Thursday, 5 January 2012

Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong **Review**

Where Demons Fear to Tread by Stephanie Chong
Series: The Company of Angels #1
Pages: 358
Publisher: MIRA
Release date: 30th August 2011
Buy: Book Depository | Amazon UK | Waterstone's | Amazon US

Goodreads synopsis:
Fledging guardian angel and yoga teacher Serena St. Clair dares enter Devil's Paradise nightclub on a mission—to retrieve the wayward Hollywood "It Boy" she's assigned to protect. But she's ambushed by the club's owner, arch demon Julian Ascher. The most powerful demonic entity in Los Angeles, Julian is handsome as sin, a master of temptation who loves nothing more than corrupting pleasure–seeking humans. He won't release the lost soul Serena is supposed to guard. Unless she accepts his dangerous wager…
After the disastrous way his human life ended, Julian vowed that no woman would get the better of him again. Yet this sexy–sweet angel, smelling of fresh ocean air and happiness, triggers centuries–old feelings. Now, their high–stakes game of seduction, where angels fall from grace and where demons fear to tread, will lead them either to an eternity in hell.or a deliciously hot heaven.



I feel the first thing I need to mention about this novel, is that it is definitely an adult read. I'm in no way a prude, but I think I would call this one up as a 14+ in the very least. I suppose it depends on your view of such things. This is isn't in any way a suitable read for younger readers though. That shall be my only warning, and I shall not mention it again! Promise :)

I think this is a novel that you have to take not as a serious fantasy novel, but as a bit of fun. I've read a couple of others reviews that moan on and on about the predictability of the good v.s. evil 'with overlapping qualities' and the predictability of the romance - and yes, these things are true - but if the novel is viewed as a 'fun read' then I don't think these things particularly matter. There are very few truly unique story paradigms around now anyway. All stories, to some extent, have an air of predictability. I don't think this removes much from the novel at all.

I'm not usually the biggest reader of what is definitely present in this novel - 'erotic romance'. I feel that most of the time, a little subtlety in the intimate scenes does a lot more for a book than the raunchy language used in books like this. Unfortunately, for me, this is what knocked a star off the rating. I'm definitely in the opinion that a little softening of such scenes would improve the novel - I felt like a little too much attention was paid to the depth of these scenes, when more attention could have been paid to refining the story.
Though this is a minor point, I suppose, as I did still enjoy the rest of the story, and the romance was still compelling between these scenes.

Serena was a wonderful character - despite her angelic demeanor, she still has the sparks of unangelic passion within her, and a strength of character to match that. Once she'd decided on what she wanted, she fought for it with every ounce of herself, and this is something I always admire in female protagonists.

I found the dual narrative really interesting as well. Instead of just understanding Serena's character in full, we are also able to explore Julian's character, understand his motives, and watch his character evolve into nearly an entirely different being. I will say no more about his character though - I'd want you to experience this for yourselves.
The dual narrative worked well between them though - it provided a much more rounded and equal view of the plot and characters, and definitely a deeper view into the relationship between Serena and Julian.

Overall I did enjoy the novel. I don't think it's going to be one that sticks with me for very long (as other novels I've read recently have), but it is still a fun read that I would recommend to anyone with an interest in romance, fantasy or of course (if you must) erotic fiction.


10 comments:

Jolene and Family said...

Great review! I've had this book sitting on my bookshelf for a little while, and I cannot wait to now pick this

Ruth_Marianna said...

Thanks for the review. I will go look for this now on Amazon.

June M. said...

Great review. I have this sitting on my TBR shelf right now and can't wait to read it. I will definitely have to move it up the pile, lol.

Sophia Rose said...

I've got this one on my wish list and was wondering what other people thought about it. So true- sometimes its possible to take a story too seriously.

Thanks for your honest review!

Aline Tobing said...

I read this book on December 2011. I am a freelance translator and my publisher assign me to translate this book to my language, Indonesian :)

But too bad, I have to agree with you that this book is not going to be one that sticks with me for very long LOL!

Denice said...

Thanks for this... I was actually shocked when I read some "terms" in the book not really for kids... Good thing I'm not a kid... I really thought this was just a paranormal romance not erotic paranormal romance... But it's okay... Nice review by the way...

Tina B said...

Thank you for the recommendation and honest review. This one is already on my TBR.

divavixenqueen said...

Nice review. One to put on my TBR List,for sure.

andieleah said...

I've read this book and I agree...this is not a kids book. Hopefully parents are monitoring them. Overall I don't think Stephanie was overly vulgar though...Julian is a demon...he should be a lil wicked, no?

~Jennifer~ said...

I don't think I've heard of this one, but I love demons so it'll be great I'm sure. As a parent myself, I'm super careful with what I let my daughter read and wouldn't let her read something like this. She's just too young. :)

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