I absolutely adored The Smoke Thieves and this is one of the best sequels I’ve read! Full of action, uncovering secrets, betrayal and intrigue. I highly recommend this series!

This book did not keep me as interested as book one did sadly, but still a solid effort. I am interested to see what else the author will come up with. the writing is as good as in book 1, but for some reason something did not work just as well for me.

I ended up not finishing this book. Partly because I struggled with book one when I did read it and the writing issues continues here. But also because too much time had passed between me reading that I had no connection or memory of the actually plot.

Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

Loved this one nearly as much as the smoke thieves. A great story with great characters.
A must read!

DNF. I couldn't connect with this book at all and found it really hard to get into. I had high hopes for this, which is a shame.

A gripping sequel to The Smoke Thieves, Green once again does a good job at creating an intricate adventure that successfully continues the plot and character development fans loved in the first book. We are seamlessly thrown back into the action and these characters lives as they battle political machinations, vengeful demons, and their own twisted lies. The world of The Smoke Thieves is brutal and fascinating one and I was excited to finally find out more about the demon world and the demons themselves. This book, like the last, ends on a cliffhanger, heartbreaking for more than one character. The closing scene with Tash saddened me and has stayed with me since finishing it.

The Demon World is the second book in the smoke of thieves series by Sally Green. In the previous book we followed an unlikely bunch. Princess Catharine who was having an arranged marriage, March, a servant who wants justice for his people, Edyon, a petty thief and Tash who is running away from a life that is closely catching up with her. Now, after narrowly escaping the fall of Rossarb, Catharine will lead these survivors away from danger and into a barren wasteland. They must carry on running from the Brigantine army who is on their heels. But when the gang gets separated, they will all have to face threats and risks in the face of doing what is right for their country,

Edyon and March get separated from the group whilst Tash leads Catharine and Ambrose into the demon world for an unlikely place to stay safe for the time being. They travel deeper and further into the tunnels but of course it’s not as safe as they would want it to be but they decide that they must part ways as Catharine and Ambrose must return to the living and resume the war whereas Tash, travels in deeper and hopes to learn more about the world within the world.

Overall, this was a decent follow up to the first book, which had me gripping its pages. However, the characters are not as complex and human as one would expect. In a second book, we assume character development would be one of the things addressed in the book, however, it isn’t. They still lack the emotion and chemistry for the readers to really relate to and dig their teeth into. I will be reading the next book in the series but I hope it’s better than this one.

3 out of 5 stars.

As with most series I sometimes find it hard to pick up where I left off especially if there has been a stretch of time between reading the previous book. So that can usually lead to some issues with the pacing, mostly from me as I try to read the book and remember what has happened and where I left all the characters.

Unfortunately, in this case, the start of this book didn’t quite have the same pace that I recall from the end of the last book which made it difficult to get into. It also didn’t help that our main narrators were all together so the slower pace wasn’t really broken up by seeing what one of the other characters were doing.

Thankfully this didn’t last too long, as the story delves deeper into the demon world and the group has to split up, the pace started to really pick up again and I was able to immerse myself into the book. I loved getting to explore the demon world, I had never really thought about it much in the first book but it was fascinating, how the demons live and create their tunnels and more of their kind, it did give me a fresh perspective that I didn’t expect to get. It also added some much needed suspense to the story as I started to fear for the characters that had made it down there but it also added the pleasant kind of tension to some of the relationships.

I still found Catherine and Tash’s chapters the strongest of this book. I loved the constant threat that I felt Catherine was under, she has to play a lot of political games and since she is in the position to have to prove her loyalty this makes the stakes that much higher, which is all set against the backdrop of people being against her because she is a woman wanting to be in a position of power. Tash as ever was always a bit unpredictable, but this time with a bit more vulnerability, it was fitting that she would be the one to explore the demon world further but I was pleasantly surprised of the effect that it had on her and her actions.

In this book March and Edyon’s chapters were a lot stronger, I really enjoyed the chemistry between them and the fact that they were really starting to pull together just to try and survive. I think my issue with Edyon in the first book was that I just found him a bit annoying but actually in this book he does grow a lot as a character and I came to quite enjoy his ability to always find himself in some sort of trouble. I felt like I was on a knife-edge with March’s storyline, it’s hard to say too much but I could really feel the difficulty of his emotions and the suspense as I got closer to the end of the book, my heart was hurting for him at times.

I did find Ambrose a little grating this time around, but I think that may have been more to do with the fact that it felt like he didn’t add as much to the story here as he did in The Smoke Thieves. I’m hoping that with the next book he will get a chance to develop a little more.

I have to admit that whilst I did find I was a little slow to get into The Demon World there came a point that I really didn’t want to put the book down because there was so much going on in the story, a lot of it was so unexpected but just brilliant and I was desperate to discover what would happen for each of the characters by the end. But never could I have imagined how it ended…I think I’m actually still a bit in shock. I need the third book now, the suspense is already killing me.

I really struggled to get into The Demon World which could be because it's so long since I read the first in the series. There was also a formatting issue which made it difficult to read.
I did enjoy getting to know the characters and seeing them develop. I'm not sure if I would continue reading this series.

I really enjoyed this book - it was a wonderful continuation. The plot drew me in, the only thing I had qualms with was the gore and swearing - but other than that it had many wonderful moments which made me go 'aaaw', so I guess it balanced out! Definitely looking forward to the next one.

This book kinda felt like you've been dropped in it (so make sure to read the first book in the series before hand!) It's action packed and full of tense and exciting scenes. And now just to wait and see what happens in the final book of the series...

I am choosing to no longer be review this title due to certain comments made by the author which has made me uncomfortable in supporting them any further.

I don't know what it was about this book that absolutely didn't do it for me. It just felt like everything in it fell kind of flat. I wasn't behind any of the relationships, I had no real interest in the characters, and I was sick of everyone being referred to as 'blue-hairs' and 'red-tops' (which makes them sound like tabloid newspapers).
I think it was mostly that I was cranky, as there was some great stuff in this book, with depth and nuance being added to the demons, and Tash's loneliness at the death of Gavrell seeping through her every chapter. The characters felt less disjointed than the prequel, and there was a more cohesive story. It didn't feel like I felt half of the book waiting for things to get going, which was definitely a step up from The Smoke Thieves. But I just didn't love this. It was missing that je ne sais quoi. A pretty average read, for me.

It was also incredibly difficult to read this particular galley, because the fl and fi characters didn't render. So words like fire, flat, difficult, because re, at, dif cult. That probably added to my dissatisfaction.

Following on from The Smoke Thieves, The Demon World continues with it's mix of magic and politics.

The main characters all came together at the end of their individual journeys in book one, and that's how they start book two, but it isn't too long before they are split up again and we once more follow individual narratives.

There's a fascinating journey into one of the demon holes, into the titular demon world. The demons have previously been seen as little more than a force of (super)nature, so I really enjoyed learning more about how they live and this insight into their psyche.

Then there's the political intrigue angle, which Sally Green does very well. Catherine is put in a very difficult position where she needs allies against her father, but no one trusts her at all. She's literally come straight from the enemy. Watching her manoeuvre through this treacherous world is very interesting.

The slow growing romance between Edyon and March gives the book some good gay representation, but I generally found March and his endless internal worry a really frustrating character.

It also felt less brutal than book one, which had some pretty graphic violence. I was expecting this to ramp up in a later scene, but it seemed to be downplayed instead. Despite that, there was definitely a sense of peril, and a lot of the key characters don't get an easy story.

The Demon World expands on world of The Smoke Thieves, advances it's political plotlines effectively, and leaves everything set up nicely for the final part of the trilogy.

I absolutely adored the first book, and I was not disappointed in any way this the second. Sally is an amazing writer, pulling you straight back into her world from the first page, it’s like I’d never left. I have a gigantic hole in my life now with that ending, I need book three yesterday. If you loved the smoke thieves you will love this, no spoilers but it’s another emotional ride, one you will have late nights with not wanting to put the book down and it’s well worth the trauma. Wonderful and extremely, highly recommended

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R293VTZAPEEYQN/ref=cm_cr_srp_d_rdp_perm?ie=UTF8

This book suffered a little from second book syndrome to me in that a lot of it felt like filler and not a great deal happened in terms of moving the plot forward. It follows several of the characters we met in book one as they adapt to the political and military situations they find themselves in, with varying levels of success. I did really enjoy being back in this world and I loved the exploration of the Demon world, although I thought that this could have been further developed. Where I thought the book lagged was with some of the other points of view, particularly Edion. There didn't seem to be a great deal of motion for his arc and in some places, it felt like his story could have been excised completely without having an impact on the overall plot. Overall, I just found this one a little bit disappointing but I will still be continuing the series.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I loved the first book so much and thought going into this I would feel the same about this one. I found the pace, even though it was quick in tone, a slog to get though. Tash still stayed my favourite character but I could not push through this and found the plot kind of 'blah'.

Things are not going well. The Prince is being held captive, war has come to the area and the plans that King Aloysius has for the purple demon smoke are discovered.
Our group are quickly under attack and end up separated. Boundaries and relationships are tested as they attempt to work out the best way forward.
Catherine finds her way to what should be safe territory, and ends up having to fight against people who are determined to have their own way even if it’s not for the good of the country. Edyon ends up in an awkward situation and March does his best to help, though the truth will out and betrayal is hard to justify. The most interesting part of the story for me came with Tash and her journey into the demon world. She takes a huge risk, which looks as if it’s gone horribly wrong, but there are suggestions that we might not have been given the full story at this point.
I must thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this prior to publication.

I received a free ecopy of this book in return for an honest review. Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity.

This is book two of what is planned to be a trilogy and to understand what is happening you are really going to need to read book one. This is a complex saga written for five different alternating viewpoints. Book one was the story of these five, very different characters being drawn together. Book two wrenches them all apart again.

Picking up immediately after the last book, our intrepid band of heroes flee the battle at Rossarb Castle. Pursued by the Brigantines, a desperate Princess Catherine leads the group down into the demon world. Through the eyes of Tash we get to explore the demon world more thoroughly and get a sense of the demon society. Meanwhile Edyon still has a murder charge hanging over his head, and March’s conscience weighs ever heavier with lies he he told Edyon when they first met.

In many ways Catherine feels like the central character, though each of the the five are given equal narrative. This is probably because she has the biggest character development, going from a suppressed princess, barely allowed to speak to a leader. Her character arc is not appreciated, however, by her paramour, Amber. There doesn’t seem to be room in this relationship for Catherine’s developing personality. (I much prefer Prince Tzsayn anyway. He seems a much nicer guy.)

The world of The Smoke Thieves is brutal and fascinating one. I was excited to finally find out more about the demon world and the demons themselves. The nature of the demons, when it is revealed, contrasts starkly with the savage Brigantines. I hope we will find out more about these creatures before the end of these books.

This book, like the last, ends on a cliffhanger, heartbreaking for more than one character. The closing scene with Tash saddened me and has stayed with me. With book three due out in 2020, it feels like a long wait and whole heap of resolution is far too far out of reach. Three books just doesn’t seem enough to explore this fantasy world. Personally I’m hoping for a Prince Tzsayn spin-off.