Personal Demon (Women of the Otherworld, #8)

by Kelley Armstrong (Goodreads author)

book data

928 ratings, 3.86 average rating, 105 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		26%
4		40%
3		26%
2		5%
1		0%

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published

March 25th 2008 by Spectra

binding

Hardcover, 352 pages

characters

Hope Adams

isbn

0553806610 (isbn13: 9780553806618)

description

In her acclaimed Women of the Otherworld series, Kelley Armstrong has created a scintillating realm where the supernatural and the human coexist on th...more

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04/01/08

Donna rated it:

bookshelves: buy-in-mm-pb, library, read-in-2008, urban-fantasy

Read in April, 2008

I didn't enjoy Personal Demon as much as the last few books in the series. That was kind of a surprise, because I liked Armstrong's short story featuring Hope. She has really cool powers, and they're limited enough to keep things interesting.

But while I enjoyed her character in the past, I found her difficult to connect with in this one. Maybe it was the perspective changes, or it could have been that her relationship with Karl was too strained for there to be much of the witty bante...more

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10/22/07

Jamie rated it:

bookshelves: urban-fantasy

Read in April, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

This started out dull, got fairly interesting in the middle, then had an irritating ending.

I really dislike the inclusion of a surprise "chameleon" character who can assume the countenance of other people. Ditto for glamor spells that achieve the same purpose. These things are acceptable if they are known quantities throughout the book, but sneaking them in at the end is a lame plot device.

It's trite and annoying to trick the reader into thinking that a belo...more

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2 comments

11/12/08

Roberta rated it:

bookshelves: paranormal, romance

Read in January, 2009

recommends it for: paranomal fans

Best book in the Women of the Otherworld series so far. One thing I like about Armstrong is that her writing gets stronger the more books she writes. This book was no exception.

In this book, we get to learn more about Hope who was introduced in No Humans Involved (I don't think it was earlier, but it could have been). Hope owes a debt to the Cortez Cabal, so when Benicio asks her to do a job, she says yes.

In this book, the point of view shifts between Hope, who is ...more

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12/27/08

Steff rated it:

(review of isbn 1400025214)

Chaos Reigns

Hope Adams is a half-demon who craves chaos; nevertheless, her greatest fear is letting down someone she loves after being swept up in a wave of anarchy. She hasn’t learned, nor does she have the confidence, to control her chaos impulses yet. Unfortunately, she owes a debt to Benicio Cortez, head of the most powerful Cabal in the supernatural world.

When Benicio calls in his marker, Hope decides the assignment may even help her learn to control her hunger. ...more

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05/19/09

Tammy rated it:

bookshelves: urbanfantasy

Read in April, 2009

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

I wasn't sure I'd like Hope at the beginning. I didn't know what to make of her, I didn't want to read about another super-powerful demon, I was worried she'd be either too powerful or the thing that hindered her power would be too crippling. I ended up liking her. She's, well, normal, or as normal as you can be as a half-Chaos demon, tabloid reporter, former debutante. The drawback to her powers is that she likes the feelings of chaos, harm, death, and she doesn't like that she likes it. Instea...more

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12/21/08

Angela rated it:

I am a big fan of Kelley Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series so I was really looking forward to reading Personal Demon. I'm happy to say I was not disappointed.

For anyone unfamiliar with the series, each book is narrated by a female character who is some sort of supernatural. So far there has been a werewolf, a witch, a ghost witch, a necromancer, and now a half-demon. Each story is independent, although the characters do crossover and the books definitely follow a time line....more

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05/29/09

Wealhtheow rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy, paranormal_romance, pocmaincharacters, urban-fantasy

Read in May, 2009

Hope Adams's demon heritage has given her the ability to sense the supernatural--and a disturbing taste for chaos and darkness. Being a kind and compassionate person is particularly hard for her, when the greater the cruelty, the greater the high she gets from it. To pay off a debt to the Cortez Cabal, she agrees to infiltrate a supernatural gang in Miami. But she begins to find being on the wrong side of the law a little too exhilarating...Will she be able to pull back from the lure of chaos...more Hope Adams's demon heritage has given her the ability to sense the supernatural--and a disturbing taste for chaos and darkness. Being a kind and compassionate person is particularly hard for her, when the greater the cruelty, the greater the high she gets from it. To pay off a debt to the Cortez Cabal, she agrees to infiltrate a supernatural gang in Miami. But she begins to find being on the wrong side of the law a little too exhilarating...Will she be able to pull back from the lure of chaos-highs, or will she give in to her demonic heritage?

This book would have been a hundred times better without the interference of Karl, Hope's former partner and lover. He is snarly, domineering, thirty years older than her, and completely emotionally unavailable. So of course, he's her love interest. I disliked him and I really disliked that she put up with him. In the short story that introduced these two characters, they had banter and sexual tension. In the novel, there's no banter and no sexual tension--just intermittent hook ups and constant power plays from Karl. Ugh!

The non-romantic plot in the novel is much better. It focuses on Lucas Cortez, who works with Paige Winterbourne to create a grass-roots, community-driven alternative to the Cabals. Most paranormal romance books have some sort of ancient organization that secretly rules the world: vampire councils, Hunters, that sort of thing. The Cabals fill that same role, of an organization both keeping supernaturals safe and secret and using their powers for their own less-than-innocent ends. But unlike most authors, Armstrong doesn't use the Cabals as short-hand for a shadowy villain. As self-serving and controlling as they are, the Cabals have shaped the supernatural world for centuries, and simply destroying them would lead to an even worse situation. Each novel in this series has explored the power structures of the supernatural world a little further, and it seems like matters are coming to a crisis point. I'm very interested to see what happens next. (less)

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02/07/09

Susan rated it:

bookshelves: hardback

Read in March, 2009

Of the "Women of the Otherworld" I prefer Elena, then Jamie, then Savannah and her mother, then Paige and Hope. Paige and Hope strike me as being kinda spoiled.

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06/14/09

Leanne rated it:

bookshelves: paranormal

Read in April, 2009

I've had a lot of people who feel the same as I do about this book.. and while I love Kelley Armstrong and love the Women of the Otherworld series on a completely unhealthy level, this character pairing just... sucks.

I find Hope Adams completely annoying, irritating, and just plain dull. Her werewolf lover, while he is slightly more interesting than Hope, is still boring as batshit.

The one upside to this book was having Lucas in it, and therefore dealing with his dear old...more

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04/13/08

Cara rated it:

bookshelves: popcorn-fantasy

The faster she writes, the worse they get.

It really bothers me because Bitten is still one of my all time favorite books, but her new stuff is complete sell out.

/sigh

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12/13/08

Camille rated it:

(review of isbn 1841496952)

Read in December, 2008

I wasn't expecting much from this addition to Armstrong's Women of the Otherworld series from the mild reviews it's gotten since it's release but I decided to pick it up anyway and, surprisingly enough Hope holds her own against previous heroines such as Elena, Paige and more recently Jamie.

Though I didn't mind the dual perspectives given (the other being Lucas Cortez) and even understood that it added to a more rounded telling of the story-I felt like the novel wasn't only Hope's no...more

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11/19/08

Chris rated it:

bookshelves: dark-fantasy-paranormal

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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08/18/08

Nicole rated it:

bookshelves: own, signed

Read in January, 2008

This is the 8th book in the ‘Women of the Otherworld” series, and is a blast. I greatly enjoyed reading it. Unlike some series, where the author tries to throw a little bit of each of the previous characters into every book, this one doesn’t have unneeded mention of characters that aren’t involved. Yes, there are nods to previous books and prior characters make an appearance when it makes sense. But it does make sense.

This particular book is the first in the series that has t...more

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06/18/08

Lori rated it:

bookshelves: paranormal, urban-fantasy

Read in June, 2008

Hope is a half-human/half-demon and works as a tabloid reporter. Who better to suppress (on behalf of the Council) any REAL supernatural goings-on and allow "bat boy" stories to be published? But she and her werewolf ex-lover (Karl, who is also a professional thief) owe the leader of the most powerful sorcerer Cabal a favor. Karl is out of the country, and Hope doesn't want to bring him into this anyway. She wants to pay her own debt, her way. Her assignment is to go to Florida an...more Hope is a half-human/half-demon and works as a tabloid reporter. Who better to suppress (on behalf of the Council) any REAL supernatural goings-on and allow "bat boy" stories to be published? But she and her werewolf ex-lover (Karl, who is also a professional thief) owe the leader of the most powerful sorcerer Cabal a favor. Karl is out of the country, and Hope doesn't want to bring him into this anyway. She wants to pay her own debt, her way. Her assignment is to go to Florida and infiltrate a supernatural gang who seems to be giving the Cabal trouble, perhaps planning a coup. She's not a fan of the Cabal, but she does owe them. Hope can sense chaos, and feeds from it much as a vampire feeds on blood. If someone is about to do something nasty, like shoot someone, she can sense it. This is a priceless skill to Guy and the rest of his gang. She finds herself liking most of the gang members quite a lot (and maybe too much), then Karl shows up on the scene to help. Since things do go wrong, it's a good thing he did.

The other part of the story comes from Lucas, Cabal leader's youngest (illegitimate) son, and his witch wife Paige. His point of view fills in the storyline on the Cabal side. While he has three older brothers, his father is naming him his heir, despite Lucas's vehement assertion that he wants nothing to do with it. (He and Paige run a detective agency on the other side of the country.)

But the bodies start stacking up, and it's anybody's guess who is who, and who you can trust. Hope is torn between a handsome young gang member, and Karl... because maybe it's not as over as she thought.

This is one of Armstrong's supernatural series books, which covers various family groupings of vampires, witches, werewolves, sorcerers, etc. Most of the stories can stand alone, but there is overlap... Paige and Lucus were the main characters in another of the books, and the Pack to which Karl belongs was another.

The only problem I had (the plot was intricate, smart and engrossing, lots of action, lots of heat, great characters) was the shifting of chapters between Lucas's point of view and Hope's. It got a little distracting, and each new chapter I'd have to pause and say, "OK, it's Lucas this chapter... Hope will be "she" instead of "I."

Still, Armstrong's books are always worth a good chunk of your weekend.(less)

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06/03/08

Alexis rated it:

bookshelves: library, supernatural

Read in April, 2009

recommends it for: fans of paranormal romance/mystery, a lot of the gals on my GR friends list

Hope Adams is a half-demon daughter of Lucifer. (Not Satan, that's different.) She's an Expisco, or chaos demon. A debt owed to Benicio Cortez, head of the Cortez cabal, brings her to sunny Miami. The job seems simple enough: infiltrate a gang of supernaturals that appears to be threatening the cabal. Benicio isn't worried, but the Cortez cabal didn't get to be #1 by taking threats lightly.

Since Hope works on the council with Paige Winterbourne, a witch and the wife of Benicio's you...more Hope Adams is a half-demon daughter of Lucifer. (Not Satan, that's different.) She's an Expisco, or chaos demon. A debt owed to Benicio Cortez, head of the Cortez cabal, brings her to sunny Miami. The job seems simple enough: infiltrate a gang of supernaturals that appears to be threatening the cabal. Benicio isn't worried, but the Cortez cabal didn't get to be #1 by taking threats lightly.

Since Hope works on the council with Paige Winterbourne, a witch and the wife of Benicio's youngest son and heir, Lucas, they are involved to ensure Hope's safety, albeit from a distance. Benicio would rather Lucas come to Miami, but Lucas resists his father's attempts to draw him into the inner workings of the cabal. The one person who doesn't get involved is Karl Marsten, Hope's best friend and one-time werewolf lover. Karl is a jewel-thief and commitment-phobe, so he's in Europe, also establishing distance.

Hope easily works her way into the gang. She's clever, and uses her powers to her advantage. They don't seem strong - she doesn't have defensive skills, and she's rather petite - but she can sniff out chaos and pick up visions of chaotic events. For a gang often in need of a lookout, these skills are invaluable. Not only that, she's picked up some handy breaking-and-entering tips from Karl.

Speaking of distance, Hope gets rather close rather quickly to one of her fellow gang members, a hottie named Jaz. He's the life of the party, and the waves of chaos she picks up from him make her really want to hang around. See, Hope doesn't just detect chaos, she feeds off of it. It makes her feel really good, but also induces her biggest fear - that she will be so absorbed in the chaos of the moment that someone might die because of her. It's almost happened before, and part of accepting this assignment was to put herself in a situation where she could test herself.

But things get out of hand rather quickly. People are getting kidnapped or killed, and Paige and Lucas fly out to help. Karl also arrives, but he really only cares about Hope's safety, and resolving whatever it is that's going on between them.

At this point it seems to turn into a different book. The first section was the "Hope is pretending to be in a gang" part, where she goes by the name Faith and indulges in lots of chaos. But once things start falling apart that gets dropped, and it's all Hope/Karl and Lucas/Paige. People are killed, revelations are made, and this becomes the "It's all about the cabal" section. The mystery is pretty wide-reaching and has a lot of ends, but they do all get tied up, albeit in a rambling manner.

I happen to love this series. I think it's a five star series with top-notch writing, but I think this might be the weakest book in the bunch. Hope as a character is not strong enough - or important enough in the canon - to carry an entire book, as evidenced by the fact that at least a third is shared with Lucas. (Although I do appreciate that the book is narrated by two non-white characters. Yay for increased multiculturalism!) I love the characters Armstrong creates, and how much work she puts into making them three-dimensional people. Every time I pick up one of her books I feel as though I'm revisiting old friends. However, in this case I didn't feel that the mystery or plot were as strong as in some of the other books.

It's still a great book, though. Kelley Armstrong puts so much thought into her characters and their lifestyles, which is why I consider her the best writer in the genre. Where would a lone werewolf raise his son? How would discovering you're a chaos demon affect your SAT score? How would an argument be conducted if all the men in the family were sorcerers? She takes real life issues, and figures out how supernaturals would deal with them. Eating. Working. Partying. Fighting. It's the little details that build up her characters and make them believable, despite their unreal nature. In addition, she balances all of the elements of this weirdly defined "paranormal" genre - magic, mystery, romance, sex, suspense and intrigue - and turns them into a really good book. (You hear that, LKH? It's called balance. I think you forgot what that is.) And she clearly does her research. The way she describes cities makes you think she must have walked around them for months, taking notes. No vague descriptions here; she details neighborhoods and building types, weather and distance. It's like being there. The covers are ridiculous, but that's not Kelley Armstrong's fault.

I'd recommend this if you are a fan of the series and have read the others. (I always think series should be read in order.) However, if you have read this one first, one of the great things about the "Women of the Otherworld" series is that there isn't one central main character. The first two books follow Elena, but then the next two follow Paige, and so on. It keeps things interesting and fresh, but the characters do interact across books so you can still keep tabs on everyone. I highly recommend this series, but start with Bitten, or at least Dime Store Magic. (less)

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05/25/08

Tez rated it:

Read in May, 2008

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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05/14/08

Loren Harway rated it:

(review of isbn 1841496952)

Read in May, 2008

recommends it for: Anthropologists

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

"Tell our father he doesn't have enough to buy me off. By Cabal law, I am entitled to a seat on the board and stock shares and my birthright is not for sale" - Carlos

This book accomplishes what neither novella would have achieved separately, The dual narratives of Lucas and Hope saved this book from mediocrity and the series is given life once more. Hope finds love, Lucas finds loss and the outline for book nine is revealed. Leaving Jasper alive was a master-stroke which le...more

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04/09/08

Barbara rated it:

bookshelves: 2008, paranormal-mysteries, women-of-the-otherworld

Read in June, 2008

I know, that isn’t very objective, but there you are. Armstrong’s books just keep getting better and better.

This book features Hope and Lucas, but mostly Hope. Hope Adams is a tabloid reporter and an Expisco half-demon, daughter of Lucifer. As she says, “Not Satan. A totally different guy.”

Hope is approached by Benicio Cortez to try to break in to a gang which seems to be wreaking havoc on the supernaturals of Miami. She agrees and immediately gets drawn into ...more

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04/06/08

Phyllis rated it:

bookshelves: fantasy-romance

Read in April, 2008

Of all of the Otherworld heroines, I have found Hope the most difficult for whom to develop any empathy. Half demon, half human, Hope thrives on chaos, she enjoys the pain of others, and she finds satisfaction in brutal death. Yet, in this novel, Armstrong makes her a sympathetic character. While returning a favor owed to the Cortez Cabal, Hope risks losing her humanity as she finds herself more and more addicted to chaos. Working undercover in a supernatural gang, Hope is excited and appalle...more

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01/02/09

Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 184149397X)

Read in January, 2009

Hope is a new character in the series, having only just popped up in the last book, so I knew I wouldn't feel as connected to her as I have done with the other characters that are in the forefront of the series. I don't really feel her supernatural power brings much to the table, I prefer most of the other ones, although it was interesting to read about a much different power. All in all, I think this was my least liked book so far in the series, I didn't dislike it, but I think the other ones a...more

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