After Reading

By: Meradeth Houston on 5:47 AM

The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Reese Brennan

Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent their lives on the run from magic. Their father was murdered, and their mother was driven mad by magicians and the demons who give them power. The magicians are hunting the Ryves family for a charm that Nick's mother stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -- and they want it badly enough to kill again.

Danger draws even closer when a brother and sister come to the Ryves family for help. The boy wears a demon's mark, a sign of death that almost nothing can erase...and when Alan also gets marked by a demon, Nick is desperate to save him. The only way to do that is to kill one of the magicians they have been hiding from for so long.

Ensnared in a deadly game of cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect that his brother is telling him lie after lie about their past. As the magicians' Circle closes in on their family, Nick uncovers the secret that could destroy them all.

This was an interesting book, filled with a fun world, that certainly kept the pages turning. Unfortunately, I figured out the twist at the end about halfway through, which made the last half a bit of a slog, but that's okay. I should know better than to think about that kind of thing too much :) My main quibble with this book was that the MC was extremely hard to identify with--with jut cause--and that made it a difficult book to read. I almost wish that Alan, Nick's brother, had been the narrator, which would have been much more interesting, imho. Anyhow, there's a sequel to Lexicon, which I'll see about checking out. I did particularly like the side characters here, so it might be interesting. Not my favorite book, over all, but well written, and would be something I'd recommend to male readers more.