An excellent read, and a weirdish character shift I'm not sure I stuck with, but very well done all the same. Lots of fun, and moving. ( )

This was better than the first book and sure, I'd make out with the Ryves brothers too, if given the chance. But in the end, this book was still ... not very good. ( )

Better than the first book (although the front cover is much worse). Brennan's endings pack a punch. ( )

Loved the first book in the series, but since I never really took to Mae all that much, I wasn't very drawn into this book.

I still read this book very quickly, and I still care about all the main characters very much, but I feel like this is leftover from the really awesome first book. It does have a really good plot, though, and some interesting developments that close the book in a nice and cliffhangery way.

I just never managed to make an emotional connection with any of the new characters (Mae and Jamie's mom, for instance, fell very flat on me). And I went from not caring about Mae to not liking her.

My biggest gripe with Mae is that she's seriously devoid of personality. She SAYS she's strong and domineering, she SAYS she won't lie down and take abuse, she SAYS she's a kickass female character (uh oh, warning sign) but in reality she's nothing of the sort. I do wish Sarah Rees Brennan would write the character she has in mind, rather than telling us about it in blog posts. I mean, here's Mae falling in love with a person who is *incapable* of not just caring, but also of expressing any kind of emotion at all apart from anger.

Yeah, that was frustrating. But like I said, the strength of the first book carried me through the story and left me still caring about the main characters. ( )

Incredible sequel to The Demon's Lexicon, utilizing a great point of view shift to tell this continuing saga of demons, magicians, and vibrant humanity through the eyes of Mae Crawford. While Mae's point of view isn't quite as unique and carefully executed as Nick's in the previous novel (for obvious reasons), it has a measure of strength, independence, and passion that perfectly characterizes Mae herself.

Ever since the arrival of the Ryves brothers in the life of Mae and her magician brother Jamie, nothing has been normal. But Mae hasn't seen Alan and Nick in a while...until the day the charismatic leader of the Obsidan Circle, Gerald, returns, threatening to seduce Jamie to the side of the manipulative magic users. It turns out Gerald has created a mysterious new sigil of control, and that's only the beginning of a stunning web of power, lies, and betrayals that threatens to shatter Mae and Jamie's entire world.

I loved how the author used this novel and Mae's more open and human narration to deepen the characters we only got glimpses of in the previous novel; not only the main players but ones like the dancer Sin and the captivatingly deadly demons Liannan and Anzu. Relationships are expanded as well using the new perspective; Nick and Alan's heartrending brotherly bond, the sweet and ironclad sibling love between Mae and Jamie, and the friendships and loves that begin to strengthen between the foursome.

Nick's struggles with humanity are brilliantly and sympathetically portrayed, despite the reminders of his dark and dangerous true nature. Alan is an absolutely stunning character, in turns a bitter liar and an utterly noble guardian. Jamie is endearing, strong, loving, hysterical, and I want to hug him every time he appears in a scene. And Mae herself turns out to be a much deeper character than I expected, enduring pain, confusion, hardship, and betrayal before the cliffhanger ending that promises so much more in the final novel. The Demon's Lexicon was very good; this novel convinced me that this trilogy is going to be one of the best fantasies out there right now. ( )