Thursday, January 13, 2011

Review
The Demon Trapper's Daughter by Jana Oliver

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Seventeen-year-old Riley, the only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps.  The good news is, with human society seriously disrupted by economic upheaval and Lucifer increasing the number of demons in all major cities, Atlanta’s local Trappers’ Guild needs all the help they can get – even from a girl. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing crush on fellow apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving distressed citizens from foul-mouthed little devils – Grade One Hellspawn only, of course, per the strict rules of the Guild. Life’s about as normal as can be for the average demon-trapping teen.

But then a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood.  And, as if that wasn’t bad enough, sudden tragedy strikes the Trappers’ Guild, spinning Riley down a more dangerous path than she ever could have imagined. As her whole world crashes down around her, who can Riley trust with her heart – and her life?


In Jana Oliver’s debut into the YA genre, The Demon Trapper’s Daughter introduces a world in trouble. Cities are being over run with demons and the local Trapper’s Guilds have their hands full especially now that the demons appear to be working together something here to for has never happened. Oliver combines both the paranormal with a setting that is part dystopian and introduces us to the hierarchy of both the Trapper Guild and demons. It is within this world that we meet 17 year-old Riley, who finds herself fighting to be accepted by the male dominated Guild. Thankfully, master Demon Trapper, Paul Blackthorne, Riley’s father, is teaching her the ropes until a demon trapping goes horribly awry, and he is killed.  Now Riley is alone and fighting not only demons, but the guild members too.

Riley is an outstanding character and one I immediately embraced. A typical teenager she is trying hard to finish school so she can follow in her dad’s footsteps as a demon trapper. She is strongly focused on her goals, but still has insecurities that only make her more endearing. She would like nothing more than to spend time with her father, but with the city being over run by demons, a stack of bills left by her mother’s hospitalization and death, Riley often has to take a back seat to her father’s job, and does so without turning into a whiny complaining teen. She is also trying to get over a crush she had on Beck, her father’s demon trapping partner. Part of her still likes Beck and the other part sees him as a jerk. I thoroughly enjoyed the back and forth love hate relationship. With a life that is less than ideal, Riley takes things in stride and never really loses sight of what is important. Even after her father is killed and her already fragile world is shattering around her, she still manages to work through her pain and continues to be brave.

I also really enjoyed Oliver’s secondary characters many of who are potential love interests.  Beck was a tough guy who loved and respected Riley’s father. Beck has a hard time coming to terms with his feeling for Riley. He feels a certain amount of protectiveness because of his relationship with Riley’s father, but he also is seeing Riley as the young woman she is close to becoming. I liked Beck’s smart ass attitude and how Oliver allowed us to see past his bravado and into his emotional caring side. I also like Simon, a demon trapper apprentice, who definitely has feelings for Riley and goes out of his way to help her especially with his mentor, Harper, who takes over Riley’s training after her father dies. Harper is the most senior trapper in Atlanta, and is less than happy to have a female demon trapper in their guild and does not fail to make that very clear every chance he gets. Finally, there is Peter, Rilely’s school-mate and long time BFF, who is often her sounding board when she has no one else to turn to. Peter definitely wants to be more than the BFF.

The Demon Trapper’s Daughter plot is complex and deals with several mysteries. I loved how Oliver carefully built the world of the trappers and demons, and I am quite anxious to find answers to several questions brought up in the book. There is quite a lot of action, and the climax is incredible. While the ending isn’t a total cliff hanger, it does leave the reader with a strong desire to read more. I have high expectations for the next book in this series, and based on Oliver’s writing thus far, I doubt I will be disappointed.


 Source: Received ARC copy from publisher

15 comments:

Mardel said...

sounds good. I think I want to read it now. :)

Irena @ This Miss Loves to Read said...

Great review! The novel sounds very refreshing. Scary too, in a good way.

Sara said...

great review! This book sounds awesome! Definitely on my wishlist!

Unknown said...

Thanks for a great review. This sounds like an interesting read, definitely want to get it.

Unknown said...

I'm really excited about this book and i can't wait for it to arrive!
Great review :)

Nina said...

Sounds so unique! I really want to give this book a try. Love the cover too. Great review.

Jenny said...

Really nice review Jan! I just finished this one and had a bit of trouble with Riley, but I adored Beck. I'm a sucker for the damaged ones though, so he was more appealing to me than perfect Simon:) I thought the ending was fabulous and I'm looking forward to the next book too!

Melissa (i swim for oceans) said...

This sounds so appealing and entertaining, and it doesn't hurt that the cover is great, too! Great review, Jan! :)

Julie said...

I'm happy to heart it has great characters and the story features several mysteries with an incredible climax! Great review! I can't wait till it comes out!

Lisa_Gibson said...

I'm going to go add this one to my list now. Thanks for the great review. :)
Lisa ~ YA Literature Lover

Leanna Elle said...

I've seen this one around quite a bit lately - it sounds like a good read!

Kelly aka yllektra(I Work For Books) said...

I have already ordered this book and I should be getting it any day now. BD sent it to me on December 30th or something!!
*grabby hands*
I am glad you enjoyed it so much! am sure I will too!

Staci said...

Sounds like a great start to a promising series!!

Darlyn said...

Debut author's book are hardly to get here. Sigh.But will wait when it is here. Nice review!

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