I read an ARC of this story when it was first part of the Fables Retold Anthology. I'm adding my review to this posting here too.

4.5 Stars when part of the anthology.

The Demon's in the Details is a retelling of Rumplestiltskin. I’ll admit that Rumplestiltskin isn’t one of the fairytales that calls me to re-read it, so I don’t recall all the details about the original fairytale. This is also the first story I’ve read by this author although I’ve seen her books around. I don’t know if this is the author’s usual style of writing, but I found it difficult to follow because of all the groups and beings involved which I’ll mention in a bit.

Boy, was this story convoluted. I need to give some plot background to help explain my review. In this story, Rumpstiltskin is a Demon who goes by the name of Tommy. He owns a hair and skin salon and makes deals with beings who come to him for help. Those beings almost always end up coming back for more help and the bargains grow more difficult to fulfill on their part, which means in the end the beings sacrifice their lives. It’s made to work that way. Poe is a raven shifter who has to make a deal with Tommy because he wants to save the rook from his drunken step-father, Alpha Ethan’s, gambling debts. Poe is responsible and has in fact been acting as the Alpha, but it’s not as simple as challenging his step-father’s position. Also, Poe likes to consider himself a ‘free-bird,’ and doesn’t consider himself Alpha material. Got all that? And that’s just the simple part.

The part I had trouble with, and it carried on until the big conference, was there were lots of different groups and side characters. The author didn't clearly explain what these groups were and who belonged to each. There was something called the Rogers, the Hons and some other groups. These groups were composed of vampires, fairies, mages and shifters. I can understand not explaining about these groups if the narrator, in this case Poe, didn’t have any knowledge about who and what these groups were and he was learning about them along with the reader. But he did know. We are thrown in blind and expected to figure it out. Instead, all it did was make me feel lost. To top it off, Tommy’s dealings and twisted mechanizations with the groups and other beings made it even more confusing to figure out what was happening and to whom. Instead of me caring and drawing me even more deeply into the plot, it did the opposite and made me not care because it felt like there was a 'black hole of missing information'. I just felt lost. As I mentioned, it wasn’t until the big meeting near the conclusion that each group and being was clearly explained by Poe. This for me, was the biggest flaw in the story. Not enough info up front about the groups and side characters so that I felt lost, confused and didn’t really understand what was happening to the groups and why should I care when they involved Tommy and Poe?

Now the one great thing about this story was Poe. His unique voice jumped out from the page as soon as I started to read it and he pulled me right in. The first-person narrations I’ve often read have almost all lacked a unique quality and tend to be monotonous. Not Poe. He was one of the most entertaining first-person narratives I’ve ever read. Poe is smart, sassy, irreverent, loves sparkly objects of course, and finds danger exciting. He’s also kind-hearted and genuine. What you see is what you get. When he asks Tommy for help, he always asks for others, never for himself. Which brings us to Tommy. Tommy is an over two-thousand-year-old demon who wasn’t sent back to hell. He isn’t what you think of as a demon. His human form is a slim blond twink, which is just Poe’s type. It’s instant lust when the two meet for the first time. Tommy doesn’t want to get involved with Poe because it’s easier than getting hurt emotionally and he knows if Poe keeps asking for help, eventually Poe will fail and Tommy will have to kill him and eat his soul. The thing is, Poe isn’t afraid. The rook and his half-siblings mean everything to him and he would die for them, but preferably not. My feeling is Tommy is drawn to Poe, not just because of ‘fate’ but because Poe is so genuine and protective. Poe even protects Tommy even though Tommy doesn’t need help. Poe also isn’t afraid of Tommy’s demon, which Poe can see as a shadow. Poe likes Tommy’s power even if Tommy is a killer and Tommy is attracted to that. They’re made for each other and I could totally see them as a couple. But the author kept us in suspense by dragging out the commitment.

The side characters within the rook had great voices also. The siblings, and Poe’s female friend, Kennedy, who worked in the jewelry store Poe owned. I believe she was human but had a killer’s instinct also. I’d love to learn a bit more about her.

There are a lot of push and pull struggles that happen in this plot. Between Poe and Tommy, and all the groups and beings in the groups. A lot of clashes, claiming territory and giving up territory. Usually a book has a theme, and in this one it was about choices. Every choice has a consequence. Every being needs to think carefully about what they want and the consequences that can arise from that choice. The question is are they willing to accept the consequence, especially if the consequence is high.

A big event happens at the end of the story because of the ‘meeting.’ I kind of was hoping that Tommy would have been offered one of the Roger positions and a little more territory, maybe part of the ravens’ old territory, but not as much as the others. I mean he did help the other Rogers out quite a bit. There’s also something going on between Garrett the Griffin and Ollie that could lead to another book. Also, if there are new Rogers, that could also mean additional stories. But this one about Tommy and Poe is complete and has a HEA.

I do have a question about something Poe mentioned numerous times about Garrett and Ollie. Poe wanted to know what it was Ollie saw when Garrett looked at him, and also what Tommy saw/knew. This question isn't answered in the book. I don’t know if the author intends to write follow-up stories or leave this question dangling. I really dislike dangling questions like this, it feels unfinished or as if the author forgot to complete the book.

There's one thing I almost forgot to mention. Poe versus Ethan at the end. Birds cannot fly with broken wings. Poe breaks Ethan's wrist. Shifters may heal fast, but not instantaneously. Even Poe had difficulty healing after his multiple beatings from Ethan. There's no way Ethan could have flown, let alone flown straight. If the scene was written as 'Ethan flew erratically towards the clock tower, due to his broken wing,' I could've stretched my belief. But birds cannot fly with broken bones in their wings. This is a big 'no' for me in this story.

For an ARC, this was a well edited. I found few errors. The biggest problem I had, as I mentioned before, was the lack of clear indication about the groups and who belonged to each group early on.

The author also included a short story at the end of the book that was from Tommy’s pov when he meets Poe. It was nice to read about Tommy’s reaction, but I didn’t feel like it was Tommy’s voice compared to the character shown through Poe’s eyes. Tommy’s voice actually felt kind of flat. I don’t think it’s necessary to read the short story from Tommy’s pov unless you’re curious. Poe’s pov is much better.

I give Demon’s in the Details as part of the anthology, 4.5 Stars. If this story was listed in Goodreads on its own, I would give it 5 stars, even though there are some large issues I had with it. The five stars would be due to Poe’s voice and his narration. The world building is also great. But since its part of an anthology, I can give it a half star rating. I recommend this book if you’re looking to read a truly unique first-person character voice.

EDIT: As I mentioned above in the last paragraph, because this story is no longer part of the anthology. I'm going to rate it at 5 Stars ( )

What a nice surprise! I hope there's more to come. ( )