Review: The Demon World by Sally Green

Publisher: Penguin
Published: 1st August 2019

Synopsis:
After narrowly escaping the fall of Rossarb, Princess Catherine leads a rag-tag group of survivors into the barren wasteland of the Northern Plateau.

With the Brigantine army snapping at their heels, Edyon and Ambrose become separated from the group, while demon hunter Tash leads Catherine and March to an unlikely refuge - the hidden tunnels of the demon world itself. They soon find that the tunnels hold their own dangers and, while Tash travels deeper, hoping to learn more about their mysterious inhabitants, Catherine and March must return to the surface to resume the war.

But the world above is in turmoil. King Aloysius's army has captured the Pitorian prince, Tzsayn, and is poised to overrun the whole country. To have any hope of challenging her father's tyranny, Catherine needs to form her own army, but when danger lurks at every turn, how can she tell an ally from an enemy? What Tash discovers in the demon tunnels could change everything, but if the message doesn't reach Catherine in time, the war might already be lost . . .

Review:
'The Demon World' by Sally Green is the follow-up to last year's 'The Smoke Thieves'. I had a rocky relationship with the first book in this fantasy series. There were some aspects of the plot that I really enjoyed and it definitely finished on a high note but I had issues with the use of multiple narrators making the story feel slightly disjointed and the overall slow pace of the book. I therefore approached the sequel with some trepidation, although I was intrigued to see how Green was going to continue the characters' stories.

The book picks up immediately after the events of 'The Smoke Thieves', with the characters fleeing to the Northern Plateau - demon country. As the group end up being separated from each other, the story divides as each person has a different path they must follow. It took me a little while to recollect everything that had happened in the previous book but soon I was back up to speed and sucked into Green's world. Once again, I particularly enjoyed seeing the stories of Catherine and Tash unfold as they are my favourite two characters in the series. I like strong, female heroines and both of these women are on challenging journeys but still manage to stand tall amidst the chaos. I found myself really looking forward to their chapters in the book and getting impatient when the focus switched to some of the others. Now that I'm more familiar with all the characters in the series though, I did find that the narrative was less disjointed and flowed a lot more smoothly.

The action was constant throughout the book and the pace rocketed along, drawing the reader in for the ride. Green keeps you wanting more with clever storytelling and lots of carefully placed surprises along the way. There were several times when I was wrong-footed by the characters or by plot twists but that made the book even more fun to read.     

The ending of 'The Demon World' was shocking and the book finished on a big cliffhanger. It feels impossible to have to wait to find out what happens next but that's exactly what readers will have to do. Roll on book three in the series! 

Review: The Smoke Thieves - Sally Green

The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green, published by Penguin on 3rd May 2018

Goodreads synopsis:
A princess, a traitor, a hunter and a thief. Four teenagers with the fate of the world in their hands. Four nations destined for conflict.

In Brigant, Princess Catherine prepares for a loveless political marriage arranged by her brutal and ambitious father. In Calidor, downtrodden servant March seeks revenge on the prince who betrayed his people. In Pitoria, feckless Edyon steals cheap baubles for cheaper thrills as he drifts from town to town. And in the barren northern territories, thirteen-year-old Tash is running for her life as she plays bait for the gruff demon hunter Gravell.

As alliances shift and shatter, and old certainties are overturned, our four heroes find their past lives transformed and their futures inextricably linked by the unpredictable tides of magic and war. Who will rise and who will fall? And who will claim the ultimate prize?  

Review:
'The Smoke Thieves' is the first book in Sally Green's new fantasy series, falling on from the success of her Half Blood trilogy. When I read the synopsis, I thought it sounded quite similar to Morgan Rhodes Falling Kingdoms series which I love, so I was really looking forward to reading it.  I'm always on the lookout for new YA fantasy novels, as I enjoy this genre a lot which meant that my hopes were quite high for this title.

The story is told from the perspective of five very different characters.  I have to say that my biggest issue with this book was the fact that the multiple character narration made it quite difficult to follow at times and some people were definitely more interesting than others.  My favourites were Princess Catherine and Tash who were both strong, female characters and although their situations in life made them polar opposites, they were intriguing and enjoyable to read about.  Unfortunately I wasn't as keen on some of the others, such as servant March, student Edyon and traitor Ambrose. I found myself getting impatient with their chapters and sneaking a peak ahead so I could see when the story was going to switch back to the females. I also found their stories slightly disjointed. Although I'm sure they will converge more as the series progresses, it was initially hard to see how they were all related to each other.  

The plot was slow to unfold and there were times when nothing really seemed to happen, which meant that it failed to hold my attention throughout. There are some exciting moments where the suspense just starts to build up and then it falls flat again.  This may be partly because Sally Green has to do a lot of world and character building in this opening instalment but I would have liked to have seen more action to keep me engaged. 

The ending definitely picked up and the story did finish on a high but I hope that there's more for the reader to get their teeth into in the follow-up.

Read the first chapter of Half Bad by Sally Green

If you loved 'Half Blood' by Sally Green then you will be very excited by the news that Penguin have released the first chapter of the sequel 'Half Wild' to keep fans going until it's release in March 2015.

Penguin have also announced an exciting new short story by Green today. Half Lies is due for release across all digital book platforms on 13 November. Set in the months before Half Bad, Half Lies takes the form of a diary written by Michele, the sister of Gabriel, Nathan’s Black witch friend. Having fled Europe for Florida, Michele falls in love with a local White witch boy. There, she finds that the divide between the Black and White witch communities is just as dangerous as it was in the life she's left behind.

Ben Horslen, Editorial Director, Puffin Books says: 'Fan response to Half Bad has been so overwhelming that it seemed very unfair to keep readers on tenterhooks until March for their next taste of Sally Green's amazing world. I know Half Lies will thrill and intrigue her fans while they wait for the next chapter of Nathan's story.'

Sally Green says: 'Gabriel is a key character in the Half Bad trilogy and he also happens to be the one I'm desperately in love with (I know a lot of fans are rather fond of him too) so it was great to write a little more about his life. Half Lies is the story of Gabriel and his sister Michele, told from Michele's point of view. Of course it's not a totally happy story, there's love but there's violence too, but they are Black witches so what do you expect?'