| Title | : | A Demon Bound (Imp, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 291 |
| Publication | : | First published July 17, 2012 |
But when her naughty hellhound lands her in trouble with the local werewolf pack, Sam is blackmailed into helping track and catch a killer. The steps she must take to appease the werewolves will put her right in the crosshairs of the angels. And with angels, there is no second chance.
A Demon Bound (Imp, #1) Reviews
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“I could hardly tell him I was obsessed with him and that he better get used to me stalking him like a creeper in a white van.”
4.5 Star
A very funny, unique Urban Fantasy opening - Samantha isn't an imp who pretends to be a good person. She's slipped out of Hel over forty years ago and since then has become a successful slum lord. She keeps her powers under the radar so as not to attract the attention of avenging angels, and she mainly spends her day flirting with her next door neighbor who has slowly become her first and best friend. Things turn complicated when the local werewolf diva blackmails her into exposing herself and helping their cause.
To say this book is funny would be an understatement. While Samantha isn't a "good" character, she's not actually an evil one either, especially compared to the other paranormal creatures walking around. The humor lies in her not understanding what humans are talking about half the time, trying to figure out relationships, and warring with a particularly vengeful angel who is strangely drawn to her. We do get to see some of her powers pop up, but not in traditional ways. All fun times. While it's light and quirky, there's the inevitable dark stuff that goes with this sort of world-building and magic.
The Hel and Angels in this book aren't from the legendary or Christian mythos. They aren't ascending from Heaven or Hell so it's all based on the authors' imagination crafted for this series in particular.
Samantha loves annoying people and getting under the skin, which makes some of the best parts of the series. I absoluately heart Wyatt - he may not have the angel power thing going on, but he's awesomely loyal, sounds yummy mowing the lawn even to me from book page description, and totally stays in Samantha's corner the whole way. I'm not as into the angel Gregory, although scenes with him turned out fun sometimes too - a love triangle seems in the picture, possibly, but hopefully the author quashes that. Time will tell but I see some confusion in the next sequel at least. I'm team Wyatt but have a feeling....
Hard to put down, fun and 'different', I recommend this to Urban Fantasy fans on the hunt for something new. I'm delighted to see this series has tons of books under its name too, so I'll be digging into the second right away. -
I read this last year when I was trying to find a replacement for my beloved Kate Daniels series and I forgot to review it.
I enjoyed it enough to want to read the 2nd volume. It was light, funny, sexy and packed enough action. Good to read when I needed a break from something more serious or my sleep deprived brain was not working too well.
Samantha is a demon who is taking a 40 years vacation on earth. She is somewhere in the middle of the pack rank wise in Hell but her power seems to be bigger than it shows on the surface. The humor was almost as good as Kate’s, she gets beaten just as much and has family issues (more in 2nd part from what I understand). What I think is different from other similar genre is that Sam is not a good girl, she does like to prank humans, she does have multiple partners and her moral compass is somewhat deranged. However she seems to care about humans after so much time spent with them and gets involved in their problems when she is not the one causing them. There are also angels who are not too nice either. -
RTC.
➼ Demons are super yummy. And this particular beer-loving, mischief-bent, out-to-jump-her-neighbour imp sounds pretty awesome.
➼ This book is free on Amazon. So who gives a damn if these particular demons aren't super yummy, this particular imp pretty awesome, and this ends up being Glorious DNFing Material (GDM™)? I sure don't. Well that might change when I read the book and find out it has Kill it with Fire Potential (KiwFP™), but until then, demons shall be potentially yummy and crustaceans shall be blissfully happy.
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"She looked me over again. "You look like you're compelled to cause trouble, but I doubt that's the boss' directive.”
Samantha Martin is an imp in Debra Dunbar's A Demon Bound, an imp who pretends to be human. For a demon, though, she is not really evil. She simply wants to live life by her own rules, drink beer by the pool and play pranks on people. However, after being blackmailed to catch a killer, she needs to use all her cunning to succeed and stay alive. Not sure I'll continue the series, but it was a quick and easy read. 2.75 stars -
This book..
I mean, it had great reviews.. a high rating.. but I never expected it to be
I have already purchased the next two books in the series, which i am now going to book binge myself on.
Because.. (to the book)
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You know what i loved about this book? The main character was a demon for fuck's sake! And not the reformed kind either. She was vulgar, mean, nasty, and a liar. Guess what? It worked for her. On top of it all the novel was funny.
This book is a breath of fresh air in the PNR/UF scene. Sure the heroine is kickass but then all of them are, just so far removed from the solid moral codes the rest of them follow.
Being in a mind of a creature that has no moral standards whatsoever, and watching sexual tension grow between her and Wyatt was hilarious.
This was a good read. -
3.5 Well, what do we have here!
I see great potential in this one!
I admit, it takes a while to get used to the MC (the demon chick), she's a bit different than the usual ones. But God, I love her! I need more! Now!
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Buddy read with the lovely
Aisling!
It's one of those books where the ending can somehow change your mind about the book. It is pretty good, yet it can't undo the other things about the book. I won't spoil it for you, but I should say the that the closing id pleasant. That is why my critiques here would be about the first part. When I started reading this book, I thought cool, a demon heroine, that's new! Honestly, I had no idea what to expect so I am not disappointed. It isn't entertaining or enjoyable, the story is as well as the characters are not that good. God the characters... I don't like any of them.
First of all, the werewolves are stupid and naive. For more than 5 years, many of them were being assassinated for no reason by some angel. Not even once they stop to wonder that maybe, just maybe, he may be following some pattern. On the contrary, they continue being discreet about he whole thing. When the opportunity comes, they ask for Sam's help. Then, Tada, Wyatt comes, discovers the pattern and predicts the next victims one minute after being aware of the problem.
Regarding Sam, perhaps many won't share my antagonism toward her. Why on Earth do I hate Her?
First of all, she's annoying
Second, she's really immoral, but at least she's honest about it. Not my type of heroine.
In addition to that, she's not interesting, like at all.
Oh, wait she's a demon, why bother? In other words, she's what a not very bad demon would be. Fine, she's selfish, arrogant and a snob sometimes, but what would a demon be other than these stuff? Still, I have to give her some credits: she cares about Wyatt.
Concerning Wyatt. I don't know what to think about him. At the beginning I liked him, but then... There is something off about him. I mean I don't hate him he clearly has something for Sam, but on the other hand, he takes the whole demon thing with an open heart. OK, he knew her for two years already, there was something weird about her... But that's not how you react when you discover that your neighbour is a devil from hell.
Candy was nice, but she's boring. However Gregory? He's the real deal. I really like him when he wants to kill her.
I don't think I'll read the sequel. I am not that thrilled, neither found it funny, but again, the ending kind of makes up for it. It’s simply not my kind of book, mostly. -
This was so much fun.
Sam is an imp. She’s been living on the down-low as a forty-something human woman, enjoying what she hopes to be a permanent vacation away from Hel.
But when Sam accidentally-on-purpose kills a werewolf, and an angel starts snooping around her neighbourhood, her little human charade is under threat. And she can’t have that. She hasn’t managed to get her hot neighbor in the sack yet. You don’t throw that kind of opportunity away.
A Demon Bound is a witty urban fantasy romp. Sam is hilarious, if sometimes a little too demon (but that’s the point). It’s well written, and after you get past the slow opening, the pace picks up and gallops along nicely.
Things really start to get interesting when Gregory the angel binds Sam to him (oops) in a moment of madness (clearly he has issues). The pair share some really great banter:“Did we not just have this conversation? Let me see. Yes. Yes, it was the same conversation. There was some whining from you, then I threatened to do physical harm to your toy, then you grudgingly complied. Perhaps we can just skip all the middle part and get to the part where you comply? Otherwise, I’m liable to get angry and do all sorts of things I’ll really enjoy now and mildly regret later.”
I hated this angel.'
I’m really interested to see where this series goes. I want more of Gregory and his intriguing past, hinted at in the epilogue. And clearly Sam isn’t just an imp. She’s already told us she lies. I loved the difference between the angels and the demons, and what’s hinted at in regards to their shared origins.
So, in closing. 5 reasons why you should read this:
1, It’s a refreshing alternative to overdone UF tropes
2, Witty, on-point banter
3, Sam really does have her slightly skincrawlingly demon moments but she also dances with lightening and can melt glass into perfect horse sculptures (so cool!)
4, Subtle worldbuilding that doesn’t drag the pace down
5, Angels and demons are always cool
What's not to like?
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★★★★★★ STARS
First of all: gorgeous new cover! I am sure it will attract more new readers.
Even though this book didn't have that many ratings, I was intrigued by the blurb and decided to try it. I am so glad I did. What a fun little story. Fast paced, witty and original.
For once, the demon isn't entirely the "bad gal", and angels aren't always virtuous. Can't wait to read more about Gregory, his bound demon Sam, and her semi-Owned human pet, Wyatt;-) (Gotta love the pecking order, though. From birth, Sam has a possessive streak, she steals energy from her sex partners, marks Wyatt as hers, owns property, and Owns humans and animals in an entirely different way, but can't stand the thought of being angel property herself.)
And the epilogue: intriguing. Espescially the secret concerning the binding spell. I have a theory who this brother is, and perhaps, who Gregory's 'little cockroach' is descended from... But I will just keep on reading and see if my suspicions are correct.
Oh, and after having just finished the Black Dagger Brotherhood series, it was fun to notice that the sentence "she is mine" figured prominently in this book as well. I kinda loved that;-) Yes, Gregory might initially have been drawn to Sam due to her un-demonlike behaviour the first time they face off, but the underlying attraction is fascinating. I can't wait to see Sam chipping away at those old wounds from the past.
All in all, this book is one of those books you will finish in one sitting. The 'oh shit' moments, the humour, the charming protagonist, Sam, her angel adversary, human boyfriend will suck you right in. A great read for those looking to add a little chaos to their lives. -
A Demon Bound (Imp #1) by Debra Dunbar is an awesome book about an imp living here pretending to be a human. She collects rent from those places that no one wants to go to because you could get your head caved in. She collects the money fine. She has to avoid angels, they will execute her on site. So, what happens, angel! It is a kick butt story with suspense, action, humor, weres, demons, a hot neighbor, her hellhound, and lots of twists. Great read!
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2.5 stars
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If I remember to look it up I can get the date I got this book, but, and the point – I somewhat randomly spotted this book, noticed it looked vaguely interesting and, a plus, it was free! Then I took a month or two before I got around to trying it. And I only did because I saw someone make a comment about the book and I suddenly realized that I owned it already so I should try it.
“Samantha Martin is an imp” – is the beginning of the book description. ‘Samantha Martin’ is kind of an odd name for a demon (which is what an imp is, and an imp is kind of a low-ish level demon), eh? But it is her name. Along with a bunch of others that occasionally come up. Names have meaning, see, and Martin has been acting as a human for the past 40 years (more on that later), as someone named ‘Samantha Martin’.
Why that name? What caused her to go with that in the human realm? Simple, the human she encountered and ‘owned’ went by that name. Angels bind, demons own – as gets repeated in the series. Here ‘own’ means that the demon literally ‘absorbs’ the person into themselves. They, the demons, then, in turn can ‘create’ bodies that match those they own – and not all that they ‘own’ are human (there’s one ‘cute’ scene, probably in a later book, wherein Samantha goes ‘jogging’ with a friend – and Samantha is in the ‘body’ of a cute doggie – because at some point she ‘owned’ a dog).
‘More on that later’ – Samantha has been on Earth for about 40 years now. But she’s not 40 herself, nor is this her first ‘vacation’ here on earth. No, see, demons like popping over every once in a while for ‘vacations’ wherein they do as much damage as they can and then flee back to Hel (one l there). For some reason, though, Sam decided to go ‘low level’, live as a human as much as possible, using as little of her power as possible. There’s a reason for that – the low use of power part. For, you see, millions of years ago Demons and Angels fought a war, to a draw. Demons went to Hel, Angels stayed in their realm. They ‘patrol’ earth, though, and kill any demon they spot on Earth while also watching over humans (over their ‘evolution’), and over werewolves (there may or may not be ‘others’ that they ‘strictly’ control, but it seems they only kill on sight demons and only strictly control werewolves – the ‘others’ is in how strict their control is, and how killable others are). There are also vampires, Elves, and others. Oh, and, to leave this paragraph near where I started, Sam herself is 1) a demon; 2) somewhere just short of a 1,000 years old.
On earth Sam works as a something of a slumlord, and lives near a hunky man named Wyatt. They have an ‘interesting’ relationship but they have just flirted so far (at the start of this book here). And, as noted, Sam tries to play down her use of demon power, not her being a demon, just her use of power. As in, she’ll purposely swerve to run over a squirrel, but try to avoid ‘owning’ it (which reveals power, and Angels can detect power usage), or hitting it with lightning (demons have differing powers).
Sam’s ‘vacation’ is interrupted, though, when her rental agent person (I’m not exactly sure of Michelle’s exact title/job function) attempts to introduce her to another person who has some property to unload (Candy). The party, Michelle, Sam, and Candy (along with some of Michelle’s friends) meet at a club. Roughly around the time Sam and Candy meet, in walks danger – in the form of Gregory the angel. Everyone immediately turns and gazes adoringly upon Gregory (Angels, asshole like as they may be, have that effect on people). Except for two – Sam literally crawls out of the place, trying to avoid being seen by the Angel, and by the time she gets outside, she realizes that Candy had followed her. Whereupon Candy ‘looks’ at Sam in a way that allows Sam to know Candy knows what Sam is. For whatever reason, Sam doesn’t know what Candy is, despite having lived a life that would seem destined to learn all prey and predators out there.
This is a long about way to come to – learning what Sam is, Candy takes advantage and basically blackmails Sam into helping her and . . . her . . . group (it’s in the description, but is it a spoiler? ). To help Candy and her group deal with a serial killer who is targeting Candy’s kind.
As I’ve seen here or there, one of the neat things of this book is that Sam is in fact a demon. And is allowed to act like one. She’s not some human who suddenly learns, after living as a human, that she had ‘other’ blood, or anything like that. No, she knows what she is. And what that is is chaos. Demons fluctuate somewhere around ‘chaotic’, and Sam herself fluctuates between chaotic neutral and chaotic evil; and occasionally chaotic good. If I was writing a review for the books I’ve read so far in the series, I’d continue that line of thinking but I’m not, I’m writing this here thingie for this here bookie.
Quite a fun and enjoyable book. Oh, one last thought – demons and angels specifically, though possible others, are . . . changeable. As already noted, Sam ‘owns’ more than just humans – and creates bodies based on those she owns. Well, naturally, some she owns are female . . . and some are male. Flexible, see? And the Angels are that way as well. Though the second part, sex, is more demon centric – demons aren’t exclusively heterosexual (how can they be when they can be anything, anybody in any body). Angels . . . well, that’s tougher and can be explained vaguely – part of the reason for the war was because Angels prefer the spirt form more than the physical form; demons prefer the physical, sinking into it, experiencing it, wallowing in it. That doesn’t mean that Angels do not have sex . . they just have . . . different . . um, ways of doing things. I’m being purposely vague. All I had wished to note, though, is that this isn’t a ‘me man, you woman, we hump’ book – everything’s flexible here. Though Sam’s love interest is male, and Sam’s in a female body at the moment.
Rating: 4.55
July 10 2017 -
3.5 stars.
When I read Charley Davidson, this sort of heroine was what I was expecting. She intrigued me.
This was a good beginning to a series. I loved the author's sarcastic style of writing Samantha. She is a demon so had a condescending view of humans and a blaze view on sex with humans and the effect on that human.
The shifters were undeveloped, and I thought the author was setting up a love triangle. It didn't really come out that way but I still loved Wyatt the most.
I'll listen book 2 soon. -
Hooowheeeee! This was a great ride of a read - a dark urban fantasy with humour, snarkiness and a touch of crass sexiness (which is to be expected when the MC is a demony imp). Of course, there's also the obligatory Angel who, as we all know, are generally a bunch of sanctimonious dicks!
An awesome start to a new series and introduction to a new author for me. -
While reading this book I found myself having giggle fits. It was unexpectedly funny, I enjoyed reading about Sam & her adventures. She is a mischievous imp with a soft spot for humans. I'll continue this series & look forward to my adventure in this intriguing world in book 2 satan's sword.
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4 1/2
This was really, really fun for me. The humor might not be for everyone but it hit just right for me. It starts a bit slowly with character and world building but by 1/3 the plot moved forward plenty fast for me, with the humor as buffer between any transitions. It was great. I thought the plot was pretty good as well as the 4 characters that were developed pretty well.
Does it have romance, hmm... well she pretty much flirts with everyone, equal opportunity. She loves making those uncomfortable with it, more uncomfortable. If you don't like this kind of humor, maybe not for you, still I was laughing a lot from about the third way mark on. Still there is her "best friend" a twenty something lawn boy who is quite good at computer games and computer other things. She has the hots for him but is in a 40 year-old body so doesn't make a move until he does. She flirts a lot with him and it is quite fun too. Then there is Gregory.
Gregory is an uber angel hunting a rogue angel. Well this gets mixed up with Sammie, or Sammie gets mixed up into the hunt. Gregory needs to kill her but... wait there is something intriguing about her. You get that. But she is a demon and in the human world so he tries to keep her "close" to evaluate and kill later. I'm sure he has no idea why he is doing what he is doing, but we get it right away.
This read gives me hope that I found a series favorite but I've been fooled before, case in point Cassandra Palmer, still kind of good but not great. I can only hope that the next book stay as great and as humorous. -
I'm so glad I stuck with this one after a rough start. At first I had a really hard time connecting with Sam. She is NOT human and her demonic ways were a bit tough for me to swallow. I found her dalliances with her neighbor a little bit silly and was ready to give up on the book. But once the angel characters were introduced the action and mystery really picked up and I was hooked. I can't wait to read book 2. I like how every paranormal character (angels, demons, werewolves) are a-typical from what we generally expect out of a fantasy book. It keeps you on your toes.
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3.5 Stars
A refreshing look at demons. A female demon that actually acts like a demon....how surprisingly original. Reminds me a bit of Georgina Kincaid, but with a lot more spark and snark. And funny, too. On to the next. -
3.5 stars
Okay, I'm into it... -
3.5 stars
Samantha is a demon, an Imp to be exact. She likes living on Earth instead of the demon realm so she has literally stolen a 40 year old woman's body (not possessed, but rather she owns it now) and poses as human in an effort to stay under the angels' radar, under punishment of death if she is discovered. Samantha tries to reign her innate powers in as much as possible, but her imp sense of humor can't be so easily contained. I really enjoyed her character - she's morally ambiguous, she's not entirely heterosexual, and she likes to do things to purposely piss off others yet at the same time she doesn't particularly want to kill or hurt anyone needlessly, despite being a demon. The budding relationship between Samantha and Wyatt, a human, was a bit too forced for my liking but luckily it was completely overshadowed by the interactions between Samantha and Gregory, an angel who is not so angelic. A lot of things in regards to world building aren't fully explained, but I imagine it's purposely done since this is a series. I'm definitely interested in reading the next book. -
This is going to be one of my mega short why I DNF'd this book kind of reviews. I liked the sound of this and the idea of Sam resorting to playing mean tricks on humans to hide her power appealed to me ie dropping chewing gum on the floor of a posh bar to get stuck to expensive high heels. This was what I expected the book to be anyway.
Sadly this was not what we got. Most of what I read was Sam thinking about her hot neighbour, Sam thinking of enslaving her hot neighbour, Sam dreaming of sex with her hot neighbour, Sam flirting with her hot neighbour, Sam meeting in a bar with her hot neighbour...are you sensing a pattern here?
Me? Fed up with hot neighbour and reading something else. -
3.5
Re-read
“There is equal beauty in the things called horrific. The act of destruction is an expression of beauty, too. I destroyed the bottle to make the horse. Is a pretty glass horse worth the loss of a bottle, but the sound of shattered glass and bits flying through the air isn’t? Is transformation only worthy if you approve of the end result?” -
I expected this book to be horrible (I mean, it is an amazon freebie, and we all know how dangerous those can be), but I was very, very pleasantly surprised to find that this was, in fact, one of the best books I've read this year. And I've read 170 already.
Granted, some things could be better. Great news, these things do get better in the following books! Isn't that amazing?
So, what makes this book so good, you ask.
1: The MC is a demon who actually acts like a demon. How novel! That's right people, Sam doesn't rescue kittens or puppies, doesn't try to save the world, and she certainly doesn't care if the world is going to shit, as long as it doesn't involve her.
This demon doesn't hesitate to threaten evisceration to get her tenants to pay rent, wants to have sex in a bathtub filled with blood while strangling her boyfriend with intestines which she can chew on in the meantime (Yes, that's actually something she wants) and some of her favorite pastimes include being hauled off by security at airports,
“Oh, there’s more,” I added gleefully. “If you are flagged, or act up, then they pull you into a room and take incredible liberties with your possessions and physical being. We probably don’t have enough time for that, regretfully. I highly recommend it.”
desecrating churches,
I didn’t often enter churches. They were great fun to cover in graffiti, and disrupting a service was one of my favorite activities, but they always made me uncomfortable.
and shoving strange objects up her ass.
I shifted Fred to the other undamaged arm and eyed the extended rod. The idea of shoving it up my ass was pretty appealing. I hadn’t stuck random objects in my behind for months.
2: The MC, a 1,000 year old demon takes the appearance of... A 20 year-old. Haha, just kidding, she's not an idiot. She takes the appearance of a 40 year old. Because she's smart.
3: Sam has two love interests, and she doesn't even try to pretend that she wants to choose between them. She's keeping them both, and having sex with other humans on the side. (But that one was because she wanted to kill him. Which she did.)
4: Sam. She's such an original character. She admires Ted Bundy:
I fell in love with Ted Bundy. Here was guy who totally flew under the radar, appearing harmless and even injured to his potential victims. He’d whack them repeatedly over the head with a crowbar when they tried to help him load stuff into his car. Then he would rape them, sometimes adding their lopped off heads to his collection. Occasionally, he’d continue to sleep with their decomposing body. That was dedication to your art. Too bad the humans had killed Ted Bundy. I would have been honored to Own this guy in a terrible and painful way that he surely would have appreciated.
I was so excited. Would he be like Ted Bundy? A genius killer with the soul of a poet? Would there be heads in the freezer, or bodies buried under the crawl space? What amazing things would I find behind the door?
makes "art" out of body parts:
Four bodies. I was inspired to create a lovely tableau and started prepping by removing limbs and stacking them neatly in piles, while formulating a vision of sculpture in my head. (...) I contemplated removing teeth, but opted to leave them in and do eyes instead. And maybe tongues, too.
and is obsessed with beer and vodka:
By now, the middle part of the kitchen was on fire, there were holes blown through most of the house, and the fridge door was hanging off its hinges. None of the beer fell out, though. I took it as a positive omen.
But even with all that, she's still a somewhat nice character you can identify with. I mean, maybe not with the Ted Bundy part,or her weird definition of enjoyable sex,
I remembered the satisfaction of leaving a higher-level demon’s house; my limbs barely attached, and burns covering the majority of my body. I would leave my injuries unrepaired for weeks, proudly displaying that another demon had found me worthy and I’d been tough enough to survive it.
but she'd do anything to protect those she loves, or at least those she considers hers, constantly stands up to the angels when they want to do something that's unfair to werewolves/nephilims/humans, you name it... Although that might be because she really enjoys being a pain in their ass.
She's also constantly trying to get out of doing her paperwork. I mean, who can't identify with that? Responsible people, that's who. And I'm definitely not responsible.
Some of the quotes I used are from the other books in the series, because I read all 6 in three days, and I can't really differentiate them at this point. So don't worry if you've read this book and can't remember some of the things I talked about. You don't have alzheimer's. -
This book was kind of a slow starter for me. I wasn't really interested enough to keep reading...until Candy reveals herself. And Gregory makes an appearance. After that, I couldn't put it down.
All of the characters were pretty interesting. I really liked Sam, outwardly she is all demon. Not in looks, as she looks like a regular human, but in her actions. She is an imp and naturally finds humor in doing annoying things. Inwardly, Sam doesn't seem to be all demon after all. I won't elaborate because it's quite a surprise for the reader to see Sam showing emotions you wouldn't think a demon capable of.
Candy was hilarious. Prim, proper and mighty straight laced. I really loved Gregory. He's quite mysterious, I still don't know what his intentions are regarding Sam. I like what the author did regarding angels. They aren't what we've been told they are. Instead, they are violent and vengeful. Definitely not quite the "guardians" we've always known them to be.
I definitely look forward to reading additional books in this series. I am anxious to see exactly what Gregory's motivations are and to see where Sam and Wyatt take their relationship. -
This is one of the more addictive series I have come across. I've spent three weeks practically living in the Imp World, and I feel a bit at a loss now that I have binged my way through the entire extended series. I have rated most of the books three stars, with a couple of four stars and several with no rating, which might seem a bit low for a series that I clearly like a lot. But it is very rare for me to rate a book five stars, and I have issues with the whole five star rating system. So I decided I should give the whole series a bit of a plug/review here. The author is, as far as I can make out, an indie author, albeit with a bit of a professional machinery around her. I have no doubt that her books would be even better if she had a good editor, and her sales would be better if she was attached to a good publisher, but I also fear that some of the racier and more brutal elements would be moderated away as not mainstream enough. There's something to be said for self-publishing. But enough of that and on to the series itself.
These books have everything you could think of in Urban Fantasy/Paranormal Romance. There are angels who can rival the demons when it comes to the sins of anger and pride (they're basically total dicks who think they are superior to everyone, and they keep discussing whether or not to just exterminate humanity and start over again with dolphins). Since they're from a planet/plane of existence called Aaru, I have dubbed them Aaruan supremacists. Then there are demons who are hilariously chaotic, and some of whom might just have a heart of gold, or at least brass, deep down, just don't tell them to their face. There are werewolves and vampires, and as if that wasn't enough the author starts to throw in elves, human mages, dragons and every mythological creature you could think of. There's cross species sex, romance, and torture (sometimes all at once). The battle scenes are over the top, the intrigue insane, the dialogue has sass all over the place. I laughed loudly and uncontrollably on several occasions. Read in public at your own peril.
My main issue with the series is that the plot is too transparent in the first few books. It is agonizing to watch the main character act on impulse and completely ignore all the clues. I also dislike insta-love romances. Almost every couple in the series seem to have exactly three days to meet, fall in love, and declare eternal devotion. And since most of them are immortal, I don't see what the rush is. But then again, they have this whole harmonizing vibration pattern in their spirit-selves working for them. Makes it easier to know if your partner is The One, I suppose. Don't get me wrong though, I am somewhat antagonistic towards romance heavy plots to begin with and I still rooted for the couples. It was kind of nice to go into it knowing that it would work out, and there would be no tragic romance or many-books long love triangles (ok, there are some triangles too, but they are not your stereotypical ones).
There are also some grammar mistakes that drive me crazy. The books are well written, and there aren't a lot of mistakes, but some of them are just so glaringly obvious. And since the angels are so correct about everything, it seems very out of character for them to not know the difference between "affect" and "effect", "principals" and "principles". And don't get me started on the hypercorrection. On the other hand, I find it hilariously endearing when the author intentionally has them make mistakes, such as get set phrases and metaphors wrong and say things like "that's just the top of the ice cube", or "assembly intercourse" (read the books to find out what that last one means). I also found it hard to see the main angel dude as a good love interest in the beginning. His only redeeming feature seemed to be that he developed a soft spot for one of the creatures that he would otherwise consider vermin to be exterminated. It was all very Nazi, making exceptions for that one Jewish person you actually know, but the rest still have to be killed for the greater good, you know. Left a really bad taste in my mouth. But:
On the positive side, there is actual and extensive character development all around as the series progresses. The plots are still fairly transparent, but the characters get quicker on the uptake and start sharing information, and it is great fun to see them get there. There are some real gems amongst the supporting characters that get introduced throughout the series. And it is always, always a crazy ride, with actions along the way that I couldn't predict. Did I mention how funny the books are?
The Imp Series is 10 books long, and the story arc is complete. (Sad, because there are no more books, happy because the series won't be milked endlessly. There is actual main story arc resolution.) The extended Imp World series (The Half-Blood series, Northern Wolves, and various individual character back stories/adventures) contain several short stories, novellas, and full length novels. I think in total there's just over 30 stories in this universe (and yes, I read them all over three weeks or so, because I was obsessed). The Imp Series is the main story arc, and it is funny AF. The other books tend to be darker, not as hilarious (although there are exceptions), and contain more sex and romance (and a couple of them should probably have trigger warnings. Not all the demons have a bit of good in them deep down. And some of the humans are even worse. Some of the angels rival them all.) These books provide a lot of background info on what takes place behind the scenes in the main story arc, and reading them all in order is important to avoid both spoilers and confusion.
But what's it all about? Well, there's this imp who has lived on earth in human disguise for the past 40 years, making a living as a slum lord and avoiding the angels who kill all demons on sight. Then she gets blackmailed into helping a werewolf track down a serial killer targeting werewolves. Very minor spoiler ahead, avoid only if you prefer to go in blind: For the rest, read the books. They are currently all available on Kindle Unlimited, and are well worth the subscription fee.
I'm not quite sure what to do with myself now. Return to the real world and actually get something done, I suppose. Debra Dunbar has written several other series as well, and I fully intend to check them out and embrace the escapism. But I think I need a complete genre change first, and maybe a couple of evenings of Netflix (and Netflix should totally make a tv-series adaptation of these books, that would be epic!) to get over my book hangover from Imp World. -
Not a romance story
Sam is an exciting and adventurous character. She isn't evil but she definitely isn't good. At least most of the time. I love the characters in this world and the relationship she has with Wyatt is hot and funny. However her relationship with Gregory is the exact opposite. They fight, give death threats, and have a continuous back and forth love and hate thing going on. I wouldn't consider this a romance at all but there is something there just waiting to be explored. -
4,5 I WANNA BE AN IMP TOO! Stars
I liked practically everything about this book. Go and grab it till it's free!
End of review.
I could actually end it here, but I'm too wordy for that.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end, laughing out loud, re-reading passages straight away, trying not to wake the infortunate viking sleeping next to me with my sudden snorting. It is a fast-paced happy joyride, complete with blood, gore and dismemberments, following a -quite frankly- demented lead. Not the bloodiest, most violent, the most intricate or sophisticated demon story out there perhaps, but still deliciously funny.
Sam is a sneaky imp in love with life and even more with life on earth, which truly is a big holiday resort to her. She was not the smallest fish in hell but not a very important one either, she's just about a thousand years old. She's amoral, mean, sarcastic, arrogant but critic of every specie, unapologetic. She is easily amused by humans and she's an insane penchant for pranks. A beer-drinking, vodka-loving, irreverent demon surprisingly lightmooded and funloving despite all her inkling for violence and killing. I was smitten with the physical form she chose: an average looking, inconspicuous middle-aged woman. She's completely untwharted by any human hungups over age and looks and it was more than just hilarious to see how many times she was parading around naked, often just to piss people off. How can you not fall in love with a pansexual demon, genderless as energy being, always horny and ready to maul people, whose only problem at the beginning of the book seems to be how to seduce her hot, sexy neighbour Wyatt she's been ogling/being friend with for the past two years? Their relation alone, made of comraderie, trust, endless banter, escalating sexual tension was an exciting, tender line through the book.
Samantha, with all her contained power, is so flawed it is endearing. She rides like shit but loves doing it, she learned how to cook and sing from the souls of those she Owns, she likes cheesy music. When she got a free pass to go back to Hell unharmed, she let it go because she loved her life and she was no coward after all. She may have no conscience, but she cares, about Wyatt, about her animals, about the planet, ultimately about mankind. She layed so low during her time on earth that she really didn't bother to find out which other supernatural beings lurked our planet, her main purpose to remain unnoticed by the Angels. And yet she will end up blackmailed by a werewolf into a suicide investigation that will force her to risk her life facing and fighing not only Angels in general, by the Demon Slayer himself, Gregory. You'd think she'd be furious with Candy for tricking her into such a contract, but ultimately, she admires these kind of cunning, manipulative skills in the werewolf.
And what to say about the almighty Gregory. Oh he's a piece of work! Pitiless, immensely powerful, judgemental, commanding...but underneath it all he's as instinctual and explosive as Sam is, and hardly containing it. His self-control, at least whenever Sam is around, gets completely unhinged, to the point that he bounds her to him, in a very unintended erotic way as well. The way he claims her as his was fantastic, even if we don't know the full extant of what he did yet. They quarrel, they fight hard, they work together, they study each other and profoundly admire each others abilities. Neither Sam nor Gregory are what the other expected. There is one scene between them about sins and virtues where she hands him his ass...sublime! Do I need to spell it? If these two are NOT going to end up together there will be murder! Wyatt is adorable, dedicated, funny and even though he took the revelation of Sam being a demon in stride, after almost losing his soul to her, he's just a human, he will never be able to understand the real essence of her, her occasional homesickness or how much of a toll can be for her to be binding her abilities and natural inclinations all the time. This doesn't mean I wasn't cheering when Wyatt and Sam finally got together at the end of the book. I must say, I can totally identify with the dating-cluelessness of this demon.
This being the first instalment in a serie, I hope the worldbuilding will continue in the next chapters, so far it was very interesting but hardly complete, mostly related through flashbacks or explanations from Candy or Gregory. There is so much to know, about Sam's own household, the Elves, the political factions fighting for power in the Angels'council, Gregory's family, the werewolves' survival. We don't even know what Samantha's real names are. I want to dive into the next book straight away and find out what other wacky adventure this demon will have to brave.
If you're looking for a refreshing kick-ass heroine ready to be gory and horrific to impress, who can go totally ballistic but with a great sense of humour, you should definitely try this. Even with the few editing mistakes, some slower moments with the stake-outs and the overall lightness, it is an engrossing read. -
The first time I listened to this narration I dnf'd about a third of the way through. I was annoyed at the demonic imp Samantha. She kept swinging from psychotic to sugary and I wasn't laughing at her impish shenanigans. Now I wonder how much of my disconnect was because I wasn't enjoying the narration. I set it aside but put it into a "go back later category" because there were other books I wanted to read/listen but I wasn't completely convinced this one was a dud for me. Not because it has tons of great reviews, because that doesn't always match my taste in books, but because there was just something about it that I felt I was missing.
A few months later, I restarted listening to it. Again it dragged for me in the beginning even though I was sort of enjoying the story. I sped up the narration speed in a last ditch effort to finish the book this time. BINGO
Not only did I finish listening to it, I ended up loving it. To be fair to the narrator, I don't know if it was the faster narration or the change in the story that hooked me. Sam's dynamic changed when angel Gregory appeared on the scene. I was fascinated by what was going on between them. They were both acting against their natures but never admitting it. It was fascinating. Very well written. Then the ending with its intriguing forecast of great things, deeper things, to come cinched the deal for me and what was originally a dnf became a five star read.
I realize that was kind of a rambling review, but it was kind of a rambling read for me. :-/ -
3.5 Stars
This book got boring rather quickly. But Sam is anything but boring it was just the execution of the story, however I think it just is part of having to do the world building.
The first 75% is boring everyday life with Sam doing her usual imp antics. Which I find funny and sometimes annoying but give me a better idea into how things work. When I read the synopsis I kept thinking that maybe the pack leader would be the love interest since I really didn't think Wyatt was. Pack leader turned out to be a chick, so did not see that coming.
So to make reparations Sam has to track down and kill a rogue angel who is killing innocent werewolves. So Sam agrees to help with Wyatt by her side, they still haven't made it to bed together though.
This whole story once it gets going is super super super interesting and quite the twist too. Gregory the angel overseeing everything is trying to get the other angel to come in, he also kills any demons that come through the realm. Instead of killing Sam he binds her and I feel some crazy sexual chemistry between them.
Except for the epilogue where we get a sort of view into some of his thoughts
