Review Detail

A Practical Guide to Dating a Demon is a cozy YA Romantasy that I thoroughly enjoyed. It starts with a fun premise: Naomi bat Yardena is a new student at the Lyceum, and boys are asking her out to get a chance to meet her aunt Tirtzah, who serves on the Sanhedrin. To prevent their unwanted advances and their inability to take a simple no, she says the reason she can’t date them is that she is engaged to a demon. Imagine the scene when she returns to her student housing and discovers she has accidentally summoned a demon, who is now her betrothed.

Daziel’s cover image and naming him a demon were not my favorite in understanding his character. Demon turns out to be a misnomer with connotations for evil and devilishness that don’t describe Daziel. He is a Shayd from Jewish folklore that acts more like a Djinn-type personality than the Christian notion of a demon. Once that was cleared up, I liked his character better and didn’t question the author’s choice in his portrayal anymore.

The relationship between Naomi and Daziel has an engaging transformation from her first trying to banish him by means such as spitting on him, all the way to their love based on trust. The problem they face does a fantastic job of bringing them together.

I used an audiobook for part of the story, and the narrator does a nice job bringing the story to life. Since it is a fantasy, there are quite a few names that listening to the story helped to pronounce. Mostly, this book is enjoyable with either print or audio, although there is a section where she is working to decipher the language of an ancient text, and seeing it printed made it easier to follow than just listening.

Overall, I liked the time the author took to give these characters a reason to have a solid relationship. Many humorous parts balance well with the overall heart of their relationship.