, or at the very least it'll keep me from blind-buying them.
One more thing I wanted to add: I hate the cover! It doesn't match the previous books and the model is weird looking. I don't know if it's the angle at which the photograph was taken or if the designer made it that way but I just don't like it. See below. This was just one more thing that left me dissatisfied. : (
[bc:The Devil Inside|729876|The Devil Inside (Morgan Kingsley, #1)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320491285s/729876.jpg|716075] [bc:The Devil You Know|2398197|The Devil You Know (Morgan Kingsley, #2)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320400198s/2398197.jpg|2589565] [bc:The Devil's Due|3123162|The Devil's Due (Morgan Kingsley, #3)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320477213s/3123162.jpg|3154505] [bc:Speak of the Devil|5928023|Speak of the Devil (Morgan Kingsley, #4)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320477215s/5928023.jpg|6100455] [bc:The Devil's Playground|6521325|The Devil's Playground (Morgan Kingsley, #5)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320474498s/6521325.jpg|6713228]
My Speak of the Devil review.
Now, on to the review of this book!
Sigh ... where to start? Let's just say I was very disappointed with this book. I was hoping things would improve from the previous one but it seems I was wrong to even think that. I'm frustrated with this series now like I'm frustrated with Laurell K. Hamilton's two series and there isn't even a lot of sex in Black's books to distract me from the poorly developed plot. Let me see if I can explain myself.
Morgan Kingsley is a demon executioner, and we find out in the beginning of this book that her life has returned to some semblance of normalcy. She's still hosting the Demon King Lugh but she's come to terms with a lot of what's happened in the previous books. She's building a better relationship with Brian and her friends, and trying hard not to be a stubborn bitch all the time. But then the owner of the Seven Deadlies demon club, Shae, comes to Morgan with some information. She tells her that increasing amounts of demons have been showing up at the club in less than perfect bodies and she thinks it might have something to do with Dougal and his plan to kill Lugh. So Morgan decides to investigate and once again gets caught up in demon politics.
Now, where did this book go wrong? This series has such an interesting premise and it's the main reason I keep coming back to read more even though the quality seems to go downhill with each additional book. This book should have been called The Devil's Meeting in Morgan's Apartment. I should have tried to keep track of the amount of times Lugh's counsel was called to convene and drink copious amounts of coffee in Morgan's living room. It honestly got ridiculous and if I had to guess I'd say they met at least six times to discuss what action to take. About 75% of this book was them sitting around talking about what they should do! And good lord, WE GET IT, YOU LIKE COFFEE! I'm surprised the other 25% of this book didn't take place in Morgan's bathroom.
Another thing I had a problem with was the repetitive feel of almost all of Morgan's thoughts and conversations. She has a hard time letting people in, she's stubborn, Lugh taking control makes her sick, she's gets cranky when she gets a headache, people can't change, blah blah blah. It's the same thing over and over and over again. Thankfully, she's FINALLY starting to trust people, but now we have Brian to take up the whiny bitch throne. He doesn't like the fact that Lugh is there when he and Morgan have sex and he throws a hissy fit because Lugh happens to have feelings for him. Lugh is inside her head and has no body! There's no chance for any wiener-wackin' so get over your homophobic self! (I might be being a little unfair but his whining is super annoying. He spent four books pissed that Morgan was stubborn and wouldn't let him in and now he pulls this crap when Lugh has been there the whole time!)
And now this kind of gets me back to the whole LKH comparison. Hamilton's Anita Blake raises the dead as a job in the beginning of her series. As the plot gets more convoluted with vampire and werewolf stuff the zombie raising is left behind. Now though it seems like LKH is trying to get back to Anita's roots and I saw a glimmer of hope in [b:Flirt|6726595|Flirt (Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter #18)|Laurell K. Hamilton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1310494369s/6726595.jpg|6922779] that the series might take a turn for the better. I think this is what the Morgan Kingsley series needs to do too. Morgan hardly does exorcisms anymore. She's been so caught up in the demon politics that she's lost her identity, and also her charm. At this point she's just an annoying human that happens to host the Demon King. And sometimes I question her intelligence too; on two separate occasions, her only weapon-her taser-was at the bottom of her gigantic purse. How is that the smart thing to do? It's her only weapon! I just thought that was beyond stupid. At least Anita doesn't root around in her purse looking for her gun.
Apparently, this is the end of the series for the time being. See Jenna's goodbye to the series here. I can understand an author not wanting to drag something out if she's run out of ideas, and I can very well see that being the case here, but if this turns out to be the end of Morgan Kingsley then I'll be left forever feeling frustrated and disappointed. It will also make me question if I want to read [a:Jenna Black's|51118|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1243367862p2/51118.jpg] books in the future, or at the very least it'll keep me from blind-buying them.
One more thing I wanted to add: I hate the cover! It doesn't match the previous books and the model is weird looking. I don't know if it's the angle at which the photograph was taken or if the designer made it that way but I just don't like it. See below. This was just one more thing that left me dissatisfied. : (
[bc:The Devil Inside|729876|The Devil Inside (Morgan Kingsley, #1)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320491285s/729876.jpg|716075] [bc:The Devil You Know|2398197|The Devil You Know (Morgan Kingsley, #2)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320400198s/2398197.jpg|2589565] [bc:The Devil's Due|3123162|The Devil's Due (Morgan Kingsley, #3)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320477213s/3123162.jpg|3154505] [bc:Speak of the Devil|5928023|Speak of the Devil (Morgan Kingsley, #4)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320477215s/5928023.jpg|6100455] [bc:The Devil's Playground|6521325|The Devil's Playground (Morgan Kingsley, #5)|Jenna Black|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320474498s/6521325.jpg|6713228]
My Speak of the Devil review.