Amanda Shofner

Original review: http://onabookbender.com/2011/12/05/review-where-demons-fear-to-tread-by-stephanie-chong/Where to start? I felt very disconnected from both Julian and Serena. I didn’t understand Julian. He was supposed to be a big bad demon, but he felt far too human. In fact, except for the last few pages, this entire novel could have been written without angels and demons and focused on another good versus evil duo, such as the law and criminals. I am not sure that it added much to the story, except at the very end, at which I was just ready to finish the book.The narration felt distant, and there seemed to be a heavy reliance on telling rather than showing. With writing, adjectives are not necessarily your friends. I came across noun phrases like: “glorious penis,” “penetrating beauty,” and “impressive manhood.” They are all great adjectives, but it threw me off in my reading. What is penetrating beauty? I’m not really sure. Because penetrating beauty does not tell me much, other than turn on the dirty side of my brain and make me giggle. The word choice detracted from the story rather than added to it.I might have rated Where Demons Fear to Tread higher if a particular sex scene hadn’t derailed my enjoyment. It was a turning point for me, and not necessarily a good one. I don’t like the use of the word cock in books, because it tends to be a vulgar word. So unless there is a situation that calls for vulgarity, I don’t want to see it. And I especially don’t want to see the word cock used 10 times within a span of five pages. Since I have an ARC, I thought perhaps this was an aspect that might have been changed after the official release date, but after asking someone who had a finished copy, it seems unlikely.I really wanted to like Where Demons Fear to Tread but in the end, I just didn’t.