Review: The Demon Trapper’s Daughter

The Demon Trapper’s Daughter, by Jana Oliver. The GoodReads summary:

It’s the year 2018, and with human society seriously disrupted by the economic upheavals of the previous decade, Lucifer has increased the number of demons in all major cities. Atlanta is no exception. Fortunately, humans are protected by Demon Trappers, who work to keep homes and streets safe from the things that go bump in the night. Seventeen-year-old Riley, only daughter of legendary Demon Trapper Paul Blackthorne, has always dreamed of following in her father’s footsteps. When she’s not keeping up with her homework or trying to manage her growing attraction to fellow Trapper apprentice, Simon, Riley’s out saving citizens from Grade One Hellspawn. Business as usual, really, for a demon-trapping teen. When a Grade Five Geo-Fiend crashes Riley’s routine assignment at a library, jeopardizing her life and her chosen livelihood, she realizes that she’s caught in the middle of a battle between Heaven and Hell.

I hadn’t heard much of anything about this book before reading it. I think I read a review or two, and I remember them being generally positive, but I basically went into this book not knowing what to expect. I feel like some books I go into having read so many reviews about them that I already know what I’m going to think of them. That was definitely not the case here, and I really liked being able to go into a book completely unbiased. But anyway, I ended up really liking this book.

I vaguely remember one of the reviews I read of “The Demon Trapper’s Daughter” mentioning that they had issues with not all the dots quite connecting regarding the demons, demon trappers, Riley, etc. Like there were gaps or something. But honestly, I didn’t notice it. I’m not big on action and plot points--I’m more of a character and writing style kind of girl, and as long as a book’s got those solid, plot gaps and loose ends tend to sail over my head. And this book totally had me sold with its characters and writing.

Riley was tough, but not so tough that I couldn’t relate to her. She was way braver and daring than I’d ever be, but she made plenty of mistakes too, so I didn’t feel like she was out of my league. And she’s sarcastic too. I love sarcastic main characters so ridiculously much. And I really loved Beck too. Beck is Riley’s father’s former apprentice/current partner. He kinda plays the role of older brother to Riley. Beck is the perfect example of a guy who’s tough and a bit of a jerk on the outside, but completely mushy on the inside. He’s just such a good guy. I mean, I could see why he frustrates Riley so much, but most of the time I just wanted her to see how good Beck’s intentions are. Simon, Riley’s love interest, didn’t do much for me. He’s so bland and boring. Sweet and kind, but yeah . . . so boring. I kept hoping Riley would hook up with Beck instead.

The writing in this book was the way I like it for YA paranormals, easy flowing and not at all over the top. It get’s the story told and doesn’t try to make things more dramatic. It doesn’t distract from the story, is what I guess I’m trying to say. Half the book is from Riley’s perspective and half the book is from Beck’s (in alternating chapters), which I liked, since I could find out what both characters were thinking/feeling. But I did think it was really weird to have half the book be from Beck’s perspective when he wasn’t the love interest. I mean, isn’t that how it normally goes when there are two perspectives in a book? One perspective from each of the lovebirds? Don’t get me wrong, I’m so glad it was Beck’s perspective and not boring Simon’s, but still, it threw me off.

The only thing that I didn’t like in the book, and it’s probably not that big a deal for normal people, was how when Beck’s speaking, it’s always “ya” instead of “you” and “yer” instead of “your.” I know the author was trying to show his Southern accent, but seriously, it drove me crazy until I learned to ignore it. I was just like, “Okay! I get the point! Beck’s speaking with a Southern accent. Now can we please go back to ‘you’ and ‘your’? Pretty please?” Also it bugged me that the author used “euuu” instead of “ewww.” These are the random kinds of things that get on my nerves.

Overall, I totally got sucked into this book. The Riley and Beck are thoroughly awesome, and the whole paranormal/dystopian atmosphere made for a fascinating setting. I’ll definitely be tracking down the sequel, which I think came out recently. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I 100 percent hope that in the next one Riley ditches Simon and gets with Beck. That would make all my dreams come true.