I waited 6 long years for this book and it was worth it. The Kara Gillian series is full of action and intrigue, the world building is creative and the characters are engaging. The Rise of the Demon was a satisfying ending to a great series.

I'm a bit unobservant and didn't notice it was book nr 9 in a series. There's a long summary of what happened and who's who at the beginning of the book and this helped me to understand what I read and enjoy it.
This a very complex saga with a lot of different scenario, populations and characters.
I loved the attention to the details, the world building and the well developed characters.
It's an entertaining and compelling story.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

Rise of the Demon (Kara Gillian #9)
by Diana Rowland
I was impressed by the lengthily overview of the series. Since this was the first book in the series i read. It took me strait into the story, allowing the book to be useful for readers who have not read the prior stories.
I like the detail of the characters. The over all historical plot of the series. I loved how Diana Rowland adds characters of various natures to her stories giving more voice to divergent groups.
I would recommend this book for readers of high fantasy, wanting a good epic tale, or even just a story were demons get a different storyline.

This is the epic finale in the Kara Gillian series! It has been 6 years since we have gotten the previous book in the series, and I was so ready to see how everything was going to end.
If it has been a while since you've read the other books in the series Diana Rowland did a great job at the beginning of the book by giving us a brief history of the world and a recap of what went down before the final book. Although I was a bit lost at first with all the characters and demon names, I was quickly sucked back into this world.
There is so much that went down in this book. Alliances are made, Ashaya is going through puberty which is a trial at the best of times, add in that she is part demon with amazing and untapped powers, and it's a powder keg waiting to explode. Everything comes together in this epic showdown to finally save the earth and the demon realm from being destroyed and were not sure if everyone we've come to know and love is going to survive this battle.
I don't wait to give any spoilers but if you are already a fan of this series you won't regret reading this, it ended as perfectly as possible in a completely Kara Gillian way!
P.S
I think some of my favorite parts are with the demons and the animals they fall in love with! Seeing them with the puppies and kitties brought a smile to my face, and gave me that heartwarming happy feeling.

Rise of the Demon, by author Diana Rowland, is the Ninth, and final installment in the authors Kara Gillian series. Even though the author gives you an encyclopedia of events that have happened years before thanks to the 6 years before books, I really must recommend that readers start and finish Legacy of the Demon (2016) before beginning this story. I really don't think anyone can remember things from 6 years ago, but I may be wrong! If I am reading my notes correctly, the book takes place around 4 months after the events of Legacy of the Demon.

DIRT (Demonic Incursion Retaliation & Tactics) Arcane Commander Kara Gillian’s home has become an armed compound where she has the latest gadgets and a security force including her own Alpha Team which is supposed to hunt and stop demon incursions. DIRT technically answers to IDTF (International Demon Task Force). Thanks to a drastic ceasefire deal made with the formidable demon Imperator Dekkak, demon attacks on Earth have trickled, but her troubles are far from over. She still must find a way to complete her deal with Dekkak in which she is supposed to acquire (3) essence blades (Xhan, Vsuhl, and Khatur) which are arcane prisons for Juntar elite's.

Kara's beloved Mzatal has been subjugated by Jesral and Ilana, and he's attempting to send her dire messages. The god-like demahnk are desperate to return to their own kind, but unless they can stabilize the demon realm, they’ll be forever exiled. One faction of demonic lords and demahnk has a plan to fix their world, yet their salvation would come at the expense of Earth. Kara is also wrestling with government bureaucracy, backstabbing allies who are more like enemies, enemy lords aligned with Jesral, as well as the powerful young demonic lord Ashava, Jill Faciane's half breed daughter, who’s packing the drama, angst, and rebellion of the terrible teen years into just a few months.

Kara’s in a race to stop an apocalypse, but in order to prevail, she may have to make a terrible sacrifice or risk losing everything she holds dear. Including becoming the one thing that she knows will change her forever. On top of all of this, Kara's aunt Tessa, who raised her, shows up at the compound nearly dead, and Kara learns that Tessa is as much of a victim of the demons manipulations as she was after Rhyzkahl brutal betrayal earlier in this series. I am able to say that Rhyzkahl and Tessa redeem themselves in this story which is a good thing since the series is now finished.

Also, in case you find yourself bogged down with demon terms, Rowland has graciously created a demonology section at the end of this story. I did my best to keep things as simple as humanly possible without any spoilers knowing this review is posting almost 30 days before the book releases to the public. Thank you for reading my reviews!

When I was in my early to mid 20s, I loved this series. Diana Rowland really pulled me in with her character, Kara Gillian. Over the series, Kara goes through a lot of struggles and meets so many amazing people. So the moment I saw the final book was coming out, I knew I had to try and get an arc. And I did! & I'm so grateful to have read this book to finish the series before it's officially released.
But it has been 6 years since the last book (I had to go 6 YEARS?! to myself when I realized). It took me awhile to understand things again and figure out who people were. Thankfully there's a short summary in the beginning to help you remember what has happened. I still struggled til at least chapter 9 though. There's just a lot of demon terminology that I could not figure out and just SO many friends are back in the final book.
I did get into it though and I'm glad I powered through. The action in the book is definitely there and honestly I don't know how Kara is able to keep going in this series because it's a lot. To see everything come together in the end though was bittersweet.
I plan to go back and re-read them all.
But also, I fully recommend re-reading the series and making it fresh in your head before this book. It'll be worth it.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I read the entire series to date several years ago and really enjoyed them. Some time has passed and it was difficult for me to remember all the details.

Nevertheless, I liked this book. The characters and pacing were on point. I may need to reread the series again to fully experience this book.

I loved reading this whole series! I'd only read it the one time, when I first discovered it, and that was 8 years ago now. And now that the final book is coming out, I had to reread them all, and go straight into Rise of the Demon. And I'm so glad that I did, because I forgot so much!

The main things I remembered from the first few books was that the Symbol Man was one of her superiors, and that's about it. Touch of the Demon, I obviously remembered that Rhyzkahl showed his true colours, and she needed recovery, but again, so many lost details! But oh, so entertaining to read!

With every book, our understanding of the world grew deeper, and that increased significantly in Touch of the Demon and beyond. But the timeline of events that occurred up to now at the beginning of Rise of the Demon was really helpful, to bring it all together, even though I'd just read the whole series, it laid it out, and I really appreciated it!

One weird thing that I'm pretty sure I never thought about before, is that Ashava is Idris's aunt. It's strange, the family connections there are! Not that Rhyzkahl knew that Idris was his son, or that Zach was his dad, until right near the end of the series.

So much happens in the final book. Like it says in the synopsis, Ashava is going through puberty, and that's dicey, given her powers, and how she's so young still, and how quickly she's grown up. And we learned so much, like why the blades were created, and why Szerain and Elinor's ritual went wrong, so that was great! The one question that I have that I can't find an answer for, is where does Marco Knight/Makonite's abilities come from?

Boy, was it a fantastic end! I was worried for a minute there, the stakes were so high, and there was so much going on. But they made it through, and I loved that we got an extended ending, even just flashes, to say goodbye to these characters. And those final paragraphs? Loved them!

These were so great to read, and I can't wait to see what Diana Rowland writes next!

I read all the previous books years ago when they came out. This one was a little confusing on who everyone is but it soon made sense. The ending is great. The characters are great and complex. I love the part with the puppies. #RiseoftheDemon #NetGalley

What a great read. Was tough to put down, and a joy to pick up. Rubbish for reading in bed because my blood was pumping in every scene. Well done. Looking forward to reading the next one!.

Oh my it had to end sometime and what a confrontation it really was ! This series has been extraordinary with its mixture of urban fantasy spliced with a whole lot of paranormal and a splash of sci fi. Without a doubt what carries it is Kara who has gone from one stressful situation to another without losing hope, her snark and her humanity. Do not be mistaken a lot has happened and honestly it's a tad troubling trying to remember everything but luckily there's a handy catch up prefacing this book although even now I'm left reeling at the complexity of it all. Its been a wild ride and this the final instalment whilst perhaps a little slow initially brings so many elements together that I just wanted to cheer. If I have a slight niggle it's that as a unashamed hopeless romantic I kind of wanted just a tiny bit more but this ends in true Kara fashion and I cannot argue with that ! If you can read this series back to back because I do feel you will get more out of it but whenever you read I doubt you will be disappointed by this authors imagination, creativity and sheer brilliance .
This voluntary take is of a copy I requested from Netgalley and my thoughts and comments are honest and I believe fair

I was so darn excited when I saw that the concluding book in Kara Gillian’s series was coming out, and I was even more excited to get an advanced copy. I admit that it took me a little while to get back into the world even with the synopsis of the first books in the beginning, right before the book started (thanks for that!). This book was huge, and it has so much action in it. TBH, it was a little slow at the beginning, but I was kinda glad about that, because, again, it took me awhile to get acquainted with all the characters again. By the end of the book, I didn’t want the series to end. Yes, the end was almost perfect. I would have liked a little bit more interaction…well, I can’t say as I don’t want to spoil it. However, all in all, this was an excellent ending to a great series. This was filled with action, adventure, heart-stopping moment, great writing, and even fun. I do want more, but I’m happy with this ending. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.

It was great to finally get back to the Kara Gillian series, it was like a coming back to a old friend. The writing style was what I was hoping for with Ms. Diana Rowland. The plot was really good and I loved the supernatural elements in this part. I was glad to go back to this world and the characters, especially when the characters were what I was expecting and they were well-written.

"Oh, sweet, now she was playing the Sympathetic Ally. Well, I could play that right back. I softened my expression. “I know. And I’m very sorry. But my people are on the front lines here, and we’re dealing with literal demigods.” I let my shoulders droop a bit. “We recently recovered Tessa Pazhel—my aunt, who raised me after my parents died. She’s in real bad shape.” I swallowed and did what I could to summon a haunted expression. I really needed to start practicing this shit in a mirror. Maybe the rec center could start offering acting lessons? “Every time I look at her, I’m reminded of the depths our enemies will sink to.”