Review: The Devil's Liege by Danielle DeVor

Summary:

Being a vampire isn't all it's cracked up to be- in fact, it kind of sucks.

After surviving his duel with Lilith, Mathias thought that he could relax. That is until he discovers that, Nossy, the new king, has been kidnapped.

When the investigating vampires seem to have no clue how to rescue Nosferatu, Mathias must step in. Everything is peachy until Mathias is named the next new king in order to stop the man behind Nossy’s kidnapping from taking over the throne.

Suddenly, his life is not his own again, and Mathias must make a choice: risk his life to find his friend, or sit back and watch disaster unfold.

Publication Date: September 26, 2014

This was such a good and twisty paranormal read! I was a little leery of picking up the second book without reading the first, but I had no problem getting transported to the world DeVor created.

Mathias was an easy character to connect with. He had such a real voice and I liked how he didn’t sugarcoat life as a vampire. His voice felt real and authentic. The side characters were also well done with standouts being Nossy and Vlad.

The pacing was really well done. What I liked is that the plot developed naturally and there wasn’t a huge info dump at the beginning. I liked the gradual hints DeVor wove into the plot to let me know what was going on with the vampire royalty.

The dialogue was my favorite part of the book. I love the wit and humor that comes from Mathias and his vampire interactions. Despite the darkness of the plot, there was actually quite a few laugh out loud quips.

The Devil’s Liege is a great book for fans of YA vampire novels. I’d suggest starting with Tail of the Devil to see how Mathias’s journey began.

Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Review: Sorrow's Point by Danielle DeVor

Goodreads Summary:

Not all exorcists are created equal- especially those that are “marked”.

When defrocked ex-priest, Jimmy Holiday, agrees to help an old friend with his sick daughter, Lucy, Jimmy doesn’t expect the horrors that await him. Blackmoor, his friend’s new residence, rests upon the outskirts of the town of Sorrow’s Point. The mansion’s history of magic, mayhem, and death makes it almost a living thing – a haunted mansion straight out of Flowers in the Attic. Jimmy must decide if Lucy is only ill, or if the haunting of the house and her apparent possession is real.

After the house appears to affect him as well; seeing colors of magic when rooms of the house are warded by a witch and his voice taking on a power he doesn’t understand, Jimmy is met by a transient who tells him he has “the Mark”. Whatever being “marked” means, Jimmy doesn’t care. All he wants to do is help Lucy. Helping Lucy means performing the exorcism.

Jimmy knows the ceremony, but it's belief that matters. And if a demon is using a little girl as a meatsuit, his faith had better be strong enough to kick it back to Hell. Otherwise, he might damn them both.

Publication Date: October 15, 2013

Sorrow’s Point was probably one of the most terrifying books I’ve ever read. For me, there’s something so horrifying about innocent little kids being taken over by something dark and evil. It’s one of the reasons I consider Children of the Corn and The Exorcist the scariest movies I’ve ever seen and I was definitely reminded of the latter while reading Sorrow’s Point.

Sorrow’s Point is a book that I could easy see brought to life on screen. It just had such a movie feel to it as the tension gradually builds after the startling first chapter flashback. I liked the setup of a young girl being possessed and an ex-priest being approached to help cure her.

Characterizations were phenomenal and I had no problem picturing Jimmy and Lucy and her family in my mind. I liked how the author tied the characters together in interesting ways. I also enjoyed the switches between past and present and how the author gave subtle hints along the way about the mysteries surrounding Sorrow’s Point and the Black family.

The book is a page-turner, but definitely not for the faint of heart. There were a few chilling scenes that will leave me with nightmares for weeks. The author is one to watch and I’m going to check out her other novels available.

Rating: 5/5 Stars