Beyond the Veil (The Veil, book 1) by Pippa Dacosta
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Edition Reviewed: eBook
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
Goodreads: Beyond the Veil (1)
“They say I’m half a demon, but I like to think of myself as half human, especially as the demons want me dead.”
Charlie Henderson is living a lie. Her real name is Muse and her attempt at a normal life is about to go up in smoke.
When a half-demon assassin walks into her life, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Muse must return to the one man she hoped never to see again and ask for help. The Prince of Greed isn’t known for his charity. The price is high and the cost could tear her apart.
Trapped between the malevolent intentions of a Prince of Hell, an assassin with ulterior motives and her bloodthirsty demon-kin, Muse must embrace the lure of chaos at her core; the demon inside her, in order to survive.
If your ex is the Prince of Greed, you’d better be ready to raise hell.
Review:
“I should have known he'd be trouble as soon as he walked into my workshop, but I couldn't have known he'd be the death of me.” - Muse
With that opening sentence I was hooked! Especially since you don't know whether it's pertaining to this book or maybe the next ones? All you know is some awesome fun is about to happen. It also reassured my indie/self-pub fears. I haven't been batting well lately. However, it was clear that DaCosta's writing is on freaking point. There was not a single point where I was cringing due to bad writing/grammar. Thank you.
Once those fears were assuaged it was clear that this was one sexy and wild ride. Especially since the man candy does not fit into the molds of good or bad. No it's more like “wickedly evil” and “so baaaaaaaad but I can't help myself”. Oh, and the cherry on top is that they're demons. Yeah.
“The demon inside his male exterior burned with primal needs. It devoured, it stole, it consumed. He was all greed and desire, always hungry.”
Akil is the Demon Prince of Greed. He's basically Muse's—the main character here, I'll get to her—savior. Or is he? Akil is freaking sex and power personified here, and despite all the twists my lady parts still lust. Speaking of lust, let me tell you about Stephan Harper. Assassin, double agent, spy, killer, mechanic, and all around smexy man. Stephan can't be pinned down. He's a half human/half demon, like Muse, but he is ice where she is fire. Oh, they're fabulous together! Stephan might seem like the standard hero, but his character had just enough twists that trusting him is dangerous. I love that any lover Muse has might be deadly, and might just try to kill her. Come on, it's a dangerous combination that's too good.
Now speaking of Muse, I really enjoyed her. She's not some crazy warrior woman. No. Muse is a half demon. She lived in the netherworld for a time as the property of psycho demon. Torture, rape, and all kinds of nightmares were her life. Until Akil stepped in and helped her to become strong and kill her master. Readers come in as she's living the life of a normal human. She’s a blacksmith and enjoys her average Joe life. Her human boyfriend and feeding her cat. Come on, that can't last!
It's clear that Muse has fire—no pun intended—and she wants to be free. It's clear she’s use to hiding behind people. Not using her inner strength and skills, but relying on others to help save her. But I still like her. She's believable, and after all the stuff she's gone through I can buy just wanting to stick your head in the sand. Pretend nothing happened. Though I'm a big believer in the whole “power is knowledge” thing. So I question as to why she wouldn't try to find away to protect herself when she left Akil's protection. A few times Muse ticked me off with her inability to think. To see where things might end up by. You know thinking things through. Knowing when to bail the hell out.
That's part of her charm. Cause despite that she is believable and I enjoy having a different kind of female lead to the UF genre. Muse embraces her sexuality. No slut shaming here. (I can't believe that's enough of a thing that it's such a joyous thing when I find it.) Love that she's a blacksmith/whatever you want to call it. Though I'm bummed there wasn't more of that here. Even with her iffy survival skills I do like that once she's confronted with the truth she goes forth and seeks answers herself.
The best thing about Beyond the Veil is that one can never be sure about any of the characters. What side they're on and what their agenda is. Because everybody has an agenda. Especially if Muse is involved. Because she's been lied to since birth and there are some secrets and truths that are coming out. The only problem is knowing whether it is actually THE truth.
Beyond the Veil definitely left no doubt in my mind as to whether I'd be continuing this book. Duh! It's a fabulous twisty and dark read. Oh, and that cliffhanger!!! (OK, maybe Stephan is that kind of guy.) Muse is a great lead and she's obviously going to be getting the crash course on what the demon world is really like. Now that she knows the truth about half demons and their power I'm excited to see her become that kick ass heroine. Especially since she's already got the whit to go with it. Come on action scene one liners! Even though she's out of the hands of the demons, for now, the humans might not be any better. (After all she just battled a Prince of Hell and her brother still wants her dead.) I'm looking forward to the full world picture that is teased here. (A little bit after writing this review I bought the rest of the books in the series.)
Sexual Content: Sexual humor and some darker themes.
4/5- Great! Really enjoyed it.
| Previous book(s) in series: | ||
| Reviewed on BW: | Amazon: | Goodreads: |
| Beyond the Veil (1) Devil May Care (2) Darkest Before Dawn (3) Drowning in the Dark (4) Ties That Bind (5) | Beyond the Veil (1) | Beyond the Veil (1) Devil May Care (2) Darkest Before Dawn (3) Drowning in the Dark (4) Ties That Bind (5) |
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