ARC Review: The Devil’s Standoff by V.S. McGrath

Recommended Read!

“So far this series has got to me one of my favourite discoveries of 2018”
~ Under the Covers

I absolutely adored the first book in this series, it was an action adventure western with a magical twist. In the second instalment we continue to follow Hettie Alabama and company as she tries to dispose of the devil’s revolver, a gun which ages her a year every time she takes a life using it. But, as her journey continues and takes her to Mexico, her problems just seem to be getting more complicated.

So far this series has got to me one of my favourite discoveries of 2018, which surprises me as I am not normally a fan of young adult books. However, V.S. McGrath has got me hooked on her gritty magical western which follows our heroine Hettie as she saves her sister and ending up bound to a cursed gun along the way.

In The Devil’s Standoff we watch as Hettie encounters different types of problems. She is no longer on the run, she’s now laying low and hiding. Hettie has saved her sister Abbie, at great personal cost, she now has to deal with her…peculiarities and see the dark changes that Abbie’s time being held captive have wrought. As well as this she has to deal with the people in a close knit village. What I liked about this book was that although the pace was a lot slower, it gave the reader a chance to get to know the world and magic in more depth.

Another aspect of this book and so far this series I have enjoyed is the way McGrath portrays her characters. They aren’t perfect. They make some questionable decisions. They are completely flawed, there’s no exemplary hero or heroine always doing the right thing. The world is too complicated and brutal for that and I really like that McGrath gets that across. It makes the characters come to life in a way that a perfect hero or heroine wouldn’t. The characters relationship with each other is also interesting. This isn’t really a romance but I do like the obvious connection that Walker and Hettie have and their own reaction to the almost budding thing between them. It will be interesting to see if that goes further.

There are so many interesting twists and turns in this book, which I won’t go into as I don’t want to spoil. But it has made me really eager to get my hands on the next book. I love that this book is unpredictable, it keeps you on your toes and I can’t wait to find out what Hettie, Abbie, Walker, Ling, Uncle and the rest will do next.

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[about-author author=”V.S. McGrath”]

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