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My Review:Title: Demon Disgrace
Author: M.J. Haag
Series: Resurrection Chronicles #8
Published by: Indie
Format: Kobo Book
Pages: 436
Genres: Paranormal Romance, Post-Apocalyptic
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 Fraterfest Readathon
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My rating:
Blurb:Everyone lives a lie.
It replays in my head, the moment of my greatest shame. I'll never escape it. With an exhale, I let go of everything. I fall endlessly, waiting for the sudden stop. Hell would be a welcome respite.
A hollow husk of the woman she used to be, Hannah hides from her pain with any alcohol she can find. She’s bleeding out from wounds no one sees. No one but Merdon, a dark fey with a violent history of his own, who’s determined to keep her from the one thing she wants most. Death.
She doesn’t understand why he cares about her or her addiction. It’s not like he’s nice to her. Yet, he’s relentless in his determination to show her there’s something to live for. If she can find a way through the pain she might just see what Merdon already knows: Second chances are rare.
Trigger Warning: deals with alcoholism, depression, and thoughts of suicide. (This is a romance so there is a HEA!)
4 stars — This one was hard to read. It felt realistic though. It’s just that Hannah was *really* hard to like in this one. But it really showed how alcoholism can alter who a person is, so much so that even they don’t recognize themselves. I really appreciated that Hannah didn’t just turn around immediately. It was actually a really long process, and in the throes of her addiction and withdrawal, she was still not a great person. She was blinded to how her actions had affected others, and refused to take responsibility for that part of her life. In the meantime she was drowning in guilt for another decision that she made. I appreciated that it wasn’t downplayed, that the trauma from that event, and her alcoholism, were both presented as problems that won’t ever completely go away. It was real.
I think the gradual development really had me believing in her changes, and gave me time to forgive her for the awful things, and appreciate it even more when she started coming back to herself and finding her happiness again.
The relationships with the fey are always kind of on the edge of appropriate…but I think it lets an author play on the boundaries of our fantasies, because it’s not real life, and it’s not human men. They still amuse me. They’re still adorable. Merdon was harder than others, because he took the idea of “tough love” to a whole new level. And yet, in the world they lived in, it was exactly what Hannah needed. And I’m not sure it would have worked as well if she’d understood his motivations behind it all, and that it was coming from a place of love.
The one thing I wish is that we’d gotten a bit of a recap of Merdon’s past, because it has been awhile since I read the previous books, and while I remember broad strokes, I wanted that deeper dive. Ah well, something for if I ever reread this series from the beginning again.
All in all there was a lot of uncomfortable emotional moments in this one, but also a lot of laughs and fun that I’ve come to enjoy and expect. I loved that we didn’t just get that from the fey, but also from the other humans. Mary is a bit over the top for me, though she does still startle laughs out of me. In particular, I LOVED the girl “fight club” that was formed, what they were learning, and the connections they were developing. I’m kind of sad that it doesn’t look like we’ll get Emily’s story before the end. After this book especially I really want it. Even if it’s just a novella.
So yeah. Definitely a solid book in the series, even if it didn’t blow me away. Probably gonna have to go out and get the next book right away now.
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