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surdiablo's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Eh, not sure how to rate this one.. 🤔 It's good but didn't quite measure up to the other K.J. Parker novella I read before, called Pulling the Wings Off Angels. Nevertheless, I appreciated the same wry, sardonic humor that was present here as well. It's a fast-paced dark novella with a somewhat unreliable narrator. The ending is a bit abrupt perhaps but otherwise good. Can't say more as it didn't leave much of an impression, but I liked it overall.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Child death and Torture
bookedbymadeline's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.0
I was really looking forward to this as I’ve enjoyed similar stories (like CS Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters). Sadly it fell short for me and wasn’t what I hoped for. I think the main reason being it’s too short to truly engage with it. There’s not enough time for proper world building and getting to know the characters on a deeper level.
It’s an interesting enough story for a novella but I would’ve loved for it to be longer and go further. The writing style also felt very stream of consciousness which I don’t typically enjoy. We are thrown into the story with no context and there’s a lot of flashbacks that add to the whiplash of not knowing what’s going on most of the time. I was hoping for a darker, more existentialist story of demons and exorcisms. I wouldn’t categorize this as horror at all either.
Overall it was entertaining enough for a quick read. I hoped and wanted more but I’ll have to search for similar novels to get the depth I hoped for I suppose! I don’t plan on reading the sequel simply because the writing style wasn’t to my taste so I’m not intrigued enough to continue the story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Murder, Death, and Child death
snowwhitehatesapples's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Also on Snow White Hates Apples.
In a world where demons run rampant and exorcists aren’t as entirely kind, faithful or martyr-like, it’s only normal that we’ll have a narrator as morally questionable (he, as per the summary, gets the demon out but doesn’t care what happens to the person possessed by said demon) as the one we have for Prosper’s Demon . However, despite the interesting premise and narrator, the execution left a lot lacking.
For one, if you’re hoping for a strong novella that shows the ongoings of the story, this isn’t the one. We get the story from the narrator who just tells, tells and tells but rarely ever describes. More often than not, the narrator also gets sidetracked by his own philosophical musings and we’re stuck for a few paragraphs of navel-gazing instead of moving forward with the plot. As a result, the novella is more of a long rant or monologue than a tale. As interested as I was in the philosophical aspects and the narrator’s character in general, both ultimately didn’t matter to me because the execution didn’t do either of them justice.
Also, I thought it was weird that Prosper’s Demon is the titular one when instead, it should’ve been Him. Seriously, because Prosper’s demon only appeared for one section while He was constantly mentioned throughout the novella. It just made no sense to me, especially when Prosper and his demon had smaller presences and on a grand scale, an even smaller impact on the narrator and his life.
Moreover, it was strange that the narrator’s archnemesis was very tame in comparison to the ruthless narrator. Sure, he couldn’t do much in the state he was in at the final part of the story, but there were so many opportunities before that? Perhaps there’s a symbolic significance to this, but if it’s simply to show that not all monsters are monstrous and that humans can be more monstrous than monsters, then I feel that this message had not enough depth. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a powerful villain to match a powerful antihero, you won’t find it here too. The villain’s practically more harmless than Voldemort who waits till the end of the school year to hurt Harry.
Everything considered, I think Prosper’s Demon would’ve been a much better read for me had it been executed differently. It was quick, though, so that’s a plus.
In a world where demons run rampant and exorcists aren’t as entirely kind, faithful or martyr-like, it’s only normal that we’ll have a narrator as morally questionable (he, as per the summary, gets the demon out but doesn’t care what happens to the person possessed by said demon) as the one we have for Prosper’s Demon . However, despite the interesting premise and narrator, the execution left a lot lacking.
For one, if you’re hoping for a strong novella that shows the ongoings of the story, this isn’t the one. We get the story from the narrator who just tells, tells and tells but rarely ever describes. More often than not, the narrator also gets sidetracked by his own philosophical musings and we’re stuck for a few paragraphs of navel-gazing instead of moving forward with the plot. As a result, the novella is more of a long rant or monologue than a tale. As interested as I was in the philosophical aspects and the narrator’s character in general, both ultimately didn’t matter to me because the execution didn’t do either of them justice.
Also, I thought it was weird that Prosper’s Demon is the titular one when instead, it should’ve been Him. Seriously, because Prosper’s demon only appeared for one section while He was constantly mentioned throughout the novella. It just made no sense to me, especially when Prosper and his demon had smaller presences and on a grand scale, an even smaller impact on the narrator and his life.
Moreover, it was strange that the narrator’s archnemesis was very tame in comparison to the ruthless narrator. Sure, he couldn’t do much in the state he was in at the final part of the story, but there were so many opportunities before that? Perhaps there’s a symbolic significance to this, but if it’s simply to show that not all monsters are monstrous and that humans can be more monstrous than monsters, then I feel that this message had not enough depth. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a powerful villain to match a powerful antihero, you won’t find it here too. The villain’s practically more harmless than Voldemort who waits till the end of the school year to hurt Harry.
Everything considered, I think Prosper’s Demon would’ve been a much better read for me had it been executed differently. It was quick, though, so that’s a plus.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Child death, Murder, and Death
marinapaso11's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Murder, Child death, and Torture
florecita_lectora's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Torture and Child death
rmperezpadilla's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, and Gore
meowster's review
dark
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Blood, Confinement, Child death, and Death
Minor: Pregnancy, Cursing, and Suicidal thoughts
malaikawrites's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I kinda… loved this?? I found the way the book explored morality and the nuances around doing bad things so fascinating, and the fact that the narrator is the hero and the villain in his own story was extremely interesting. The narrator is a truly terrible person but in the most grey area way imaginable and I’m surprised at the fact that I enjoyed reading from his perspective. It was morbid, but definitely worth reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Blood, and Gore
Moderate: Murder and Child death
Minor: Pregnancy
nixiedixie's review
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
It was a very fun and short read. The premise was interesting and the story, although with a very minor plot was really enjoyable. The main character was written very well and was fun to read and follow through the whole of the book!
Content Warnings
Minor: Death and Child death
theliteraryhooker's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death