Ramy Vance

Axes and Angels
(Better Demons #1)
by Matthew Herrmann, Ramy Vance
Wow, I really liked this book! This is a world where all the gods and goddess have just up and left! Now instead of the curse of 'G#d damn' it's 'GodsGone damn'! Our gal of the story, Theo, is a thief for hire, so not a great role model. Her partner is Orion, as in the once constellation! Her ex-partner is in the story and she is a bit on the crazy side. Her name is Lucy and she has four arms and was a body guard for an Indian show more god at one point. The best characters, in my opinion, is There's familiars. They are 5" high men she named Simon and Garfunkel. They ride on her shoulders and are invisible to all but her.
There is so much that happens in this book! It's fast paced and loads of fun and suspense. Quirky banter and unpredictable situations are the norm!
They get in the middle of two gangs.
Her best friend is gorgeous from the waist up, the rest is all spider!
She is kidnapped a few times.
Declared to be the Prophecy girl.
Beer parties with ghosts! And more! Truly a good story!
There was one section near the end of the book that seemed out of place with the rest of the book and that's why I didn't give it 5 stars. Recommended highly if you love creatures, Greek mythology, and snarky fun! show less

Genius idea

I love this new take on the supernatural genre....what happens to the world, and a certain female vampire when every God in the world decide to up and leave??. Vamps, series, witches and every magical creature are suddenly less than....human....what the heck will they do now? Katrina "Kat" Darling.... ex vampire extraordinaire enrolls in college of all things....o my her plans are thrown off kilter when her very first friend as a human is murdered. WTH??? All kinds of hijinx and show more interesting beings are met along the way. I look forward to seeing what happens next. show less

Imagine a world where all of the gods just left - kind of like the dolphins in Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy. It might have been easier if they'd taken all of their, servants, minions, and assorted beings with them. But they didn't.

Angels crashed down from heaven, demons rose from hell, and genies, ghosts, and fairies among others all suddenly appeared. Is this Armageddon? No, that seems to be coming.

The first episode is a great read - I did want more. Vance is releasing each episode as show more a separate volume - I'm hoping for a collection because it's hard to wait for the next one.

If you like dystopian tales that are about more than a zombie storm, you'll enjoy this one. show less

As others already pointed out despite the MC technically being very old she, as well as the rest of the story, firmly fit into the younger side of YA. I've read complains about this but I think the justification for this is perfectly fine.
One typical bad YA thing this book does is preach. Racism bad, be honest with yourself, accept people that are different, yadda yadda.
It's not as blatant as I have seen in other YA books but it doesn't entirely avoid coming across as patronizing at times. show more Don't get me wrong, I agree with the sentiments, but the delivery is just so shallow and blunt. It's like telling you that you should wash your hands after going to the toilet. duh.

But my biggest problem with this book is something else. Namely the lack of a consistent plot.
I have a hard time putting this into words so I'll just have to fall back on an explicit example. Imo everything that could be considered a spoiler is just worldbuilding and no plot twists are spoiled but I'll put it in a tag anyway. Someone figures out that she was a vampire and she is liable for whatever she has done before becoming human so she then decides she can not be part of the school and has to leave the city and disappear. But her council session, which precedes her voluntary exmatriculation and happens soon after, is just a bunch of hogwash about her finding her place here, having a positive impact, and other classic YA drivel in that vein. And after that, the entire reason she intended to leave before her secret comes out is just completely forgotten about. Her entire motivation for leaving college changes to not feeling like she fits in somehow. Did she just decide going to jail for life is not so bad if she can fight student racism and generally be over the top wholesome and positive for a few days? The book picks the original thread up again later on but it just swept the entire thing under the rug for the duration in which it would've been inconvenient. This is not the only example of the author just flat out dropping a story thread but it was the most striking one in the first book.
This book treats logical consistency more like a vague suggestion than anything which is a dealbreaker for me.

It seems to me that the murder mystery is almost not present at all not because the author intended it that way but because he got side-tracked from one educational (preachy) sub-plot section to the next.

And while the book doesn't shy away from describing quite gruesome and bloody scenes, beyond that it's very naive, two-dimensional, light-hearted, corny, friendship-is-magic, and a bit of angsty romance. I think you get the idea. This is one of many books that suffer from this problem of trying to have upbeat friendships and be dark and gritty at the same time and instead just end up with this confused inconsistent mess of an atmosphere that is neither.

Maybe this changes in later books but it doesn't seem to me like the author took proper care with consistency and in my experience series like this generally get worse in quality over time, not better.

One minor thing that nonetheless started to annoy me quite a bit is the MC constantly speaking her thoughts out loud. It's supposed to be a character quirk but it's used way too often and seems more like a cheap plot device than a genuine character quirk.
Apropos cheap plot devices. There are two other tropes in here I despise. Constant unnecessary misunderstandings/miscommunications and sudden unnecessary bouts of caginess about key information which are used to prevent sometimes major plot points from just evaporating on the spot.
The plot as well as the various short sub-plots don't fit together naturally and are positively flooded with unbelievable and inorganic plot steering. show less