Hawkyn- Larissa Ione (Demonica Underworld Book 5)

Pages: 256

Read Time: Approx. 3 hours

Rating: ★★★★★ (5 stars)

Up Next: Cipher by Larissa Ione

I might be a little biased when I say that Larissa Ione KEEPS delivering banger books, but she’s one of my favorite authors at this point. Last night, I had some free time in the evening, and I wasn’t really feeling my usual video games or anime, so I decided I would start on the next book in the Demonica Underworld series. Yeah, I was just going to start on it. Anyway, I binge-read the entire thing in the span of two and a half hours.

Safe to say, it’s a good book.

Hawkyn is another of Azagoth’s memitim children, and has been working his ass off to get recognized, become Ascended, and join the Memitim Council to help his siblings. Memitim angels are tasked with guarding their Primori, people who will have a significant impact on time itself. One of Hawkyn’s Primoris is a serial killer who gets off on kidnapping and torturing innocent women that he eventually murders. Hawkyn finds it distasteful, but he always follows his orders and sticks to the rules.

Aurora Mercer is part of a rare race of people called wytches that were created when male witches were forcibly bred with succubi. Late one night when she’s out buying groceries, a man approaches her and backs her into a corner. Another man approaches, but she mistakes him for another attacker, and uses her powers to blast him away, and gets kidnapped by none other than Hawkyn’s Primori. The unfortunate memitim she just mistakenly fried in the parking lot.

Hawkyn breaks all the rules to save Aurora, and can’t help his attraction to her. As far as the Demonica Underworld series goes, this book was definitely in my top 3 favorites. The dark grittiness of a serial killer plot, the steamy romance between Hawkyn and Aurora, even the stuff with Azagoth in the background was so, so good. I loved how Hawkyn didn’t give a damn once he had broken the rules, and his willingness to break the rules for Aurora changed so much for the memitim and even Azagoth himself, who continues to evolve as a character as we go along with the series.

This was a delicious book that I really enjoyed reading. The only negative thing I had to say about it is that the ending with Drayger, the serial killer, seemed like it was wrapped up a little more quickly than I would have liked. There was a lot left unexplained with him, but maybe there will be more about him later on.

You gotta check this one out. 12/10 recommend.