The Ninth Circle, Book 1: Fire (The Ninth Circle #1) by C.A. Harland

The Ninth Circle, Book 1: Fire (The Ninth Circle #1) by C.A. Harland

Expected publication: October 22nd 2017

Read Date: September 24th 2017

Pages: 244

Stars: 4/5

Tala Morgenstern lives for the hunt, embracing her heritage as a demon hunter. When her younger sister, Hartley, disappears while on the trail of her long-lost father, Tala must seek the help of her other sister Aiva, who has turned her back on the underworld of magic and hunting. Suspecting demonic involvement, Tala and Aiva race to find Hartley before she can be claimed by hell.

Their search takes them deeper into the bowels of Dublin’s criminal underground, where the gangs are led by demons, and the currency is souls. With each Circle of hell bringing new dangers, and new revelations about their own place in the demon hunting world, Tala and Aiva have to rely on each other if they are to stand a chance of fighting their way to the Ninth Circle, and the demon lord who is waiting for them.

The Ninth Circle was set in Ireland and was third person narrative alternates from Aiva, Tala, and few important events through different character’s perspectives. It was informative, descriptive, adventurous book about the 3 sisters, their life as Nighthunter, family drama and secrets woven in the world where demons of the hell roam among humans.

It was hard not to think about Shadowhunter Chronicles or similar kind of books while reading this. I could see little glimpse of Shadowhunter world and yet was very different than that.

Aiva/Ivy– She was middle sister, not best in fight but was brainy one. Good at planning and researching. I liked her idealistic nature and her gift was cool. She was stubborn at some point had a weakness of accepting her mistake, for not listening her sisters.

Tala– She was amazing elder sister and hero for her sisters. Best in fighting with tremendous strength. Witty and high tempered. She was combo of Jace and Izabella of Mortal Instrument. She was blind in sister love which was her both weakness and also strength. One thing I didn’t like about her was, she will kill or betray others to save her sisters.

Hartley– Baby sister. She was not present in most of the book as she was missing and that’s why I couldn’t make out much about her. Complex and unexpected one.

All three sisters had a gifts which was discovered as the book progressed. Oh, did I tell they had different fathers? They were not blood sisters and still their love for each other was adorable. Characters developed a little, specifically Aiva, as book progressed. This was just a one part of the series and it was like reading detailed introduction of them and there might be more in the next books.

Books directly started with main characters –Tala and Aiva’s life after Hartley goes missing with action scenes. It felt like I was suddenly whisked to a world where I didn’t know what was going on. I must say it started very well, my brain was flooded with lot of questions and slowly everything was answered and then I was introduced to these sisters and interesting world.

The main theme of the book- The Circles and family drama. Brilliant world building. I just love reading about supernaturals, demons, creatures and all of them was there in this book. Let me tell you what circles were.-

The Circles were run by demons who came from hell on Earth and functioned their demonic activity through circles starting from thieves, clubs, brothel, and casinos to gangs and terrorists. There were levels from one (lower, not that dangerous but informative) to nine (higher and most dangerous). In each chapter introduced one or two circles, the type of demons who run them and how they worked. There were various kind of demons in the book- sirens, fair folk, succubus, Kasha, Selkie, name it you have it and little about them as well.

Some readers may feel that was much info dumping but for me it was amazing. And best thing was, those info about demons and circles did not contain lot of pages of the book. They were in bits or just few lines, narrated in between actions or research by sisters or during their conversations. In short the Circles were perfectly written, I never felt like I was missing something or left unexplained.

I liked the pictures on the beginning of each chapters. All action scenes and descriptions of places and demons were beautifully narrated. I could visualize scene clearly.

I liked reading about family, how their mother died and why Aiva separated from their sisters after their mother’s death, and also more about their mother, what she planned and why she told few things like always stick together and wear necklace she gave to them. Discovering who was Harley’s father and Tala’s, was surprising. Aiva might know about hers in next books of the series.

Author created great suspense in the book. Like characters I could not guess what might have happened to Hartley or where she was. The mystery was solved step by step and there were little clue on how to find her and those clue lead them through each Circles with lot of danger and action. I couldn’t guess anything certainly even after climax. Twist and turns in the book were amazing. Climax and end of the book totally unexpected and taken me by surprise and at the same time was so typical.

There were lot of things and info in this first book only. I wonder what will be in next books of the series!!

I felt like, their mother’s plan was little confusing and not properly explained. It was like wrapped in hurry to reach the end. The way story was in the end it could have 2 or 3 ending including what author decided. And I was not happy with ending author preferred. The ends I thought might be a surprise in the next books- of course there isn’t any hint of that- but as for this one, it was just okay.

Overall, fast paced, interesting world building and suspense with family drama. Those who liked Shadow hunter chronicles and similar kind of books, would like this book. This book is for supernatural fans.

Author: C.A. Harland

Know more about author Here.

*** Note: I received review copy of this book via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. I am glad I got a chance to read this book. ***

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Happy Reading! 🙂