You can view my full review here: http://akamissfiercereviews.tumblr.com/post/143698657810/demigods-and-monsters-review

I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This review contains spoilers!!!

Initial Thoughts:

There was so much personal anticipation going into Raye Wagner’s second novel. The cover was incredible, intriguing, and turned out to be a completely new, hunky, character! I was extremely excited to see what had come of our main character Hope and what she would be doing next: would she forgive Athan, did she run away, what was her new plan of action?

Spoilers!

The second novel picked up almost immediately after the first left off. Our main character Hope is in conflict with all the people in her life (Priska and Athan), and battling between what might keep her safe, what she feels compelled to do, and what other people think she should do. Within the first few chapters we meet our swoon worthy cover model, Xan. It’s pretty clear to the audience, as well as to Hope, that Xan is more than just a human. After getting some solicited advice from an actual Goddess, Hope decides to follow her initial compulsion and search for answers. This path leads her to the conservatory, and essentially into the enemy’s den.

I always enjoy stories that involve boarding schools. The dynamics between students of all ages (…but how long have you been seventeen?) when they’re forced to coexist, live, and learn together and teach one another are always fascinating. Xan becomes Hope’s mentor while she adjusts to life at the conservatory. Her main goal isn’t making friends, but scouring the library in search for the truth behind monsters and curses. This novel had a relatively heavy focus on being a reader and what that meant to individual people. I enjoyed the discourse between the characters on the importance of literature and the importance of being a reader.

While at the conservatory, surrounded by demigods, Hope begins uncovering some of their secrets. Monsters, like herself, aren’t as scarce as she and the general population are led to believe. Although demigods do hunt monsters, they are more like parole officers and less like the serial killers legends have made them out to be.

If you know me or have been following my reviews for a while now, you’ll know that the one thing I hate the most in literature are love triangles. I won’t deny the fact that Demigods and Monsters introduced a love triangle, but I will admit that I wasn’t actually bothered by it. I think this was one of the first instances where the love triangle actually works the same way it would in the real world *shocker*. In this instance, Hope learns some unpleasant facts about Athan’s past, while forming a solid friendship with Xan. What I love about Xan is that he openly admits to liking Hope, but willfully acknowledges that she still has feelings for someone else. He never pressures her into a physical or emotional relationship, he states that he is available, what his intentions are, and he lets her be and go at her own pace. When Athan returns the boys have glaring and verbal contests, but nothing as over the top as physical altercations occur to gain Hope’s attraction. Raye Wagner did an amazing job at creating a realistic love triangle and honestly, other authors should take notes if they want to use this trope in their own writing. In my years as a reader, this is the only way I’ve ever seen it done and thought, yes, this could happen and the characters are all being completely adult and respectful about it.

There were a few things about this novel that I didn’t enjoy as much. There wasn’t nearly enough action until the very end. In Curse of the Sphinx there was action in the beginning, little spurts of action throughout the middle, and bigger action sequences towards the end. I feel like Demigods and Monsters suffered from curse-of-the-second-book-syndrome, and it sacrificed action for plot.

Another thing I found myself annoyed with was the unrealistic emotional roller coaster our characters were on. In one moment, the characters would be discussing a completely neutral topic, and in the next breath be sobbing over something to occurred years ago. These instances felt out of place and caught me off guard. I often sped read through them and didn’t feel an emotional attachment to (or sympathize with) the character it was happening to.

The last thing I want to touch on with this novel was that it felt a little underdeveloped. It left me wanting more. I want to know more about the conservatory, about the library, about the Gods and their children. I want to dive further into the realm of mythology and understand the actions of the demigods in more clearly defined details. This novel felt more like an outline of events and less like a deeply developed history of the characters involved. I’m hoping in the next two novels we can see the discussion go from surface level to a deeper development of the world and history of these characters.

Conclusion:

Overall, this novel lacked a little something for me. For a majority of this book I would rate it a 3 out of 5 stars, but towards the end it definitely ramped up to a 3.5. This novel did leave me excited for what’s to come, but I’m hoping to see an improvement in the writing of emotional scenes, additional action sequences when necessary for the plot, and more depth to the world building and history of these mythical creatures. I’m excited to continue this journey with Raye Wagner, and possibly experience a trip with Hope to the underworld.

After my review of Curse of the Sphinx I recommended that novel to lovers of the Percy Jackson series and the Sweet Evil Trilogy. With Demigods and Monsters I recommend this novel again to Percy Jackson lovers and also to Twilight, specifically New Moon lovers.

Rating:

3 out of 5 stars. I would read this novel again.