I 100% recommend this story. It’s the story of a devil after a soul he falls in love with, but it’s world-building is fantastic. Instead of an evil demon, we have Abaddon - one of many other Abaddons - who works in a cubicle in soul acquisition and isn’t making his quota. And the soul he finds, the one that will land him on easy street, is a faith-filled blind musician and healer with a tent revival. It even starts with Abaddon offering Seth a golden fiddle if Seth wins against him in a fiddling contest. Because isn’t that standard in deals like that? A golden fiddle in exchange for a soul?

Seriously, if this sounds even a little interesting to you, go and read it. I’m in love.

Book – Damned If You Do
Author – Marie Sexton
Star rating - ★★★★★
No. of Pages – 123
Cover – Gorgeous!
POV – 3rd person, one character
Would I read it again – Yes!
Genre – LGBT, Fantasy, Paranormal, Demons


** COPY RECEIVED THROUGH NETGALLEY **


Damned If You Do is a beautiful story about defying the odds, following your heart and fighting for what you believe in.

The story revolves around Abaddon, who is described as 'a devil', though I fathom it to mean the same as a demon, lesser than Satan and not nearly powerful enough to make his own decisions about things. He's in a bit of trouble, because he's behind on his soul acquisition quota and has been for a while, but when he goes scouting for a suitable soul, he stumbles across the brightest and purest soul, in Seth, who is a blind musician for a revivalist church that travel throughout the Bible Belt.

What follows is a surprisingly tender, sweet and sometimes funny story about how Seth can see more than a person with full sight and how Abaddon is the worst devil to ever exist.

I loved the characterisation of both main characters. Seth is warm, trusting, but not naive, and simply shines with beauty in all facets of his life. Abaddon is deceptively tender and caring, more interested in skating by in his job than suckering innocent people into devilish deals. I loved the way that their characters grew and that we were told a little more about who they were as the story progressed, both through their own thoughts/admissions, as well as through the eyes of others. The chemistry between them was sweet and simmering at the same time, something that definitely kept me interested all the way through. It had a subtlety about it, as well as a growing build of anticipation.

I liked the minor characters of Zed and Baphomet and how their parts were minor but pivotal to the story.

The writing was right up my alley. It had all the description, attention to detail, and the feeling and heart that I love from stories. The important things were shown in what I call 'real time' – aka, with the right attention, time and dedication to the description and exploration of the scenes – while the minor events were shown in perfect proportion, not taking up too much space, but not being glossed over or ignored, either. It was nice to see that some of the most important clues we were given about the story happened in these small moments.

Overall, it was just fantastic. I cried multiple times. I will re-read it multiple times and I'll be buying it on paperback, if it exists. Seth captured my heart with his faith and his innocence, and won't be letting go any time soon, while Abaddon offered the humour and the tenderness that meant this is a story to remember.

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Favourite Quote

“He was overwhelmed by the tenderness that filled him. There was something so wonderful about knowing that Seth knew him for what he really as, and yet seeing Seth still standing there, not asking for anything at all. Just waiting, as if having a little chat with a devil on a bright Sunday morning in the deep woods of Alabama was the most natural thing in the world.”

“He'd feel this pain for an eternity. It was a worse punishment than living in Hell.”