Monday, November 12, 2012

Review of The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer


Title/Author: The Demon Catchers of Milan by Kat Beyer
Publisher/Date published: Egmont USA, August 28th 2012
How I got this book: received it from the publisher through NetGalley and bought myself a shiny finished copy :)

Goodreads summary: "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."

Somebody please tell me this is the start of a new series??? Because I can't find on Goodreads if it is!

We meet Mia, who's a regular teenager with self confidence issues, which is something I can TOTALLY relate to. Then Mia gets possessed by a demon and she gets shipped off to Milan so the family she's never met before can deal with it. I thought she was handling it all pretty well, and I found the crying spells every now and then to be more realistic than her magically being ok with everything happening.
I loved seeing her come into her own and start exploring her heritage. She's curious and eager to learn and I always appreciate that in a character. Also, she's pretty smart, YAY!

One thing I did not appreciate: the otherwise loveable character of Emilio, Mia's cousin, makes a remark about Mia (at 16) being too old for Harry Potter. WHAT??? YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD FOR HARRY POTTER! GAH!

Whether or not this is the first in a series will determine in the end how I feel about this book. For the start of a series, I REALLY liked it! However, if it's a standalone, not nearly enough is revealed about this whole demon catching business and I'd be disappointed if it'd be left at this. I mean, I still have so many questions!

I thought the exorcising of the demons was SO interesting! And I'm dying to learn more about the demon that possessed Mia, cause it sounds like there's some history between it and the family. I'd love to see Mia develop her abilities further and just explore this rich world that Kat Beyer has created!

My rating: 4 stars

2 comments:

  1. Interesting, I would be really surprised if it wasn't a series based on what you said, and it's true! You're never too old for Harry!!!

    The book sounds good though! :D

    PS - I went and looked at the author's site and it says she's working on the sequel :D

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  2. I was on the fence about reading this one, though I do have an ARC. Now though, I think I should give it a chance! I mean, hello, it's set in MILAN and features the exorcism of demons... Sounds like a fun book to me!

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