book review: our demons, best friends

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. It's my first time doing one of these, and i must say it was quite exciting to get a book from an author. Our Demons, Best Friends is a contemporary romance written and published by the author herself, Diana T. Scott. I am rating the book 3.7 stars.

Synopsis from GoodReads:

Ava and Sebastian are two medical residents who in a perfect world, would really like each other. But both of them are closely watched by their demons. Their baggage is not light - Ava has hers carefully folded in vacuum bags to occupy as little room as possible; Sebastian wears his like a lead armor that makes him slouch sometimes. They like each other, but how are their demons going to get along?

Firstly, i must express my love for the gorgeous cover. It's beautiful! I love the colours used and the illustration of Ava and Sebastian at the front. And the feel of the book is really nice as well. I would definitely be attracted to pick it up if i randomly found it at a bookstore.

The story and plot

This book had a very simple story, in my opinion. It was mostly about two people who are in love with each other, but don't want to be a burden to the other because of all the emotional baggage they carry with them. Both Ava and Sebastian went through a tragic experience in their lives, and one of them is afraid to let the other one in. It had a prologue that turned out to be a scene that happened in the middle of the book, giving a sort of sneak peek to the reader of Ava and Sebastian's relationship later on. This was quite strategic i guess, because the pace was very slow for the first half of the book so I was able to remind myself that it would speed up soon. The slow start disappointed me a little and so I kept my expectations low for the second half. Thankfully, it did get better. Starting from around chapter 10, things got a lot more exciting. In fact, i thought that it got quite emotionally intense and it kept me reading up until i finished the book.

The writing

Ah, i'm afraid this is the main factor why my rating isn't that high. As well as thinking that the first half of the book was slow, I also thought that it was kind of awkward. The book was written in a first-person perspective in Ava's point of view. I'm okay with her character in general, but sometimes I felt like the words that were used in some sentences sounded really off, like someone wouldn't really use the choice of phrases in real life. The same thing goes to most of the dialogue in the book as well. At times it was okay, but at other times it sounded awkward and too formal. Other than that, there were often errors in punctuation and several spelling mistakes. I guess this is quite understandable since it is a self-published book, and could easily be fixed before the next round of printing. I'm not really counting these errors in my rating, but it did make me cringe here and there and prevented me from diving into the story at first. Interestingly though, when i started enjoying the book starting from the second half, the writing was really nice especially during the parts when Ava opened up and talked about her past. That was really good, at one point i felt like shaking because i could feel a part of what she felt. I wish this kind of writing had come from the start. The romance was okay; i didn't love it, but towards the end i did feel a bit bubbly.

The characters

I don't really like Sebastian that much, i'm not sure why. Perhaps he's just not my kind of guy. He has a very reserved personality that reminds me exactly of a person i know(man-bun and all), and honestly i feel terribly awkward around him. It kind of was insta-love because of how immediately different he gets around Ava. I wish he showed his more positive side more slowly, given his personality. Ava was okay, i didn't find her annoying, which is good. Surprisingly though, i think i liked the side characters a lot more. Ava's friends; Miles, Paige and Emily, remind me so much of the Grey's Anatomy squad in the early seasons(George, Izzy, and Christina). The book had the show's vibe at the start, which was quite fun to read. I love their friendships and each of their personalities.


In conclusion, i did enjoy this book. I like that i received more insight about what life is like as a resident in a hospital, and how it may feel like to have to deal with the demons of your past from losing someone you love dearly. I like the message of accepting the baggage that comes along with a person you may want to be with. I like the friendships, and i like that it wasn't sexual or anything(the cover kind of implied that, and so it's quite misleading haha). With more editing to correct the errors and improvement for some parts of the writing, i think a publishing company should really publish a revised copy of this so that more people can get a copy and read it(i dont really know how these things work but what i mean is that this should be in more bookshops). I think contemporary lovers may enjoy it.