Once again the world building was stunning. Its difficult to create your own world with how many fantasy books there are. But this book had a new and refreshing take on demons and demon hunters.

As with the fist book the characters were well developed and I found there motivations understandable and in some respects relatable.

Oh my goodness that ending!

We have a continuation from "The Smoke Thieves" which isn't as hyped as it should be.
The concept is interesting enough (and this is coming from someone who doesn't normally read a lot of fantasy!)
I actually really enjoyed the sequel, and I enjoyed it more than the sequel.
I found myself laughing out loud several times, which I never would've thought I would do at this sort of book!
The dialogue is humorous and very well-written.
Sally Green has done it again for me!
I love all the characters and learning more about them, about the secrets they harbour.
Please pick up this series.
It is highly entertaining and full of adventure.
More people need to give it a read!

With our group of main characters narrowly escaping the siege at the northern stronghold, they escape into the Northern Plains to outrun their Brigantine pursuers. Necessity takes them into the demon tunnels, where the others, too, discover how unusual it is. Tash herself gets a chance to explore more of it, and comes away with more questions that she wants to try to answer. As their paths diverge once again, Catherine and Ambrose head towards the Pitorian armies, Edyon and March go over to make way to Caldoria with a letter from Tzasyn in hand and Tash remains in the demon world to solve some mysteries.

This book is marginally better than the previous in that the pacing is a bit better, but it still suffers from the problem of not realizing its plot arcs well. Catherine, after returning to the Pitorians, takes control of the monarchy by claiming to be Tzasyn's wife and has to show strength. But as the strain of ruling starts taking its toll on her, and her life also becomes threatened, she starts depending on the demon smoke to feel invincible, but if this is going to make a difference in her arc going forward is still up in the air. And Ambrose, who I thought to be boring in the previous book, just becomes annoying in this one; he resents Catherine a bit for what she has to do, and I get that he's feeling like he's being swept aside for power, but dude, her life is at stake here. Edyon's and March's romance progresses but March's lie still hangs like a sword above it. That was perhaps the only arc that was realized in this book. The ending was pretty much abrupt for most of the other characters, with Tash maybe on a cliffhanger, but Catherine and Ambrose like uh, what?

Having read The Smoke Thieves, this book was one of the books I was most looking forward to this year. Sally Green created wonderful characters that I could not forget, a world I did not want to leave. I enthused about The Smoke Thieves to any one who would listen. I can't in good conscience now review this book, support this book, or its author any longer.

I enjoyed The Smoke Thieves very much, so was very pleased to be given an opportunity to read this. I didn't enjoy it as much, possibly because it was a bit slow at times - I found the demon world part tedious and think the constant switching between characters slowed the story down, which it didn't seem to do in the previous book. It was definitely better towards the end, but I'd give 3.5 stars.

I have mixed feelings on this one, I loved the Smoke Thieves and I've been looking forward to it's sequel since I finished it. This took me awhile for me to get into, I found it quite slow in the beginning and I didn't start getting invested in the story and characters again until about 150ish pages.
I think the main problem for me was Catherine and Ambrose's relationship, I don't like the effect that being around Ambrose has on Catherine, she was so intelligent and focused in the last book, I enjoyed the politics and how she started to take a bit of control in her life. Being with Ambrose seems to cloud her judgment. When she was not with him and focusing on the politics and up coming war she was back to being person I enjoyed reading about. I get that he is going through a lot after the end of the last book but his attitude rubbed me the wrong way sometimes. I'm hoping that things will get better in their relationship but right now I don't think it is particularly healthy for either of them.
Ok rant over, now for the things I enjoyed.
The relationship between March and Edyon, they were so cute! I love the banter between them and Edyon's silliness always made me laugh (more at him than with him sometimes). Although his feelings grew a bit fast I really enjoyed his teasing of March and how flustered he could get him with complimenting his eyes. The secret kept between them and how it seemed to haunt March added some angst, I felt so sorry for him and dreaded what was going to happen when it came to light. He is so unused to having someone really care for him, it broke my heart.
Tash, she was one of my favourite characters in the first book, she is so sassy and foul mouthed, I love it! She didn't get much of a part until a bit further into the book which as was shame but her sections were really interesting, the information she finds out has some real big consequences for the next book and I can't wait.
Overall I think this suffered a bit of middle book syndrome in the beginning but it soon picked up and even though Catherine and Ambrose annoyed me, I highly enjoyed it

Definitely feels like a bridging, middle vol with a fair bit of padding but the exploration into the demon ream is unexpected & adds interest & the final pages will leave readers hungry for the concluding episode. Series knowledge essential.

I can't get over how great it was to dive back into this world, its set in such an amazing land. I think that one thing I liked the most was the fact you got to see into the demon world this book and learn a bit more about demons, it really made you think about demon hunting more.
I think the way Catherine is written in this book is great, especially her struggle with Smoke and what to do after she officially declared herself a Pitorian now.
Just amazingly written and I can't wait for the next book, I bet that it's going to blow my mind.

I read the Smoke Thieves last year and really enjoyed it. The concept, fun writing and characters were cool.
This is the second book, and it also didn't disappoint. It was really entertaining, light book. I liked the direction of the story from where it was left in the first book. We also learned more about this smoke magic, and more about Catherine's father which shed more light into the whole set up.

Overall, really fun & enjoyable series. I'm looking forward to the next one.
Thanks a lot to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is the second installment of the smoke thieves series. At the end of the first book Princess Catherine learned that she had been betrayed by her father and was in great danger. The story continues where we learn of the lengths Catherine's father will go to in order to get hold of the purple demon smoke for his army of boys. We also find out more about the demon world - how it came about and what it is like to be there as Tash befriends and sets free a demon. Edyon and March continue their journey with lots of twists and turns along the way.
Another great book by this author - looking forward to the release of the next book in the series! Thanks for the opportunity to read this book netgalley.

With Prince Tzsayn captured by the Catherine's family Catherine, Ambrose, Tash, Edyon and March all find themselves fleeing for their lives and as the Brigantine army closes in they're forced into making desperate decisions in order to survive. As the group ends up separated once more they all have different paths to follow that are equally fraught with danger.

Sometimes the second book in a trilogy suffers from second book syndrome and ends up falling a little flat compared to the first but that definitely isn't the case with Sally Green's The Demon World. She was able to immediately draw me back into the story (no mean feat when I've read well over 200 books in between this and the last one!) and within no time at all I was totally caught up in the story. I'll admit I missed Tzsayn's character as he was absent for most of the story but I particularly loved seeing the journey Tash has been on since the beginning of the first book. She's changed so much since we first met her and is without a doubt one of the bravest characters in the series.

Catherine makes some questionable choices along the way but at the same time she proves her intelligence several times over as she overcomes obstacles thrown in her way by people who blame her for Tzsayn's capture. I love the complicated relationship she has with her devoted guard Ambrose but I have a horrible feeling he's going to end up with his heart broken because she's so ambitious.

I don't really want to get into any detail about what happens in this story so I'll just tell you there is plenty of action, we uncover some huge secrets that the Brigantines have been keeping, there are plenty of betrayals along the way, some more surprising than others, and the ending left me with my mouth hanging open in shock. I'm definitely going to be waiting on tenterhooks for the final book in the series to publish!

I did read some of this book and found it passable, not particularly amazing and more than a little confusing even with the context of the first book.

However, I have made the decision to DNF this book and will no longer be reading or promoting any works by Sally Green as it has been made clear through a quick look at those she follows on Twitter that Sally is a TERF (or at least interacts with those promoting those ideas).
As a queer woman and the proud wife of a trans woman *and* as someone who strives to be an intersectional feminist I am dissapointed but ultimately not surprised. I would urge you to consider whether you ought to be publishing the works of such a person in the future (though, obviously I understand the sheer amount of effort and money that has already gone into this book), and if, in fact, Sally does not hold those beliefs then perhaps she ought to look at the people and accounts that she publically follows?
I look forward to reading other PRH titles in the future, hopefully from authors who embrace every facet of LGBTQIA+ identity.

This book contains one of the most powerful endings I’ve ever read. I start with it purely because it hit me like a freight train.
This is a book version of a game of chess. It’s clever, and always many paces ahead of the reader.
The characters we see perspectives from are the ones you will always want ‘just one more chapter with’.
The separation of characters that began in the final chapters of Smoke Thieves continues on in The Demon World. It’s well crafted and would make for powerful tv.
What I found most powerful while reading is that it could have quiet easily been a duology. It has that strength of resolution that sometimes a second book in a trilogy lack. However, much like the games of chess, things were put in place ready for those final moments... and now a painful wait for book three.

I may pick this up and try again in the near future. Right now, the things that annoyed me about the first book are annoying me even more about this one, while the things I liked seem to be less prevalent. This is not a final review and rating, and it’s very definitely just me – mostly.