Forsaken (The Demon Trappers #1) by Jana Oliver

Actually, my copy (ARC) has the title "The Demon-Trapper's Daughter" ---- 

Summary (courtesy of GoodReads):   Riley has always wanted to be a Demon Trapper like her father, and she's already following in his footsteps as one of the best. But it's tough being the only girl in an all-guy world, especially when three of those guys start making her life more complicated: Simon, the angelic apprentice who has heaven on his side; Beck, the tough trapper who thinks he's God's gift, and Ori, the strikingly sexy stranger who keeps turning up to save her ass. One thing's for sure - if she doesn't keep her wits about her there'll be hell to pay..

And here's what I thought:   I thought this was an original, clever, and kind of fun story.  I mean -- it starts with a demon in a library -- I love that!   Riley is an interesting character.  Having learned some of the basics from her dad, she starts out the story by tangling with a Bibliofiend (book demon), and she's not quite successful.  However, she's determined to keep at it, and that determination holds true throughout the story.   She's got a wry sense of humor, which I like.   I didn't always like the way she related to some of the other characters --- she's not always nice to Beck (although I think it's because she really does like him, deep down and hates that she used to crush on him when she was younger).  I did see some growth for her character, though, and I'm looking forward to what happens to her in the next story (Soul-Trapper, which seems to have a release date of August, 2011).

I appreciated the world that Oliver created here, where demons seem to be the norm, and Trappers keep them under control.  It's never explained how the demons got here, or why things seem to be so economically depressed (the book is set in 2018, so it's not too far off).  However, I just assumed that Oliver meant this to be a version of our world, not our world that suddenly has demons.   There are a few inconsistencies, like the fact that Riley can afford gas for her car, which is extremely expensive, but struggles with paying rent -- but it didn't bother me too much (I assumed she just budgeted for one and not the other) -- and the story had such a quick pace that I really didn't care too much about some of these details.   What I really liked was how Oliver set up the demons, with different levels, and different ... preferences.  I've already mentioned the Bibliofiend, who loves to destroy books, and there's the Magpies, who go after anything shiny.  And then there are the level 3 and 5 demons, who are more dangerous.   I appreciated the creativity of this part of the story.

The only other thing that I wasn't wild about was..... Denver Beck.  As a character, he's just fine, but his dialogue was jarring to me at times.  He's a country boy, so he always says "Ya" instead of "You", and sometimes, it just sounds like his accent is a little forced.  However, after a while, I just didn't let it get to me ---- I found that imagining him as some kind of Matthew McConaughey/TimMcGraw kind of guy (that laid-back kinda talking, you know).               
First sentences:   Riley Blackthorne rolled her eyes.  "Libraries and demons," she muttered.  "What is the attraction?"

 
Thoughts on the cover:  My cover is actually a bit different from the one I saw when I pulled this up on GoodReads (and is the one I've put in this post), so I'm not sure what will be on the finished book..... but I like this one.  I like how it shows a girl holding a sphere (part of the story), with a backdrop of the city, and the swirling red at the bottom.  Eye-catching and matches the story.  The other cover (see the GoodReads link) shows something completely different, and while it's eye-catching, I don't know if I like it as much.