The Unlikeable Demon Hunter is aptly named. For the first quarter of the book, I could not stand Nava. She was a drunken party girl with no self respect, looking for a good time with no consideration for her future and mooching off her parents to boot. I guess superpowers are enough to wake her up though, because as the story progressed she slowly started to grow into her own, but she's not there yet. This is not the typical urban fantasy heroine, kicking butt, taking names and secure in her mission. Nava is at times selfish and she treats the other demon hunters more like potential sex toys than people. She is a hard character to like, but if you are averse to the typical heroine, she might be what you are looking for.

I'll be honest. I requested this solely because of the tagline "<i>Buffy Meets Bridesmaids</i>". As one does. But when I came on GR recently to scope out the full plot, I was shocked to see a very low star-rating (it's since gone up) and it made me wonder what on earth I was getting myself into with this book and if maybe this would be less of an entertaining carwreck and more of a brutal one.

"<i>You can't be buried in a Jewish cemetery, not with tattoos.</i>"
"<b>What gives you the impression I think there will be anything left of me to bury?</b>"
<i>Wow. These dudes were grim.</i>

But surprise! THE UNLIKEABLE DEMON HUNTER was, well, neither. And instead it was a total surprise. A delight. Fun, fresh, funny, and fucking hot. So don't put too much stock in ratings, kids. Keep an open mind and read for yourself. Because not only was this a great read but this is only the beginning -- and from a debut author no less!

"<i>Don't mess with Lady Shock and Awe.</i>"
"<b>Fuck a duck, you're giving yourself superhero names already?</b>"

"<i>A nice butt won't get you out of answering, Emo Snowflake.</i>"
"<b>Don't call me that.</b>"
"<i>It's not your superhero name? Never mind, I'll find you something.</i>"

It's true, Nava is not your typical heroine. She's not even the typical anti-hero/anti-chosen one in the sense of that recent "she was supposed to be the chosen one but isn't" trope that's been floating around. Nava was literally never supposed to be chosen. She wasn't even in the running. The failure to her twin brother's perfection, twenty year old Nava is in a bit of a downward-y spiral, or maybe just funk, after her tap dancing (I know right!) dreams were smashed to pieces. She decides to spend time, instead, having fun. Which for her means drinking, partying, screwing around, and not being responsible.

"<i>How do you think I feel? You know what my big plan for today was? A nap!</i>"

Naturally a whole lot of responsibility falls into her lap.

"<i>You can't expect the fate of the world to be in my daughter's hands. Might as well invite Satan to move on in and throw him a housewarming party.</i>"

Wilde's writing was quippy without feeling like you'd fallen into a Joss Whedon tribute (not that I would be adverse to such a thing) and with enough fun references that everything felt really based in reality.. despite the Jewish Brotherhood of demon hunters and, y'know, the demons. I loved that this was set in Vancouver, Canada, and that we had this great and uniquely diverse mythology and background (did I mention the jews!). There was also a ton of mancandy, broody boys, grossly unique demons and their spawn, and fun dynamic quirks that haven't been fully revealed -- this is a series, after all -- and I'm so excited to learn more.

"<i>I'll give this my all. Prove my worth so that the demons are scared shitless of me and the Brotherhood can't bear to do without me. But I won't give up who I am in the process.</i>"

I really liked Nava. Yes, she's supposed to be unlikeable but she honestly isn't. She's just a twenty-something going through the motions and making no bones about what she wants and what she likes. But she's smart and insightful and she cares. Her relationship with her twin, Avi, was also great because it wasn't perfect. Having lost his expected destiny he tries to be supportive but finds it difficult. There is the obvious jealousy and resentment and yet their sibling love was very present. And don't even get me started on Rohan (more diversity, hello hunky hindu-jew rockstar!) because he is delicious.

"<i>This is bad. I think I might be addicted to him.</i>"
"<b>Eh, breathing is an addiction. But once you've stopped for an hour, it's reasonably easy to quit forever. So how hard could this be to kick?</b>"

The friendships, the hijinks, the mythology, the sex, the stumbles and the successes, make for a delightful adventure that I think a lot of fans of paranormal romance will really enjoy. But it's also accessible enough that if you're not a fan of PNR, or aren't familiar with the genre, you'll still be pulled in by the family dynamics and the comedic moments. Or even just the sexytimes.

<i>Some demon happened to get its kicks feeding from the neck and suddenly everyone was rushing in with garlic and stakes looking to take down Count Dracula. Those who weren't romanticizing them as life partners, that is.</i>

Can't wait for book two!

4 "no whipped cream? / I prefer my shots not remind me of STIs" stars

While the story is well written, I didn't feel like it flowed well I got lost at times as to what was going on, it got better as the story went on but initially I was a bit lost. The heroine was also not a favorite of mine, I found her snarky but hey we can't all like the same stories and what doesn't appeal to me might to someone else.

Nava Katz is the sister in the Katz family twins. Her fraternal brother Ari is destined to become a demon hunter, a Rasha, in the ultra-secret Brotherhood of David until something goes wrong with the ceremony and instead of the man who has spent most of his life training for the honour, his hot mess of a sister is anointed/chosen.

Nava, on the other hand, has lost her purpose after her dancing career was brought to an untimely end and is basically acting out, drinking, partying and banging college boys. Now she has to enter the all male Brotherhood and learn enough to stop the first demon she meets from killing her.

Argh, the rating of three stars is a total amalgam of some five star bits and some one star bits.

First, the book is easy to read and the plot moves along quickly. The idea that there is some secret kick-ass society run by Jewish rabbis was fun and the secret powers that the Rasha possess were intriguing.

I feel that, as is often the case with a first book in a series, Deborah Wilde was trying just a bit too hard. Nava was just a bit too much of a mess, she was a bit too crude (don't even get me started on the way she describes her vagina - NO, just NO). But the first book sets the scene, once the world order has been outlined the writer relaxes and (hopefully) some of that anxiety dissipates.

Nava also descended into TSTL territory when she decides to try to lure out the scary demon all by herself because her trainers and minders have told NOT TO DO IT! I totally expected some two-bit horror dude to attack her with a chainsaw for being so stupid.

One of the hallmarks of Urban Fantasy is the slow burn romance - well this didn't have that. Maybe it's the Urban Fantasy meets Paranormal mash-up but this was choc full of sex - right from the unfortunate way Nava kills her first demon. I found it kind of off-putting and frankly I thought it took up space that could have been better used by plot development, because I still don't understand the story with Nava's best friend and the informant.

I'm intrigued to see how this series develops, will Nava's fledgling romance continue (or will it fall foul of the cliche where he is really working against the Brotherhood a la Buffy and Angel)? What will happen with Nava's brother? What is the story between Baruch and Ms Clara? What about Drio? Is Samson King who they think?

This is one is a very different type of paranormal story, the heroine has plenty of issues before the book even starts and she is in good company since most of the characters all have different issues but that doesn't detract from your enjoyment of the story.