Review Detail

Give me the whimsy!

A Practical Guide to Dating a Demon by Hannah Reynolds is a YA fantasy romance about a student magically finding themselves accidentally betrothed to a demon. As a scholarship student at the magical Lyceum, Naomi would rather focus on deciphering ancient scrolls than dating. Especially since the only boys asking her out are less interested in a night in Naomi’s company than an introduction to her influential aunt. So Naomi devises an excuse to turn down her persistent suitors: She claims to be betrothed to a demon. Her story works perfectly. Until she arrives home one night and finds the demon Daziel lounging in her rooms, insisting he’s her betrothed. Naomi knows he’s lying—after all, the betrothal was never real—but the gorgeous and infuriating demon is surprisingly resistant to her banishing spells. And with his penchant for baking and home décor, it’s not so bad having him around. Besides, she has bigger worries—like the ancient scroll she’s trying to translate, and the way the city’s magic has become suddenly unstable. But the more Naomi learns about the scroll, and the more she gets to know Daziel, the more it seems like she might be at the center of something bigger than she could have imagined.

What I loved most about this book, is the characters! Naomi and Daziel were so funny and relatable. I like how well paced their relationship was, and how it didn't seem instant-lovey, even though the circumstances set it up to be. I also really liked the academic setting as a whole, as I grown quite fond of academic settings (which can entirely be blamed on my love of Katabasis and Babel). Not to mention I'm just a huge nerd in general.

One thing I didn't quite like about this book, is the general pacing and timeline of the plot. I feel like some thing were non-sequential or the time skips were a bit too much or happened too soon in the narrative. And the overall pacing was a bit flustery in the sense that some scenes needed a little more time to simmer, while others felt like they took too long.

Regardless, A Practical Guide to Dating a Demon by Hannah Reynolds is a fantastic novel for anyone looking for a more fantastical romance that still grounds itself in the familiar.