Review - The Demon's Surrender by Sarah Rees Brennan

Published by Simon and Schuster
Published 9 June 2011

HEY THERE.....as you will probably already know, this is the third book in a trilogy, so it goes without saying that the summary and my review will contain spoilers for the previous two books, because, well any chance I get to tell you all how much I just LOVED them, well i'm going to snatch that right up!

Summary -  The Goblin Market has always been the centre of Sin's world. She's a dancer and a performer, secure in her place. But now the Market is at war with the magicians, and Sin's place is in danger. Keeping secrets from the market she loves, struggling with a friend who has become a rival, Sin is thrown together with the Ryves brothers, Nick and Alan - whom she's always despised. But Alan has been marked by a magician, to be tortured as the magician pleases, and as Sin watches Alan struggle to protect the demon brother he loves, she begins to see both brothers in a new light. But how far will brother go to save brother - and what will it cost them all?

This book was possibly my most anticipated book of the year.  Why's that you ask? Well, let me tell you a story.....one day, oh, two years ago, a book landed on my doorstep promising me sword weilding demon slayers, promising me magic and intrigue and you know what I did? I tore through it in one sitting and that book was The Demons Lexicon.  I was blown away by how amazingly intricate the plot line was and how distractingly dashingly handsome the two brothers were.  Equal in their hotness, but different in every sense of the word.  Fast forward a year and The Demons Covenant finds its way into my arms.  It's a different narrator than I was used to, but no matter, I get sucked in all the same and I swear my undying love to this author and add her to my list of All Time Favourites.  Everything is different....are the boys that I have come to love so sincerely flawed? had the narrator of the first book REALLY been that unreliable? did prince harry really get it on with pippa? NO WAIT, thats a question for another time.  Fast forward another year and here we are, and I am no less in love with these characters than I was two years ago, which is pretty fucking amazing.

I know what people are thinking.....does Sarah give the characters the ending they deserve? will the book meet my extremely high expectations? does the series end at a point that is natural and not forced? I mean, I asked myself the same questions.  Except maybe I added ones like, "will Sarah finally give me some hot Alan action?" "will Alan take off his shirt?" " will Alan take off his PANTS?".  Well, i'm not going to give any of that away now am I silly? you have to actually READ the book to find out and let me tell you something really special....it's UNBELIVEABLE.  

So after the whole hoopla at the end of The Demons Covenant, you know, with all the Magicians getting all power CRAY CRAY and wanting to *insert voice of doom right here* CONQUER THE WORLD, using demons and then Alan getting all marked up by a demon and the fact that Jamie went traitor and went off to be a magician (GASP), well you have yourself set up for a rather interesting story right there dont'cha.  Also the fact that Nick and Mae are together but not together because they have that little thing off HIM having marked HER standing between them, because who wants sexytimes with a guy/demon that could possibly be controlling you and you would never know? Then there's the little thing of Mae and Sin being pitted against each other to become the next leader of the Goblin Market, which is only the best market in the whole world.  Also, the fact that Sin is a little annoyed that a newcomer who isn't even a part of the market is trying to steal what is hers, not to mention the fact that she has pink hair and has a thing going on with Nick, who Sin happens to hate just a little bit.  Then throw in the tension between Alan and Sin, who she also happens to hate a little and well, you get the jist of the story so far.

Now, I realise that this review is veering towards dissertation lengths, but stick with me, for I have a list.  That's right a list.  No one can resist a list not even YOU.  YES YOU, I SEE YOU.  Okay, that sounds creepy.  I don't actually see you, but you know what I mean.  And here is the list of reasons why I think this book is one of the best ends to a trilogy I have EVER read.

1.  Even though this book is told from the perspective of Sin, who up to now has not played a major role in any of the big plot developments, and who as a character, we do not understand, nor do we know what motivates her, it still rings as true to the story as the previous books.  I should really have known better than to think that having Sin as a narrator was a little left field, because OH MY GOSH I love her so.  Seeing through an outsiders eyes, seeing the world through a girls eyes who maybe doesn't understand the Ryve's brothers all that well was fascinating.  Seeing how much she loves to dance and how fiercely protective she is of her family.  It made me smile, because maybe this independant gorgeous girl has more in common with the Ryve's boys than she realises herself.  And maybe just maybe, the mask that she wears is not unlike the mask of another.  MAYBE.  LE SIGH.

2. Brother LOVIN.  Oh my gosh.  And again, OH MY GOSH.  The glue that holds the stories together is the sibling love.  Not the swoonage between certain characters, not the pulse pounding plotline and not the ever present uncertain future, NO, it's the fact that all of the characters are united in one way....they would do ANYTHING to protect the people they love (not to be mistaken for people they are IN love with).  They would stain their hands with anothers blood, they would lie and cheat and do things I can't even fathom just so the world that they live is the world their sibilings also live in.  This thing, this all consuming desire to do anything to keep the other safe is both dangerous and selfish, yet I always understood the reasons and motivation for doing the crazy things they did. 

3, Tension.  Oh lord the tension.  I LOVED IT SO HARD.  And the constant feeling that maybe what you think is going to happen is so far from the mark and you have to turn the pages at break neck speed because you just need to find out RIGHT NOW whats going to happen because the tension is just going to kill you and or make you vomit onto your book, which is not a good thing.  So I would suggest when you read the book, make sure you are alone and without disruptions, because let's say you read this book on a long haul flight to Chicago.  And let's say the person next to you won't shut up.  Let's also say that when you point out rather sternly that you are reading your most anticipated book of the year and they need to BACK THE HELL OFF.  Well, that only leads to an uncomfortable flight.  Especially when you are sat in the window seat and need to use the bathroom.

4, ALAN RYVE'S.  That is all.

5, The ending.  I won't spoil I promise, but I will say this.  I never saw it coming, and maybe I did have to suspend all the outcomes that I had built up in my mind and just ride the story out not trying to figure out what things mean, or if a simple gesture could change the course of the characters lives which could possibly result in rather bad things happening.  But maybe that was a good thing, no a GREAT thing, because when I reached the last page, my eyes were swimming with tears, because even though the ending wasn't what I had thought it would be (believe me thats a GOOD thing), it was the right ending to this story and I couldn't ever conceive it ending a diffrent way.

SO, in conclusion, Sarah Rees Brennan you clever little sod, I think I love you now more than I already did.  I may be even reaching fanatic levels of fandom.  And you know what I love the most? that even in the most dire of situations, even when the world seems to be crumbling to pieces of crap around the characters, they never EVER loose their dry sense of humor, nor do the quick one liners cease to make an appearance. I completely and utterly loved it.  NOW WHEN DOES THE NEXT SRB BOOK COME OUT.