ARC Review: Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped - Annette Marie
Series: The Guild Codex: Demonized #3
My rating: {★★★★★}
Urban Fantasy
Expected publication: April 3rd 2020 by Dark Owl Fantasy Inc.
Source: Review copy via Publisher
I thought I understood power.
My parents taught me that magic attracts equal danger, and everything I've seen since becoming a demon contractor confirms it. I've witnessed how power twists and corrupts--and I've tasted power no human should wield.
I thought I knew greed.
Ambition and avarice drove my family into hiding. My parents died for someone else's greed. I've never hunted anything in my life, but now I'm hunting their killer--with my demon's help.
I thought I'd seen evil.
But with each step closer to my parents' murderer, I'm uncovering a different sort of evil, piece by hidden piece. I've stumbled into an insidious web that silently, secretly ensnares everything it touches. My demon and I came as the hunters...
...but I think we might be the prey.
--
Author's Note: The Guild Codex includes two series, Demonized and Spellbound, which can be read and enjoyed all on their own; however, this book contains spoilers for Demon Magic and a Martini (Spellbound #4). If you were thinking about giving Spellbound a try, I recommend reading it first.
** I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes are taken from the advanced review copy and as such may not be accurate or present in the final published edition**
Wow... Just wow.
I've given myself a couple of days and I still can't find much coherence to review this one... It's just that good.
Never summon from the Twelfth House. For the trespass of this sacred covenant, the sons of Vh’alyir will destroy you.
Robin and Zylas (zuh-yee-las) have to be one of my favourite pairs of all time, and I'm not talking about shipping them (although I totally do!), I'm talking about a partnership, a friendship, a developing understanding and trust of one another that I just adore watching going from strength to strength. The ongoing theme of captivity/enslavement is explored further in this book and the theme of trust between Robin and Zylas is taken to another level and portrayed to perfection.
In this, the third and sadly penultimate book of this particular series, there is more testing the strength of Robin and Zylas' bond than ever before and while they struggle and are still unsure about where each of them stands, it's great to see them emerge on the other side.
μαίνομαι ὁρῶσα ἐν τούτῳ τῷ δαίμονι τὸ καλόν
Am I mad to see beauty in this demon?
There's a lot of crossover between this, The Guild Codex: Demonized series and The Guild Codex: Spellbound series (with Tori and the Three Mages). I absolutely highly recommend reading both series (since they are both EXCELLENT) however they can also both be read as stand alone series. This book does however contain pretty huge spoilers for the Spellbound series, so if you were thinking of reading both, I'd definitely propose you follow my recommended order of reading which is at the bottom of this review.
Part of the crossover is seeing a lot of The Crow and Hammer that we haven't gotten to see before, as well as some of the members that we haven't particularly focused on in the Spellbound series. There's also some key scenes in both series that are explored from the different POV's and that's been great for me, a fan of this universe, to be able to construct a different angle in my head of so many facets of this world.
We also see familiar favourites from Spellbound like the mysterious Guild Master of The Crow and Hammer, Darius King and in this particular book, Ezra Rowe is a highly supporting cast member and pivotal to the plot. While it was strange to see him without his Spellbound counterparts I very much enjoyed getting to know him more through Robin's POV and seeing him through her eyes. If you're already a fan of Spellbound I can't recommend highly enough that you pick up this series if you haven't already!
Ezra Rowe, the Crow and Hammer mythic I most wanted to avoid, was now helping me find the albino sorcerer. On the plus side, he knew way more about investigating killers than I did. On the downside, he was likely concealing a secret as dangerous as mine.
I was also happy to see a little of Kit and Lienna, characters from the new spinoff Warped which is also releasing this year. To say my interest has been piqued is an understatement! With Spellbound and Demonized both hurtling towards their finales this year I am happy that there will still be some of the Guild Codex world to hold on to.
Hunting Fiends has it all: protagonists you can root for, serious action, interesting and new details to add to the Guild Codex world, female friendships, humour and snark, and some pretty intense and poignant moments to top it all off. With the stakes raised ever higher I cannot wait for the next book, and yet the anticipation is bittersweet as I'm not ready to say goodbye to this series at all. I honestly can't say this enough - READ THIS SERIES!!!!!
Other books in this world (in my recommended reading order):
THREE MAGES AND A MARGARITA (THE GUILD CODEX:SPELLBOUND #1)
DARK ARTS AND A DAIQUIRI (THE GUILD CODEX:SPELLBOUND #2)
TWO WITCHES AND A WHISKEY (THE GUILD CODEX:SPELLBOUND #3)
DEMON MAGIC AND A MARTINI (THE GUILD CODEX:SPELLBOUND #4)
TAMING DEMONS FOR BEGINNERS (THE GUILD CODEX:DEMONIZED #1)
THE ALCHEMIST AND AN AMARETTO (THE GUILD CODEX:SPELLBOUND #5)
SLAYING MONSTERS FOR THE FEEBLE (THE GUILD CODEX:DEMONIZED #2)
DRUID VICES AND A VODKA (THE GUILD CODEX:SPELLBOUND #6)
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