Manga Review: Demon Love Spell Vol 2 by Mayu Shinjo

Title: Demon Love Spell Volume 2
Author: Mayu Shinjo
Publisher: VIZ Media
ISBN: 1421550776
Release Date: 03/05/2013





I have to say that this series is starting to bring me closer to the type of fan I was when I began reading Shinjo's work with Sensual Phrase. You could argue, and be correct, that her work suffered due to various companies forcing her to churn out SP clones, but it's taken her a while to really get her creative juices flowing again. This has to be one of her strongest works lately, in my opinion.

A supernatural romance by the creator of Ai Ore! and Sensual Phrase 

Miko is a shrine maiden who has never had much success at seeing or banishing spirits. Then she meets Kagura, a sexy demon who feeds off women’s feelings of passion and love. Kagura’s insatiable appetite has left many girls at school brokenhearted, so Miko casts a spell to seal his powers. Surprisingly the spell works—sort of—but now Kagura is after her! 

Shrine maiden Miko has sealed the powers of the sexy incubus Kagura, who has vowed to protect her. But now a fox spirit has transformed himself into a human to proclaim his love to Miko, making Kagura jealous. Miko relents and allows Kagura to enter her dreams again, but now he can no longer regain his incubus powers?!

I think part of what makes this volume work is that the romance between Kagura and Miko is being built relatively slowly while still having plenty of nice steamy situations for them to tumble into. Miko does want Kagura, more so than she's really ready to admit, so most of the romance development in this stems from that aspect. Kagura's rather patient for a demon so much older than Miko is, but at the same time it kind of hammers in that Miko's still an inexperienced teenage girl. I kind of like that because this type of series is better when you have to make the two main characters work through their own personal issues before getting together. There are other plot points that come in and try to separate them, but the biggest issues are the ones that come directly from themselves and their own hangups or problems. This is part of what made Sensual Phrase so good, that even though the plot d'jour might have been sparked by some guy/girl/potted plant out to take one of the two people in the couple for themselves, the main problem was really some pre-existing insecurities or issues that the rival brought to the surface. I'm starting to see where this will be the case with this series and I'm pretty excited about that.

The artwork is, of course, top notch. Fans of Shinjo's steamier works will be a little sad to see that there isn't anything graphic in here, meaning no sex, but there are still a lot of pulse pounding scenes to be had. The artwork does a great job of bringing across the emotions. I'll admit that some of it is typical Shinjo and it'll be the same type of character designs that you've seen before, but the nice story lines help keep it from being too familiar.

I really loved this volume and when it ended, I was sad that I didn't have at least another chapter to flip through. This is turning out to be a series that I'd recommend to fans of steamier stuff and to older fans. Since Kagura is an incubus I wouldn't recommend it to younger readers for obvious reasons, as much of his actions are sexually driven. Incubi gotta eat, after all. There are no sex scenes, but there are sexual-ish situations and it's referred to frequently. Older teens would be fine with this, although parents will probably want to exercise some caution. You know what you want your kids reading, after all.

4 out of 5 stars

(ARC provided by VIZ Media)

Book Review: Misfit by Jon Skovron

Title: Misfit
Author: Jon Skovron
Publisher: Amulet Books
Release Date: 08/01/2011
ISBN: 1419700219







Sometimes first impressions can be deceiving. I know my first impression of this book certainly was. I'll admit that I was expecting something a little more mainstream & pat with this book, but what I was expecting wasn't really what I ended up getting.

Jael has always felt like a freak. She’s never kissed a boy, she never knew her mom, and her dad’s always been superstrict—but that’s probably because her mom was a demon, which makes Jael half demon and most definitely not a normal sophomore girl. On her sixteenth birthday, a mysterious present unlocks her family’s dangerous history and Jael’s untapped potential. What was merely an embarrassing secret before becomes a terrifying reality. Jael must learn to master her demon side in order to take on a vindictive Duke of Hell while also dealing with a twisted priest, best-friend drama, and a spacey blond skater boy who may have hidden depths.

I was rather pleased with this book. While there were a few hiccups along the line, this is the start of a nice series. (I presume it'll be a series, anyway.) I loved that Jael both was & wasn't the typical YA heroine, all full of angst & googly eyes for her love interest. While part of her does have that, she's more intent on the more pressing matters at hand: her powers & the demons that want to kill her. Speaking of powers, I liked the way they were presented here. Teenaged girls with powers is a very commonly used trope in any genre, but you don't often have it shown as a partnership as it was in this book. It was a nice little twist on everything, one of many twists that are included in this book. My favorite twist had to be the new perspective on demons & the reasons why they're the way they are.

This doesn't mean that the book is without faults. I did enjoy the new little twists on demons & power, but the author's attempts to jump between past & present were just awkwardly done. Skovron does his best to make the transitions as smooth as possible, but I just kept getting thrown out of the narrative. They were well done by themselves, but I just have to emphasize the awkwardness.

Overall this was a decent book & far better than what I was expecting it to be. I really was just expecting either a run of the mill YA read or one of those books where the author tries far too hard to make it "different", but it's neither. Skovron has managed to find that thin line between traditional & untraditional, then embrace it.

3.5/5

(ARC provided by Netgalley)

Book Review: The Banishing by Fiona Dodwell

Title: The Banishing
Author: Fiona Dodwell
Publisher: Damnation Books
Release Date: 02/27/2011
eISBN: 9781615723515

When Melissa first notices the change in her husband - subtle at first - she thinks it may be the stress of moving into their new home. Or working long hours. But soon he turns into something far darker, far more sinister. Who or what is the dark shadow living beneath her husband? What is haunting him? Melissa must quickly find the answer to these questions, because Mark is changing, and fast. Soon her fight will be for her life, as well as for her marriage.The Banishing is a dark, disturbing novel exploring the world of demonic possession, spiritual oppression and domestic abuse.

Intense.

If I had to sum this novel up in a word, that would be what I’d use. When I first read this book I wasn’t really aware of what I was getting myself into. I assumed that it was just another “woman against evil being” book similar to the ones that abound in the horror genre.

I have to admit, I was pretty impressed by this book. It does have a few flaws to it, such as character developments that happen a little too quickly, but overall I liked how fast paced the book was. It’s such a quick & addicting read that I found myself burning through the pages & finishing it within a matter of hours. I just couldn't stop reading!

Then I got to the ending, which I won’t elaborate on for obvious spoiler reasons. I wasn’t expecting it so when the big finale happened I was taken by surprise to say the least. I have to admit that I was sad to see this end- I really hope that Fiona writes a sequel somewhere down the line since this idea is too good for just one book.

This book gave me the shivers, which is a good thing. It's reminded me of what I used to really love about reading horror, which I hadn't felt in a while. This just creeped me out & that's a good thing. If you love mainstream horror then by all means, read the mainstream stuff- nothing wrong with that. But when you're ready for something good off the beaten path, read this book as well.

4 out of 5 stars

(Review copy provided by the author)

Book Review: Demon's Fall by Karalynn Lee

Title: Demon's Fall
Author: Karalynn Lee
Publisher: Carina Press
Release Date: 10/25/2010
ISBN: 9781426890680








One thing I will have to warn people about is that this is a very short story, only taking up about 70 pages. For some the events in this story will happen a little too quickly & they'll long for just a little bit more detail, mostly because this is a rich world that Lee has spun & they want just a little more depth to everything.

Kenan is an incubus, a demon who seduces human women out of their souls, forgetting about them once the challenge is done & over with. When he comes across the angel Jahel in the marketplace at Hellsgate he has the unbearable urge to touch her. Sure that her soul would make an intriguing addition to his collection of souls, Kenan promptly purchases the angel with the intent on slowly seducing her our of her soul. He's sure that a little kindness, as well as helping Jahel find the soul she came almost all this way to find, will help his natural incubus seduction skills. What he didn't plan on was losing his heart.

As a short story this tale both works & doesn't work at times. What works in this story is that Lee has created an intriguing world full of possibilities. The idea of a stolen soul turning into a coin (leaving the former owner alive) & using it as currency in the demon world is something that many readers will find a nice touch. What also works is the heat that Lee has made between our two main characters- it's very tangible, very erotic, & for the most part comes across rather naturally (as natural as it can be for a demon & an angel).

What doesn't work is mostly due to the short length of the story. Jahel & Kenan have an almost instant attraction to each other & don't seem to fight it, something that might irk some readers. The plot for this story moves along at an almost lightening speed & while this is a good story, many will just wish that Lee had stretched the story out a little longer just so she could have explored more of the potential of this world & its inhabitants. Some parts of it just felt a little underdeveloped.

Overall though, this is a pretty decent story & one that will thrill many readers. I hope that this story is merely a setup for more stories to come, as developing all of this for one 70-ish page story would sort of be a bit of a waste. This was a fun story to read (especially with the Snow White references), so I would recommend this for most romance readers out there.

(ARC provided by Netgalley)