Book Review: Ethan & Jag Destroy the World by Maz Maddox

Title: Ethan & Jag Destroy the World

Author: Maz Maddox

Genre: Fantasy Romance

Number of Pages: 196

Rating: C+

Recommended?: No

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It was actually pretty stupid for me to decide to read this book when I do not like romance. In fact, it’s one of my least favorite genres. I guess with the cover art (no shirtless men in sight) and the cute-sounding premise I hoped this would be an exception to the rule. That said, romance fans should probably disregard my review entirely because people who like that kind of stuff will probably enjoy this way more than I did.

As a side note, why are %99.9 romances about gay men written by women? It’s weird. Ethan & Jag Destroy the World is made about of two stories about the titular characters spending Halloween and Christmas together. Jag is a demon and Ethan is the brilliant human who summons him to make his ex-boyfriend jealous.

They fall in love but Jag being a demon causes complications and they find one day that they can’t be physically intimate without causing some kind of cataclysmic disaster or another. It’s up to the two of them and their bisexual female friend to restore order and bring passion back to their relationship.

Jag and Ethan have a lot of sex in this book and a lot of fuss is made out of Jag’s two tongues and the awe they inspire. Ethan’s curly hair and ’emerald’ green eyes are brought up incessantly, and the overall writing style is sometimes painfully cheesy. It came dangerously close to being a one-joke story, with Jag being a mighty warrior bad-ass going weak in the knees over cinnamon roll Ethan.

I enjoyed some of the goofiness (the offbeat fish-out-of-water dynamic with the demon reminded me a little bit of something out of Buffy the Vampire Slayer,) but overall I was not impressed. Again, this is very much a case of me not liking romance. If you like the genre you’ll probably like this and if you’re romance-phobic like me this isn’t something that is likely to convert you. It’s forgettable fluff with one or two good moments and a passably cute relationship.