Book Review // The Devil’s Apprentice*

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I’m excited to be a part of today’s blog book tour. Today, I am reviewing The Devil’s Apprentice by Kenneth B. Andersen, on the third day of the blog book tour hosted by R&R Book Tours. I am also sharing the blog book tour with B is for Book Review I’m All About Books, J Bronder Book Reviews and The Faerie Review, please give them some love!

Before we start my review and what I thought, let’s read the book bio for background context.

The Devil’s Apprentice? Let me tell you a little bit about it;

Philip is a good boy, a really good boy, who accidentally gets sent to Hell to become the Devil’s heir. The Devil, Lucifer, is dying and desperately in need of a successor, but there’s been a mistake and Philip is the wrong boy. Philip is terrible at being bad, but Lucifer has no other choice than to begin the difficult task of training him in the ways of evil. Philip gets both friends and enemies in this odd, gloomy underworld—but who can he trust, when he discovers an evil-minded plot against the dark throne?

I was a bit unsure about The Devil’s Apprentice at first, it is a little different from the books I normally read but I’m always open to exploring new genres. From the very first moment, I was sucked in! I was completely absorbed in this fantastical world Kenneth created. A book where you can get lost in is truly magical! I love just escaping from the normal world to one far, far away and completely different from what I know.

I always adore great characters, they always set the mood for a good book as well as the world. There’s a lot of different characters you meet and get attached to, there’s a lot of dark humour and it gets you thinking about good vs bad. I love how the original was in Danish, it’s great to see it translated into English! It flows really well I know sometimes once translated from one language to another, the whole mood can change.

It is no surprise to hear how popular this book is in Denmark, I believe it will do great things in its English version too. There is a lot of eye-opening parts for me while reading The Devil’s Apprentice, Phillip struggles with his identity throughout the book as he was not supposed to go to hell! He is the complete opposite of the people around him, with the book discussing the right and wrong as well as how the lines are blurred.

I was left with one question: Is evil necessary for good and for the balance of the universe?

Excerpt

Philip had never contemplated what Hell might look like, or if it even existed, because he’d never figured he’d wind up down there. So it came as a bit of a shock for him to step through the colossal gate.

The first thing he saw was the fire. It raged everywhere. Shot up from cracks in the dry earth as if the entire place had been built upon a gigantic, erupting volcano. Some flames were as tiny as the flicker of a candle, others were as high as the columns on a Greek temple.

The other thing he noticed was the noise. The scorching air was alive with pained screams, snapping whips, angry roars, shrill laughter, and sounds of howling and begging that drowned out even the noise of the gate’s hasps locking behind them.

Other than that, the place actually reminded him a bit of an ordinary village. Narrow winding streets, and pretty houses with well-tended front lawns sat side by side. People strolled on the sidewalk, nodding politely at one another or pausing to exchange a few words about… well, the heat, Philip supposed. Apart from the horns on their foreheads and their long capes, they looked like regular people.

How about a little about the author, Kenneth B. Andersen;

Kenneth was born in Denmark in November 1976, he began writing when he was a teenager. His first book was a really awful horror novel titled Nidhug’s Slaves. During the next 7 years, he wrote nearly 20 novels – all of which were rejected – while working as a school teacher. The rest of the time he spent writing.

In 2000 he published his debut fantasy book, The Battle of Caïssa, and that’s when things really took off. Since then he’s published more than thirty-five books for children and young adults in genres ranging from fantasy to horror and science fiction.

You can follow Kenneth B. Andersen on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
as well as his official website.

There are a lot of bloggers on The Devil’s Apprentice Blog Tour so I would love for you to check out their reviews! You can do this by following Shannon on Twitter, as she will be retweeting the reviews. As well as clicking through the links below in the Blog Tour Schedule, there is a range of reviews and excerpts, check out:

Monday 19 August
Reads & Reels: http://readsandreels.com
The Magic of Wor(l)ds: http://themagicofworlds.wordpress.com
Jessica Belmont: https://jessicabelmont.wordpress.com/
Gwendalyn’s Books: https://gwendalynbooks.blog/

Tuesday 20 August
YA/NA Book Divas: http://www.yabookdivas.com/
Ity Reads Books (Review) http://www.ityreadsbooks.home.blog
Reviews and Promos by Nyx (Review) https://nyxblogs.wordpress.com/
Quirky Cats Fat Stacks (Review) https://quirkycatsfatstacks.com/

Wednesday 21 August
B is for Book Review: https://bforbookreview.wordpress.com
The Faerie Review: http://www.thefaeriereview.com
I’m All About Books: https://imallaboutbooks.com/
J Bronder Book Reviews: https://jbronderbookreviews.com/

Thursday 22 August
Jaunts & Haunts: https://jonathanpongratz.com/
Shalini’s Books and Reviews: https://bookreviewsbyshalini.com/
The Bookworm Drinketh: http://thebookwormdrinketh.wordpress.com/
I Love Books and Stuff: https://ilovebooksandstuffblog.wordpress.com
My Bookish Bliss: http://mybookishbliss.com
Didi Oviatt: https://didioviatt.wordpress.com/

Friday 23 August
Breakeven Books: https://breakevenbooks.com
Entertainingly Nerdy (Review) https://www.entertaininglynerdy.com
Cats Luv Coffee: https://catsluvcoffeez.blogspot.com/
Lunarian Press: https://www.lunarianpress.com/

Please give some love to Kenneth B. Andersen and if you can not wait any longer to read it for yourself, you can buy The Devil’s Apprentice to read in Ebook (Kindle Format) or Paperback from Amazon. You can also find it on Goodreads now! One last thing, for your chance to win a digital copy of The Devil’s Apprentice, click here now!

I hope you have enjoyed this little review! I highly recommend The Devil’s
Apprentice if you love a good fantasy.

Also, make sure to follow me on my blog (in the sidebar) and don’t forget to follow me on Bloglovin’, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Love Gemma x

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