Customer Reviews

Devil's Kiss

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was torn between 3 and 4 stars for this one so let's call it a solid 3.5!

This book opens with a bang. The first line...

Killing him should be easy; He's only six. (Okay, the first line gets 5 stars!)

So the first line is to die for (pun intended)! Loved it! Then it rolls right into a great action sequence.The pace stays fast. Chadda's characterization, description and plot development is very good. I enjoyed the history/folklore of the Knights Templar. There was enough to be interesting and move the story along without bogging it down. I thought the endless description of their vast array of weapons got a bit tedious but that's a minor point.

The mood is dark and stays that way throughout. There isn't any humor which I usually like but this wasn't that kind of story so it would have been out of place.

The love story was good but mild (appropriate since they were only 15), and certainly secondary to the action and the themes of family, responsibility, self-sacrifice for the greater good and saving the world.

The jacket pushes the love triangle concept which, after reading the book, appeared to be a ploy to entice readers. I don't want to give anything away but the love triangle never developed, which annoyed me simply because of the fact that it was pushed as a spicy plot factor.

At times I found Billi annoying, immature and whiny but the protagonist isn't supposed to perfect and it is about her developing and finding her path in life. The story dragged a bit about 1/2 or 3/4 of the way through but then picked up again. I found some things predictable early on but I'm not sure a younger teen would.

But minor complaints because overall, I thought this book was a good read. Again, it's dark (the term 'gritty' comes to mind), so while the ending does have resolution and satisfaction in some areas, I wouldn't call it a happy one.

I did like the cover!

I really like this book. I find that YA Fantasy is much more innovative than adult paranormal stuff, and this book had me engrossed from start to finish.

Bilqis is a half Pakistani/half British girl who happens to be the daughter of the Master of the last remaining Knights Templar. The Templar Knights have survived in hiding after the October 13th massacre by the Inquisition. Their mandate is to protect all of humanity from Vampires (Ghuls), Weres, and the Grigori (fallen Angels). Her Dad is ruthless in training 15 year old Bili and she thinks he does not love her. Her Mom was killed by an evil Angel. This is her story of growing up, re-engaging her relationship with her Father, and coming into her own as a Templar.

I loved the mix of genres and lengends. I like that she was half Muslim and that the Templars are engaged by God to protect all humanity regardless of religion. One of the characters is an Oracle and goes to Jerusalem to train with a Rabbi, Imam and Priest. I think it sends a nice message of tolerance. There is some violence, but no overt sexuality. A critical characters dies, and I give credit to the author for taking a risk with this.

Overall an enjoyable and at times gritty, Girl Power book, that I think many Middle School and above young girls will enjoy. Also great cover!

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up Devil's Kiss. I'd heard widely varied reviews, but I was intrigued nonetheless. I've always loved fantastical stories that are rooted in truth and I was even more intrigued by the fact that the main character was female.

Devil's Kiss pulled me in right from the beginning. While I had a pretty good idea of who the villain would be, it wasn't definite, the story could have progressed in a couple different ways. I liked that it wasn't completely obvious.

I really enjoyed Billi as a protagonist. I could understand how she felt pulled towards being a participant in this epic battle between good and evil and, at the same time, her deep resentment toward the life she had been raised to lead. I felt that her relationship with her father was written particularly well. As the reasons behind her father's actions and demeanor were further explored, I really grew to like him - which I didn't think would happen when first intruduced to his character.

Devil's Kiss moved at a quick pace and I was interested throughout. I felt like, at some points, the plot could have slowed down a bit and Chadda could have added a bit more detail. Especially when it came to historical information about the Knights Templar and monsters they battle.

Always a romantic, I loved the relationship between Billi and Kay. I'm a fan of plot lines where friends turn to into more and I felt that Chadda wrote that aspect of the novel well.

My one complaint was the ending of the novel. I can't say more than that it left me disappointed without spoilers. I could see the ending like that of Devil's Kiss as necessary in some novels, but I didn't feel that it was for this particular novel. I kept hoping for some type of loop hole, but none appeared. I'm hopeful that the next book will bring some type of twist to change the ending in some way or another.

I'd definnitely recommend Devil's Kiss. I feel that it would appeal to readers who liked Rampant, as I felt that Devil's Kiss had a similar tone and feel. I can't wait to see what happens next to Billi... and I'm hoping for that twist!

Billi has spent her young life in the unusual role of the only female member of the Knights Templar. Yes, THAT Knights Templar. The group is alive and well, though smaller and largely unknown by modern society. Billi's father leads the rag tag group as they vanquish evil in the form of werewolves, ghouls, vampires, and fallen angels. While Billi has learned to fight like a Templar, she spends her time chafing against the group's rules and wishing for a normal life. When she meets an attractive man named Mike, she quickly falls for him and the freedom from the Templars she thinks he offers. Mike is not what he seems, however, and Billi soon realizes she's in way over hear head.

This book had great potential, but it never fully realized that potential. The author (and readers) would have benefited from a little more practice and more time spent on both the drawing and editing boards. The good? The overall story is a good idea. The storyline worked and nicely integrated biblical events and people in a way that wasn't forced or out of place. The descriptions of the bad guys were also deliciously creepy. The bad? Everything else.

The development of the characters was probably the worst part about the book. Billi is a weak character with few redeeming qualities. She is not easy to like, as she has a huge chip on her shoulder that doesn't go away. Sure, she has her reasons, but it's still annoying to read. She's also very weak, both physically and mentally. The book jacket makes it seem like she's the next Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but she lacks Buffy's charm and strength. Instead, Billi is whiny and weak.

The romantic aspects of the book were also very off base. The descriptions of Billi's father make him seem like the main love interest. He's buff, competent, strong, and handsome. In contrast, the intended love interest is described as sickly pale, scrawny, and weak. Which would you choose? Mike is supposed to be a competing love interest, but his villain status is obvious from the start and he's never swoon-inducing or a temptation. Billi's feelings never seem genuine and instead feel like obligatory reactions rather than true emotions. Relationships never really develop, and no emotion is communicated to the reader.

Finally, while the storyline is good, the supernatural and real world elements are not believably integrated. The Templar-related activities, had this been the real world, would have sparked stronger reactions than a few raised eyebrows. As it is, all of the "real world" people move around like oblivious zombies while Billi and her Templars and ghouls wreak havoc across the city. Which brings up another oversight...the city? London appears to be the Hellmouth of this world, but there's no explanation given as to why all of these supernatural events converge around London, or, if they don't, then how are the Templars dealing with the supernatural outside of London? This part of the story wasn't realized well enough.

The author has a good idea, but he needs to work more on developing that idea. 2.5 rating for potential.

This book has a very intriguing plot - a girl becomes part of the Knights Templar, which has managed to exist into the present day in secret in London. The Templars are now made up of her father and a few other men, fighting an ongoing fight against dark beings, which include wheres, vampires, and ghuls, all of which pop up with regularity in the area around London for some reason. Her father is emotionally distant and their relationship is similar to that of Maya and her father in John Twelve Hawks's Traveler series. Her initiation takes the form of exorcising a demon in the form of a 6-year-old boy.

The book runs into problems early on, as strange events occur almost too easily or randomly, so that their full weight is not felt by the reader. Kay, the young psychic oracle of the Templars (whom Billi somewhat sarcastically refers to as the "Golden Child", as he gets so much more praise heaped on him than she does) rather casually and irresponsibly plays with an ancient artifact, accidentally unleashing something very dangerous - something so dangerous, in fact, that it seems unlikely that a random bunch of Londoners could deal with it. No one seems willing to point out how all the dramatic troubles the Templars face in this book seem to be best described as really avoidable.

It takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to enter this version of the world, and it didn't seem as convincing as it could be. I feel worlds of this type, which combine real world with supernatural monsters, were already done better in Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series and Chris Wooding's Haunting Of Alaizabel Cray. However, the characters were interesting and so were some of the plot twists - it held my attention, so it wasn't a complete waste of time.

The ideas in this book were really intriguing. Though the characters and lore in the book are very outside of what we think of as possible or correct in the realm of history or religious dogma, as a reader I was willing to forgo my disagreement. I guess my biggest complaint is that the heroine is suppose to be a templar, a fearsome fighter. Even the quote on the back cover of the book suggests "There is nothing to fear but fear itself... and Billy Sangreal" In the story Billy is a wimp, and none of the supernatural characters fear her. In one of the first scenes where Billy fights, she cannot defeat two regular human boys who assault her on the subway. In later fights she isn't much more of a force. As a female reader, I was hoping Billy would be a kick butt girl, but sadly throughout the book she has to be saved by everyone else. In the end when push comes to shove and she must fight Michael, she wins by a technicality not due to her abilities as a Templar. I was disappointed with the book. It had so much potential.

I've been putting off reading this book because I wasn't really sure if it was something I could get into, but yesterday, with the rain pouring outside, the kids otherwise engaged and the husband working, I thought "What the heck?" ...

Well, I was pleasantly surprised! From the very first page this book is rife with non-stop action. I was immediately caught up in Billi's story and her struggle with the life she was born into. She desperately wants to be a normal teen...enter Michael, he seems to appear just when she needed him, he's perfect. Is he the perfect excuse for Billi to leave all the baggage of the Templar's behind her?

Billi's story is a complicated one, full of fear, longing, betrayal and love. I don't want to say too much because there are a lot of twists and surprises and although you may see them coming they definitely add to the depth of the plot.

If you like a lot of action (think swords, knives and hand to hand combat), gore, evil villains, Godly heroes and ancient prophecies then this is a book for you! Best for 8th grade and up.

I am not even sure where to begin this review. As you can see, from the very low rating, I did not enjoy this book. In fact it was actually quite a frustrating book to read.

The thing that most aggravated me about Devil's Kiss was that the villain was annoying. And by annoying I do not mean annoyingly evil, but annoying as in a "can't someone kill this idiot already?" kind of way. First, it was obvious from the beginning that he was a villain. Secondly, whenever he came into the story again he would always say something that was supposed to be scary, but would come across as totally lame and cheesy. I do not know about you guys, but expect a fallen angel to be scary and not lame. This fallen angel was just annoying and if I ever ran into him I would be more angry than scared.

One other thing that bothered me about Devil's Kiss was how the real world was handled. Billi would show up to school all beat up and aside from some strange looks no one really reacted much. You would think that someone who comes to school bruised and beat up would attract more attention from child welfare people. It just bothered me so much that there were no real world consequences for any of their actions. It was like The Knights Templar was the only thing that mattered in Billi's world, which I sort of get, but I would have liked to see more of a reaction from outsiders.

The last 30 pages or so showed a lot of promise. The pace picked up a bit and there were some plot twists reveled that I did not see coming. I am pretty sure that there will be other books in this series. I would definitely wait to take the sequel out of the library instead of buying it. The ending was enough to keep me wondering what was going to happen in the next, book but not enough for me to spend money on it.

I bought this book as soon as it came out. It has sat on my shelf glaring at me at times, almost screaming "pull me down and read me." Now I know why. Billi is not to be messed with and I should have read her long ago, I read her now for two reasons, first I have an ARC of Dark Goddess that I am dying to read and secondly Sarwat Chadda is coming to a town near me for a book signing. I wish I hadn't shelved it. I would have loved to have had the painful anticipation of waiting for Dark Goddess. It doesn't happen often to me folks but I am a full on fan of Mr. Chadda and I may have to go fangirly or do something silly like have the vapors at the event.

The book starts off in an extremely grim spot. Billi Sangreal is on her way to becoming a Templar like her father always wanted but there is one final step. The Ordeal. Holy Batman of Tests! Hers is a whopper. There is a six year old escapee who is actually a ghul running around, even though he is cute and cuddly his soul is gone, but Billi has a heart so it goes a little something like this:

He's just a little boy...
"No, Billi!" shouted Arthur, but too late. Billi dropped to her knees and embraced Alex. She pulled him close to her heart and-
the chill seeps into her pores, saturation her skin with ice. Like venom, black ichor floods her veins, pumping her with Alexs's despair, envy, and
HATE
that he was snatched from the sunlight by sweaty hands and crushing fingers, in the dirt and fallen leaves, never to feel the
WARMTH
he misses so much and wants more than anything, and so he sucks it from her, leaving only coldness that is brittle and bone-deep, the air out of her lungs white frost, and her
FLESH
blisters, and tears freeze on her cheeks, and she stares into Alex's eyes, black and malice-filled, remembering only the
AGONY
that he cannot forget, and it eats him, an abysmal virus that he can't contain, so she must
SUFFER
like he did, and the cold burns her heart as he infests her with his darkness burrowing deeper and-

So even though he is only six you can see what type of beast the Templar's are up against and why they are still in business. There is a lot of mythology surrounding the Templar in this book but it isn't the same hum-drum stuff. I went through a phase where I tried to read that hence me buying this book. I DNF'd a lot. I was like "Oh yeah Templar's woohoo" but when I got it home it was all conspiracy theory, shadow government stuff. What Chadda did that was so very interesting is use an almost shadow world full of ghuls and rogue agents of God who the Templar's protect. Billi's mother was lost in an earlier battle, that you learn more about in the ending of the book.

I do have to say that if you find Billi a bit whiny in the beginning stick with her, she grows on your by the end. Try to place yourself in her situation, ratty apartment, despondent dad, best friend shows up after being gone a year. She doesn't even really want to be a Templar. I think Billi evolves through-out this book and I truly enjoyed seeing this evolution of character. Sarwat Chadda is an amazing author, I loved the bits of story like the one I excerpted for you above where you see the really dark stuff, and I laughed out loud a lot too. I will say he writes like a British drama so don't get overly attached to any of the characters.

It was also oh so refreshing to read a book where the main character wasn't white! Billi is half Pakistani and I loved the description of her so much. You could just see her kicking some ghul ass with a sword.

If you haven't read this book you should pick it up. Dark Goddess book two in the Billi Sangreal Series is out now!

Devil's Kiss is an engaging, action packed read that I couldn't put down. Sarwat delivers a story that is rich in history with his Knights Templar, has a strong, realistic heroine in Billi, a lot of action surrounded by a good vs evil war, magic and fabulous supporting characters.

Billi is a main character I was really drawn to. She's young, and has a lot on her shoulders. Being the daughter of Arthur, the leader/master of the Knights Templar, she is raised with tough love and trained to kill. While my heart broke for her at times, as she feels she'll never measure up and be good enough for her dad, I came to understand why her father is raising her the way he is. The Knight Templar need to be thick skinned and skilled killers in order to protect those from an unseen frightening force. I liked that Billi's feelings towards her father are addressed later in the book when more of the plot is revealed. Her feelings shape the type of person she is and some of the choices she makes. This is what makes her most relatable.

Billi's grown up around men, whom are all Knights, and her closet friend Kay, whom has just come back from being gone a year for training. I like Kay and I enjoyed watching their relationship grow. They both have feelings for each other, but both fight how they feel, as feelings for one another would hinder their course of action in a fight. They both changed over the course of Kay's absence, and continue to change through out the course Devil's Kiss. No matter how much Billi tries to deny she needs him, Kay is always there for her when she needs him most, even in battle.

Devil's Kiss has a very enticing plot that is filled with constant action in it's endless battle of good vs evil. What I liked most about the action, is that Sarwat is consistent with this battles. They're engaging, capture your attention and allowed me to get to know the characters a little more during and after each battle. I came to understand motives with some of the characters, other shocked me and some I ended up liking by the end of the book. I came to admire Billi most of all, as through out the course of the story, she becomes a more empowering character. Her journey is filled with suspense and a lot of danger, and heartache, but when she comes face to face with fear itself she doesn't back down.

Devil's Kiss has a rich history with the Knights Templar and their continuous war with Michael, the Angel of Death. The twists and turns that are thrown into the story lead up to the story's last, heroic, heart breaking fight. Don't get me wrong, the story ended where it should have, but as a reader who was totally drawn into the story itself, I wanted it to keep going. Devil's Kiss is a story readers will really enjoy, as it's rich in history and ancient battles, while providing the right amount of character chemistry that kept me glued to it's pages.