*breathes*
So. The Demon King. I fucking loved it. There are so many things about this book that I adored, and it’s really difficult to break it down into bits for you and I don’t think I can remain calm. You have been warned.
FIRST THINGS FIRST: Princess Raisa. She is a motherfucking QUEEN. Firstly, she is courageous and thoughtful and awe-inspiring, and she’s also a feminist and she really wants what’s best for her people. I can’t wait until she becomes queen as she undoubtedly will later on in the series because she deserves this. So much. Secondly, she’s also really confident, but not overly so. She knows that she is desired and that anyone should be honoured to marry her, and she also knows that she’s pretty awesome. I love how much she cared about the people of her Realms, and I can’t wait until she gets to make some changes. She makes a couple of changes in this book, but she’s about to set the world on fire I KNOW IT.
From Raisa, we get gems like this:
“I’m the blooded princess heir of the Fells. Any prince or noble in the entire Seven Realms should be thrilled to marry me. No questions asked.”
If a lady should do this, Raisa wondered, should a man do the same? Is he required to?
The other main character is Han Alister, also known as Cuffs, also known as Hunts Alone. He’s an ex-streetlord of the Raggers and he’s also been adopted by the clans. He’s not my favourite (BECAUSE RAISA) but I did love his chapters, which is a good thing because The Demon King is evenly split between his and Raisa’s (plus a couple of random POVs scattered throughout) points of view. I ADORED Han’s random acts of badassery, such as:
“This place could burn down, you know. Maybe even with you inside. That’d be a shame.”
Because that is the most me line to ever me.
The characters in The Demon King did feel a little young. Understandable, since they start out at fifteen years old. I’m REALLY looking forward to seeing Han and Raisa grow as people and stuff and spoilers.
I’ve seen a couple of reviews that say that The Demon King is slow in the beginning, but I’m going to have to disagree with you all there *viciously shakes head* because I got sucked in pretty much right away, and if you’re an avid fantasy fan I think you’ll feel the same way. The Demon King is the perfect starter to a new series, and it does a wonderful job of introducing the world and the characters and the mythology and everything without being info-dumpy or pushy.
I’m now marathoning this series as we speak (or as you read, rather) because I can’t get enough of it. PRINCESS RAISA 5EVA.