Of Demons Within

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.

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.

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!