Emma, oh, Emma. At least you remained an interesting character throughout the book even if I wasn't so fond of you in some parts. However, in this particular time period, what woman would want to give away power after having it? It certainly did not come easily.

This book helped me realize that I almost universally dislike when protagonists have shared romantic pasts. If there has to be romance, I want new, fresh stuff right in front of me. I'm greedy like that.

I am fascinated by the process of education that doctors in United States go through. And the stories! I'd love to read similar memoirs from medical professionals in other countries and learn the differences.

I love how Mma Makutsi and Mma Ramotswe's relationship has evolved since the beginning of the series. The exploration of power dynamics in friendships is interesting.

This was adorable! We return to the beginning, where Buffy's biggest problem was her ability to juggle a social life, slaying and sleep. Sarah Michelle Gellar's face lends itself to the manga style well, but the other characters are portrayed in a relatively generic sense (still cute, just not quite Alyson Hannigan & Nicholas Brendon).

This short story is basically just bringing home to Buffy that despite her destiny as The Chosen One™ she will always have Willow and Xander, who like her for her.

While there was plenty of action (at least one explosion and several gun fights!), this book was divided up more evenly between plot progression and relationship progression - Dex & Sloane as well as at least two romantic subplots. Normally I am all grumpy about this sort of thing being shoved down my throat, but one was inevitable & and the other is so goddamn cute I want to snuggle with it. I'm choosing to ignore the statistically unusual amount of gay Destructive Delta has as a team, because if I can believe in jaguar shapeshifters, I can believe in a world where sexuality is more fluid than math is able to calculate. Overall, I think a good balance of sucking face to high octane explosions was struck, even if Sloane is an emotionally ruined wreck of a man and Dex has the patience of a saint.

Isaac Pearce was a relatively good antagonist, but he is also what kept this story from a higher rating for me. It seemed as if the author wavered on what exactly motivated him to a life of domestic terrorism (acceptable, as people can have many reasons to take a single action), but didn't portray it in a way that was emotionally gripping; more of a telling (always with the "madness in his eyes") rather than the showing. Or maybe my feelings are broken, who knows? beep boop beep

In another event of fictional characters reminding me of other fictional characters, Cael is basically Alphonse Elric - inherently dangerous, but faultlessly polite and kind - that is, unless you threaten his much adored older brother. Then all bets are off.

But, in the words of Dex himself, he is "so precious. So, so precious."

"You should have seen [Cael]. He got all red in the face and started stomping around. At one point he got so mad, he knocked over someone's empty soda can."

"Did he pick it up right away and apologize profusely?" Dex asked with a grin.

"It's Cael. Of course he did. Then he offered to buy the guy a new one."

Dex shook his head with a laugh. "You should have seen him when he was a kid and he'd get pissed off in his Therian form, chirping all over the place, his little cheetah fuzz at the top of his head sticking up. It was adorable."

If you didn't want me to coo, you shouldn't have mentioned FUZZY BABY CHEETAHS.



NEW THINGS I LEARNED:
⇴ Several new euphemisms for penis: portable pocket rocket, love dart and my personal favorite: love truncheon.

I disliked this one so much that I blotted it out of my memory for some time. I picked it up during my first year of college and almost immediately set it back down. I couldn't find anything redeeming about the character (perhaps purposely) and the writing was not strong enough to draw me in spite of that lapse.

The premise of his books is so promising ... and then you actually read them.

The second half of the book is where The Devil You Know really hit its stride for me. Felix isn't exactly a character that I liked right off the bat, but I warmed up to him by the end. I think what I really enjoyed was his ready willingness to admit his failings; self-awareness is a very attractive trait. He's talented, but it seems like he gets by with luck and tenacity most of the time

The depiction of Juliet was by far my favourite in my (admittedly small) pool of succubi descriptions in fiction. Carey made sure you had a vague understanding of what she looked like, yes, but it was more important that you felt the sheer impact her of presence and by god, he did a wonderful job. And ending the book the way he did with her? Superb. It actually makes me want to read the second without feeling as if I got cheated by the first.