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The Good Inside Me
Dragons, short-tempered archdemons, and hysterical damned souls—Shax is used to dealing with all that. He’s a young fire demon and lives in Hell, after all. What he’s not used to is being possessed by a human. A very good human and a pretty girl at that: sixteen-year-old Tolis. Despite still having control of his body most of the time, Shax can hear Tolis’s voice inside his head and feels what she feels constantly.
Shax’s mentor claims that Tolis hides an ancient, powerful grimoire, a book of spells, and proposes a deal: if Shax finds it, he’ll help Shax get work as a dragon keeper—Shax’s dream job. Tolis swears she doesn’t have the grimoire and asks Shax to help her father, whose soul is turning evil by the minute. Unless Tolis does something, her dad’s soul will end in Hell. Hoping to convince her to give him the grimoire, and not because Shax cares about the man’s soul, he agrees to help.
Goodness is overrated. Since Shax decided to help Tolis, his life has turned into a hurdle race. Thugs chase him, the scientists in Hell want to prod and examine the first possessed demon in history, and he can’t find the darn grimoire.
And the worst part? Due to the unavoidable presence of Tolis, who keeps intruding into his evil thoughts, Shax discovers an almost decent side of himself. In no time at all, he catches himself doing actual good deeds. Is he becoming—yuck—good?
Shax’s mentor claims that Tolis hides an ancient, powerful grimoire, a book of spells, and proposes a deal: if Shax finds it, he’ll help Shax get work as a dragon keeper—Shax’s dream job. Tolis swears she doesn’t have the grimoire and asks Shax to help her father, whose soul is turning evil by the minute. Unless Tolis does something, her dad’s soul will end in Hell. Hoping to convince her to give him the grimoire, and not because Shax cares about the man’s soul, he agrees to help.
Goodness is overrated. Since Shax decided to help Tolis, his life has turned into a hurdle race. Thugs chase him, the scientists in Hell want to prod and examine the first possessed demon in history, and he can’t find the darn grimoire.
And the worst part? Due to the unavoidable presence of Tolis, who keeps intruding into his evil thoughts, Shax discovers an almost decent side of himself. In no time at all, he catches himself doing actual good deeds. Is he becoming—yuck—good?
267 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 15, 2019
About the author
Barbara Russell
105 books249 followersI’m an entomologist and a soil biologist, which is a fancy way to say that I dig in the dirt, looking for bugs. Nature and books have always been my passion. I was a kid when I read Ivanhoe by Sir W. Scott and fell in love with medieval novels. Then I discovered medieval fantasy, and I fell in love again. In fact, I took it too seriously and believed that my elderly, bearded neighbor was Merlin and his black cat was Morgan le Fey. When I read Harry Potter and learned about Animagi, I knew I was right. Then I grew up and… nah, I’m joking. I didn’t grow up. Don’t grow up, folks! It’s a trap.
PS I hate gardening. There, I said it. Sorry fellow Kiwis.
PS I hate gardening. There, I said it. Sorry fellow Kiwis.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 7, 2019
A tale of Demons and Angels and everything in between. Shax is a demon who has been tasked by his mentor to possess a girl named Tolis. So they can find the location of an ancient book called the Lemegeton. But things go horribly wrong. Tolis and Shax end up on a journey to Hell and back battling to keep this book out of the hands of the wrong individuals. I loved this book.
April 15, 2019
I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
There’s a line from the Walking Dead that comes to mind when reading this book. “No one ever believe they are the bad guy” and it’s true. Everyone feels like they are justified in their actions, even the villains, it’s all a matter of perspective. Shax however, is fully aware that he is, in fact, the bad guy; or at least a bad guy. He’s a fire demon, it’s kind of his deal.
Shax is a demon-in-training, he’s a fifth-level, but at sixth-level he can get his own grimoire; which hold all the spells you could ever want. If you really have the brokenhearts, you can get a smart-grim which is the latest and greatest model, everything in the palm of your hand, no more giant leather bound books. All Shax has to do is pass his possession test, which unfortunately means he has to possess a teenage girl named Tolis; who just oozes goodness. To make things worse, due to some unforeseen events, Tolis ends up possessing Shax.
This book is pretty fantastic. I have never read anything quite like it and it made it hard to put the book down and live in the real world. Even though Shax is a demon and you’re supposed to hate demons, you can’t help but love him, especially as the book goes on.
There is so much going on, but not in a Game of Thrones what the hell is going on sort of way, just enough to do a fair amount of world building. I wish there were more, there is so much potential to be more! I am hungry for it!
I loved this book so much! Thank you so much to Barbara Russell for letting me read this fabulous story! I can’t wait to pick up more by her.
There’s a line from the Walking Dead that comes to mind when reading this book. “No one ever believe they are the bad guy” and it’s true. Everyone feels like they are justified in their actions, even the villains, it’s all a matter of perspective. Shax however, is fully aware that he is, in fact, the bad guy; or at least a bad guy. He’s a fire demon, it’s kind of his deal.
Shax is a demon-in-training, he’s a fifth-level, but at sixth-level he can get his own grimoire; which hold all the spells you could ever want. If you really have the brokenhearts, you can get a smart-grim which is the latest and greatest model, everything in the palm of your hand, no more giant leather bound books. All Shax has to do is pass his possession test, which unfortunately means he has to possess a teenage girl named Tolis; who just oozes goodness. To make things worse, due to some unforeseen events, Tolis ends up possessing Shax.
This book is pretty fantastic. I have never read anything quite like it and it made it hard to put the book down and live in the real world. Even though Shax is a demon and you’re supposed to hate demons, you can’t help but love him, especially as the book goes on.
There is so much going on, but not in a Game of Thrones what the hell is going on sort of way, just enough to do a fair amount of world building. I wish there were more, there is so much potential to be more! I am hungry for it!
I loved this book so much! Thank you so much to Barbara Russell for letting me read this fabulous story! I can’t wait to pick up more by her.
May 13, 2019
Shax is a fifth level demon in hell working to get his sixth level where he can get his own grimoire. The last test he has to pass is a possession test. He is to possess sixteen year old Tolis, a girl full of goodness. But things go sideways and he ends up being possessed by Tolis. Shax’s mentor insists that Tolis has a grimoire and the only way to stop the possession is to find it.
Tolis has no idea what he is talking about and convinces Shax to help her father who seems to be going to hell in a hand basket. But one good deed starts leading to another and before he knows it Shax seems to be turning a new leaf for a demon.
I really enjoyed this book. It has a fresh take on the bad guys. I mean Shax is a demon and we know that he is supposed to be doing bad things but you can’t help liking him and hoping that things will work out for the best.
This is a great story and one that I recommend checking out. This is the first book of Barbara Russell’s that I have read but it won’t be my last.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
Tolis has no idea what he is talking about and convinces Shax to help her father who seems to be going to hell in a hand basket. But one good deed starts leading to another and before he knows it Shax seems to be turning a new leaf for a demon.
I really enjoyed this book. It has a fresh take on the bad guys. I mean Shax is a demon and we know that he is supposed to be doing bad things but you can’t help liking him and hoping that things will work out for the best.
This is a great story and one that I recommend checking out. This is the first book of Barbara Russell’s that I have read but it won’t be my last.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
April 13, 2019
Love it!!! ❤️... So different about the typical angels / demons books I have read before... I really like the idea not everybody is totally good or bad and everybody has free will... Unexpected twists and turns had me wondering what will happen next and kept me reading till the end... It left me a pleasant feel with that ending!!! 🤗🤓
April 13, 2019
Loved it! A fantastic unique paranormal fantasy that sucked me in from page one! I absolutely loved how original the story was. The characters were lifelike and leapt off the page capturing my attention and I couldn’t help but root for them. If you’re looking for a captivating paranormal adventure be sure to snatch up this entertaining PNR!
April 5, 2019
This is a quirky book, with a completely different take on angels and demons, took me a little while to get into the book, but once I did I enjoyed it.
I really liked Shax and Jilhael, I think they made a good team.
It had a good twist that you don’t see coming, a nice lighthearted read.
I really liked Shax and Jilhael, I think they made a good team.
It had a good twist that you don’t see coming, a nice lighthearted read.
December 9, 2019
I liked this. Very quirky and unusual. Would definitely be interested in reading more from this author.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews