BOOK REVIEW: Slay by Kim Curran

Hello everyone! Long time no speak (my own fault for trying to relaunch my blog a month before my dissertation was due and I had to start revising for finals...) so I hope you are all well! I've got a review of a great book for you today.

Do you need to escape from the stress of revision or busy lives? Then this book is perfect for you! Here's why...

Title: Slay 

Author: Kim Curran
Series:  Slay, #1
Pages:  297
Publisher: Usborne
Date of Publication: 3rd May, 2018
Source: Bought
Synopsis from Goodreads: Meet SLAY – SLAY do two things and they do them well: they play killer music and they slay killer demons.

When Milly, the lonely daughter of a world-famous opera singer, arrives home to discover that her mum has been taken over by something very evil, she finds herself in mortal danger. But the last people she expects to rescue her are the hottest boy band on the planet…

Enter SLAY: playing kickass gigs in the spotlight, and saving the world from demons in the shadows… Suddenly, Milly’s on the road with JD, Tom, Niv, Zek and Connor, racing against the clock to stop the demons who killed her mum… One thing’s for sure, it’s going to be a hell of a show!

My Thoughts:

I'm currently deep in revision hell for my final exams of my degree, and so I needed something light-hearted that I could escape into and really enjoy. Slay was absolutely perfect for this! What could be better escapism than a boy band travelling the world to perform, and in secret on the side, slaying badass demons? Throw in some interesting Aztec mythology (I'm a Classics student what can I say I love a bit of mythology) too, and I was hooked.

I love books that focus on music, and so immediately I was excited. I'm not actually a huge fan of boy bands in particular, but for artists I particularly like *cough* Taylor Swift *cough* I love following them around the world (through social media obvs I can't afford that literally) and seeing all of the tour pics and videos, and what the fans have to say about it. I love fan culture and so from that perspective, I was looking forward to Slay and it didn't disappoint. I loved the scenes where the boys were playing and singing together, and especially towards the end when they're writing songs together. I just wanted to be on that tour bus with them too! 

Then, of course, the other half of the story is the demon slaying. This was great too. The basic plot is that they are called to a scene where a demon called Mourdant has made a sacrifice and summoned a an evil demon princess named Zyanya who wants to summon more demons who will take over the world, and she has taken over the body of Milly's mother. The Slay boys charge in and fight off the demons, and they meet Milly in the process. She tags along with them because her home is no longer safe, and that's the start of a beautiful friendship... And you'll have to read it to find out what happens next!

The demons are all based on Aztec and Mayan mythology and culture (I believe) and although I did study the Aztecs at school and really enjoyed it I don't know much about the mythology or culture. However, I found it really interesting, as an (ancient) history nerd it was right up my street. It was woven into the story seamlessly, and was massively unexpected and that made it even better!

For all these reasons, SLAY was the perfect book for me to read right now. It's so much fun and it doesn't take itself too seriously - even though obviously they're up against death and destruction bringing demons who want to take over the world, it's kickass and it's laugh out loud funny, and it really warms your heart. I loved seeing the boys in the band fighting with and for each other, and the way they take Milly under their wing is so sweet. I cannot recommend this book enough if you need something to put a smile on your face - it did just that for me and I loved it.

Have you read SLAY? What did you think? Comment below or tweet me!