The Demon's Lexicon

I am so happy (dances around) that I had a chance to read this book. I loved Nick. His sarcasm had me laughing a lot. The whole plot of this book is great! I loved the whole witches, warlocks and demon fighting. Demon fighting rocks! Nick and his brother Alan kick butt at what they do!

The plot is

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what instantly grabbed me. I enjoyed all the sword fighting, kick butt, demon killing action. Alan is a great older brother who took care of his brother and mother. Nick and Alan both are on the move in order to avoid meeting up with demons who want their mothers charm.

Now I love secrets. And the secrets revealed in this book were absolutely yummy! I was shocked to find out but it also made sensed when I thought back in the things in the book. But shocked I was. I felt for them and the secret they were harboring. I can only hope that in the next book they will fight till the very end. My only gripe was the pace of the story. I really wanted just to dive in but it sort of held back a bit.

The Demon's Lexicon is dark, adventurous read that had a secret like no other. It held me from the first page and I love it. I can't wait to read the second book!

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I have read Brennan for years in the realm of fanfic. She's one of the few truly born writers. Her mind is brilliant and she expresses it beautifully through words. Fair or not to compare, I did not find The Demon's Lexicon her usual high standard of writing. While the story-building is worthy, the

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writing just wasn't very strong. I choose to chalk that somewhat up to the unreliable narrator, a third person limited teen male, whose life isn't what he thinks it is. His confusion, as well as his less-than-human origins, no doubt contribute to his literary lack of depth or emotional range. Still, even filtered through a stoic mind, I didn't connect with any of the characters.

The writing felt like Brennan was under the gun, flowing freely initially, only to become hurried in the end. She seemed to be writing for a truncated word count, rather than with the elegant detail for which she's known. I spent the middle portion of the book feeling that something got edited out that shouldn't have. As well, I figured out the plot twist on page 53, and went to completion just to see the logistics of how she would pull it together. It was predictable in that regard. I also have issues with curious titles whose meaning is never tied back into the plot. Yes, I can leap to the metaphor, but I shouldn't have to. Reading this as a teen, though, I would have found this book fantastic, certainly heads above what is put forth in the genre today. Brennan is brave for creating a new world quite well, and for breathing new life into the world of the damned.

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"Demon's Lexicon" had me from the start. Alan & Nick are a pair of brothers facing down magic and demons. I immediately thought of the tv show "Supernatural", which is my favorite. Turns out that they are only similar in that they are brothers dealing with the supernatural, and the story is much

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better for it! Alan and Nick are constantly on the run from magicians who call the demons. The demons killed the boys' father and are now after something their mother has. The boys do a good job taking care of their mother and themselves while keeping the baddies at bay. Their world gets shifted though when a girl from school shows up with her brother begging the brothers for help. The brother, Jamie, has received a demon's mark and needs it removed. Demon's marks can lead the demon's to them and can allow the demons to invade their dreams. Eventually the demon's mark will mean their death. When Alan gets a demon mark while helping Jamie, the brothers begin a quest to get both boy's marks removed. Nick hasn't got much empathy for Jamie's situation but he does care about Alan. Then Nick finds out that Alan has been lying to him and keeping secrets, so Nick digs to find out what his brother has been keeping from him and why. What comes from this discovery and the books climactic conclusion proves a quality young adult novel can be character intensive and feature paranormal elements. Yes, this book is about demons, magic, swords, and goblin markets! But the heart of the story, and the reason I will be pondering this tale for a long time, is the bond between Alan and Nick and what "brother" truly means.

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I’ve been waiting for this to come out for a long time and [info - livejournal.com]maharetr made the last few hours more tantalising by SMSing me a picture of her holding it when she picked it up for me.

I loved it!

Young adult dark fantasy featuring magicians, demons and a fearless sword wielding

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hero. Nick is all young and broody which he can be forgiven for, what with being on the run, having a crazy mom and being made to go to school by his fabulous older brother Alan. Said brother Alan does everything he to care for for Nick, protecting his small family from malnutrition and demonically possessed ravens (but not plumbing). This is a first novel and young writing but has creative world building, passionate, interesting relationships and some delightful irreverent snark. I’m not sure which brother I adore the most :)

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Nick is dark, quiet, and exudes danger. Alan is friendly, open, and puts others before himself. The brothers back each other up no matter what. For years they've been hiding from Black Arthur and his minions, trying to keep their mother and the charm she stole from the master magician safe. They've

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been constantly on the look out for signs they've been found and ready to move at a moments notice. This time is no different, except for the brother and sister that come to them for help.Nick doesn't want anything to do with Mae and Jamie, but Alan can't turn them away. Jamie has been marked by a demon and needs help removing the mark or he'll become possessed. In the process of trying to help, Alan also becomes marked. After some investigation they find out both Alan and Jamie's marks are a result of The Obsidian Circle and the only way to save them both is to kill the circle's leader - Black Arthur.Sarah Rees Brennan has created an interesting story full of mystery, suspense, questions of loyalty and friendship, and what it really means to be family. Nick, not necessarily the nicest guy, becomes a character you can't help but love. You'll be ready to move on to the second book in the trilogy after you finish DEMON'S LEXICON.

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I read this for bookclub and these are my notes, which CONTAIN A PLOT SPOILER!

So. What to say? I don't have much but, thankfully, it's not going to
be quite such an all-out negative review as I thought reading the
first good chunk of the book.

I thought the story was good, once it got going. Even

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the
evil-magician-turns-out-to-be-real-dad red herring was done not badly
and wasn't predictable too early on; then the
troubled-teenager-turns-out-to-be-demon I really didn't see coming
until it was being spelled out for poor slow demon boy. I don't read
fantasy--urban or otherwise--much so maybe I'm way off the mark but
this struck me as being quite an original twist (and plot in general).
As the pace of the story telling picked up, I did find myself wanting
to know what would happen. So the author's done her job, I suppose.
And I'm even curious what demon Nick is going to get up to in the next
book. But not enough, I suspect, to make me go and read it.
_Because_...

This is a book for teenagers and there's just no escaping that. The
main characters were all teenagers and irritating in their own ways.
There were lines here and there that I did find mildly funny but all
of a puerile, God-what-a-brat sort of flavour. I found Nick
particularly aggravating, with all that male angst and arrogance and
testosterone and attitude; a hard lead to empathise or sympathise
with. The really clever thing is that all his being different and soul
searching and not-fitting-in-ness and feeling-alone-ness, every reader
must naturally put down to his adolescence, until the final twist is
revealed and you find out he actually _is_ different from everyone
else after all. The _sad_ thing is, by the time the cleverness is
revealed, I'm so sick of Nick (and the rest of them), I don't care
what happens to him and I just want the book to be over. And I'm not
going to go back and irritate myself all over again by rereading with
my newfound appreciation of Nick's secrets.

Which brings me back to the second and third books to follow. Now that
we know Nick's a demon and Nick knows Nick's a demon, what's left? Can
the second one offer such an imaginative, dramatic twist? Or is Nick
just going to run around with his big sword killing magicians? And is
he going to become somehow more likeable, now that he has a better
understanding of himself? Since the book was always (I think) intended
as the first of a trilogy, maybe I should have more faith in Brennan
to have thought out each book equally well; she's clearly very capable of
good plots. But I think the young adult style is just always going to
spoil it for me. Oh, and I'm not sure I'll like even grown-up urban
fantasy: I think people running around London with swords, magicians
in pubs and demons in Exeter will just never sit right with me but
maybe it's something that I'd get used to, given the right book.

Executive summary: good story but annoying to read.

I'm off to get me a big sword.

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The mythology is a little scattered, but Nick is a fun derivation from the emotionally-damaged-hero status quo. Brennan's commitment to creating a mysterious and broody hero who isn't also secretly sensitive and caring is a welcome change of pace. Nick's characterization is well executed, and his

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attempts at navigating his relationships with his brother and others are engaging and a little bit heartbreaking.

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Nick and his brother Alan are always on the run, along with their crazy mother, from the magicians and their demons that killed his father. Before they leave their latest home a girl and boy come to him with a problem. The girls brother has been marked by a demon and will be possessed without their

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help. Alan then gets marked also, so they set out to hunt down the magician responsible for unleashing the demon. Through this Nick begins to suspect his past isn't as everyone says.

I loved The Demon's Lexicon. The characters are brilliant. I liked Nick's narration, and his insistence that Alan was the good one, and how important Alan was to him. I also liked Alan who is the nice, bookish, older brother with quite a lot of secrets. Their relationship was so important to Nick that the revelations shocked him, even an obvious one, as he had just accepted Alan's word. This book was unusual in the magicians being cruel, and evil rather than the wonderful, and strange qualities usually associated with them. The book is quite twisty, there is one obvious revelation (about their mother), and a series that really surprised me. The pieces fit together perfectly and I can't wait for the next book in the series!

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16-year-old Nick Ryves’ life has always consisted of running away from the magicians, who want an amulet that Nick’s mother stole from them—an amulet that’s keeping her alive. Nick spends all his time protecting his crippled older brother, Alan, and trying to avoid his mother, who hates

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him. For the longest time, those two were the only constants in his life…until a brother and sister walk into their house one day, the brother bearing a demon’s mark on his body.

Demon’s marks allow magicians to track them and eventually a demon to possess the body, and when one appears on Alan, Nick will do anything to save his brother’s life. Their journey takes them through England, in and out of magic circles, but secrets abound, and there’s the greatest family secret of all that threatens to be even more dangerous than the demon’s mark.

THE DEMON’S LEXICON starts off with a bang, and the action and excitement—and my love for the characters—just keeps building from there. It is a unique and exceptionally well-written fantasy/action story that kept my eyes glued to the pages, never wanting it to end.

Nick is without a doubt the best part of the book. If you like bad boys, Nick is your guy: he’s apathetic and prone to anger, sword-happy and never remorseful. And in spite of all that, we love him. He is dedicated to his brother, and his thoughts are wonderfully portrayed, so that we can understand completely how his brain works. Often in YA fantasy/paranormal novels the “bad boy” is the main character’s forbidden love interest; here, he is the medium through which we absorb the story, and we grow to adore him and his peculiar, rough ways.

Sarah Rees Brennan is a master at writing and storytelling, two very different skills that do not always intersect. She weaves fascinating prose in and out of a compelling plotline, all carried along by the strength of Nick’s character. Whenever the plot slowed into possible dull moments, or secondary characters felt unclear to me, Nick was always there, keeping me enjoying the story.

THE DEMON’S LEXICON is a wonderful novel that will appeal to both genders. I have now proudly joined the crowd of Nick adorers, and can’t wait for what Sarah Rees Brennan has to show us next.

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Merideth says: Although there is nothing new here, this book is a pleasant enough read. Half brothers Nick and Alan have spent their life on the run from magicians who seek a powerful charm stolen by their mother. Nick, who has trouble reading, but superlative combat skills, is easily frustrated

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with pretty much everything, Of particular vexation is Alan's attachments to people. Savvy readers will see the "twist' in this book coming from a long way, and those experienced in the ways of urban fantasy will recognize more than a few story elements. However, Nick is broody enough for most teenage girls to fawn over, and the world Brennan creates is interesting, if not original.

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I completely loved this book. I love the main characters and I loved that I thought I had it all figured out only to be completely blown away by the ending. And yet, thinking back on everything, it made complete sense. I can't wait to see how this trilogy plays out. Highly recommend.

Nick loves his brother but finds most other people incomprehensible. That seems the least of his troubles -- he defends himself from demons with his sword, his brother was crippled in a magicians attack (that killed their dad), two annoying kids from school show up and attract danger, his insane

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mother hates him.

"You get the magician," Alan whispered. "I'll take the demon."
"I'll get them both," Nick said roughly, and shoved Alan for emphasis.

The plot takes off with the two kids, who stay with Nick and his older brother Alan as they try to sort out the dangers menacing them. Alan is desperately lonely, and sweet, and loyal to his family. Nick is loyal to Alan, but utterly disconnected from everybody else. James, the boy in trouble, is timid and snarky and scared, while his sister Mae refuses to let the universe harm her brother, no matter how mad the dangers get.

I loved this book. The bond between the brothers hooked me from the start, and Nick's lack of empathy made him interesting and kept the book on edge -- I was never sure I was rooting for the good guys. Nick's reactions read a lot like autism, if the autistic person was also a knife-wielding killer, and I'm a sucker for autism books. (Elizabeth Moon's _The Speed of Dark_ is a great one.) The ending was spectacular, and I'm delighted to hear there will be a sequel. I don't want to say too much about it, because the ride means more if you don't see what's coming.

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This book was ruined for me by all the positive reviews. I couldn't enjoy it due to all the hype it received before I got my copy of it.
Wish I hadn't listened to all of that, and just waited til I got hold of the book.

There seem to be quite a lot of paranormal adventure novels out for the young adult set these days, all with parents who are dead or MIA or potentially evil, or all three. The authors seem to be combining the Star Wars and Harry Potter universes to the best of their ability.

All that said, I quite

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enjoyed this book. Brennan has created an interesting protagonist in Nick Ryves, a sixteen-year-old who lives with his older brother Alan and his mother who cannot stand to be in the same room with him--though she has no trouble with Alan at all. The brothers care for their mother and mostly look out for themselves, traveling frequently in order to keep out of the way of an evil circle of magicians who are after them. These magicians gain their power by raising demons and allowing them the use of a human body for a short time. The demons, grateful for any brief chance to escape their own torturous dimension, grant the magicians heightened magical abilities in return.

Life for Nick seems to consist primarily of training to use his sword, picking up girls, and keeping the family out of harm's way. But when Alan received a demon's mark and a pair of strangers come looking for their assistance as well, Nick finds himself hunting the very magicians who have been out to get them.

The writing is clear and entertaining, and Brennan has a lovely, fresh wit that shines through her work. I also found her ending refreshingly original--a twist I did not anticipate until quite near the reveal, though the clues were in place. Quite enjoyable, and much better than a number of the books in this sub-genre.

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Nick and Alan have never been able to settle down. Their mother is rarely lucid, and they're constantly in danger of demon attacks. Then two kids from Nick's school, Mae and her brother Jamie, show up at their door in serious trouble, and things get worse. Now they have to kill a magician in order

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to save themselves, and the Circles of magicians aren't exactly fond of this plan. Saving Alan is going to teach Nick more than he ever wanted to know about his family and himself.

At first, I was a little bit disappointed in this book. Nick's empty ennui started grating on my nerves even as I started to fall in love with his brother Alan and the imperiled siblings Mae and Jamie. But as the book goes on, the reasons for Nick's attitude begin to come clear, and you can't really blame him anymore.

Trust me. After you read the last chapter, you'll want to go back to the start to find all of the clues you missed. And if you ever have the chance to hear Sarah Rees Brennan speak, do it. Ask her how she set her kitchen on fire once.

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This is what I wanted the Rob Thurman books to be. Brennan has the fannish DNA, and also the book’s cover appears to feature young Tom Welling, so, bonus. Nick is the taciturn, snappish younger brother, protective of his physically weaker but smarter older brother Alan. They’re on the run from

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demons because their mother—who hates Rebel-With-a-Cause Nick—stole something very valuable from a powerful magician; magicians raise demons and use them to gain power. When a brother and sister seek the brothers’ help with a demon problem of their own, Alan’s compassion puts all of them in terrible danger, and many secrets are revealed. The mythology is cool—I’d read another book in the series just to learn what the heck is up with demons—and the big reveal, though not that hard to figure out, is terrifically satisfying. Highly recommended.

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Upon opening The Demon's Lexicon, I was greeted with this intriguing first line: The pipe under the sink was leaking again. It wouldn't have been so bad, except that Nick kept his favorite sword under the sink.Attention getter huh?And things just took off from there. Nick and Alan have been on

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their own and on the run for their entire lives. Numerous groups of power-hungry magicians would love to get their hands on a powerful talisman their insane mother Olivia stole; only problem is that the talisman is the only thing keeping her alive. So over the years, they've learned to run fast and defend themselves when necessary: Nick with his physical strength and deadly sword (knew we were getting back to that, didn't you?) and Alan with his brains and a deadly shot. This picking and up and moving constantly has seemed to work until a brother and sister come to Nick and Alan requesting their aid in removing a demon's mark placed on Jamie. Alan has always been a pushover for people in trouble and will stop at nothing to help Jamie and his sister Mae. Frustrated and confused with his brother, Nick has always trusted him with their lives, but as Nick begins to discover secrets his brother has kept for many years, the bond between the brothers begins to unravel, threatening to tear them apart.Boiled down, this really is a story about two brothers and the bond between them. Good, bad and often ugly. Since Alan practically raised Nick, they know precisely which buttons to push to inflict the most hurt and pain even though they are intensely different people. Ouch. I've got a close sister, I know the truth in that. At different times I intensely disliked or mistrusted each and everyone one of the characters in this book - I also loved every character too, just at different moments. It made me a bit uncomfortable at times since I wasn't sure how I felt about them, but there is such a unexpected 'reveal' that once explained, I nodded my said and just said "ooohhhh" [insert lightbulb turning on over my head:]. All the seemingly weird scenes made sense and were totally understandable because, dang it, it finally clicked. Pretty impressive, since there was only slight foreshadowing and I had no idea what was in store for Alan and Nick. I'm a big fan of when that happens. I really enjoy urban fantasy in general, but this dark and often creepy book contained so much character development and interesting secondary characters that I couldn't tear myself away.

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The Demon’s Lexicon took quite a while to start. For the first half we were introduced to the characters, the basic groundwork—details, names, behaviors. While it was nice—a hint of action or two—I got slightly bored of it. I feared that The Demon’s Lexicon would be all hype and no

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delivery. The second half, however, killed it and sold me to Sarah as a rising author to an amazing series.

It was within the intricate plotline, the evasiveness, the twists and turns that I have come to believe that SRB is a wonderful story teller. I had no idea what she had in mind, when she laid out the small little details, that flew together so smoothly in the end. I am still quite speechless about how well it was executed! Magnificent!

Characters as well were a bit of a surprise. I imagined a certain type of persona from a glimpse and was shocked at how much depth they each had in the later half. They all have their secrets that could not be told and motives for their actions.

Alan for me was spectacular. He was all twist and turns. I thought I had the perfect idea of what he was, what he wanted, and it turned completely 180.

Nick was also different. In some ways he was more stable as it involved the actual plotline that wowed me with Nick. But I do have to say that his affection and loyalty to his brother, Alan was touching.

Again the action lies in the second half. The first half rather dull but you cannot stop once you pass it.

Overall: Sadistic humor, touching, surprising and exhilarating, The Demon’s Lexicon will astound readers across the world. Bravo to Sarah for an amazing debut.

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Wow, what a book! I'd have to say that it's the best book that I've read lately. Reading from Nick's point of view was very refreshing. It was like being inside the head of the ultimate bad boy, the one that all of the girls swoon over and who you know that you should stay away from. It was nice to

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not see the story as the swooning girl. Though sometimes I really didn't like Nick at all, but that was okay, in those places you're not supposed to.

All of the characters in this book are extremely complex and real. I don't know how she did it, but I felt like I knew all of the characters. The imagery is really good too. I could see certain scenes, such as the Goblin Market, like I was there. And the plot...

The book starts out relatively straight forward: Nick and Alan are running from magicians with their crazy mother because she has an amulet that they want and if she takes it off she dies. Jamie and Mae come to them for help because weird things have been happening to Jamie. Some things happen and they figure that they have to go hunting for some magicians. By then I figured that the rest of the book was going to be all about the problem presented in the first few chapters. I was way off base. So much more happens. The drama, the mystery surrounding Nick and Alan, the action. It all adds up to an awesome book full of everything that you could ever ask for. I devoured it.

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Okay, so I’ll admit that the reason it took me so long to read this book was because, from reading the cover, it reminded me of Supernatural, and I never felt a draw to that show. (I know, I know: cute boys, fighting evil, what’s not to love right? I don’t know, I just felt blah about it from

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the start.) The difference was that with this book, I still felt compelled to pick it up every single time I saw it and flip through it again, just to see if maybe I’d missed something in my million previous perusals of the summary. Finally I decided to just pick it up and start reading it. I mean, if I absolutely hated it after one of my self-imposed checkpoints, I could put it down and move on to something else, right? So I started it, and now I’m glad that I did because I really enjoyed it!
I’m not gonna lie and say I totally got everything that was going on. (There’s a reason my favorite genre is contemporary realism, people.) There were points when I was like, “He’s gonna do what now? What’s the point of that?” But I found the story as a whole to be unique and entertaining enough that I didn’t care if I didn’t totally understand exactly how the dancing thing worked or what have you. I was mesmerized by the story, and even though I sometimes thought I knew what was going to happen, there was enough doubt in my mind that I never saw anything coming from miles away. And I love when that happens.
Perhaps what I enjoyed most about this book was that the relationships between the main characters (Nick, Alan, their mother, Mae, and Jamie) were complicated and ever-changing. Sometimes when that happens in books, it goes so fast that it’s at whiplash-inducing speeds, but the way it was done here gave the story momentum and actually served a purpose more than just to confuse or surprise. Nick and Alan’s relationship was central, and watching Nick move from loyalty to Alan to suspicious of Alan’s motives was a fun journey to be on. The changing dynamic of their relationship affected other characters’ relationships as well, so there were all sorts of complex problems between the different main characters, which makes this story all the more interesting to me.
I think the way the book ends is brilliant, because there’s enough resolution that I don’t feel completely unsatisfied, but it raises so many questions that I want to know what happens next. Yes, I’m definitely glad I finally decided to read this. But now I’m wishing that my carpe librum moment had happened about a month later than it did so that I wouldn’t have to wait so for the next book.

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This is the latest book I've purchased, and by some sort of mystifying decision of the universe, the latest I've read, as well. It's--I don't know how to describe it: it is compelling and hilarious and heart-breaking, and if you're not careful enough, it leaves you a sobbing, laughing mess. It's

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the sort of compelling book that makes you ditch your napping plans and gives you headaches from all the crying you've started to have going on once past the halfway mark. (Or that's me, but I never, ever cry when reading a book. And I've read a lot of dramatic and heart-wrenching books in my life.) It didn't start out slowly: in fact, we are almost thrown into the storyline, because Nick and Alan have already been on the run for more than half their lives, and the beginning is perceived as a very ordinary scene for them, as much as everything that happens thereafter--people coming for help; Alan's sweet, awkward crush on Mae and his sheer empathy, and desire to help them; Nick being unfazed, and ditching bodies in rivers--up until a messenger comes bearing unwanted news for them. I loved the very carefully-constructed character that is Nick, and it was painful to watch things unfold from his point of view; I had been spoiled before I read the book, but honestly, I'm pretty sure I didn't enjoy it any less that I would otherwise have. Sarah Rees Brennan has a quirky, lovely writing style, and her attention to the details just makes this book even better than it already is. It's a lovely, lovely read. Everyone should buy it! The paperback UK edition has a beautiful cover (with no pouty-lipped Clark Kent) and you should really find a way to acquire this book, because it's just that brilliant.

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Love how SRB sneaks in references to legends and myths of various backgrounds. I love how family members can understand one another so well and yet not at all. I fucking love how she slides in this information and later drops these hints that make you think, "Could it be that... No, no way... But

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maybe..." I admit that it took me a couple chapters to really get into it, but once I was... Do I really have to get up early tomorrow? Maybe just a few more pages...

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I've been looking forward to reading this book ever since I got to Sarah Rees Brennan (thru one of MundieMom's chats). And it was worth the wait!At first, I didn't know what to expect. I mean, the protagonists are guys. But I got the hang of it and I was easily charmed by the Dyves brothers.

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There's the dark and brooding, Nick and Alan, the sensitive and intellectual type. If I had these two as brothers, they might scare potential mates away. But these two are also endearing to each other and was fascinating to read because seldom do I get a glimpse on how brothers treat each other. And with the foreboding danger as their background, their brotherhood is tested to the limit. Power, love, and family in this story where humanity is a demon's best temptation.

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From the very first line this book captured my attention. I enjoyed it from start to finish! I loved the author’s writing style and all of the main characters quick-witted/occasionally snarky conversations. I loved what I feel is a very original story line, and although I could guess the ‘big

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twist’ at the end with few helpful hints along the way, it was an awesome read! I felt great compassion for Alan with his complex family and was intrigued by Nick. I loved how their brotherly relationship, as opposed to romantic relationships, was the real focus of the story. Alan loves Nick – and Nick loves Alan (even though he doesn’t seem to understand that himself) you can see it through all of their actions. Each brother instinctively acts to protect the other – above all else. Secondary characters Mae and Jamie also love and protect each other through their own demon and magician filled challenges. I am not a personal fan of Mae, but she gets a big *thumbsup* from me for sticking up and helping her little brother, Jamie. Throw in teen angst and thorny families - mix in demons and a dash of magicians - add some edge-of-your-seat action, and you have an excellent book! I highly recommend it!

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