Summary:

With the pressure on after his success in Gaol, Eli Monpress, professional thief and degenerate, decides it’s time to lie low for a bit. Taking up residence in a tiny seaside village, Eli and his companions seize the chance for some fun and relaxation.

Nico, however, is finding it a bit hard. Plagued by a demon’s voice in her head and feeling powerless, she only sees herself as a burden. Everyone’s holiday comes to an untimely close, though, when Pele arrives to beg Eli’s help for finding her missing father.

But there are larger plans afoot than even Eli can see, and the real danger, and the solution, may lie with one of his own and her forgotten past.

If only Nico could remember whose side she’s on.

Goodreads

Thoughts:

Enjoyed this one more than the previous two, and I feel like the story is really coming into its own now.

In this third installment we get some great character development with the side characters, especially Nico. We learn a lot more about her past as she tries to puzzle out things herself. I love learning more about her demon seed and how all of that works too. I understand it’s a struggle she’s constantly resisting, but some of Eli’s reaction was a little bit disheartening to me, although I suppose that’s form of character growth as well. I continue to love Josef! He’s such a champion to Nico and at least his loyalty is assured on that front. I also love that we got to spend some time with other characters, like Slorn, because he’s so very intriguing.

I have to constantly remind myself that Eli’s goal is not the same as everyone else’s. There are actually quite a lot of things going on in these books and while Nico and Josef work with Eli, they may not always agree or have the same motivations. Miranda, too, has her own motivations. Somehow their desires always bring them all together, but it’s interesting to see how these different motivations all play out within the world and the overarching plot that’s beginning to come together here.

I would still love to see Eli being more, I don’t know, ELI. Like, even more cocksure and arrogant but in a fun and playful way. I miss him interacting so much with Miranda and kind of wish they would have an entire book begrudgingly working together again. I guess my main issue is because this book focused so much on the side characters there was a lack of Eli-ness in general. Still, this is a minor complaint. The upside is that I felt like this book had a lot more emotional connections with some the characters because it was more focused on those particular characters. The only other downside for me is that the pacing is still a bit uneven, especially compared to some of Aaron’s other books–for such a short book it sure dragged at times.

There are some really great additions to the world building in this book. We learn a lot more about the demon seeds in general, not just in regards to Nico, and you really begin to realize how harmful they can be to the world. We also learn more about Josef’s awesome sword. Yay, named swords!

Overall, I enjoyed The Spirit Eater a lot. Looking forward to the next book! 4/5 stars.