35 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Courtesy of Teens Read Too, May 29, 2009
This review is from: The Demon's Lexicon (Demon's Lexicon Trilogy) (Hardcover)
Gold Star Award Winner!
Nick and his brother, Alan, have been on the run for Nick's entire life - and when they're not running, they're fighting the vicious magicians pursuing their mother and the powerful charm she stole. Magicians who trade lives for power. Who killed their father and left Alan with a permanent limp. And who show up yet again as soon as Nick has started to get comfortable in their new home.
This time, everything's different. A demon marks Alan, and Nick can't rest until he knows his brother is safe. Especially after one of the most powerful magician's circles delivers a warning that leaves Alan more shaken than Nick's ever seen. But the harder Nick tries to protect him, the more he realizes how many secrets Alan's been keeping from him.
No longer able to trust the one person he thought he could count on, Nick sets out to find the truth.
Unfortunately, this truth is more dangerous than most...
THE DEMON'S LEXICON is a dark, fast-paced story filled with equal parts of action and emotion - and incredibly difficult to put down once you've started. The narration, from Nick's point of view, is stark but comes with plenty of biting humor.
All of the characters have more to them than it appears at first glance, and it's easy to believe the vivid world of magicians and the Goblin's Market could truly exist amidst our own. The many twists will keep readers guessing and glued to the page, but ultimately the story rests on Nick and Alan and the intense yet tenuous bond between them. It's this relationship that gives the novel its heart, and raises it above the many other paranormal and urban fantasy offerings hitting the shelves.
Highly recommended to all!
Reviewed by: Lynn Crow
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, February 8, 2010
This review is from: The Demon's Lexicon (Demon's Lexicon Trilogy) (Hardcover)
This book is the first of the authors, and the first in a series. It is exceptionally well written, with excellent humour, a solid and detailed plot, and a surprise ending. I would recommend it to young adults and adults alike. Though the main character isn't gay, the book is gay friendly and deals with it in a mature way.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brotherly love, swords, and secrets, June 10, 2009
This review is from: The Demon's Lexicon (Demon's Lexicon Trilogy) (Hardcover)
I'd actually have given this 4.5 stars, but rounded up because it deserves more than a flat 4.
As another reviewer has mentioned, it was refreshing to read a YA novel where romance does not factor heavily. There is lots of love, but it's familial love--brotherly (and sisterly) and devoted. Mae could be considered the love interest, but the touch is fairly light in this regard.
Sarah Rees Brennan has a knack for humor. It's apparent in her blog and her fanfiction. It shone a little less brightly in this book, but it was still present. Nick and Jamie have most of the good lines, and while Mae was spunky and opinionated, I felt a little more could have been done with her. She and her brother crash in on the secret life Nick and older brother Alan try to keep hidden, pleading for help with Jamie's predicament. The relationship between brother and sister is believable, but I wanted just the slightest bit more. The dynamic between Nick and Alan took some getting used to, but as the story goes on, it works well in context.
While the protagonist is undoubtedly Nick, the dark brooding hero who has all this knowledge of swords and demons and evil magicians (Sarah Rees Brennan has attempted to deconstruct this stereotype, and it works well enough, especially as the story goes on), it is Alan who is perhaps the most intriguing throughout. Both Ryves brothers keep secrets, but Alan keeps more than anyone else suspects--even Nick. And when Nick glimpses something Alan's been keeping from him, he becomes obsessed with uncovering it fully.
There are a few twists in the last third of the book or so, and one huge one toward the very end. There are clues layered throughout the story, but the foreshadowing is done with a light touch, and even if you see the gist of the twist coming, the full reveal is still a bit shocking, though it makes the rest of the novel make more sense. The title of the book doesn't seem to have much to do with the story, but once the book is finished, it makes a good deal of sense, and is powerful enough. By the end, the main "goal" of the characters has been accomplished, but enough new questions are opened by the final plot twist to lend themselves well enough to the sequel (The Demon's Covenant) that will be released (and followed by the final bit in the trilogy).
There is violence, though most of it isn't too graphic. There's no sex (but there is a small amount of sexual tension). The book is YA, but I'd put it on the higher end of that spectrum--more high school than late elementary/middle school, though some younger readers might also appreciate it. For comparison purposes, I'd say in that regard, it's like the last few Harry Potter novels--the ones that were darker and had more violence and moral ambiguity in places.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
