Not That The Demon's Surrender is Bad...

...Not that The Demon's Surrender is bad, or poorly written, or even boring. It's just that, as the final book in the trilogy that had focused on the Ryves brothers, it would have been nice to have somehow felt more of what those two were experiencing, rather than having the decidedly overwhelmed Sin as a narrator. Which also doesn't mean that I disliked Sin, or even that I didn't like her narration. It just seemed an unnecessary perspective for a finale that had Sin as a peripheral character in the previous two books.

The basic plot remains the same: the Goblin Market is in danger from the magicians, and the Ryves brothers are still struggling with the fact that Nick is actually a demon seemingly incapable of human emotion. Given that Sin is narrating, we learn a lot about her responsibilities and her abilities, and the fact that she feels entitled to run the Market after Merris leaves. But there is the stumbling block of Mae, a "tourist" who has shown herself equally capable of running the Market, and Jamie, Mae's brother who is a magician. Both sides know the ultimate showdown is coming between them and the one who captures the Pearl necklace will be the one in charge of the Market. But will new romances also survive? What will happen to Sin's younger brother and sister? Will Nick ever escape his demon past?

Like I said, I liked this novel but felt that it was padded out with Sin's dramas. I loved Nick's sense of humor and the bond between the brothers, and I felt what happened to Alan was a good twist. I've never been a Mae fan but I did enjoy how she stepped up to the plate and actually made things happen; I also appreciated the action sequences, particularly the one with Sin on the magician's boat. I would just have liked there to have been more focus on the brothers since that was how the series began. It's not bad by any means...it just left me feeling like the heart of the story was missing.

~taminator40