Actually i am surprised it is quite a nice book.
Why I am surprised, because the cover looks like typical dark romance trash you find in a 50 cent bin in a supermarket.
But no - it has a surprising cool main character and quite the nice side kicks. The universe is complex but believable enough. Lots of tropes of course.
One other review compered it a bit with Buffy meets Harry Dresden.
And while i wouldn't go so far on the quality side it has quite a few nice parallels without being a ripoff.
( )

I wanted to like this book, I really did, but despite the plot being pretty good, and the characters interesting, I think the author's editor should have made him go back and rethink a number of things before publishing this book.

The setting is in a high school, but given the themes used and badly handled in this story, it would have been far more appropriate in a college setting. While this would have made the characters older and therefore change the intent of the author who is trying to make a point with his themes, I think on the whole the interactions and even the language Chance uses would actually make more sense. I do realize that given the life Chance has lived (being sold by his father to be the slave of a demon named Dulka) made him grow up hard and fast, he's very clumsy at hiding the fact that he's not a fifteen year old and it really jars one out of the story. I kept waiting for his mom to tell him to stop trying to hide the truth from her.

The whole scenario with Brad, his unwilling girlfriend, Alexis, and Brad's posse from the football team was a mess and not very well written. At first we had the cliched gang beating up a much smaller person for interfering with something Brad should not have been doing in the first place. Later, we find out that the whole lot of them, Brad, Alexis, and Brad's posse, were changed into werewolves while still in middle school by the psychotic were Dominic who'd been forced out his pack for breaking pack laws. He forced his domination on the kids, using them to pull off petty and not so petty crimes, each crime more complicated as the kids got older. Worse yet, what he'd been doing to Alexis for the past several years makes for very uncomfortable (possibly triggering) reading the bastard has been raping Alexis on a regular basis since middle school...

What bothers me about this story is, yes, I get that Alexis is an alpha werewolf; nice, strong in personality and physically and psychically powerful, but she is still a teenager and the kind of trauma she's been through is going to leave a mark on her psyche. This is the same girl who broke down crying when Chance unintentionally insults her earlier in the book. No, she does not have to be scarred or undermined by the experience, but by the same token, the author pretty much sweeps the whole affair under a rug, out of sight, out of mind, and really never confronts the problem head on. Is no one really bothered by these events? Even the one adult who's aware of Chance's past and even listens to Alexis' tale of woe pretty much shrugs the whole thing off as if it were nothing.

Chance, too, deserves better treatment by the adults in his life. He, among all the teens in this story, has suffered the most abuse at the hands of a number of people. He's a strong guy, and, like Alexis, comes out of the fire stronger, but he has nightmares and admits that he's not normal. Yet, when he makes friends with Wanda and Lucas, they don't comment on these facts until they are allowed in on knowing about the arcane world. Yet, to an outside observer, even though this story is a first person perspective so we're inside Chance's head, it's obvious Chance isn't a typical fifteen year old.

Oh yeah, before I forget, what about that sanctioned abuse Chance suffers at the hands of the football team by the coach after Chance beats Brad up for mistreating Alexis? No one calls him on it and the other PE coach practically hands Chance over with a smile! Almost all the adults are negligent in some fashion in this story. It really made for painful reading. ( )

This was a R2R for a group. As a heads up I am not "easy" on books because they are free or self published. If your book sucks I'm gonna tell you.

That said, I gave this book 3.5 stars, rounded to 4 because I think it deserves some recognition for sure. This is also the only R2R book I've rated favorably so far! Take note!

Chance Fortunato was forced into slavery to a demon by his father when he was only a young boy. Now, after years of darkening his soul as a warlock Chance has finally broken free and he’s not going back if he can help it. Luckily his mother and sister are there to pick him up and take him in. Chance is really engaging. He’s had a terrible childhood so for him things like actually going to a real high school and getting new clothes from Walmart are awesome experiences. If that’s not good enough Chance meets someone willing to help him learn magic that right way and hopefully clean his poisoned soul. Unfortunately said help winds up ripped to pieces in the science lab.

Now in addition to playing the part of a normal well adjusted teenager (which he’s not), he has to solve the mystery of who or what killed his science/magic teacher. All this while dealing with the stereotypically aggressive, uber-testosteroned football players and keeping his eyes on the stereotypical hot, popular cheerleader who’s begging him for help.

I did really enjoy this book. Chance is a sympathetic character and the adventure is great and well planned. It rarely flags and I was always looking forward to the next event. The best thing about Chance is that he’s so abused he can’t even bring himself to sleep on a bed, but he plays white knight to literally everyone he runs across.

One thing to consider is that this book is a mature YA book. There’s cussing, violence and so on. This is a book I wouldn’t recommend for the delicate or young reader but as a teen YA adventure and a YA for adults who love YA it’s great.

A few things did annoy me. For the first 1/3 of the book I could not remember Chance’s name. Your task as a writer is to make that name so familiar to me I’ll remember it always. Chance’s own mother refers to him as “son” the entire time. That’s just odd and really distancing to me. Deirdre’s instant connection and acceptance of Chance. A bit odd to me. Chance as a character is well fleshed out but he’s the only one. Deirdre and his mom are both very flat characters. Lucas and Wanda (his two best friends) are pretty under-realized as well. Alexis is stereotypical and flat as well. I have to say I don’t love the “fall for the insta-hot girl/guy theme” in books.

Now that I've given the things I didn't love let me reiterate what I did love: adventure, a great MC, demons instead of werewolves/vampires, and a fun read. ( )

Chance Fortunato was sold to a demon by his father when he was a young child.This book tells the story of how Chance wants a normal life and the fear he will not have one, it tells of his struggles to adjust when he is reunited with his mother and sister. I love a story with warlocks and werewolves. Chance's story made me laugh and want to cry at times. I can not wait to read more. ( )

Originally posted at http://ufreview.com/2012/01/25/the-demons-apprentice-chance-fortunato-1/

Review:

I got a copy of The Demon's Apprentice from Read2Review on Goodreads, and it seems they may turn me into a fan of YA yet. First of all thanks to them and Ben Reeder for allowing us book addicts a chance to read it. I have said before that I don't usually like YA, but this book was...really really good, I couldn't put it down. Chance is a 15 yr old kid who had been sold to the demon Dulka at age 7 by his father. He manages to break the demon's hold over him and goes to live with his mother and little sister he had previously never met. He tries to settle in and live as a normal 15 yr old in the suburbs but that doesn't work out so well for him. When a teacher at school is murdered and it's apparent that it was done by something supernatural Chance takes it upon himself to try and solve this case and then things start to get hairy.



First off and I have to say it, there are many similarities between this and the early Harry Dresden novels. A council of wizards who think you're evil and want to kill you...check, Horus gaze and Soul gaze...check. A wizard who does bad things for the greater good...check. That's not something that necessarily bothered me but it was definitely something I noticed while reading. Chance has to be the most pitiable yet endearing characters I have read in ages. I had to remind myself constantly that this kid was 15 and not an adult, missing was the annoying teenage angst that I hate in YA. This kid had a truly shitty life yet still always tries to do the right thing and protect those he loves and because of his past he just can't see himself as a good person. The friends Chance makes are also intriguing and believable in their own right and stick with him throughout all his battles with the monsters, while showing him what "normal" looks like.



The plot moves along at a good pace and if you like action there is none lacking here. Mr Reeder does as well with action as he does with the characters, the fight scenes make you feel like you're right there feeling every hit. From his escape from the demon Dulka to the final showdown you are engaged. I hope this series continues as I really enjoyed it and will happily grab the next installment.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ 4.5/5 I couldn't put it down. ( )