This one wasn't for me. DNF at 30%. I needed the main character to have more charisma, and it just wasn't there. Is that my fault for expecting Jim Butcher-esque characters? Yes, possibly.

As soon as I saw this book is compared to John Constantine, Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and has religious themed horror and an exorcist main character, I was sold.
And Demons And Ramen did not disappoint!

If you like your main character snarky, dark humor, mysterious roommates with a classy old-feel speech and fast paced action with a pinch of intimacy, this is for you!
I also adore the banter between Denis and Emma, the spark between them and how their personalities clash, from snarky depressed priest/exorcist to mysterious and bossy entity who can cook but is not "domestic".

Overall, I love the story, the flow of the narrative and the characters. Thank you to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the eARC!

A special thank you to NetGalley for providing an e-ARC/DRC copy. Also, a special thank you to A.M. Rycroft at Epic Publishing for sending me a physical copy to review.

I was drawn to this book because of the title, but it has more mention of demons than ramen. Read the book and you’ll find out why it is titled the way it is.

While the synopsis of the book was appealing, the cover art comes off as AI generated. The cover itself isn’t necessarily good or bad, I think some people will love it and others will not. For me, I think had I not read the synopsis, I don’t believe I would have purchased it in the store. That being said, after just completing the read…

I absolutely couldn’t put this book down! The storyline is extremely fast-paced from start to finish. This book would be great for anyone in the genre niche of religious-horror, fans of exorcisms, Supernatural, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and True Blood. There’s a lot of dark witty, satirical humor that made me love this book even more.

The only real issues that I had with this story was the analogy of blue rivers and snow. It was rather repetitious, but also came off as too “flowery” with the majority of the text having a considerably darker/menacing feel. The other issue I found was that Emma’s character was never fully explained to what/who she is. Is she exclusively a rusalka, who is a shapeshifter that can turn into a myriad of demons? Or is she something else? I waited the entire novel for the answer and did not find it at the conclusion of the book. For these reasons I give this a 4 out 5* rating.

Would I recommend this book, absolutely 💯 %!

I could not get into this at all. It fell flat with no characters evolved enough and a writing style that was not my thing. The title and cover is cool!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC. All opinons are my own.

Demons & Ramen starts off with Denis' twin brother having taken his own life and Denis himself vowing to find out what really happened because he believes that his brother's death was a result of demon possession. Along the way, Denis, a priest, starts up a co-habitation with a female supernatural being and ends up creating an exorcism business with her. And oh, he also works at a bookstore.

This book wasn't for me. I couldn't connect with the characters very much and I didn't find the story interesting. The actual story differs from the book synopsis a bit. I do think this book has a unique idea and I'm sure this is good for readers that enjoy this genre, urban fantasy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy to review.

This was a great suprise.
The plot is interesting, the pacing is good and I loved that it alternates between the overall mystery, some "monster if the chapter" action, and the relationship between the characters. The writing is solid and show humour, action, and some deeper feelings. It has a lot of entertainment value and I'm glad I picked it up!

Scary, suspenseful - snarky and downright funny! A great balance between dark and light as a modern exorcist and his not-so-modern companion oust unwanted demons while fighting quite the unexpected, maybe illicit, attraction. A definite winner and the most fun I've had with a book in a while!

This book has plenty of demons but hardly any ramen (seriously, ramen is only mentioned once).

Ramen isn’t the only thing this book lacked, though. It also lacked any goal for the characters.

At first you get the impression that Denis (MMC) is looking for the demon that disrupted his twin sibling’s life, but then for the first 50% of the book he does nothing to reach this goal. It was essentially exorcism after exorcism that had nothing to do with the main story line. The exorcisms seemed to just be a way to break up the constant food scenes. The author must have been super hungry and watching Supernatural when writing.

I was ready to DNF at 50%, but I persevered since I received an ARC and owed them a review.

At this 50% mark, the goal is finally revealed. It’s not uncovering the identity of the mysterious woman or why she was imprisoned 700 years ago, nor is it to look for the demon. It’s to find out where his sibling is located. At this point I guessed the "twist" that ends the book.

The next 50% of the book was just as underwhelming. A few more random exorcisms occur and a lot more eating before we get to the last 10% where the ultimate battle occurs. The problem here is I still hadn’t fallen in love with the characters nor felt anxious about their fate (I’m someone that cries over characters often and I just felt absolutely nothing for this group). I don’t even understand how the characters fell in love with each other because they were all SO boring. Except for Lisa. Lisa was pretty cool.

Maybe skip this one and go grab a nice bowl of ramen instead.

This was a new to me author and I really enjoyed his writing style. I enjoyed every minute of this book from start to finish. The pace was fast, with a few slower pauses to catch your breath. I loved how the story flowed and how it covered heavy topics like suicide in the Catholic church. This is little bit darker than I expected, but that’s a good thing. This is definitely worth a read, especially if you like a little bit darker urban fantasy read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley.

This was OK! I wasn't super impressed by it and found myself to be bored most of the time. It's very jumpy.

An exorcist just trying to ruthlessly conquer as many demons as hell throws his way, a 700 year old spirit joins him on this quest.
I have never read anything like this before but i really enjoyed it. Fast paced and adventurous and a little bit scary it's fun and furious.

This book is a heartwhelming story filled with dark humour and surprisingly interesting action scenes.

In Demons & Ramen by A.M. Loweecey, we follow Father Denis Kaine in his journey after the death of his twin brother, Xavier.
Along the way, he picks up an unwanted houseguest, Emma, who just won't leave him alone.

Although I'm not used to reading this type of books (especially ones with such heavy catholic themes), I surprised even myself with how much I enjoyed it.

This is my fist story told by A.M. Loweecey, and I am excited to read more! The writing was really beautiful and it pulled you right in.

I definitely appreciated the way Catholicism is represented. However, I am slightly confused with a few aspects of it.

Being a priest, his religion and devotion to the Catholic church is, obviously, a prominent detail in the story. Therefore, the lines Denis drew between what was a sin and what wasn't was confusing.

His relationship with Emma, for instance.
As a reader who enjoys character development, Emma's character was, in my opinion, a bit under developed. Who is she exactly? What are her goals? What drives her? Who was she in her past life?

Besides this, we weren't presented with enough context of how Denis feels about the unmarital sex "rule" of the church before - and after - it happened.
Though I thoroughly enjoyed his unusual ways, there just wasn't enough exposition about what he thought was appropriate and the lines he was willing to cross. Especially if we consider Emma's status as a supernatural creature, being an exorcist, shouldn't he want to exorcise her? He mentioned it a few times in the beginning, but he just abruptly stopped mentioning it.
Now, one might argue that it was because they were at the point where the romance started to develop, and I do agree, but since Emma's character didn't feel like it was super established, the romance, unfortunately, felt slightly rushed.

However, I truly loved the way the story spun interesting action scenes and motivations for the main character. I relished in the several scenes where we saw Denis being a normal human being who had doubts and anxieties that couldn't be easily soothed.

As a bonus, we also got a cute photo of the author's cute dog, Zeus, in the end. XD

Thank you to NetGalley for my Advanced Reader's Copy of this book.

Two Catholic priests are on a mission to examine the gravesites of a renowned exorcist. Both priests decide to unlive themselves in such a way as to ensure they could easily be found and identified,

TL/DR: Sorry, for this one I’m just going to say get the book, you won’t be sorry. If you need more, see below.

Ok. All I can think of is wow! I really try to not compare authors, I get it, but it’s not my thing. I can’t help myself here. Keep in mind it is a unique, funny, irreverent, sad, crazy book, but I need to say it. I was getting Jim Butcher’s “Dresden” vibes. Now instead of a wizard, the MMC is a priest, a twin actually, that performs exorcisms and instead of “Bob”, he appears to be stuck with a 700+ year old ghost he freed in Rome.

I honestly did not know what to expect, but I loved this book and I really hope it is part of a series. I mean, sure, technically they wrapped everything up but there are a lot of unanswered questions.

Also, a special shout out to the bookstore owner, his two dogs and his husband who stands beside him with the family drama. You have to love a boss who brings you homemade pierogi’s (didn’t know they could be sweet too) and brings his dogs to work. Yes, they increase sales, but come on. Dogs!

Also, I think everyone could use a Sister Lisa in their life. She has known the twins since seminary school, when they were fast tracked on the exorcism path. She is amazing. Strong but feels like home. Will slap you upside your head (maybe with a frying pan) and then give you a hug and ask you for sheets for your very uncomfortable couch. Family. Found family who always has your back.

I can’t recommend this book enough. I am campaigning for at least a sequel, if not a whole series. I would like to thank the author, A. M. Loweecey; Epic Publishing and NetGalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own and my review is voluntarily given. As always, I wish you happy reading!

This was a really enjoyable Cozy Horror Romance.
It follows Exorcist Dennis Kane as he goes off the rails as he deals with his twin, Xaviers, suicide. Whilst he is on his own semi suicidal rage and booze fueled misadventure he releases an ancient shapeshifter who forces her way into hia home and heart.
In terms of the romance I did think this was well written, and the pacing of it was good. It was easy to get invested in the characters as they were well written and complex.
Overall this was a funny spooky easy read. Whilst there were battles with demons it was low stakes which is why I would call this cozy