Review: Devil’s Punch – Ann Aguirre

Posted 20 July, 2015 by Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms in Reviews / 5 Comments

Review: Devil’s Punch – Ann AguirreDevil's Punch by Ann Aguirre
Series: Corine Solomon #4
Published by Roc on 3 April 2012
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Paranormal
Pages: 331
Format: eBook
Source: Kindle Purchase
5 Stars

The power swelled inside me, burning, hurting, but I let it center me. Pain means I'm still here, fighting. I envisioned it swelling in my hand in a seething rush, gathering, gathering, and then I sent it out on my resolve like a dark and winged thing riding the magickal wind.

As a handler, Corine Solomon can touch any object and learn its history. Her power is a gift, but one that's thrown her life off track. The magical inheritance she received from her mother is dangerously powerful, and Corine has managed to mark herself as a black witch by dealing with demons to solve her problems.

Back home, Corine is trying to rebuild her pawnshop and her life with her ex Chance, despite the target on her back. But when the demons she provoked kidnap her best friend in retaliation, Corine puts everything on hold to save her. It's undoubtedly a trap, but Corine would do anything to save those she loves, even if it means sacrificing herself...

Devil’s Punch was filled with so much action, I hardly knew how to continue! Corine went through so many things that made my heart not only break, but completely shatter for her.

My Devil’s Punch review:

Devil’s Punch showed just how much Corine has changed and matured since the beginning of the series, both when it comes to her magic, and when it comes to her relationship with Chance. The beginning was quite slow-paced, set in Mexico  where Corine was trying to get her life back to what counted as normal for her. Her forget-me spell on Shannon and Jesse had ended up being much stronger than Corine had anticipated, and so she was starting over without her best friend. Until the day when she received a note stating that Shannon had been taken by one of her demon foes, and she had to be the one to bring her back. From Sheol, no less.

Corine had to go through so much heartache in Devil’s Punch, and most of her beliefs were shaken to the core, especially after she, Chance and her dog entered Sheol and saw that the different kinds of demons were rather like different kinds of people. There were good, bad, and everything in between, and Corine was no longer able to rely on her feelings saying that all demons were bad, evil creatures. Once they arrived in Sheol, the pace picked up, and Corine had to be on her guard all the time, both when it came to interacting with the demons, and because she heard a specific voice in her head.

Between the many battles that had to be fought, both internal and against others, Corine had to rely on all her skills, magical and physical, and Devil’s Punch had a lot of action in every way. Looking for Shannon while trying to stay safe made the journey all the more difficult, and keeping Chance close to make sure he would stay safe as well took a lot of Corine’s time and attention. I loved how both Corine and Chance had had the opportunity to think about their feelings for each other while being apart, and seeing them together again made me so happy! Of course, because of the overall plot, they didn’t really have a lot of time to bask in their love and happiness, though.

While reading Devil’s Punch, I asked myself several times why I hadn’t continued reading this series for such a long time, and because of the ending – that utterly broke my heart and made me cry – I know I will read the next books sooner rather than later. Written in first person point of view from Corine’s perspective, the dialogues and the way the story unfolded helped uncovering the other character’s feelings and thoughts as well. And the mythology aspect definitely made me want more, as well as the way it ended… I have to know what will happen next, now.

Some of my favorite Devil’s Punch quotes:

It would be better than before, once it was finished, and I’d still have a nest egg in case of future disasters. With Chance around, such events became more likely. Oh, he had his own money, and he’d help, if he felt responsible, but I didn’t want to depend on him – or anyone – again. I’d learned how well I like self-reliance.

In the evening, it looked magical here, even with the traffic. Mountains rose in the distance as we crept along. Lights sparkled from faraway houses; neon blurred into red and yellow lines from shops set along the highway. The sky above was gray, not black, so that even nigh felt mutable here, like shadows held no sway.

For a second, I was tempted. One didn’t travel to Sheol casually. It wasn’t a trip to the mall, and there would be consequences. But I couldn’t give up on Shannon Cheney. I couldn’t. I hadn’t saved her in Kilmer only to lose her now. If I had to die to get her out of Sheol, I would. It was that simple, and by the way Chance’s lips compressed in pain, he knew. He’d always been good at reading me.

Reading this book contributed to these challenges:

Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.

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