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The Demon's Lexicon (The Demon's Lexicon #1)

Sarah Rees Brennan (Goodreads Author)

3.73 · Rating details · 9,684 Ratings · 1,267 Reviews

Sixteen-year-old Nick and his brother, Alan, are always ready to run. Their father is dead, and their mother is crazy—she screams if Nick gets near her. She’s no help in protecting any of them from the deadly magicians who use demons to work their magic. The magicians want a charm that Nick’s mother stole—and they want it badly enough to kill. Alan is Nick’s partner in dem ...more

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Hardcover, 336 pages

Published June 2nd 2009 by Margaret K. McElderry Books

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May 20, 2010 Kat Kennedy rated it really liked it

Shelves: kat-s-book-reviews

Have you ever been doing something and had a sudden realization that you might just be evil?

And not the wimpy, I-want-to-be-sexy-and-kind-of-emo-looking-evil.

evil?

Like this...

I mean REAL evil like this:

the shining

Or this:

[image error]
No! No! Oh the humanity!!!!!

Well, The Demon's Lexicon made me feel like I possibly had no soul.

Which was suprisingly refeshing.

Now there's some discussion in the thread below regarding this author's crossover from Fanfiction to publishing. Despite appearances, I don't actually hav ...more

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Dec 23, 2007 Sarah added it · (Review from the author)

I like this book, but I think I'm prejudiced. I mostly added it to my books so I could look at it and smile in its direction...

(edited because on reflection I cannot be unbiased.)

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Apr 30, 2011 Wendy Darling rated it it was ok

Shelves: pn-demons, young-adult, boys-who-are-jerks, read-2011

2.5 stars The first chapter in Demon's Lexicon is extremely misleading. The riveting opening scene starts off with two boys bantering in a kitchen until they're suddenly interrupted by an attack. Someone has sent a magical flock of ravens to destroy their home, and Nick and his brother Alan manage to ward them off in an exciting, action-packed scene. During the aftermath, Mae and Jamie, two kids from school that the boys know slightly, show up asking for help with their own terrible problem--Jam ...more

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Feb 23, 2009 Annalisa rated it liked it

Recommends it for: fan fiction fans

Recommended to Annalisa by: Brett

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult

I'm not sure I liked Brennan's world of magicians so obsessed with power they barter the lives of innocent victims with demons in exchange for magical powers. Demons as is the biblical sense of rabid creatures who will do anything to enter our world but are so out of control they quickly destroy the bodies they possess. And it isn't regular people turning to satanic ritual but people born this way, as evil magicians willing to sacrifice human life. Plus once a person has been marked by a demon f I'm not sure I liked Brennan's world of magicians so obsessed with power they barter the lives of innocent victims with demons in exchange for magical powers. Demons as is the biblical sense of rabid creatures who will do anything to enter our world but are so out of control they quickly destroy the bodies they possess. And it isn't regular people turning to satanic ritual but people born this way, as evil magicians willing to sacrifice human life. Plus once a person has been marked by a demon for possession, often through no choice of their own, they can't detour possession and ultimate destruction. Hmmm. It was a tough world to set up and I wasn't always satisfied with the explanations.

The main character is an unlikeable, big, strong, violent, dyslexic, demeaning to women, unemotional, narcissistic teenage jerk and I was often frustrated with his contradicting range of emotions. I understand why she credited him with so much internal conflict, but just like the story it didn't always feel authentic, and I didn't always feel like I understood him. So I was frustrated. And yet, I found myself caring what happened to him. It's tough to write such an unsympathetic character, and most of the time Brennan did a decent job of getting us inside his head. He made such a fascinating character and point of view that I did like trying to figure him out and decide whether or not I sympathized with him. I hate the cover, but I found myself flipping back to it countless times to get a visual, especially when he was most unlikeable and I wanted to see something vulnerable in him.

My main issue with the novel is the writing. I want to know where this girl's (copy)editor was. With run-ons, dangling modifiers, and pronouns with no clue as to just which "he" or "him" she was referring to, I had to read several sentences and paragraphs over again trying to decipher exactly what she was saying. Plus, there were some scenes that could be quite exciting and expressive and they fell flat because the description is all wrong. I suppose that's what you get from an author with roots in fan fiction. Had the story been better written, I may have been fascinated with her interpretation of biblical demons and the Goblin's Market, but as it was I didn't feel she deserved to twist such iconic literature.

While the writing isn't great and the details of her world rubbed me the wrong way, Brennan came through with the suspense. I knew this story had a big twist at the end and that kept me turning pages trying to figure out what it could be before the big reveal. At times her attempts to keep the mystery secret were frustrating, not because I was anxious, but because I could not figure out what she was talking about. I didn't get all the clues, but I figured out enough that I was not surprised by the ending. And that twisted and evil surprise made the story almost worth it. It's an interesting concept and I like the idea of the conflicted main character, but the delivery of this novel left me somewhat frazzled. This is what literature has come to: shock value is more important than good writing. ...more

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Mar 14, 2009 Danielle The Book Huntress (Back to the Books) rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: Fans of dark fantasy with demons, brother theme

Shelves: young-adult, owned-copy, family, dark-fantasy, demon, uf-challenge-fall-2011, favorites, hero-i-loved, cold-or-forbidding-hero, set-in-uk

Wow. This book really snuck up on me. I wasn't sure at first, because the writing seemed as though a lot had been cut out initially. I didn't think I was getting the whole picture. I honestly think that this book was not written for the YA market, but it ended up as one because of the younger aged characters. I felt as though the author might have been asked to edit some parts out to make it more 'suitable' for younger readers, and I felt that initially. As CS Lewis has expressed, I think that a ...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Margaret Stohl rated it it was amazing

I did not set out to love this book; the bar was too high. The word Demon itself, to me, is owned by Jonathan Stroud and Cassandra Clare. Even the main character, Nick, was about as grouchy about starring in the story as I was reading it. (I had half a mind to suggest to him that we both go our separate ways except for the inclination that he would probably have said it to me first…) And then we found each other, Nick and I, and though we were both cross, there was the matter of good-natured Ala ...more

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Jul 14, 2009 Merrin rated it it was ok

Shelves: youngadult, read-in-09

Oh this book. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. First, the writing was so godawfully bad in parts it made the whole thing a struggle to get through. The main characters were fine, but all other secondary and tertiary characters were so badly drawn as to be characitures of themselves, place holders for the final product the author clearly meant them to be.

The surprise ending was indeed that, a surprise, but even managing to fool me with her plot twist doesn't make the book itself any be ...more

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Feb 19, 2009 Dorcas rated it it was amazing

Alert: This is a 'read-till-3AM' book. There's the love of brothers and dysfunctional families, crazy fights with swords and knives and guns, and hilarious dialogue that pops up and surprises you.

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Nov 20, 2010 Janina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, urban-fantasy, lgbt

This book probably isn't going to end up on my all-time favourites shelf, but I did enjoy reading it a lot and am definitely interested in the sequels. It isn’t the strongest in terms of world building, but it definitely is full of suspense, surprising twists and engaging characters. Every one of them actually had a certain something that made him or her stand out. And boy, what an ending. Never ever did I expect something like that. It totally took me by surprise. And that happens rarely. Actua This book probably isn't going to end up on my all-time favourites shelf, but I did enjoy reading it a lot and am definitely interested in the sequels. It isn’t the strongest in terms of world building, but it definitely is full of suspense, surprising twists and engaging characters. Every one of them actually had a certain something that made him or her stand out. And boy, what an ending. Never ever did I expect something like that. It totally took me by surprise. And that happens rarely. Actually, for the first half of the book, I thought this would be a solid three star read. Good, but nothing too special. But the second half definitely deserves the extra half-star. I was literally glued to the pages.

Nick certainly is an unusual main character. He doesn’t like people – and he doesn’t pretend to. It was kind of hard to relate to him because he himself doesn’t relate to anybody. The only person he is loyal to is his brother Alan. Everything he does is centred on him. Despite all that, I found myself caring about him. Alan comes across as rather harmless at first, but later on he clearly shows that there is something else in him – both on the positive and the negative side. I liked to see how the brothers’ life was turned upside down by Mae and Jamie. Those two had a great relationship and I loved how Mae stood up for herself and her brother and didn’t let herself be irritated by Nick – at least not too much. Nevertheless, (and this goes for all the characters) I didn’t really feel with them or for them at the beginning. They only grew on me as the story progressed.
The only thing I didn’t buy: Nick is often described as cruel and able to scare others with his menacing look. But Sarah Rees Brennan didn’t really make me buy his badass-attitude. Not once did Nick seem frightening to me although she clearly intended him to be that way. He is more like a boy who has shut himself away because of his past and now tries to scare others off from coming close to him, not letting himself feel anything for them. I felt sad for him because he wasn’t able to make friends or even love, but he did not scare me with his behaviour. Actually, he sometimes came across as a little brat. Nevertheless, I liked him.

As I said before, the world building isn’t too strong; the reader only gets thrown little pieces of information every now and then. Basically, we have this setting: Evil magicians are able to call demons and make them possess humans, being granted powers to conjure up strong illusion in return. I didn’t really understand why all magicians were supposed to be evil – the reason given is that the demons’ power is addictive and they can’t live without getting more at some point – but it felt weird to me that no one should be able to counter this addiction.
But the world is based on an original idea and the premise does make for an interesting story with a lot of twists, secrets being revealed and battles being fought. Also, I loved the atmosphere of the Goblin Market; it had something very engaging and colourful, yet mysterious and dangerous about it.

The writing sometimes read a bit awkward to me, especially at the beginning. There were passages where it flowed extremely well, but then there would come a sentence that would make me frown and that didn’t really fit. Also, when past events were retold, the narrative felt very distant, almost like the narrator didn’t care at all about what happened – it had this grocery list feel to it that didn’t really go well with traumatic experiences. And – seriously – the name Nick was all over the place. I didn’t count, but there were a few paragraphs that made me wonder: Why doesn’t the author use a personal pronoun every now and then?
But, I have to admit, after the first few chapters, it got better. Maybe also because I had become engrossed in the story and didn’t feel like nit-picking anymore.

All in all, not a book I regret spending money on (Although the cover is beyond ugly. I was always trying to hide it from peoples’ glances when reading on the train.) Will be checking out the sequel soon.
...more

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Oct 02, 2009 Elena rated it did not like it

Recommends it for: I would not recommend this book. Interesting premise, terrible execution.

Recommended to Elena by: E. S.

Shelves: fiction, hated-it, paranormal, demons, ridiculous, good-premise-terrible-execution

I am plodding through this book because I spent money on it. The scenario facing the main characters is at first very, very similar to some others I know and love (namely Sam and Dean Winchester from Supernatural), only this book is set in England and there are occasionally swords.

I figured, hey, cool, let's see how she does with making her book stand apart.

First, let me say that there are some interesting aspects to the book. The dialogue is primarily good and I enjoy the interactions between t ...more

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Jun 16, 2013 Mizuki rated it really liked it

Shelves: pretty-good

Although I spent most of the time cursing the male lead Nick for being a fxxking jerkass while I read this book, still the awesome ending is enough to make up for it. Plus the older brother Alan, he really rocks!

But still, ******PLOT SPOILER WARNING******

(view spoiler)

**********END OF SPOILER******

I can see it coming fro ...more

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Jun 08, 2010 Ash rated it liked it

Recommended to Ash by: Cara

I usually don’t trust books with pouty lipped guys on the cover (No offense guy on the cover. For any other reason I’m sure you'd seem attractive, but right now you’re on a cover and I don’t trust you). My theory has yet to be debunked. It was really hard to finish reading this. I debated just stopping, but I had some guilty conscious issues. Luckily I did eventually get to the end, which was definitely the best part of the book.

Quick Overview: Nick and his brother Alan with their half crazy mo I usually don’t trust books with pouty lipped guys on the cover (No offense guy on the cover. For any other reason I’m sure you'd seem attractive, but right now you’re on a cover and I don’t trust you). My theory has yet to be debunked. It was really hard to finish reading this. I debated just stopping, but I had some guilty conscious issues. Luckily I did eventually get to the end, which was definitely the best part of the book.

Quick Overview: Nick and his brother Alan with their half crazy mother have been on the run from magicians their whole lives, and have been on their own since their father died. The most persistent magician is Black Arthur, the man who drove their mother mad. He's after a charm she took and is willing to do anything to get it back. Things get even more dangerous when Mae and her brother Jamie come for their help after he's marked by a demon. Nick doesn’t care about helping people and doesn’t care much for them bringing their problems too. He’s only interested in keeping him and his brother safe. The always caring Alan insists on helping them though, and as a result is also marked by a demon. Now instead of running away from magic Nick and Alan, along with the useless tag-alongs, must go looking for magicians to take off the marks. Nick has always seen Alan as the only constant thing in his life, but as secrets slowly start being revealed he realizes Alan has been lying to him, and begins to wonder what else he’s been hiding.

The book is set in present day and as usual, magic is going on right under our stupid noses, we just don’t see it because…well, we’re stupid. The characters bothered me the most. You hear a lot about how hot Nick is. You’d think the author would trust you to understand the first five times within 100 pages it was said. The book is told in third person, but you’re only told Nicks thoughts, which don’t differ much from either anger or… oh wait, that’s about it. Nick is constantly annoyed, angry, or completely void of feelings at any given moment. It’s just tiring to see nothing else but rage page after page. Most times though, I felt Nick had a point, and his logic made sense(maybe not a good sign). Alan was my favorite, but whenever he did something particularly self-sacrificial I’d just want to slap him. I’d probably hate Mae and Jamie too if I were Nick. Actually I just hate Mae. She’s pushy and naïve and was a HUGE pain in my behind. She reminded me of those girls who smoked in the bathroom, drawing scary pictures on their hands and saying they are witches hoping that if they believe it enough then it might actually be true and thus making them the ultimate bad-a**. Jamie was witty and funny, but didn't sound authentic most of the time. It's like he was used as the designated comic-relief-gay-guy. Same with Mae (not the gay part, the not sounding authentic part). Mostly though I was annoyed: Alan protects everyone and has a crush on Mae, who doesn’t deserve him. Mae is missing sections of her brain so she flirts with both Alan and Nick. Nick hates Mae, but she’s kinda hot and he knows no girl can resist his hot bod, but wait that’s not okay because Alan likes her. Hold up, Nick is pissed at Alan so maybe he doesn’t care. Jamie cracks a joke. Nick remembers he hates everyone. Especially Jamie. And Mae. And his crazy mom. Repeat.

I’m a huge sucker for action scenes and this book had enough of those to satisfy me. What I really liked seeing though was the relationship between Alan and Nick. They both want to protect each other and sometimes you see how one does a better job than the other. I feel like I should point out that I thought the whole cheek kissing thing was weird. I know their brothers. They’ll hold hands on the others death bed, and touch their head if the other is unconscious, but under no circumstances have I ever known a male over the age of 12 to kiss another male relative on the cheek. Maybe that’s just me, but moving on. The actions of the characters make sense at the end. Not to sound like a smarty pants but I guessed at the “big secrets” pretty early on, as I think a lot of people did. I admit, some stuff I didn’t guess ahead, but it wasn’t mind blowing. The villain was a bit disappointing at the end too. Still, how all that stuff eventually played out was smart and original. The description was done well; you get a real feel for the characters feelings and the atmosphere.

So in all, the book was hard for me to get through, but the end tied it up well. The whole brotherly bond thing was nice to see. You don’t read many books that depict that. The title is pretty cool and smart. If you’re someone who usually reads books with these types of characters then I’m sure you’ll love it. I admit that I’m kinda resentful at how many and pep talks I had to go through to finally convince myself to finish it. Not sure if I’ll finish the series seeing as I still hate Mae. Maybe if the next cover doesn’t have a pouty lipped boy. We’ll see.
...more

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Nov 14, 2010 Jessica rated it really liked it · review of another edition

The Demon’s Lexicon tells the story of 16-year-old half-orphan Nick who is on the run from a circle of evil magicians. He lives with his older brother Alan, who practically had to raise him all by himself due to the fact that 1) their father has been killed by said evil magicians and 2) their mother’s deep dislike of Nick. She resents him and makes it perfectly clear that she has absolutely no love for him. She doesn’t want to see him or talk to him and so she hides out in her room basically 24/ The Demon’s Lexicon tells the story of 16-year-old half-orphan Nick who is on the run from a circle of evil magicians. He lives with his older brother Alan, who practically had to raise him all by himself due to the fact that 1) their father has been killed by said evil magicians and 2) their mother’s deep dislike of Nick. She resents him and makes it perfectly clear that she has absolutely no love for him. She doesn’t want to see him or talk to him and so she hides out in her room basically 24/7. A nice lady, really.

The atmosphere Brennan creates in The Demon’s Lexicon is extremely dark. Imagine the bleaker side of London, with rundown brickwall houses and factories, a world full of dark magicians who sacrifice people to demons in order to gain more power, the mysterious Goblin Market where all sorts of magical objects can be purchased and dancers sway to the beat of drums in order to summon demons...

I have to say that I’m actually surprised at how much I liked this book. I really wasn’t sure at first because the main protagonist Nick definitely takes some getting used to. He’s rough, he’s rude and void of any feelings. Everything he does has the sole purpose of keeping himself and his brother save. Alan is the only thing that means anything to him. By that I mean that Nick is 100% loyal to Alan but to say he loves him would be quite a stretch. Nick doesn’t know what love is. He’s a bad boy through and through and I don’t mean in a I’m-so-though-on-the-outside-but-I-really-care-for-you-on-the-inside kind of way. No. He’s a I’m-though-on-the-outside-and-on-the-inside-and-I-couldn’t-care-less-whether-you-die-or-live bad boy. Nick.Doesn’t.Give.A.Shit. Period. At first, all this makes it a little hard to relate to him but Brennan does an awesome job of letting the reader see the world through Nick’s eyes and get a thorough understanding of why he is the way he is.

Even though we’ve been off to a rocky start, Nick grew on me more and more and I developed a fierce protectiveness of him. And a little crush, I guess ;-)

If you’re looking for something sweet and fluffy like this I can only recommend you to stay away from The Demon’s Lexicon because what you’ll get is more like this. There’s a little bit of romance in this book but not too much because, as I said, Nick isn’t really the cuddly type. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed reading this, the plot was gripping, the secondary characters (like Jamie for example) made for a good laugh here and there and those twists and turns...seriously, I never saw it coming.
...more

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Mar 13, 2009 Wealhtheow rated it really liked it

Shelves: feypunk, fantasy, ya, urban-fantasy, queer-characters

I waited for this book to come out for at least a year, and when I finally got it (tonight!) I started reading it and didn't stop until it was done. It is insanely enthralling.

This is the first paragraph: "The pipe under the sink was leaking again. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that Nick kept his favorite sword under the sink." This is our introduction to Nick Ryves, a sixteen year old who has been on the run from magicians his entire life. He and his older brother Alan (with a crippled ...more

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Apr 09, 2018 emily t rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: series-or-linked, 4-star

so I'm not sure exactly what I was expecting but... wow I loved this it was amazing? I liked it way better than unspoken tbh, my faith in srb is affirmed

I've seen people complain about nick's character but it was one of the best things about the book for me -- if I didn't say that I'm even a little tired of excessively kind and noble and morally righteous heroes whose every action is fueled by the Greater Good I'd be a lying liar who lies. I thought srb did an excellent job at balancing his char ...more

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Nov 09, 2010 AH rated it liked it

Shelves: first-in-series, library-finds, demons, young-adult, zzread-dec-2010

2.5 stars

I was a tad disappointed in this book. I looked at my status updates and I had seriously wanted to put the book in the “time out” corner for a while. Luckily for the book (hard cover copy), my ereader decided to malfunction, so I was stuck finishing The Demon’s Lexicon instead.

The Demon’s Lexicon is the story of two brothers who are constantly moving to get away from the magicians who seem to want something from the brothers or their mother. Herein lies my problem with this book. I was ...more

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Jun 23, 2010 Morgan F rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, 2000s, preston-public-library, goodreads-author, its-a-boy, read-2010, debut, medium-sized, love-triangle

Nick Ryves and his crippled older brother, Alan, have been running from magicians their whole lives. Magicians are humans who can control limited amounts power. They get this power from sacrificing innocent people as hosts for demons, who have unimaginable abilities. Alan and Nick's mother used to be an evil magician, and she still owns charm which others would kill to possess. When a brother and sister, Jamie and Mare, come to the Ryves brothers for help, Alan is dead set on taking them in, des Nick Ryves and his crippled older brother, Alan, have been running from magicians their whole lives. Magicians are humans who can control limited amounts power. They get this power from sacrificing innocent people as hosts for demons, who have unimaginable abilities. Alan and Nick's mother used to be an evil magician, and she still owns charm which others would kill to possess. When a brother and sister, Jamie and Mare, come to the Ryves brothers for help, Alan is dead set on taking them in, despite Nick's convictions that they will only bring danger nearer, for Jamie bears a demon's mark, a sign that means certain death for the carrier. Nick is reluctant to have anything to do with saving the boy until Alan is also marked, making Nick desperate for magician's blood which is the only thing that can erase a demon's mark. Now Nick must go after the very thing he was trying to evade, uncovering deep-rooted lies and family deceptions along the way. It turns out Nick might be more dangerous than anyone ever imagined.

Nick is a dark main character, one that is hard to sympathize with, as he sympathizes with no one else. He is a real bad boy. One with no regrets and quick to draw his sword (hehee, dirty). He really cares for no one except Alan, who he is devoutly loyal to. I didn't like him much. I like characters who have more vulnerability and a wider-span of emotion. I won't really complain about it though, seem as it is necessary for him to be so. But, I still didn't like the other characters, although Alan was certainly interesting.

I did think the fantasy aspects were imaginative, but I never got sucked into the plot. I was completely indifferent towards the book until the last fifty pages. There were plenty of twists and turns towards the end, but the only one that really surprised me was the biggest one of all.

For some reason, I didn't like the writing. I had a little trouble reading it. This might be because I am distracted by the anticipation of reading Mockingjay, and no book will ever seem right until I have it in my hands.

This also is trivial, but I don't like the covers of this book. Every edition I see just has a dumb cover, no offense to anyone who likes them. ...more

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Sep 11, 2011 Sami rated it it was amazing

"Dear Diary,
So today I found out my brother is THIS close to becoming a demon's meat puppet so I tracked down these brothers who I hope will help. One keeps a sword under the sink and the other could shoot a bullseye through the O of an alphabetti spaghetti. I think I want to see them naked. ~Mae" (not actual dialogue)

Sarah Rees Brennan is an author that really knows her way around her characters. The best parts of this book series are in the dialogue scenes. The banter is what makes this serie ...more

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Jul 11, 2009 Rachel rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-books

I didn’t expect to love this book. I thought it would be just okay and perhaps not my type of thing. (I thought the cover was a bit silly) Instead I found myself dropping everything else in order to finish it.

The narrator/protagonist is Nick. He’s not a terribly likeable person. His only interest in life if sword practice. He kills people (evil people who are trying to kill him – but still). He tortures enemies when necessary. He has very little regard for human life and empathy for no one excep ...more

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Mar 13, 2009 Marysia rated it it was amazing

I lived in utter terror that this wouldn't be as awesome as I wanted it to be, because I am paranoid that way. But it is awesome and it's deep and it's dark and it's moving and it's funny (though not quite as funny as I expected, but it makes up for that by being way more intriguing than the first few chapters might imply).

So, what's it about? I can't tell you, I am sworn to secrecy. Well not really, only about info that hasn't been released yet. Cause the book doesn't come out till the 1st of J ...more

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Aug 16, 2009 Lightreads rated it liked it

Shelves: disability, fantasy, fiction, urban-fantasy, young-adult

Young adult urban fantasy with teenaged brothers running from evil magicians and demons.

All right, this impressed me. I classified it in the first chapter as 'YA urban fantasy with demons: species generic,' but then the protagonist just kept happening. He's fifteen and a sociopath, not to put too fine a point on it, who would see the whole world burn without a qualm as long as his brother is safe. The close POV on him in all his disfunction, and the emotional nuances he does and doesn't get, is ...more

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Aug 26, 2012 Mike rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: bad-ya, fantasy, bad-books-have-good-covers, magic, action, quiltbag-protagnoist, british, warlocks-wizards-witches-ect, demons, third-person

So, I originally only had a brief, badly written review for this book, because I read it right as I came to GoodReads, and I was still adjusting to everything. That was fine at first, but I'm so far in the minority, and I'm having so much trouble understanding the positive reviews that I think I'm going to have to write that one-star review, just to get my thoughts together.

I think my biggest problem with the book was the focus on the plot twist. There's nothing wrong with a big surprise - it's ...more

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Jun 23, 2009 Roxane rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Shannon, Kathryn

Shelves: fantasy, urban-fantasy, young-adult, speculative-fiction

I might as well come out and say it up front: I’m not going to be the least objective about this book or this author. You see, Sarah Rees Brennan AKA Maya is the one who got me hooked on HP fanfiction, slash and more particularly H/D. I’ve enjoyed everything she has ever put up on her lj which I’ve been reading for years now! She’s a gifted storyteller who does brilliantly amazing things as far as characterization is concerned. That’ll do for context.
Her debut novel is marketed as YA and I’m not I might as well come out and say it up front: I’m not going to be the least objective about this book or this author. You see, Sarah Rees Brennan AKA Maya is the one who got me hooked on HP fanfiction, slash and more particularly H/D. I’ve enjoyed everything she has ever put up on her lj which I’ve been reading for years now! She’s a gifted storyteller who does brilliantly amazing things as far as characterization is concerned. That’ll do for context.
Her debut novel is marketed as YA and I’m not sure why. If it is YA at all, it’s definitely more on the mature side and certainly dark, clever and rich enough all in terms of writing and world building to blur the lines between YA and adult fiction.
It seems that, these days, most urban fantasy that’s out there unavoidably loses its way to become paranormal romance and that’s part of the reason why I avoid the genre as a whole. But I couldn’t care less about subgenres here. Quite frankly, if SRB had written a rip off of the LOTR, I wouldn’t have thought twice about it and would’ve bought it and devoured it as fast as I did The Demon’s Lexicon (confer the opening paragraph on objectivity). Here, I found the urban fantasy to be a wonderful tool that really participated in grounding the characters in real life and helping the reader identify with them. SRB does such an amazing job at giving life and texture to the relationship between the brothers, depicting the complex mix of love and tension that, at times, unites and, at others, comes between them (yeah, I did feel the Winchester brothers echo at the beginning but it didn’t take long for the Rhyves brother to really grow and become their own pair in my mind). Honestly I couldn’t get enough of them and the other two main characters. In terms of interaction, exchanges, dialogs, SRB is always spot on and that, I think, is the book’s greatest strength.
It’s got many others of course. For instance, the plot and the pace which won’t allow you to put the book down. I only did it because I had to work and sleep (though I didn’t get much of that).
Theme-wise, there are some very nice bits about alienation and being brought up in a world that you don't fully understand or relate to.
Anyway, it’s a highly recommended book if you’re looking for some good stuff to burn through and enjoy immensely. You can kick back and relax, you’re in good hands.

Shannon and Kathryn, you must read this!
...more

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Aug 08, 2010 Zoë Marriott rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Sarah Rees Brennan I love you.

When friends of mine raved about your book, I didn't really pay that much attention. I was hip-deep in revisions at the time, and had sworn off new books (being a naturally lazy procrastinator, if I'm faced with a choice between curling up with a book or getting some hard work done, the curling and reading wins every time). Once those revisions were finished, I have to admit that I forgot about the recommendations I'd heard heaped on THE DEMON'S LEXICON. I am sorry. Sarah Rees Brennan I love you.

When friends of mine raved about your book, I didn't really pay that much attention. I was hip-deep in revisions at the time, and had sworn off new books (being a naturally lazy procrastinator, if I'm faced with a choice between curling up with a book or getting some hard work done, the curling and reading wins every time). Once those revisions were finished, I have to admit that I forgot about the recommendations I'd heard heaped on THE DEMON'S LEXICON. I am sorry. I am not worthy.

Then I happened to catch sight of TDL during a mammoth book-buying session, and on a whim, I picked it up. I cannot express how glad I am that I did. Your book rocked my world Sarah Rees Brennan. It made me snork with laughter. It made me cry. I made me think deeply. It challenged my preconceptions, played with my prejudices and, in the end, left me feeling transformed.

Your writing skill is deeply humbling. I'm not saying that you're a particularly flowery writer. No. You use words as a surgeon uses a scalpel, forcing me to blink in shock again and again as you pierce straight to the heart of the matter. Your plotting is superb. I hear that you credit this to reading all of Agatha Christie's books? You do yourself an injustice. I too have read all of Ms Christie's works, and I cannot plot as you do. I'm also in awe of the depth and compassion in your characterisation. I loved and hated the characters in THE DEMON'S LEXICON, but more than that, I understood them. Each of them, good, bad or intriguingly in-between, had a stunning emotional truth.

The fact that you accomplished all this in your first book? Frankly, shows me how very deeply I fail as a writer. But it also inspires me to keep trying to improve my own craft so that one day a story of mine will make someone feel the wonder, the shock, the joy and sorrow that THE DEMON'S LEXICON made me feel.

In Summary: if you are reading this review, and you are not Sarah Rees Brennan, please go and buy this book. Now. If you are reading this review and you ARE Sarah Rees Brennan, please, write many more books. I don't urge you to write faster, to pair up any particular couple, or to keep writing sequels set in this world. No. I just beg you to keep writing for as long as I'm alive, and to please outlive me. You're a year younger than I am. It shouldn't be difficult.

...more

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Sep 15, 2010 Bry rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, young-adult, urban-fantasy, disappointing

So this book was not what I expected. I expected to like it more. I expected to more grabbed by the plot, the characters, the villains. I expected to read it in less than 2 days and then be running to the library for book 2. Instead it was just meh.

The only character I like was Nick. I loved that he was apologetically cold and basically emotionless. He didn't care for others and didn't understand why he should. I loved that we finally got a character who didn't feel the need to change this about ...more

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Jan 22, 2012 Rachel Hartman rated it liked it

That's a hard-earned three stars, there. That is to say, the book came back from a deficit. There were several times when I was pretty sure this was going to be a DNF for me. I figured out the twist about halfway through. By the end, though, the brothers' relationship won me over. I'm a sucker for siblings, I guess.

I'll be interested to see whether I like the second book better, now that the big "secret" is out in the open. And I wonder (but of course, we'll never know) whether this book wouldn' ...more

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Aug 26, 2009 Alex rated it did not like it

Am I the only one who thinks that all the hype about Sarah Rees Brennan as a real novelist is just that - hype?

Brennan got famous because she is VERY GOOD at parodying things that other writers actually created. Which is awesome and totally entertaining. But where Cassandra Clare proved that her fan fiction was hinting at immense skill, Brennan...Demon's Lexicon was just boring. Her characters are flat. Her stories are predictable. And...honestly, I just found myself wishing that I enjoyed her ...more

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Feb 05, 2010 Kim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, ebook, read-in-2010

Well.. It took me forever to finish this book but I liked it a lot! But I never had this much trouble to keep reading something that's interesting.

Nick is all kinds of awesome, his brother Alan is a little bit too emo for my taste, but I guess it's normal how protective he feels of Nick.

I can't wait to see what happens between Nick and Mae ^^

It's too damn hot today to come up with a decent review, so this will have to do.

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Aug 11, 2012 Rose rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, paranormal, fantasy, favorites, action, magic, urban-fantasy, supernatural, a-to-z-ya-challenge-2013

Initial reaction: Review to come when I can find words to describe how much this book swallowed me into the journey, characters and respective conflict. I really enjoyed this and it rather surprised me.

Full review:

And I'm yet again impressed reading another book from Sarah Rees Brennan. I figured since I enjoyed "Unspoken" so much and since it will be some time before the sequel releases, I'd check into her "Demon's Lexicon" series. Reactions of this book were mixed on my friends list on Goodrea Initial reaction: Review to come when I can find words to describe how much this book swallowed me into the journey, characters and respective conflict. I really enjoyed this and it rather surprised me.

Full review:

And I'm yet again impressed reading another book from Sarah Rees Brennan. I figured since I enjoyed "Unspoken" so much and since it will be some time before the sequel releases, I'd check into her "Demon's Lexicon" series. Reactions of this book were mixed on my friends list on Goodreads, so I'll admit when I found this title in my local library, I wasn't sure what to expect from it or why it ended up being so polarizing. Now that I've read it, I think I know one of the primary elements of contention.

It seems like it boils down to Nick's character. He's quite the "bad boy" - but dangnabit, he's the kind I can actually get behind because he had reasons for being the way he was. Even then, he was certainly gruff, but he's funny, supportive in measures where it counts, and quite willing to fight for what he believe in. Nick is fiercely protective of his brother, Alan, who is the only family he's got following the death of their father and the rather...odd state of their mother (who hates him with the power of a thousand somethings).

The two are on the run from a demon clan who wants a charm their mother possesses, but more complicated measures come into their company when a brother and sister (Jamie and Mae, respectively) seek their help to cure a curse. Calamity ensues, draws Alan into the risk, and Nick has no choice but to try to seek aid to help Alan, but at the cost of many things. He's not that happy about it, and minces no words about it, even going so far as to do the unthinkable to make sure Alan's safety is paramount. At the same time, Nick's journey will lead him to ask questions about what Alan really knows about his family, his tasks at hand, and ultimately the very state of his being.

I'll admit I enjoyed the immersive worldbuilding in this work - it pulled me in well enough to follow along and devour the pages going through it. I liked Jamie, Mae, and Alan's characters as well. The humor and dynamic of the dialogue, rolling action, and progression is rather solid. It kept my attention certainly through some of the twists it had to offer. I called a few of them, but didn't expect to get body slammed by the ending, which left me clutching the sides of the book I held in my hands when I read it. It was done so well, and with a great degree of emotional resonance that I don't see in this genre all that often. When all was considered in this novel, I felt for Nick and the respective characters and situations that transpired.

Certainly one of my favorite read of this year, and I can't wait to see where the next book lends.

Overall score: 4.5/5 ...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Isabel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommended to Isabel by: Zoë Marriott

*Spoiler Alert*

Okay, first of all, I just wanted to make it clear that I LOVED this book. The writing was incredible, especially for a first novel, and the characters were so real and convincing… I can’t begin to comprehend how she wrote Alan so well. I mean, (and nobody shoot me) sometimes I love this guy, but for some reason I also really really hate him at times. I know, right? I’m impressed with Brennan’s ability to make me feel so strongly about her characters. This book held so many surpri *Spoiler Alert*

Okay, first of all, I just wanted to make it clear that I LOVED this book. The writing was incredible, especially for a first novel, and the characters were so real and convincing… I can’t begin to comprehend how she wrote Alan so well. I mean, (and nobody shoot me) sometimes I love this guy, but for some reason I also really really hate him at times. I know, right? I’m impressed with Brennan’s ability to make me feel so strongly about her characters. This book held so many surprises and I was just so shocked that Nick is actually a demon… it makes SO MUCH SENSE, and I felt SO SAD. I was depressed upon finishing this book.

But that’s just the thing. I feel as if in stories the reader should really be able to connect with the main character, and even if they ARE a jerk, you should still be able to sympathize with them in some way. The fact that Nick is not even a even a human… that he is a demon—a creature without feelings—kind of threw me off. The main character in this book… HE DOES NOT FEEL. I don’t know how I’m supposed to connect with a main character that doesn’t feel fear, empathy, sadness, happiness, or love. All he feels is this grim determination to win. How is he supposed to fall in love, if he can’t feel it? He was a consistent character, and well written, definitely, and I realize that this is something personal that isn’t really a flaw with the actual story. So I’m not saying there was something wrong with the way Sarah Rees Brennan wrote this character. And I’m actually fairly sure that this character will probably undergo some changes in the next two books in his struggle to become more human. It’s just that because I am not entirely satisfied with the main character, I couldn’t possibly give this book a full five stars.

However, I will read The Demon's Covenant, and I am very excited about it. And when I’m finished I will most certainly be anxiously awaiting the third book. Really. To all the outraged fans of this book—it was AMAZING, and I am going to recommend this to all my friends. I can’t wait to read more! ...more

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About Sarah Rees Brennan

Sarah Rees Brennan

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Sarah Rees Brennan is Irish and currently lives in Dublin. For a short stint, she lived in New York and became involved with a wide circle of writers who encouraged and supported her, including Holly Black and Cassandra Clare. She has developed a wide audience through her popular blog, mistful.livejournal.com, where she writes movie parodies, book reviews and some stories.

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Quotes from The Demon's Lexicon

“Fear's useless. Either something bad happens or it doesn't: If it doesn't, you've wasted time being afraid, and if it does, you've wasted time that you could have spent sharpening your weapons.” — 434 likes

“Some magicians are rich, some are famous, some are stupidly good-looking.'

Jamie gave Nick a rather complicated look.

Nick raised an eyebrow. 'Some of us manage to be stupidly good-looking on our own.” — 96 likes

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