Reaver (Demonica, #6)

by Larissa Ione

[Melanie]

Listening to audiobook

5 stars for story
2 stars for narration
4 stars overall

There will be no spoilers for this book, but will contain spoilers from previous books in the series.

This book is the much anticipated story for Reaver, the mysterious fallen angel physician from the Demonica series. We finally get to hear his story that has been surrounded by mystery since the beginning. He was a fallen angel, but he didn’t know why because the archangels had wiped his and everyone else’s memories. He risked himself to save the world, so he was reinstated as a full angel. They also made him the Four Horsemen’s Heavenly watcher. While as the Heavenly watcher, he spends time in the tender care of Harvester, the Horsemen’s Sheoulic watcher, daughter of Satan. Reaver learns that he is the father of the Horsemen. This is not the last revelation that he has to come to terms with. The archangels like to play games with memories and they have done a doozy on both Reaver’s and Harvester’s memories.

I can’t say much without giving away spoilers, so let’s just say that if you like this series, you will LOVE Reaver. If you haven’t tried this series, I highly recommend it. It starts with Demonica series, which starts with a demon-slayer who ends up in a demonic hospital run by incubi brothers. There are five books about Seminus (a type of incubi) siblings. Then there is kind of a spin off into the Lords of Deliverance series, which is set in the same world, but it revolves around the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. There is some character overlap between the two series. The character overlap is much stronger in this book than in any of the past books. Reaver is in both series, originally as a physician in the demon hospital, UGH or Underworld General Hospital, and then as the Horsemen’s Heavenly watcher.

At the beginning of this story, Harvester is trapped in Sheoul with Satan after helping to stop the Apocalypse. Reaver learns that Harvester was once a Heavenly angel who willing gave up her wings and fell to be an undercover agent for good in Hell. She also did it to keep and eye on the Horsemen for Reaver. Heaven has no intention of going to save Harvester because of the war it could start between Heaven and Hell. The archangels tell Reaver to leaver Harvester where she is so, he breaks the rules once again to go after her.

This story is full of plot twists and action. There isn’t as much on the romance as some of the other books in the series, but it is still a great read. The action is wonderful and the suspense will keep you glued to your seat. There is a lot of history of love and hate between Reaver and Harvester over many centuries, and as their memories come back, things get harder instead of easier for them. They have both done things that make you wonder how they could overcome their past and make this relationship work, but you know, as with any PNR story, there will be a happy ever after in the end. It takes a long time and you begin to wonder if it will be possible for them.

It is not often that I would recommend to someone to read instead of listening to a book. I’ve gotten to the point that if there is an audiobook version, I’m going to listen. That is not the case here. I think this narration is pretty bad. I almost stopped listening and downloaded the ebook to read. The only reason I didn’t is that I can listen at work and I would never have had time to finish with holidays. I have family in town and so I’ve had no time to read at all.

I didn’t think the men sounded very good, especially Eidolon. I wasn’t always sure which character was speaking and even backed up the track a few times to see who was talking because I couldn’t remember or couldn’t tell. I will say that she did an okay job with Harvester and Reaver’s voices, so the story isn’t all bad. It is just that the secondary characters just weren’t there.

If you are someone who only listens to books, this book is so good, that I would still recommend listening because the story is phenomenal and you don’t want to miss it. I don’t want to turn anyone away from the story, but I would read if you are willing and/or able to do so.

Originally posted at Hotlistens.com