Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

A new heroine, a new world and a fabulous new series from Deborah Wilde!

I love me some Urban Fantasy but when it's UF full of snark, quirky characters, and a slow-burning second chance romance that repeatedly pulls on the heartstrings I go from, "Yes, this is nice, more please." To virtual stalking of the author's social media to hoover up every snippet about future books whilst wailing into the wind, "I neeeeeeds it!" and trying to convince the old gods to do a gal a favour and send her some books from the future that her sanity remains intact. 👀

So, yes... Big Demon Energy. I liked it very much. I'm excited to read more. I am positively feral to see how Avi and Ezra's relationship heals and evolves. I'm curious as to what happens when Avi's dual heritage comes into the open and I want to know more about the insidious plot and evil faction doing *the bad things*.

If you're considering this book, give it a try! I doubt you'll be disappointed.

I wasn't a huge fan of this book. The plot was subpar and seemed all over the place. I wanted it to be more monster romance forward but it was just okay. Not for me

This was not was I expected. It was billed as a romance but was more of a mystery/action book with some hints of a past romance. Lots was left hanging for the next installment of the series which was disappointing.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

This is a second chance paranormal mystery and it is fantastic. Aviva is part demon and law enforcement, her ex is Esra a playboy Vampire. They are partnered together to help hunt demons, but Aviva is part demon, and Esra knows this. Yes! It was absolutely perfect. I loved it!
I just reviewed Big Demon Energy by Deborah Wilde. #BigDemonEnergy #NetGalley
[NetGalley URL]

I wanted to enjoy this; the title initially drew me in, and I was expecting the FMC to be a badass demon who goes around having adventures. It ended up feeling more like I was reading a sci-fi movie script with an odd conglomerate of characters. I'm generally a fan of banter, and there was a lot in this book, but it didn't seem to serve a purpose in this story other than filling up pages. The first chapter was a bit confusing to plow through, and it felt like the reader got dropped into the middle of something with no context. I did Cherry was interesting, but she's barely explored and I'd thought she would feature much more heavily in the story.

DNF at 48%
I was drawn to the cover, it seemed like a fairly interesting book. Based off the title, I was expecting something different, as the slang "Big D Energy" implies. The book is centered around fighting magical crime, however the stakes felt low. The worldbuilding was fine, though it felt a bit more logical than magical. I was wary of the typical forced proximity with the ex trope, but I still wanted to give this book a chance so I persisted.

mild spoilers ahead!!


I was quite disappointed because while there was tension between the marketed "enemies to lovers" couple, and action on the crime fighting front, none of these felt like they were going anywhere. I could not get invested. It felt convenient that Aviva did not suffer some backlash from always reigning in Cherry or using her to solve her problems, ML does often take a jab at this but Aviva gets off with a slap on the wrist.

The snark did crack me up at times though, so I appreciate that. Sometimes it peeved me, such as when the trio mocked the ML (as much of a prick he is) about knitting, or when addressed on antagonising others Darsh was just written off as "always like this" in Aviva's mind - didn't seem that way when bantering with Aviva or Sachie though.

Perhaps this was just not my jam, I see a lot of readers enjoying this book otherwise.

Thank you so much Net Galley, Te Da Media and Deborah Wilde. I hope for your success!

She’s just a demon, standing in front of a vampire, trying not to punch him.

Absolutely hilarious. Can't recommend it enough. If you need a smile, this is the book for you.

Magic,vampire, demons, tided into a mystery case. 1/2 way though the book and I enjoy reading this book. However something I feel is unnecessary but at the same time it is interesting due to the point of view of the book. It’s like the main character is telling you about what is happening and she all of a sudden gets trigged my a memory and then tells you about that memory.

The main character is a strong willed woman and she is tested due to wanting to advance in her career and now having to work with her ex to solve this murders that are taking place. All while having to fight / hide her demons that in in her.

This book is set up to have a second to it and I can not wait to read what happens. I have so many question and I want to know who is behind the murders and how far up it goes in the organization.

Title: Big Demon Energy- BeDeviled AF book#1
Release date: 8/21/23, read 7/18/23
Author: Deborah Wilde
Book cover: love the red cover
Format: e-book
Page Count: 366
POV: 3rd person
Setting: Vancouver
Genre: Urban fantasy, sci fi, suspense, thriller
Tropes: magic, vampires, demons, enemies to lovers, 2nd chance romance, slow burn, forced proximity
Representation: Judaism
Rating: 4****
Source: Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e- ARC. I voluntarily give my honest review and all opinions are my own.

Quick summary: Aviva Fleischer has to hide her nature as a half demon while working as a supernatural operative investigator to fix the wrongs in the world. Demons are ostracized and vampires are at the top of the food chain. Aviva is ready to lead her own unit, but her boss and mother Michael has other plans. Enter the Prime vampire who broke her heart 6 years ago- Ezra Cardoso. He has been hired as co- leader with Aviva to solve a string of murders. Can they work together with attraction and secrets between them?

Content warnings/triggers: lore/ world building takes a lot from Judaism, prejudice

Characters: Main and Minor
Aviva- half demon alter ego named Cherry Bomb. Together with Ezra for 3 months but he broke up w/ her after she revealed her true identity.
Sachie Saito- Aviva bff and roommate. Believes all demons are evil
Darsh-works w/ Aviva and Sach, part of the unit
Michael -Aviva's mother and boss. Had a 1 night stand, never knew Aviva's father
Ezra- vampire and playboy. Mafia Assassin
Silas-part of unit, joined with Ezra

Review: Aviva reminded me of Mercy Thompson or Kate Daniels. She was a force for good, fighting rogue supernatural creatures. Her and Ezra were setup to work together on a career making case of catching a serial killer. Not much romance, but makes up with plenty of action and snarky banter between Aviva and Ezra.

P.S. It ends in a little bit of a cliffhanger as there is more to the "big bad" and Aviva and Ezra's relationship.

I decided to read this one after reading the description. It sounded like a fun read - and it was!

I have never read a book quite like this with the different Jewish references, but I found them very interesting. The story was quick and exciting.

I was a little worried at first because I thought it felt a bit choppy, but it seemed to smooth out as it went. There was also a line that felt very insensitive at one point, but I'm wondering if it was just me, since I haven't seen any other reviews commenting on it.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 5 stars, and I will be on the lookout for the second book!

Thank you to #netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and comments are my own.

#bigdemonenergy #deborahwilde #fantasy #fiction #adult #romance #urbanfantasy #paranormal #magic #demons #vampires #bookstagram #readersofinstagram #idratherbereading #readingchallenge #book #bookrecommendations #bookreview #librarian #booklover #bookdragon #bookworm #reader #reading

Great characters, interesting premise, the frequent tease of a possible second chance romance. I was hooked from the start. I hated putting this book down to do things like cook and drive. The banter and wit in this cast of characters was fabulous. I can't wait to read the next book.

If there’s something that I love, it’s some well-written magical realism and urban fantasy. The thing with these genres, however, is that they’re a lot harder to accomplish than one might think. My standards might be higher than some, but when I read magical realism I want to be able to be transported there. Since it has a realism aspect, I want it to be easy for me to imagine and picture in front of me. Otherwise, it loses its meaning.

I think that the setting was a bold decision. The magical realism with the half-demon, half-human main character and how she switched between worlds was an interesting choice, because it was very easy for this to switch from interesting and serious to corny and annoying. It’s a thin line to walk, and unfortunately I did find myself cringing at times while I was reading this book. Honestly, the title of the book itself should have been a dead giveaway, but it wasn’t too bad. It just felt very millennial, which isn’t an insult!

The modern setting was also an interesting factor; the dialogue and references made it easy to apply to real life. It added a lot to the descriptions and imagery, helping the book progress through chunks of back-and-forth dialogue. I especially liked the parts where the characters sort of “forgot” about all the pressing issues with demons and vampire and just hung out for a few pages. It really rounded out the characters and made them more memorable, fleshed-out people in my mind.

Unfortunately, while on the topic of dialogue, and chunks of it at that, I have to say that it wasn’t my favorite. While the word choice for the characters was fine, there was just so much of it. At times it felt like I was reading a script, not a book. Sometimes I would actually forget who was saying what because there was so much back-and-forth and zero explanation or elaboration.

This also made some parts of the book blend together for me. I forgot some of the things that happened as I read on, because it was all so one-note.

That was my biggest issue with this book. None of it was bad, even the parts that I said made me cringe a little. As a whole, I actually really liked it. It was just so unmemorable, and at the end I felt like nothing really happened. Nothing changed after I read this book, and I couldn’t really tell you about it even though I read the entire thing, and I mean <i>really</i> read it.

Someone else called this story fast-paced, and that’s exactly what it is. Unfortunately the fast pace made me forget things quicker too.

The strongest part of this book in my opinion is the world building. Though this is a magical realism book, the fantasy elements were really well-thought out and applied well to the real world. There were valid excuses for the magical world in relation to the real world and it felt like it was really plausible. Wilde has a way of tying her fantasy elements into the more realistic elements in a way that feels very natural, not forced at all. It didn’t feel like someone trying to force this storyline onto me, it was just naturally accepted.

Overall, I did like the writing style and the world building. There’s a lot to like about this book, but unfortunately I just don’t think it was for me. There were a lot of elements that I just didn’t think worked, but I can see other people really enjoying this story.

Thank you to Netgalley, Te Da Media Inc, and Deborah Wilde for the ARC!

I enjoyed this, it was a fast paced book.
I enjoyed the main character, felt connected to her the whole book.
I enjoyed the world building and the Jewish references. It was a fun unique story.
I am disappointed that there wasn’t much romance and really only tension between them. I’m hoping there’s romance in the next book though because I will be reading it.

A special thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!! This is my first story by this author and I’m very impressed. My favorite part was the world building of this book. The story immediately had me hooked and I flew through it. I can’t wait to read more by this author!

Thanks to publisher and netgalley for the arc! I really enjoyed the vibes of this book a lot in the vain of Buffy and even some shoutouts! I loved the main character she made me laugh and root for her!
The mythology and world building was unique and interesting really enjoyed that part.
But I expected a lot more romance and didn't realize this was beginning of series so took off a star for that since I wasn't expecting cliffhanger and not much in romance department which was major letdown. I want and need to read rest of series though now so hopefully not too long of wait in between books and much more romance in second book fingers crossed!

*Received a copy for review.*
This book felt like I’d already missed part of the story. It was like trying to join a conversation that has been going on for some time.
I made it over 1/2 way through but I just didn’t care about the story or the characters.