“Demonosity” by Amanda Ashby

This is another young adult novel with an asexual character (similar to “Guardian of the Dead”). It’s definitely not as well-written as the other book, there were some plot points that I could see coming, and the characters were maybe not as believable. But overall, still an enjoyable read.

In terms of the characters, Nash is probably the best one, since the others are kind of cookie cutter archetypes. He’s asexual, and loves old books about Renaissance times. Both he and the asexual character from “Guardian of the Dead” seem to fall into the same trope of “really attractive male who’s not interested” which bugs me a little bit. First of all, this equates asexuality with aromanticism, and there are also many more asexual narratives out there! But since they are both represented well, I can’t really complain about them otherwise.

For the other characters, yeah they tend to fall into tropes. There are some exceptions, such as Celeste, (by far the best plot point involves her reversing a trope) but overall they seem pretty generic. Such as the new, hot boy turning out to be involved in everything mysterious happening. I mean, of course.

The plot is a little out there, some things could have used deeper clarification. Such as the fact that the twins from fourteenth century France are actually like 15 years old. I assumed that they were adults until love and relationships got involved and after that was pretty shocked. And Nash just seemed to accept Cassidy’s explanation for things without questioning them, which seemed out of character for such a bookworm. A little more work could have been done there.

Having said all that, the ending decision does kind of make up for it. Not going to spoil it, but there is a recurring theme where Cassidy cannot make a decision about anything small. And that turns out to her advantage. It’s an unconventional ending, and one that redeems the story.

It’s a young adult novel, a little on the typical side. But it has it’s redeeming qualities, one of which being that you genuinely like the characters despite (or because of) the archetypes being used. Give it a try if you want an easier read.