I'm gonna take a moment and say the presentation is amazing: Black rimmed pages! And lots of flames and a mean looking demon skull on the front. It earned me a few eerie looks, which is always a plus for a book. Also, at the beginning of every chapter there's a few verse from folk songs and poems, which is nice.At first I thought it would be a child's book and expected it to be silly and not very violent... and boy, was I wrong! The first page features a gruesome death and sets a precedent for the rest of the story. The book's got a nice pace of mystery and intrigues, but the first part of the book I liked way much better than the second. And I have to say the ending felt kind of rushed and deus ex machina-ish. A seasoned reader easily figures out the intrigues and foresees where things are going to end, but it's still a very enjoyable read. Quite straightforward, too. No fancy word or complex narration, very few character's musing; usually I would be critiquing these kind of things, but somehow it works in this book. Yet I can't let it pass so easily, and that's why I'm not giving this five stars. If it had a bit more character development the author would have nailed it.
