The Demon Trapper's Daughter (Demon Trappers, NO. 1 OF 4)

by Jana Oliver

[Amanda]

Actual rating: 3.5

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2011/12/07/review-demon-trappers-daughter-by-jana-oliver/

With the economy the way it is currently, the Atlanta of 2018 is not really that difficult to believe (minus the paranormal aspect, of course). I enjoyed the world Jana Oliver created, with demons, demon trappers (and hunters), witches, and who knows what else. Riley may know a little about how to be a demon trapper, but she clearly has a lot left to learn, and we learn along side of her — at least what we get to learn in this book. There is still a lot left up in the air, especially with the way Demon Trapper’s Daughter ended. I would like to see a lot more demon trapping and what that all entails. Demon Trapper’s Daughter also felt pretty upper-YA to me. Even though Riley is 17, she interacts with a lot of adults.

On a character front, I liked Riley. She is already pretty grown up considering her circumstances, but she tries to take on more than she can handle, making it seem like she has big shoes to adjust to. And I wasn’t overly fond of her boy choices. Because yes, as everyone knows, I am not a fan of love triangles, and it definitely felt like there was one here. It’s all about Beck, even though the way he speaks is so incredibly annoying. I am sure that the “ya” and “yer” used when Beck was speaking was a way to drive home the “Backwoods Boy” idea, but it grated on my nerves. If I wasn’t cheering for a Riley/Beck pairing (because really, it’s the only choice), I’d probably smack him. No one else spoke in such a manner, so it was a trifle confusing and out of place. There were more boys, but, eh. I’ll leave that up to you to figure out.

The ending leaves a lot of the plot left hanging in the air. It’s not the kind of cliffhanger that barrels into you like a freight train, but is instead the kind of cliffhanger that teases mercilessly of what has been left without closure. It didn’t leave me cursing, but I was not a fan either. There were also a few spots where we got the “thoughts” of the characters — direct thoughts, not “Riley thought…” — which I felt was out of place only because everything was narrated in third person. Overall, I did enjoy Demon Trapper’s Daughter and the demon trapper world, though there were a few minor flaws.