I received this young adult epic fantasy eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is my first official review of an ARC (Arrrrr!) on my blog.

the demon girl’s song (Susan Jane Bigelow)

Title: the demon girl’s song

Author: Susan Jane Bigelow

Publisher: Dreaming Robot Press

Publication Date: currently September 25, 2016

ISBN: 9781940924151

Source: NetGalley

I have to say I was super excited to get this novel as the concept sounded rather fascinating. And I am so glad I read it. I loved the main character, Andín. Through no fault of her own, Andín ends up with a crazy old demon trapped in her head and has to deal with the consequences. These consequences are harsh.

Andín starts out as a simple village girl with a wish for a brighter future. She wants to go to university and study and travel. Her da tells her that he is not sending her. Then the demon happens. This book was full of surprises and plot twists. But basically the story revolves around how the demon changes Andín and what she does about it. And that idea is really what makes this book so interesting. I do not want to be a spoiler so I won’t get into how Andín and the demon thing resolves, but I have to admit it was quite something. So much so that I had to explain how the book ends to a much entertained first mate just to try and express how awesome I thought this relationship and resolution was.

Now, I didn’t think the world building was particularly interesting in that most of the towns and villages and countries sound the same. But I liked some of details in the story. For example, technology is shifting and we have railcars and airships and electricity moving on up. Politics are changing too. One of the more interesting characters that we see in brief is a woman championing for women’s rights. Then there is the question of emperors vs. more democracies. And yet you still have demons and religious superstitions in society as well. Oh and some happy diversity in this novel as well which I always love.

The ending of this book also just sort of made me happy in its unexpectedness. It is the kind of ending that makes you go “huh?” and yet seems perfect in its oddness and choices. So much so that I continue to let thoughts of it bounce around in my head. You see the “big conflict” to save the world really takes forever to appear and yet I didn’t care because I was enjoying Andín and the demon. Oh and Yshe. She is an awesome secondary character. There are hints about how you think the ending is going to go throughout. There are magic and dreams and coincidences. And what is happening to the world is interesting and intricate. I am just rambling now but it’s that kind of reading experience. An odd book that was super fun to read and is super hard to explain in coherent terms. Well at least for me. So read it when it comes out and let me know how it makes you feel. Maybe ye can put it into words better than this captain. So lastly . . .

Thank you Dreaming Robot Press!

To see this review on my blog visit https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/2016/04/09/on-the-horizon-the-demon-girls-song-susan-jane-bigelow/