ARC Review: Demonic Dora (Demon Diaries #1)

Be ready to confess your sins after reading this book. It’s sacrilegious, vulgar…..and unfortunately, VERY FUNNY. I picked this book to read because I liked the Goth cover and name. I honestly can’t even remember if I read what the book was about, so I went into it not knowing what to expect.   I probably should have known what to expect. This book is SO NOT FOR EVERYONE, and I almost exiled it from my reader.  I had to suspend mental criticisms to continue reading past the first chapter. This reading experience was definitely out of my comfort zone, but sometimes that’s a good an interesting thing.

Dora is our troubled teen who lives in the loft of a church with her evangelical parents. Her father is a television minister, and the bane of her existence. Dora is a practicing Wiccan and has managed to conjure her first demon after many failed attempts.  Fortunately for us, this demon is HOT. This spawn of satan is named Keiron and he looks like he is from the Swiss Alps rather than Hell. Keiron can shift in and out of demon form, and proves to be a helpful, if not dim-witted, demon lord.  After an exorcism and attempted witch burning at the hands of her own parents, Keiron wisps Dora away from her hellish life back to Hell with him. Ironic? Indeed. Let the adventure begin.

 Dora and Keiron are our Wynona Ryder and Michael Keaton in this story. They are likable in an un-explainable way, and managed to grow on me throughout the story. During Dora’s stay in Hell, we meet Keiron’s family and other interesting creatures that add a cartoonish dimension. If you are wondering if demon boy and Dora develop feelings for each other, they do. It’s stupid and cute, and somehow just right. I find I have had questionable judgement lately when it comes to male MC’s, but I kinda liked when Keiron’s temper forced him to shift forms. I didn’t want to find a demon attractive, but I guess Keiron possessed me.

This story was like the brain child of a disgruntled adolescent sitting in detention hall, trying to kill time by writing out revenge fantasies on the cover of her binder. Think Beetlejuice, meets Saved, meets Encino Man and directed by Sam Raimi. (Keiron gives that Encino man vibe when he first meets Dora.) At about eighty percent through this book, I literally asked myself out loud, “What the EFF am I reading?!” A whole chapter is dedicated to describing a special place in Hell that book bloggers/reviewers go. I took that chapter with a huge grain of salt, and read on. The ending of this book is entertaining and unexpected, setting us up for a second book in the series.  To wrap things up, this book is crass and full of expletives, but somehow managed to keep me interested. What does that say about me? Who the hell knows.