A little more on the juvenile side of Young Adult Paranormal/Fantasy, as far as the writing style goes, The Ninth Circle is a stab at an interesting retelling of Dante Alighieri's Inferno from The Divine Comedy. Dante's Circles of Hell are alive with the Circles of types of demons and supernatural hellish creatures of myth and legend, and the hierarchy (Circle) to which they belong or reside.

The lead characters, two of three sisters, both feel a little flat and most of the dialogue feels forced, like...jam-your-fist-into-the-other-hand-for-emphasis forced. All of that begins though with an odd and disjointed opening that throws the reader into the deep end, without the benefit of full introductions. It was strange: like being plopped into the middle of a series, as though you'd unwittingly opened the third book of a series, not realizing there were two full books that came before it.

While the action was a little over the top and a bit too pervasive, it allowed the story to maintain some modicum of much needed momentum. While I didn't dislike this one, I won't be revisiting it for the future books in the series.

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.

Characters- 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.

What I liked-
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!!

Why not full stars- 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.

Very well written story, the author created a world I was able to imagine and slip into eagerly, I am looking forward to reading everything else I can find also written by them.

Entertaining and fast paced. For those who like Supernatural this will be a good read - it's like the female version of the Winchester Brothers. This did remind me a little bit too much of other similar genre reads so I felt it lacked a bit in the originality factor. 3/5 stars.

This is just not my cup of tea, however my mom would love it. Supernatural isn't really my thing. It probably has a good story line, a little bit of elementary writing style though, I couldn't get passed the first 20 pages.

Fans of Supernatural, attention! Do you love demon hunting stories? Do you love siblings who fight for each other? Do you like Dante's Inferno and how he structured Hell into circles? If your answers are "YES!" then this book is for you! I liked it a lot, both because its magical world was very enchanting and because I grew to love the protagonists.

You can find a more detailed review on my blog: https://teacupinthebooknook.tumblr.com/post/165191517181/45-the-ninth-circle-by-ca-harland

If you're a fan of the Supernatural series, you will absolutely love this book! It pulls you in and before you know it, you're immersed in a world of demons, magic, and sisters with an unbreakable bond who will do anything to save each other. A great urban fantasy with strong female leads. Highly recommend!

I'm sorry but I did not read this entire book and I will not write a review. I cannot post this feedback without assigning a star rating so I chose 1 star.

I struggled to get on with the set up of this book and subsequently it is still half finished. I will pick it back up again but am not in the right mind set right now.

Here's the thing, I couldn't get interested in reading this book. Maybe it's my mood, maybe it's stress about life stuff. But I just couldn't be bothered with this book. The plot, the characters, everything just fell a little flat for me.

It wasn't a "bad" book, per-say. I just couldn't get into the story. It felt like a book I have read a hundred times before. The book was a bit like Supernatural, but with three sisters instead of two brothers. The sisters are Shadowhunters, I mean "Nighthunters". Who hunt misbehaving supernatural creatures, Fae, and Demons. But for the most part, the book is a little less about that and more about Tala and Aiva trying to find their baby sister.

There was a mass of info-dumping that kind of slowed things down a little, a slew of uninspired characters that made things a little boring.

This was an ambitious book, but a lot of it wasn't very original. I am pleased that the romance was very minimal and that there was more focus on other things. There was a decent amount of violence, which doesn't exactly "bother" me, but I think it's harder to write convincing battle, or violent, scenes than it is to write "romantic" scenes.

The main issue with this book was that I felt it took far too long to really get into the "meat" of the story. When they finally get to that first circle of hell, things really started to pick up, but that was with in the last few chapters.

This wasn't a bad book, I just had a hard time getting interested because it just wasn't very original.

As we follow the Morgenstern sisters through their exciting adventure we meet so many exciting mythical creatures, from Demons and Sirens to the Furies. 

The Nine Circles of Hell are based off of Dante's Inferno version of hell. I love Dante so I love how Harland used it as the basis for her novels mythology.

I loved Aiva as a character because she reminds me so much of myself. Aiva is logical and thinks knowledge is the key in the fight against demons. We see Tala being the opposite of Aiva as Tala thinks a knife and a good throwing hand is all she needs. The three sisters have an interesting dynamic, and each one represents something fundamentally different from the other. 

I loved how all the other characters who appeared in the book, even for a short period of time, are all characters I got attached to and hope to see again in the sequel. The fight scenes were so well written. They were explained vividly and created a tangible image. I loved Harland's style of writing. The ending was amazing. It was shocking how quickly the story progressed, I can't wait to see what Harland has in store for the second book.

The story follows Aiva & Tala as they race to find their missing sister, Hartley after she has been abducted by demons.
Luckily the sisters have trained their whole lives to be demon hunters.
Apparently, this book shows a lot of similarities to Supernatural… I have never watched Supernatural.
The story was brilliantly fast paced with some great fight scenes, kick ass females, and most importantly no ridiculous instalove.
I like the whole circle of hell premise and the way the human and underworld weave together.
The writing did start to drift and falter in the second half but the fast pace held the book together.
Anyone who is looking for a brutal action packed supernatural read with likable strong female leads would love this book. I will definitely be reading the rest in the series.

If you like fantasy, demons, crime, all kind of strange things this is a book for you. I m looking forward for the next part.

I simply could not get into this novel. I cant explain it, which is rare for me. I do not publish negative reviews.

I didn't end up finishing this. I'm sorry, but when I requested this, I thought it was a standalone. When I got halfway through and realized this is actually a twelve-book serial, I decided to give up. I can't make it through 12 books right now. My own mistake.

What I read of this book was... fine. I like the vague Supernatural vibe. I like the characters of the two sisters, and there are a few really good action scenes. But the overall plot is honestly kind of confusing and not great.

A great mash-up of our beloved series: Charmed, Supernatura, with a kick of badass Buffy the Vampire Slayer!

The book is written in Episodes instead of chapters (you can understand my reference to the TV series now) and felt just like watching one of those action-packed TV shows. And while it didn’t lack action, I was not particularly fond of the characters or story in general.

Throughout the whole book I couldn’t stop noticing references to the Shadowhunter world by Cassandra Clare.

Now! As a TV show this would be very entertaining. However, as a book the story lacked descriptions and character development.

Thanks to Netgalley which provided this free copy in exchange for a honest review.

The Ninth Circle is the story about the Supernatural world where the demonic creature's live. It begins with the story about the sisters Tala and Aiva who have grown up learning to be demon hunters. They both collaborate to find their sister, Hartley who goes missing on the trail of her father. In the end they discover something about themselves which their mother had planned from the beginning.

It was not bad at all but just maybe I already had the other better book of supernatural that make me love this book less. The book is lack of romance and has so many actions scene from the beginning. Overall the writing is good and had a great plot so its 3.5 stars from me. Suit for urban fantasy and paranormal fans.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC for a honest review

Introduction

“Fire ” is the starting book in ‘The Ninth Circle’ series. It is written by C.A. Harland.

Tala, Aiva and Hart are three sisters who are Nighthunters. These ‘nighthunters’, as their name suggests, hunt things that go bump in the night – fae, demons etc. The book starts with Hart missing which forces Aiva (a reluctant Nighthunter) to team up with Tala (who has embraced their legacy). Most of the story is written as a buddy cop book with the two of them finally learning to work with one another.

Opinion

This book was underwhelming. The main reason for this is the episodic nature of the chapters. Every chapter feels like an entry in a long running TV series with usually a monster of the week episode mixed up with the main story line. The transitions from chapter to chapter were abrupt and jarring to the reading experience. I think this book might have been much better had it been written (or edited) in a ‘normal’ fashion’.

The plot was mostly predictable. There are supposed to be a couple of surprises in the book. Unfortunately, I was able to see both of these coming, in the early chapters itself.

The world-building is nothing special. We have seen this kind of ‘hunter’ organization before in other urban fantasy like Shadowhunters, for example. The one unique aspect of this world seems to be the nine circles (which corresponds to Dante’s nine circles of hell). In this book, each circle is a paranormal criminal organization, run by demons, which deals in a specific vice.

On the whole, this book is below average. With some editing and rewriting, this can become a standard run of the mill fare.

Okay. I'm going to start this out by saying I really, really, REALLY wanted to give this book more than three stars. As it is, three stars is kind of pushing it.

This is a story about three sisters, the Morgensterns, who happen to be Nighthunters. Nighthunters is a fancy term for people who hunt down demons, fae, and other supernatural baddies. Basically, it's Supernatural but with women. The action kicks in right out the gate: Hartley, the youngest Morgenstern, is missing and Tala has to convince their erstwhile sister, Aiva, to come back to the world of demon hunting to help find her. The first scene involves plenty of action and I was completely here for this.

And then it just kind of hit a wall. It felt like a lot was being thrown at the reader all at once. There were just too many plotlines to follow and unnecessary characters (looking at you, Detective O'Brien) to keep tabs on. The action scenes were good, but the actual plot was lacking. I will say that I really enjoyed the final chapters, when everything was finally coming to a head. But then one of the major plot points kind of just fizzled out. Unless, of course, it will be brought back up in later books (one can hold out hope). Either way, this book left me feeling dissatisfied. It had such potential to be amazing and it was just... okay.

Still, I was intrigued enough by the Morgenstern sisters that I think I would return to this world, if given the chance. I suppose that's why I finally ended up giving it three stars. Good, not great, but worth another go around.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to read The Ninth Circle! Unfortunately I came to the conclusion that the book isn't for me, although I see that many people would really like to read it! For that reason, I will not post a review on my blog, as I think the readers who would love this wouldn't be too encouraged by it. I did appreciate both the humor and the writing style very much! Just the story isn't of my taste.