Summary
This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may earn us a small commission. Thank you for your support.
GENRE
TROPES
AO3 TAGS
Nina is an information broker with a mission–she and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to save the hopeless in a crumbling America.
Knox is the bitter, battle-weary captain of the Silver Devils. His squad of supersoldiers went AWOL to avoid slaughtering innocents, and now he’s fighting to survive.
They’re on a deadly collision course, and the passion that flares between them only makes it
more dangerous. They could burn down the world, destroying each other in the process…
Or they could do the impossible: team up.
Hot Takes
What We Liked
Apers
Unlike Jems, I actually liked this book, I’d give it a solid three stars and I even want to read the next ones. Unlike me, Jems did not read a bunch of fantasy romance in 2008 nor did she read a bunch of military romance in 2012 (shout out to the Dodge Center, MN public library for having a good selection AND being part of the SELCO consortium) so this book felt to me like a dip of the toe back into genres I’d left behind. If you enjoy Lee Child or Harlan Coben type male main characters with a quick dose of super soldier serum, you will also like this book well enough.
What We Didn’t Like
Jems
I will be the first to say when a book is not for me and so I’m gonna go ahead and say that now: Deal With the Devil was not for me. If I don’t like a book, I won’t finish it. If it weren’t for this post I would not have gotten past the first three chapters. Everything about this book screamed cliché to me, from the too-good-to-be-remotely-believable MCs to the straight-to-DVD dystopian plot and YA writing for an adult book.
Review
Jems
I was looking forward to this book because the premise seemed promising (female mercenary librarians fighting the good fight? HELL yeah) but unfortunately, the book just did not deliver the hype. There’s all the elements of what should go into that type of novel but they were not woven into a story that was in any way compelling or original; the characters, plot, and writing were as predictable as the Marvel movies it compares itself to. Tbh I had to force myself to finish the book and even then I’m not sure it was worth it.
apers note: I knew going in that this book was not going to be for Jems because I know she didn’t read a bunch of the Myron Bolitar or Jack Reacher books when she was 21. I’m also a bit older and know that my tolerance for certain things is higher because I remember when it was worse and that’s just the way it was.
Apers
What brings this from three to four peps is the frank discussion about how when a super soldier fucks another super soldier, they both get to be super strong together. There’s something about a man who wants to throw his partner around a bit finally being able to do it for the first time in his extended lifespan.
