The Unlikeable Demon Hunter by Deborah Wilde (Nava Katz #1)

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Publisher: Te Da Media on April 18, 2017

Source: Publisher

My thanks to the publisher for providing me with a digital review copy. No compensation was provided for this review, and all opinions are my own.

Bridesmaids meets Buffy with a dash of the seven deadly sins. View Spoiler »

  

THE UNLIKEABLE DEMON HUNTER is the first book in a fun, funny, and unapologetically raunchy new urban fantasy series. This book won’t be for everyone, but I had an absolute blast reading it; this is a clever guilty pleasure at its best.

Nava Katz has known that her twin brother Ari was destined to join the Brotherhood practically since birth, ever since their Rabbi tested him for magic and named him a future demon hunter. While the two siblings are close as they can be, their lives couldn’t be more different: Ari studies his ass off at university and trains with the Brotherhood while Nava drowns her sorrows in booze and hot guys. So when their family discovers that it’s actually Nava who’s the magic wielder, everyone is more than a little shocked and skeptical. For one thing, Nava’s a woman…and she can’t even speak Hebrew! How’s she going to pull off hunting demons with the all-male Brotherhood and using magic rooted in Jewish traditions?

She does it with style, as it turns out. A certain “hot mess je ne sais quoi,” if you will. Nava’s an unapologetic party girl (which I quite liked about her) but she’s basically friendless aside from Ari; she brings fun and sass to the uptight Brothers, while they bring much needed companionship and human connection. After they get over the whole “she’s a woman thing,” that is. But Nava works her way into the hearts of the Brothers, and I think readers will like her too. She’s seriously over the top and crass, but honestly it was refreshing. She drinks, she smokes weed, she hooks up, and she gets herself off, all on page. Pretty typical for a twenty year-old, but not found too often in urban fantasy.

There’s more to Nava than just her wilder side though, which we see mostly through her relationship with Ari (and to a lesser extent, her mentor and friend Rohan). For the first time ever, the twins are at odds…and it’s put Nava off her game. She may not have wanted the life of the Brotherhood, but she can’t apologize for an accident of birth forever. The only logical option? Scheme and manoeuvre her way into securing a spot in the clandestine organization for Ari, despite his lack of magic. Nava’s budding romance with Rohan also shows her more vulnerable side, despite the fact that she tries to play it like she isn’t that into him aside from sex. Mhm, okay girl. Sure you aren’t. I predict an epic push-and-pull between these two throughout the series.

In case you can’t tell, the characters are the real selling point in THE UNLIKEABLE DEMON HUNTER. The world building isn’t anything too special if you’ve read a lot of urban fantasy, although I did love the fact that the religious order in this world is Jewish rather than the default Christian inspired orders you typically see. Each member of the Brotherhood has magic that enables them to fight demons, but it manifests in a different way for each person depending on their personality traits. For Nava, she’s the lady of shock and awe…so she shocks demons. Cute, right? The demons are both gross and fun, and my personal favourite was a half-goblin with a precious gem fetish.

If you enjoy crass humour and you’re in the market for a fun, snarky read, then THE UNLIKEABLE DEMON HUNTER is for you.

Do you like books with raunchy, crass humour? Have you encountered fantasy novels influenced by Jewish traditions recently? Let me know in the comments!