**I voluntarily read and reviewed a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes were taken from the advanced readers co**I voluntarily read and reviewed a review copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Any quotes were taken from the advanced readers copy and as such may not be accurate or present in the final version**
This was probably my most anticipated read of 2020 AND IT DID NOT DISSAPPOINT. In fact, I think I'll have to dive back in for a reread sooner rather than later so that I can wallow just a little longer and very hopefully delay the inevitable book hangover that the end of this magnificent series is going to bring me.
But I ask you this, daughter of my daughter, honorable scribe, survivor, sorceress: When will it end? Three millennia after Melitta had asked, I had the answer. It would end with me.
I cannot believe that at the beginning of 'The Guild Codex' journey I was so worried that I wouldn't click with this world. Firstly, I was worried that Urban Fantasy wasn't a go to genre for me (side note, it is now...). I was also worried that I wouldn't be able to love yet another Annette Marie series the way I loved Steel and Stone and Red Winter (spoiler alert, I can!) and when I heard the news about a spin off about the mysterious new Demon contractor on the block, Robin Page I was again nervous but also intrigued to know more about this quiet, timid girl who looked dressed more for a book fair than combat with an unbound demon.
Needless to say, all my worries were knocked out of the park entirely and I found myself head over heels for the new characters, the new relationships and the new plot.
I cannot say how Annette managed this one, but the plots of Spellbound and Demonized merge so seamlessly and yet they really do manage to stand on their own as well. While you can technically read both series completely separately, the enjoyment is just that much more when you read them together, and so I can't actually recommend anything but devouring all the books. More Guild Codex world, more POVs, more knowledge on the workings of the universe and more world building!
Something I love about Annette Marie and definitely about this series in particular is that I couldn't guess where it was going. Robin and Zylas had to follow their full paths and even though I might have been partially dying through some of it, I loved both of their character arcs and I couldn't have asked for a better finale for them. Their characters remained true to themselves, no matter what and even if I might have wished so hard for them to have made different decisions, I couldn't actually imagine them choosing any other way.
This one got pretty intense on the demon dimension world building (which I was totally there for! I couldn't wait to learn more about Zylas' home!) and yet still managed to stick to the original timeline from Damned Souls and a Sangria (which at some stages I was wondering how on Earth they would make it!). I loved the elaboration on the 'weightlifting' scene and I also loved seeing the major battle at the Crow and Hammer from Robin and Zylas' eyes.
The focus of Demonized is the secretive and well guarded mythic class of Demonica, related to demon summoning and contracting. The added insights into the effects that this has had on their world, their politics and even their very natures adds so much depth and complexity to this series.
Most of all though, what I love the most about this series is the characters and their relationships. The way the relationships are constantly challenged, the dynamics constantly shifting the way they might in real life. Seeing how the characters cope with those changes and how they adapt just makes them even more real to me.
“We’d saved each other. Not just on that horrific afternoon when we’d formed our contract, but before that, when I’d given him life-sustaining food and he’d distracted me from my overwhelming grief and loneliness. And after that— every day after that, we’d been protecting each other in our own way.
My only real complaint was that I wished that I could have seen a little more showcasing of the friendship between Robin and Amalia: I'm always there for women supporting women and strong female friendships. Yes, I do realise that there was action stuffed into each and every chapter, and yes, I do realise that these characters were in the most epic finale of all time and yes! I also realise that I probably wouldn't have had enough with even another three hundred pages! But I feel I have to be brutally honest, even about the smallest things.
After so many books and so many crazy adventures with these characters from Spellbound and Demonized, there's a gaping hole in my life now that both of these series have come to their conclusions. Thankfully there is still Warped (with a new book coming in December!) to look forward to, and the announcement about the Unveiled series (starring my favourite Druid!). Even with all the upcoming excitement, Robin and Zylas will always hold a very special place in my heart, and I know that I'll revisit their books time and time again to recapture their magic and to spend some more time with some of my favourite characters of all time.
It's a crazy journey with so many highs and lows. The characters are challenged and tested and tested again. This finale was the epic conclusion that I'd hoped and dreamed about for my favourites and I can only hope you love it as much as I did. It might not end the way you want or expect it to, but it is a an epic, epic finale.
"Among demons, losing meant death. Zylas might not always win, but he never lost. But tonight, we’d either succeed or we’d die. Victory or death."
Absolutely epic.... And that's about the best way to describe it I tell you. My brain has been stuck churning for words for days and I'm STILL failingAbsolutely epic.... And that's about the best way to describe it I tell you. My brain has been stuck churning for words for days and I'm STILL failing to come up with adequate English...
You'd better buckle up for this one as it's an insane, epic, adventurous, amazing ride.
Let me start with the parts I didn't like.... IT'S THE END OF THIS BEAUTIFUL SERIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure what I'm going to do without Spellbound in my life anymore. I've become accustomed to life at the Crow and Hammer and between this and Demonized ending in a week I'm going to be left with a huge hole (and possibly the worst book hangover in history). That's about all I've got for negatives.
I adored seeing the whole gang together in this one with cameos from both Robin and Zylas and Amalia from Demonized AND from Kit and Lienna and co from Warped. I cannot urge you enough to read all the books in this world - firstly, you're going to want all the Guild Codex goodness you can get your hands on and the series do intertwine a lot, so there are spoilers if you read only one of the series and then decide to go back to them later. PLUS it builds the whole universe up so you can see it from different sides and POVs and the enjoyment is really just that much richer.
Throughout this entire series I have loved watching Tori learn and grow. She's still the same feisty, hot-headed bartender we met in Three Mages, and yet she's also learned to (sometimes) look before she leaps and that relying on other people isn't always a bad thing. Her growth as a character, firstly by dragging herself into the world of magic and not letting go; then by slowly attaining her own magic and then losing it all and learning that her own personal strength of character is her best asset; and then by clawing her way back and always, always being there for her friends has endeared her to me as one of my favourite characters. If you had told me that I would love a loud mouthed red headed bartended that struggled to hold down a day job I might have laughed - but that would have been before I first picked up this series.
As with every Annette Marie series, I've come to love and care for ALL of the other characters, not just the main three mages either, but a whole host of others. I was thrilled when a certain druid came back to redeem himself and I'm even more excited than usual about the announcement at the end of this one (ASAGDFGJL - the one about an entirely NEW Guild Codex spinoff with The Crystal Druid front and centre!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). Thank goodness between this new series and Warped I'm not saying goodbye to the Guild Codex universe for a while yet.
There's always intense action and high stakes; nail biting moments and heart stopping moments; moments that made me well up with emotion and moments that made laugh out loud, and this, the finale did not disappoint. I loved the way this one ended for all my favourites from this series although I must admit that if I wasn't reading ALL OF THE BOOKS, I may have been slightly disappointed in the outcome of a certain X's story, but it is hard to say. Would I be invested if I hadn't read the other sides of the story? (I can't start writing spoilery reviews now after so many non-spoiler reviews so this will stay vague!) But since I am reading everything I can about this world and it's characters, I can't help but feel the utmost contentment with the way this one ended. Not everything has been tied up in a neat little bow (just like real life I guess!), and there's plenty of space for the return of all my favourites in the ongoing spinoffs.
Anyone looking for a fantastic adult Urban Fantasy series shouldn't look any further than The Guild Codex (unless of course you want to try any of Annette's other series, because I recommend absolutely every one of them too!)....more
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