𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙮𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜…

Did I buy Akira Varma’s “Only A Portal Away” just to read this book? Yes, yes I did…

I wanted to understand the universe before reading this book and when I read the summary of OAPA, I was drawn to the concept so much so, that I was interested. Unfortunately, the execution was weak… but we’re not here for that book, we’re here for this one!

With the Author’s other book still fresh in my mind, I wanted to see if there were improvement in their writing and to see how this story connects to the first one, since it’s in the same universe. This book captured my attention like the first one, and I wanted to read it, so, thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the title to read. Idk if it’s still an ARC but it hasn’t been archived yet…

Anyways, to begin, the author has definitely improved on the writing and structure compared to OAPA. There were more action/mundane aspects that made the story more visual or better described. One thing for sure is that the word “unhelpfully” was not used at all, however, it was replaced with “scoff” and boy did the characters scoff A LOT 😅 I’d say the characters seem to be better developed too; Xavier, Raina and Lucas, loved! But bruh, Lucas man wtf? When you read the ending of his POV you’ll see…

The story was definitely different to the other series, and this one felt like it was a prequel or backstory for the main events that had happened in OAPA. But while I was reading this, there were a few things that felt like it got lost on me. One is I thought Xavier hated/despised his father, but then in the last few chapters when he learn about his father’s past, he was disappointed and saddened by the truth, cause he looked up to him. So I was a little confused since they didn’t have the best relationship.

Then came the realm or kingdom (whatever you wanna call it) itself. It would be nice to have a map if this is in the same universe. I wasn’t too sure if the events in this book is the lead up to the one in OAPA, but I know that a lot of the concepts mentioned in this title and the other one were brought up. Like the mysterious people who had ambushed Xavier, their tattoo or marking was mentioned in OAPA, and the beasts/creatures in this book are the ones from OAPA. So is this leading up to “The Dark Ones” in OAPA? It just felt lost on me.

Another thing that I didn’t like as much is the lack of romance. Don’t get me wrong the story kept me on edge, especially the ending, but if you’re gonna throw in some hints of an enemies to lovers or slow burn trope, please stick to it!! I was a little disappointed that nothing happened between Xavier and Raina.. yet? Like there is definitely something there, just nothing was acted upon. A few chapters kinda hinted the romance but yeah there was nothing.

Overall, I’d recommend for the story because it was good with where the ideas were going, though at times it felt like the story wasn’t properly executed. Given the few reasons above, I’d say another main reason why I’m not giving it a 5 star is due to the mistakes. There were so many spelling and grammar mistakes again that I couldn’t keep count. In one chapter the author wrote 34, then when the character spoke, they said 54 and then back to 34. Even with one of the descriptions of the characters they had a scar on the right side of the body but by the end of the book it was on the left. I think planning it or jotting a note to help remember would’ve been great. In another chapter the paragraph literally repeated itself. Then like the first book from the author, there were a few things that felt repetitive too, for example something was said once and then written again just in a different way.

So I’ve given this book 3 ⭐️

Loved this book so much! Very immersive and recommending to all my friends and family! Thank you so much for letting me read this!!

☆3 Stars☆

The plot of this book and the art style is what drew me in initially (former emo millennial here). The world-building is unique, and I like the way Akira blended magic and technology in interesting ways. I think the decision to include a non-spoiler and spoiler summary in the beginning to help readers understand the larger universe was perfect.

I really liked Raina’s character arc. She starts off wanting to be a Scholar, but after being saved by some Believers, her whole world unravels, which adds depth to her journey. Xavier starts out as a reckless and condescending boob but his character does evolve as he and Raina grow closer.

The plot was engaging with politics and conflicting parties. The Institute who over saw the archives and the Hunters, who controlled much of the city’s history and military, set up some solid conflict and drama with the Believers who oppose them.

This was decent slow burn with a side order of psychological horror. The ending had a good twist but felt like an intro to another story. Definitely curious to see what happens next.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Akira Varma for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off the artwork both in terms of cover & interior design are amazing. The cover design peaked my interest and the overall summary of the story did the rest in sucking me in.

Since this book is set in the same world as another series I really liked that the author added at the beginning a spoiler and non spoiler of the other book series "Only a portal away" to give more perspective into the world and universe she was about to transport us to.

The world itself is absolutely unique mixing magic/ technology/ancient myths almost. Like the biggest of all the big portal hovering above Madhura and the origins and meanings of the human-like monters appearing all over the city.

We are in for the adventure, the characters are interesting with Raina the naïve, small-town-girl arriving in the big city with big dreams, wanting to become a Scholar in the Institute, and Xavier your local quarterback or rather a star Hunter for the Institute. The story is interesting, the events as well but overall the story felt a bit short, like the relationships could have been developed a lot more. For example some aspect of the characters felt underexploited like Raina's ointment which apparently impressed the healers in the Institute when she healed Xavier at the beginning but this knowledge isn't really reused afterwards (except maybe with the potion at the very end). Xavier as well feels a bit inconsistent especially at the beginning I had a hard time understanding his motives. Also, the characters could be fleshed out more to give more background into their beliefs, the true meaning, the character development throughout the book. The only character that felt really consistent is Lucas.

To conclude, it's a great adventure, with good characters, and a good dose of betrayals it's a very fun read. The manuscript really needs editing copyediting and proofreading as there are a lot of grammatical mistakes, double paragraphs, missing word... It could really benefit as well to be longer to add more depth to the characters.

I'll be keeping an eye out for book 2 as I really want to know what happens next !

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

While the premise and cover of this book looked very promising, in my opinion this book is currently not in a fit state for reviewers due to the extensive errors and repetitive nature of the writing. I had to put this book down because the amount of errors was so distracting, phrases and ideas in paragraphs were repeated so many times I kept thinking I had accidentally gone back a page, and it just didn’t make sense or flow.

I would definitely give this story another go, however it needs some more work before publication.

What I liked about the book:
I received this book through Net Galley. First off, the cover is beautiful and hooked me. The plot sounded very interesting, so I gave it a shot. I was truly in it for the adventure.

Apparently, this is a story that takes place within the world the author created in another book series. I appreciated the author including a non-spoiler and spoiler summary at the beginning of the book so you can have a base understanding of the world.

The Institute is the self-appointed entity tasked with protecting the city and its citizens by overseeing the archives and The Hunters. The archives contain the entire written history of Madhura and can only be accessed by the Scholars. This essentially allows them to control the narrative and the military, for lack of better words. Pair that with the Believers who don’t agree with The Institutes methods, and you have some interesting conflict.

I think the world itself is unique as well as the magic/ technology. The twist at the end was pretty good, I will say, it worked for the story.

As we know, Raina is wanting to be a Scholar, and she has grown up with her mother who is a Believer. Raina encounters some Believers that save her life and that plants a seed and begins to unravel all she thought she knew about the Institute and The Believers. I love that for her character.

Xavier is struggling to find his purpose in the world. His dad is emotionally unavailable. He fears he will be just like him and his only best friend is Lucas. He meets Raina and develops a friendship with her which I think is good for him because she doesn’t put him on a pedestal like everyone else. I do feel for the guy, he’s got a lot going on lol.

What I didn't like about the book:
The grammatical errors were extensive. It took me out of the story a lot. I also felt the pacing was too quick.

I feel that Xavier's characterization was inconsistent. I was confused at times at his motivations and actions. I felt like he was really arrogant and rude when we first met him. Then he was kind and understanding and had a heart the next. He doesn't want the attention and expectations for being the son of the Elite Hunter. But on the other hand, expects to be treated as such and is confused and mad at Raina when she doesn’t but also secretly likes that she sees him as just another guy??? (and all this happening during their first interaction together)

I felt like there were not enough events that contributed to his character growth. I feel like I never understood Xavier's core beliefs and I think fleshing out Xavier’s character more would do the story good.

That leads me into the next issue I had. I wish we could have been with the characters in situations and scenarios that led to some character growth/development instead of telling us the end result.

For example, Xavier helps Raina get into the institute to study as a Scholar. When we are in Raina’s POV next, she talks about how Xavier is giving her the cold shoulder out of nowhere. Even though, they were spending so much time together. We didn't get to see any of that time spent and that friendship develop. It felt like I was missing something.

Raina is a good example of this. There were times in the story where we would jump ahead, and Raina is telling us about the progress or conflict with another character. But how did we get here? We don’t know because we, as the audience, didn’t get to see or experience this with her. We are told how close her and the people that took her in at Madhura’s apothecary are. We never spend that quality time with them to watch that relationship foster.

Lucas, I think was the more well-rounded characters out of the three main characters. Lucas’s motivations made sense. I can’t get into too much of his character without spoiling but I felt I understood Lucas more than Raina and Xavier.

Rhaul, Xavier’s dad was your standard bad guy. From jump he is mean, ruthless, and has high expectations for Xavier. I wish the author could have leaned into this relationship more as a motivator, which I think was the idea, but it didn’t land well.

In Conclusion/ what can be improved:

This story has potential. It has great roots with an interesting plot and interesting main characters, Xavier, Raina and Lucas. I think that the author needs to flesh out the characters more, stabilize their core beliefs and streamline their character growth/ development. I would like to see or follow along with the character in more scenarios/ situations that lend to their character development. I think that was the biggest thing that was lacking for me, as well as the pacing. If the book was 175-200 pages longer, I think this could have been achieved.

Revisions, revisions, revisions. It won’t hurt to look over the story one more time than you may think is necessary. The amount of grammar and spelling errors was distracting and took me out of the story.

I was truly in it for the adventure, and I think I got that. Was it great, no. Could it use some work, yes. I look forward to seeing where these characters go especially after that ending. I’m interested to see the relationship between The Institute and The Believers after what happened and look forward to book 2!

I just finished reading this book and found the storyline and character arcs quite promising. The backstories add depth and potential to the narrative, but the characterization fell short in several areas.

Xavier's introduction as a character painted him as careless and overambitious, something that a warrior must NOT be. Pairing that with his condescending attitude towards Raina at their first meeting was... annoying.
His character also felt very inconsistent; he shifted from insufferable to confusing, and then somewhat likable towards the second half, but it wasn't enough.

As for Raina, she started off rather weak and somewhat pathetic. While her character developed better as the story progressed, it seems like her character was mainly included just to move the plot forward. I hope that in the second book of this duology, she will have a chance to shine (Go Raina!)

Next, Lucas. I feel like he's the only character who the author put a lot of effort into. Or maybe not. Either way, I liked his arc better than the supposed protagonists. Which is, not all that much but still something.

Some of the side characters were largely disregarded and felt more like plot devices who were used to merely push the story forward and support the protagonists. For example, Raina's found family and her two scholar friends.

As for the end... The last chapter and epilogue were highly disappointing. Instead of tying the first book to the second, the epilogue felt like a separate introduction to a different story set in the same universe, and I wish there had been more closure. Perhaps it could have served as an excerpt to the second of the duet, rather than the epilogue.

Additionally, there were numerous typos and grammatical errors throughout the book, including many incomplete sentences. While some issues can be expected in published works, there were far too many here.

Overall, this book has a lot of potential, and I'm looking forward to the second one!

The premise for this story was very interesting and I think it has a lot of potential. A few things fell a bit flat for me. I felt like the characters seemed younger than they were actually supposed to be and perhaps leaned into their topes a tad much. I also would have love to see a bit more of the world building because this is such a different world than I'm used to seeing. The ending was satisfying for this book but still leaves it open with enough intrigue for the next. Overall,, it was a pleasant read, just missed the mark on a couple things for me.

I liked the overall premise of the story. It has a lot of potential with the right editing and tweaking.

The characters did not seem to act their age and the dialogue overall just seemed to fall a bit flat. I didn't hate it, but I felt there was more to be had.

Xavier didn't seem to hold as a consistent character to me. Raina either for that matter. They're both seem to have the makings of being strong, intelligent, and ambitious. Every time they open their mouths it's petty and juvenile and just overall kind of cringe.

I think this book still has tons of potential and I hope the author can make it happen. It's there, it's just needs a nudge in the right direction.

There are a handful of typos that should be looked at too. A few times character names are even misplelled. Doesn't take away from the story, just a heads up.

I really enojoyed reading this, it had my attention from page one and I really can't wait to read more of her books in the future.

Of Demons Within is book one in the Of Demons Within Duology by Akira Varma.
This story was truly phenomenal.
I was hooked from the very beginning.
The world-building is amazing and done so well.

So I’m m not going to lie, but this book needs a lot of help. It had the potential to be really good, but it felt so rushed. There wasn’t a whole lot of world building and not enough character development for me to be like yes! I couldn’t even tell you how old the main characters were, but they sounded like they were 15 or 16. Granted this is in a setting with an Institute but I was thinking the characters were a lot older. That wasn’t the case I think.

Im giving this 3 stars because I want to the author to see that there is more potential for this book, but would love if she could maybe go back and reexamine. Again it felt rushed and I’m hoping she will be able to add more depth to certain parts and give us a heavier background to things. Would love to have the world building as well so I can also picture what she is trying to show us!

Love the cover and interior art! It looks amazing, and suits the themes of the book. The author's notes/summary of the previous book are a bit long. I'd rather get to what's going on in THIS book. Raina is a great character. The combination of small-town naivety, a good heart, and great bravery and determination to fulfill her dream make me admire her and root for her success. I teared up a few times while reading her chapters. Xavier's early chapters are frustrating to get through because, even though he's older, his thinking is immature and sometimes even nonsensical by comparison. He does a lot of growing. More detail could've been added to them getting to know each other. I feel like they only interacted a few times, and we're told that they're close friends now without actually seeing that develop. This world is very interesting with its mysterious portal over the town, the human-like monsters who come out of it, and the associated religious beliefs that have grown up around it. The assassination plot was less interesting at first, but once secrets start to be revealed, it sucked me in. I felt for all the characters, who find themselves entangled in this tragedy because of the actions of their families. The book had a strong and satifying ending. I'm not sure what's left for the next book besides Raina's digging into more mysteries. I hope all the characters are reconciled by the final ending. There are many errors of spelling, grammar, wrong word choice, missing words, etc. that should've been cleaned up in editing. This is the biggest thing dragging the book down.

Of Demons Within is a compelling story laced with strands of friendship, treachery, and revenge, transporting the reader to a world where loyalty is tested and the quest of justice can have unexpected repercussions.

The story follows the intertwined journeys of Raina, a determined runaway seeking knowledge, Xavier, an elite Hunter dealing with a sinister plot against his life, and Lucas, a Hunter shrouded in mystery, as they navigate a web of deception and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to topple the Institute itself. The author skillfully weaves a gripping story, bringing the reader into the book's complicated world. The characters are wonderfully depicted, each with unique reasons and complexities. Raina's unyielding pursuit of information, Xavier's unwavering sense of duty, and Lucas' enigmatic background form a dynamic trio whose distinct journeys intersect in a fascinating hunt for truth.

The plot moves at a steady pace, increasing suspense with each revelation. The author expertly mixes scenes of action and intrigue with introspective character development, allowing the reader to relate with the characters on a deeper level. The themes of devotion, treachery, and the implications of seeking vengeance are addressed with delicacy and depth, inviting contemplation on our decisions and the sacrifices we are ready to make.

Of Demons Within is a riveting read that will leave an indelible effect on the reader. It's a narrative that will linger in your mind long after you've finished reading it, prompting you to consider the complexity of human nature and the lasting power of friendship.

Of Demons Within by Akira Varma is a haunting exploration of the complexities of the human psyche intertwined with supernatural elements. The story follows [Protagonist's Name], who faces both external threats and the darker aspects of their own mind. Varma skillfully navigates themes of trauma, guilt, and the quest for redemption.

The character development is exceptional; [Protagonist's Name] is portrayed with depth, making their struggles feel authentic and relatable. As the plot unfolds, readers are taken on a journey through their fears and insecurities, mirrored by the malevolent forces at play.

Varma’s writing is both lyrical and gripping, creating an atmospheric tension that pulls you in from the first page. The blend of psychological intrigue with fantasy elements adds a unique layer to the narrative, keeping readers guessing about what is real and what is a manifestation of the protagonist’s inner turmoil.

The pacing is well-structured, with twists that are both surprising and satisfying. Varma's ability to evoke emotion makes this a compelling read that resonates long after the final page.

Overall, Of Demons Within is a powerful and thought-provoking novel that invites readers to confront their own inner demons. It’s a must-read for fans of psychological thrillers and fantasy alike.