Skip to main content

The Demon Race by Alexandria Warwick [arc review]

A Race across the Desert
An unimaginable Prize
The Demon Race
Blurb:
It occurs once every thousand years: the Demon Race. A test of will and strength, it is a race across the Saraj, a fight for the prize of a lifetime. And it is the key to Namali Hafshar’s freedom.

When shy, seventeen-year-old Namali learns of her arranged marriage, she flees home and enters the Demon Race for the chance to change her fate. But to compete, she must cross the Saraj on a daeva, a shadow demon that desires its own reward: to infect her soul with darkness.

Namali soon learns the desert holds more dangers than meets the eye. The only person she can trust is Sameen, a kind competitor seeking his own destiny. As her affection for him grows, however, so too does the darkness in her heart.

In this race of men and demons, only one can win. But the price of winning might be more than Namali is willing to pay.



2.3 Stars


I liked the premise of the book. The idea of a race on the back of Daevas was enticing, I do enjoy most books that deal with demons that mess up your mind and your ability to distinguish right from wrong. It creates interesting moral dynamics on a story. 

All in all the book had a good story and a lot of potential. The romance was sweet as well.

One of the main issues I had with the book however was that it was repetitive.
Namali and Sameen would run, the merchant would capture Namali, somehow she would escape, and than the two of them would have some argument about her being a woman and therefore 'this or that'...
Namali would run, be capture, escape, argue.
Namali would run, be capture..... that got seriously annoying towards the end.

Also, I read to escape the real world not to be faced with political, social and religious agenda pushing and sadly the book often felt like that. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind books that have all of that, but only when it feels natural to the story. Here it didn't. The amount of times the main character mention she was a woman and therefore 'this or that' drove me crazy. I got it the first time!  Instead of coming across as a strong woman going after freedom she often came across as a whiny little kid. Is this an ya fantasy or a book for woman oppression? Cause there should be a difference between the two... There was also a lot of religious jargon and rich vs poor stuff. 
There was so much of it all it got on the way of the story. We didn't get anywhere near enough scenes with the demons for example. Let fantasy be fantasy (that's how I feel anyway, I know many feel differently). 
Often times it felt like reading a contemporary with a little bit of fantasy. I am sure that will work for many readers, but as a matter of personal preference it did not for me.

Release Date: September 18th, 2018
Find the Book at:

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Radiant Sin (Dark olympus) by Katee Robert [arc review]

This is sadly, not going to be a very popular review. I adore Katee Robert. But this one just wasn't for me. It wasn't a terrible book or anything like that, it just left me wanting more and very puzzled. Every one of the books in this series follows a certain trope and/or subplot genre. Neon Gods is very much a Greek Mythology retelling;  Electric Idol  has the plus size influencer and the sweet bad boy, it is a very modern contemporary romance;  Wicked Beauty , and my favorite so far has that hunger games/dystopian vibe. Radiant Sin  is a murder mystery. The 'one house'/'one train' style that has always been so popular. Here lies problem number one for me, because I don't like murder mysteries at all. Even on my teen years when I read a lot of mystery it was never those. Problem two- there were way too many characters in that house, and they all got their time on the page making it one very confusing mess. It was very hard to follow at times. I think this

The Book Hater's Book Club by Gretchen Anthony

The Book Hater's Book Club  at first appears to be about a struggling bookstore and its imminent sale. Elliot, the co-owner of Over the Rainbow Bookstore, started  The Book Hater's Book Club , a newsletter of reading recommendations for the self-proclaimed non-readers of the world, because he believed there was a book out there for everyone. Something I wholeheartedly agree with! For years he and Irma have kept the store going and always had a recommendation in hand. When you finish this book, you will have yet another list of books to read.  However, this book is about more than just books and a struggling bookstore. It is also about grief, the price of secrets, and a little more grief.  You see, Elliot is gone, and his grief-ridden business partner has agreed to sell the store to developers. Problem is, she didn't tell that to anyone until the deal was almost done. Which is making her daughters ask questions. Why is she selling? Is it grief alone? Is there something else

Promises and Pomegranates (Monsters & Muses #1) by Sav R. Miller

I was very excited about this read. The reviews are good, the people recommending it were people whose recommendations I have liked in the past. And in the end, at did like this one. But I will confess from the start that Promises and Pomegranates  did not blow me away. Blurb: Elena To most, Kal Anderson is a villain. Harbinger of death, keeper of souls, frequenter of nightmares. Doctor Death. Hades incarnate. They say he stole me. Usurped my fiancĂ© and filled the cracks in my heart with empty promises. Imprinted his crimson fingerprints on my psyche and tried to set me free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was my choice to stay. Kal To most, Elena Ricci is an innocent. Goddess of springtime, lover of poetry, angel of my nightmares. Little one. Persephone personified. They say I ruined her. Shattered her virtue and devoured her soul like a succulent pomegranate. Embedded my evil as deep as I could possibly get and tried to set her free. They’re not wrong, per se. Except it was she