Review of The Demon of the Well

Rita Nuncia · Post by **Rita Nuncia** » 28 Apr 2022, 13:26

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Demon of the Well" by James B. Hendricks.]

4 out of 4 stars

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The Demon of the Well by James B. Hendricks is a blend of epic and narrative poetry about a trader who trades his soul when he was young, for a favor from a demon that resides in a well. The demon uses the trader's soul to boost its power, which enables it to bring misfortunes to the trader's village and its neighbors. A few years later, a group of young boys visit the trader, asking for his story, as they noticed something sad about him. After several attempts by the group, he finally tells them about how he ended up giving his soul to a demon when he was a young trader. These boys decide to help the trader reclaim his soul so as to save their land. The trader and this group of young boys make plans on how to go about this. Will they succeed or bring more doom to their land?

This book is made up of two parts. The first part is the trader's narration of his encounter with the demon and what led to it, while the second part is about the trader and the orphan's journey to the well to confront the demon and save their land. All verses are written in stanzas of four lines. The second and fourth lines rhyme. However, there were a few stanzas where the author did not follow this.

I like a lot of things about this book. The plot is well developed, and the flow was perfect with beautiful narration. The English is clear and straight-forward, and the words used are not complex. Even with the book written in verse and still short, the story was well detailed and there were no gaps that would have caused confusion. The author did a good job with this book as suspense was also well sustained since it was difficult to predict what might happen next. Lastly, I love how the author explains his experience while writing this book in the introduction. He talked about what inspired this book and how he ended up writing the book in verse. This gave the book a personal feeling, and I also enjoyed the rhythm and rhyming.

There is nothing I disliked about this book. It is a simple story, written in easy-to-understand English with a well-developed plot. I have read a couple of poems, but this is my first time reading a book where the whole story is written in verse, and I found it very interesting.

I enjoyed reading this book. The flow and plot were superb, and the rhymes at the ends of the second and fourth lines made the book fun to read. This book seems to be exceptionally well edited, as I did not notice any grammatical or typographical errors while reading it. Overall, the author did a wonderful job, so I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good and interesting book. It can be enjoyed by fans of both prose and poetry. There is no profanity or any adult content, which makes this book suitable for children too. However, anyone who is uncomfortable with a violent scene, no matter how small it may be, should steer clear.

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The Demon of the Well
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Emmanuel Okotie · Post by **Emmanuel Okotie** » 05 May 2022, 05:58

Your review is awesome!
Nothing delights more than a thoroughly edited novel. However, this book is doesn't pique my interest as the storyline seems very cliché to me. I think I would pass on this one.
Great review though. I now have an idea of what the book is about.

IniOluwa N · Post by **IniOluwa N** » 10 May 2022, 18:34

A combination of poetry and prose. I would love to read it. Your review is quite expository, yet it has no spoilers- I love it. You seemed to capture the whole point of the book without revealing anything.

Stephanie Kanu · Post by **Stephanie Kanu** » 18 May 2022, 06:34

I have never written a story written in verses. Honestly, I'd never even heard of it until now. I'm curious to read one now thanks to your amazing review.