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Review: Guardian Demon by Meljean Brook (The Guardians #8)

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Guardian Demon by Meljean Brook // VBC ReviewGuardian Demon (The Guardians #8)
Meljean Brook
Published: Aug. 6, 2013 (Berkley)
Purchase at: Book Depository or Amazon
Review source: purchased

Reviewed by: Krista

Rating (out of 5): 3.5 stars

Note: While this review will be spoiler free, it does reference events from past books in the series.

Guardian Demon is the epic conclusion of Brook’s Guardian Series. Being completely honest I haven’t read the entire series and, even then, I read most of it out of order. Luckily, this doesn’t weaken the overall enjoyment of the individual books. Although the books carry over as continuous story arc, each book is so self-contained that they can be successfully enjoyed without reading the predecessor.

Picking up shortly after Demon Marked, Andy returns to the Hell’s destroyed frozen fields to locate and rescue the Guardians lost leader, Michael. Having sacrificed himself, Michael was trapped and tortured until he had lost all that was left of his humanity. All that remains is his demon half, which manifested itself as a demon-eating dragon who had little concern for anything other than his own rage.

During the successful attempt Andy is mortally wounded and lands in a two year long coma. Michael is returned to his normal ethereal self but we soon learn that the respite is only temporary; Michael was also mortally wounded and is slowly losing his hold on existence. After the brief prologue in hell, the book begins when Andy wakes up from her coma.

My favorite part of Brook’s writing is her layered characters. With Andy and Michael she has been layering the bits and pieces of their individual identities throughout several books and novellas. Each of the characters has been foundation points for every event and person, which have colored the Guardian series. Although they are seen as leaders and touchstones for those around them and, though neither would openly portray it, they each consider themselves broken. So broken that they carry no hope for their own futures. But what the reader and they themselves later come to realize is that their broken pieces fit with each other’s.

I will admit that I usually have a problem with the final book in a series. It’s not that I have a problem with conclusions, it’s that I have found myself time and time again disappointed. Either the author rushes through points, adds actions or events to serve their ending which otherwise doesn’t make sense, or it doesn’t feel honest to the characters which we have gotten to know through several books. With Guardian Demon Brook successfully rounded out her series. She touched base with all of our favorites and nothing felt false or jarring. The only problem I found was that some of the pacing was occasionally slow, but with so many threads to pull together it was easily forgivable. Also the intense intimate moments between Michael and Andy were very hot and at the same time vulnerable.

I really enjoyed Guardian Demon and would suggest picking it up if you enjoy your paranormal romance a little darker and more intense than some of its contemporaries. In the past I have found this series either a hit or miss, but Guardian Demon is definitely in the hit column.

Sexual content: Gravity-Altering Sexual Moments

2 Responses to “Review: Guardian Demon by Meljean Brook (The Guardians #8)”

  1. Lori Jolly says:

    I have read this whole series and really enjoyed it , I think starting at the beginning helped me grasp all that was going on with this series and I got to know all the people before there story was told . The ending though I hated to see come was a fitting ending to a great series . I am looking forward to checking out MeLJeans next Adventures .

  2. Amy says:

    I love Brook’s Iron Seas series and The Guardians is one that is on my TBR list. I need to remember it when I’m looking for something new to read.

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