Title: Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped (The Guild Codex: Demonized #3)
Author: Annette Marie
Publisher: Dark Owl Fantasy
Release Date: April 3rd, 2020
Standalone/Series: Series
Genre: New Adult – Urban Fantasy
My rating in stars: 5 stars
My rating in words: NEW ALL-TIME FAVORITE
WHAT IT’S ABOUT:
I thought I understood power.
My parents taught me that magic attracts equal danger, and everything I’ve seen since becoming a demon contractor confirms it. I’ve witnessed how power twists and corrupts–and I’ve tasted power no human should wield.
I thought I knew greed.
Ambition and avarice drove my family into hiding. My parents died for someone else’s greed. I’ve never hunted anything in my life, but now I’m hunting their killer–with my demon’s help.
I thought I’d seen evil.
But with each step closer to my parents’ murderer, I’m uncovering a different sort of evil, piece by hidden piece. I’ve stumbled into an insidious web that silently, secretly ensnares everything it touches. My demon and I came as the hunters…
…but I think we might be the prey.
—
Author’s Note: The Guild Codex includes two series, Demonized and Spellbound, which can be read and enjoyed all on their own; however, this book contains spoilers for Demon Magic and a Martini (Spellbound #4). If you were thinking about giving Spellbound a try, I recommend reading it first.
—
THE GUILD CODEX
Demonized Series:
Taming Demons for Beginners (#1)
Slaying Monsters for the Feeble (#2)
Hunting Fiends for the Ill-Equipped (#3)
Delivering Evil for Experts (#4)
Spellbound Series:
Three Mages and a Margarita (#1)
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri (#2)
Two Witches and a Whiskey (#3)
Demon Magic and a Martini (#4)
The Alchemist and an Amaretto (#5)
Druid Vices and a Vodka (#6)
MY THOUGHTS (contains minor spoilers):
Note: I received an Advanced Reading Copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Where do I even begin to review this third book in the Guild Codex: Demonized series? I have loved and raved about every single book so far. This book? I don’t even know how to describe my feelings other than bombard you with all the hearteyes emojis and gifs.
(Sticking to two to keep this post short, but know that I feel like ALL THE GIFS are needed to explain the depth of my awe.)
I LOVED IT! This installment was everything I ever wanted. Can I rate it higher than 5 stars? I read it almost in one sitting and I’m aching to read it all again. This book DELIVERED on everything I could have wanted and everything I didn’t even know I wanted yet:
The bond between Robin and Zylas.
These two have slowly been learning to trust each other and work together throughout the past few books. Their bond has been growing at a perfect speed and I have LOVED watching it all unfold and seeing them become a solid power team. They just work so well together. And I feel like their growing connection has been beautifully illustrated in the covers so far as well! The banter, the slowly building trust on both sides… It is sublime, it is exquisite, it is perfect! Basically, be ready for ALL THE FEELS!
More Zylas backstory.
When we first heard about the Demonized series, I was hoping so badly that the demon character would become one of my all-time favorite characters. I know I’ve mostly been raving about Robin and how much I love and relate to her, but really Zylas has also been such an amazing character. I love his snark, his playfulness, his hidden depths. We’ve all been wanting to find out more about our favorite demon Zylas, and though he’s been pretty reserved about it so far, this time we learn so much about him and his backstory. Hit me right in the feels.
Everything starting to tie together.
I feel like this book is really showcasing Annette’s ability for intricate storytelling. All the clues, all the questions, all the foreshadowing, all the puzzle pieces have been laid out and it’s all starting to come together PERFECTLY! We’re getting answers to so many of our questions (don’t worry, with still enough left for the Demonized grand finale). And the best part? That it’s the whole Guild Codex world so far that’s coming together, not just the Demonized series. Though we had some overlap between the Demonized and Spellbound series so far, and they can be read as separate series (though as of this book there are spoilers for Spellbound book 4 so beware), in this book the stories are REALLY starting to come together and both storylines are really heating up and I LOVE IT. It’s so interesting to see events play out both in Tori’s eyes and in Robin’s eyes and be able to compare how the two react to things differently because of their own unique background. Also, a major Spellbound character was featured heavily in this Demonized installment and OMG, I wasn’t ready for those feels on top of everything else.
Action AND feelings, the perfect match.
Another thing I always admire in any Annette Marie book, is how extremely well balanced the action and emotional scenes are. This book again is just a rollercoaster ride from start to finish, with so much action going on and yet, all the action and intense fight scenes are balanced in the best possible way with the most beautiful and soft character moments. You guessed it, they brought the feels!
Basically, though this installment is perfect in many ways, from the worldbuilding to the pacing to the action to the character development, my frazzled mind is mainly just swooning over ALL THE FEEEEEEEEEEELS! Seriously, I just can’t put into (eloquent) words how much joy this book and this series and this world has brought me. I’m so beyond grateful that Annette created this gorgeous world and its characters and is sharing it with all of us.
Author bio:
Annette Marie is the author of Amazon best-selling YA urban fantasy series Steel & Stone, its prequel trilogy Spell Weaver, and romantic fantasy trilogy Red Winter. Her first love is fantasy, but fast-paced adventures and tantalizing forbidden romances are her guilty pleasures. She lives in the frozen winter wasteland of Alberta, Canada (okay, it’s not quite that bad) with her husband and their furry minion of darkness—sorry, cat—Caesar. When not writing, she can be found elbow-deep in one art project or another while blissfully ignoring all adult responsibilities.
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Tell Me:
Does the Guild Codex series: Demonized sound like your cup of tea?
Have you already read any Annette Marie books? If so, please feel free to rave and fangirl with me!
I’m not at all surprised that you loved this book! 😀
Hahaha, I have no idea how you could have ever predicted that 😉 😀