Friday, December 2, 2011

BOOK REVIEW - SMOULDER by BRENNA YOVANOFF

By: Brenna Yovanoff
Published By : Simon & Schuster
First Released : 15th November 2011
Details : Paperback,  363 Pages

Received Paperback from Publisher for review, Thankyou!

RATING : 4.5 SAD TRUMAN STARS!!

Book Blurb : Taken From Goodreads

Being the youngest daughter of the Devil has never been easy. Daphne's father has no time for her, her mother no interest, and her status in the upper echelon separates her from the working-class demons that populate Lucifer's metropolis. When her brother and only confidante goes missing, life in the restrictive city of Pandemonium becomes intolerable. Now, in an attempt to find him, Daphne sets out for Earth - and finds it larger and more chaotic than she imagined: a dazzling expanse of noise, dirt and random violence. Despite her bewilderment, she navigates the mortal world with growing fascination, gaining an ally when she saves a dying boy from her father's minions.  


For Truman Flynn, the last year has been one long downward spiral, but when Daphne arrives just in time to save his life, he finds himself unexpectedly glad to have another chance. Together, Daphne and Truman go in search of her brother, braving the hazards of Las Vegas and the perils of first love, even as it becomes increasingly clear that her brother might have had a secret and compelling reason for leaving. Lucifer's agents aren't the only creatures on the prowl, and Daphne soon finds herself the target of a plan to rid the world of demons for good. Now she must evade a demon-eating monster, rescue her brother from an angelic zealot, and save the boy she loves from his greatest enemy - himself.

BOOK REVIEW:

I have been sitting here staring at the blank page trying to get my words right for this review. It’s not often I am left like this.


‘Smoulder’ or the other title of this book is ‘The Space Between’, is a dark tale that is quite sad and a little gruesome in parts. I sometimes wondered if this book was for the older end of the YA genre due to the use of ‘The Sorrowful Mysteries.’


Brenna Yovanoff has truly written a book that has a lot of emotion but at the same time the characters, Truman and Daphne, have almost no emotion for life. Let me explain this better.


Daphne lives in Pandemonium, part of Hell. She isn’t a girlie, girl. She likes the things Obie brings her that are earth things, but she is from Hell. She has metal dogteeth and does not want to end up like her sisters. Her good friend Beezelbub has a swarm of flies around his head at all times.


Truman lives on Earth and is living in his own hell. He lives with his step father, his mother is dead. Truman’s character is suicidal. He has given up. He just wants to drown his life in alcohol to take away his ability to feel. If he sleeps he gets visited by a shadow man who talks to him. He tries not to sleep, it’s easier on him.


Obie is Daphne’s brother. The two of them are more alike than the rest of the sisters. Obie is the only boy in the family and he just doesn’t fit the mould for a demon in hell. There is a good, caring side to him.


Enter Truman.


Through Obie and Truman's connection , Daphne has a starting point to find Obie who has gone missing.


Lilith who is Obie and Daphne’s mother, has an interesting way of being able to talk to Daphne when she needs to.


Moloch is a demon who I really liked. He is intelligent and thoughtful, he gives Daphne the help she asks of him.


It’s kind of odd but you forget that they are demons and should be feared.


There are some great twists in this book. I am leaving out one particular character that was quite a shock. It also involves a cardboard box. And another character that is important to the story line.

I like the chapter titles. I also liked the countdown. I was the whole time wondering what to..????


To me the characters have great charm and appeal but in a dark way. This is not a light story, but it’s not too heavy. Sometimes the story felt quirky, I struggled to find a happiness, in this book. I really didn’t realise what I was in for. The pace of the story did slow down a little at times, but then Brenna would come back and hit me with something gruesome and I was back in the saddle.


Visually, Brenna really does paint a picture in your mind with her words, some scenes spoke to the reader very well.


Both Truman and Daphne have to learn emotion. Whether it be where they were born or what happened to them in their young life that tore the emotion away from them, love is something lost to them, an emotion not felt. Yet these two characters are drawn to each other through circumstance, but........it’s never too late to learn.



This is a stand-alone book, you get a start, a middle and a finish.

...THE END.

FAVE QUOTES :

“All my life, I've understood the nature of where I come from, but I never thought I might be wicked until now.”


“You asked about love. I don't know about love, Daphne. I just know I don't want anything but you. I don't want to be anywhere but with you.”



Michelle

2 comments:

  1. Oh, it sounds like it was kind of hard to read? I've read books before that I thought were fantastic, and that I admired, but were kind of joyless... sometimes to the extent that I didn't actually enjoy reading them, despite liking them, or even loving them, if you know what I mean?

    You've seriously piqued my interest with this one, though. Should I give it a go?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Sarah,

    Well, I liked the book hence 4.5 stars! It is a dark tale and one that wants a happy ending....it's definitely a different story. I do recommend it, but it is dark, but not heavy dark like Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma. Brenna has a great writing style. Sometimes it's quite sharp and others....this is why I had to think how to write my review. It rates very very well on Goodreads.

    Michelle

    ReplyDelete

COMMENTING HAS BEEN TURNED OFF

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.