I would have enjoyed this book as a teen. It's a pretty good fantasy world set up, and the cranky teenage Cal would have seemed less immature and whiney and more... angsty misunderstood tough guy...

Unfortunately, as an adult, I struggled to get into the story, the brother's dynamic was cliche and trope. The first half was good but not great and then everything after the possession just fell apart. The suspense didn't work, it made everything dislikable instead of more likeable. The weird flexible self referencing nickname language that spread across the board just made everything slightly painful to read.
Instead of depth, it made the author seem immature. Grendels (because Beowulf reference) are really Oaf who are really dark elves... should have simply been dark elves... I got where the author was trying to go but like I already said... childish

Ditto so much. I might try out another book or two in the series and I might not