Monday, September 3, 2012

Review: The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer

Publisher: EgmontUSA
Pages: 288
Received: Received from publisher from NetGalley

Release Date: August 28, 2012
Buy From Amazon.ca / Buy From Chapters.ca

Goodreads Synopsis:

Mia's ordinary life is disrupted in the most horrifying way possible when she is possessed by a hungry and powerful demon--and only saved by the arrival of relatives from Italy, the country her grandfather fled many decades ago. Now her cousins Emilio and Giuliano say the only way to keep her safe is for her to come back with them to Milan, to live, to learn Italian, to fall in and out of love, and to master the family trade: fighting all demons with the lore of bell, book, and candle. Milan is not what Mia expected, but it will change her forever, in this stunningly well-written novel about an American girl who, fleeing an ancient evil, finds her only salvation in her ancestral home.

My Review:

To be honest I was not completely sure about this book when I started it, I had read very few reviews on it and the title kind of threw me a little. The cover doesn't really draw me in all that much and I find it doesn't really do much for the story itself. I was really surprised when I finished it, I found that I really enjoyed this story.

Readers are right away taken into Mia's life and quickly thereafter you see her being possessed by a demon, you are quickly thrown into the history of her family who fight demon possessions almost every day. This book really interested me because of the idea of possessions and Beyer does a great job of writing out those possessions and describing the different events when they happen. I definitely felt creeped out at times while reading this.

I really loved the history that is placed throughout the book, Beyer did a great job with her research on Italian history and I liked that she got the Italian correct as well (so many different dialects). I felt like I was able to learn a lot throughout the story of some background of Milan, I know some of it is a stretch but it still made the story itself interesting.

The characters were interesting, in all honesty I wasn't as interested in Mia as I was with the rest of her family. Emilio was by far my favorite character throughout because there was so much to him. By the end of the story I had warmed up to Mia's character a lot more and really love how she grew and began to understand things more by the end. Beyer definitely has the idea of an Italian family down to a tee, everyone gets together all the time including second cousins and cousins of your grandfather and what not (I know this one from experience) and I love how they are always welcome.

The one thing that disappoints me is that I hear this book is a standalone, but there is still so much that is left open and unresolved. I am really hoping that those rumors are wrong because I want and need more of Mia's story. Overall this was an interesting book, but if it's a standalone has a very disappointing ending for readers. 

3 comments:

  1. This is the first review I've read of Demon Catchers. I didn't know it was so good - going on my wishlist now!

    Do you speak Italian by the way? You mentioned that the author got the Italian correct. Just curious =)

    ReplyDelete
  2. @anaavu I do speak a little Italian, my dad was from Italy and he taught me a bit

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree with you that the packaging of this one is a little different - definitely doesn't do much to pull me in.

    Also, bummer about the disappointing ending! Hopefully she'll turn it into a series :)

    ReplyDelete

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