Today’s review is about THE DEMONIC INVENTIONS OF AURELIE BLAKE by Mara Rutherford. It’s the first book in a new series. Aurelie is an inventor, but unfortunately inventing brings forth demons into the human world. Thus, inventing is forbidden. But when a mysterious stranger commissions Aurelie to build something, she can’t resist.
Author: Mara Rutherford
Series: The Broken Veil, #1
Age Category: Young Adult/New Adult
Publisher: HarperCollins Us
Publish Date: April 14, 2026
Print Length: 384
Want to support local bookstores? Buy a copy of The Demonic Inventions of Aurelie Blake on Bookshop.org!*
*These are not affiliate links and I do not make a commission from any purchase made using these links.
The Demonic Inventions of Aurelie Blake Synopsis
Synopsis
In Wisteria, the very act of innovation is forbidden. Any creation–art, music, engineering–conjures a demon from the other side. The greater the innovation, the more dangerous the demon.
This has never stopped Aurelie from inventing–but it has made it more difficult. Her inventions are small by necessity, producing demons that she is capable of dispatching alone. But she knows she’s meant for something greater, and each day has her chafing more at the boundaries of her society.
Destrier lost his parents to demons as a child, and has devoted his life to preventing more senseless murder at the hands of demons. He was young when he joined the hunters, and each year he’s grown stronger. But it’s never enough.
When a mysterious figure offers Aurelie a job she can’t refuse–an impossible, magnificent invention–her decision to accept sets off a chain of events that will alter every aspect of their world… and sparks the connection that will change both Aurelie and Des irrevocably.
With the fierce enemies-to-lovers romance of Heartless Hunter and the high-concept worldbuilding of Arcane, The Demonic Inventions of Aurelie Blake will thrill readers looking for their new cross-genre favorite.
The Demonic Inventions of Aurelie Blake Review
I received a free, digital, advanced reading copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My review is my own and reflects my honest opinion about this book.
THE DEMONIC INVENTIONS OF AURELIE BLAKE is the first book in a young adult steampunk-like fantasy series. Aurelie, who lives with her uncle at a university, is an inventor. The problem with that is any sort of creation allows a demon to cross into Aurelie’s world. To keep everyone safe from the demons, the monarchy outlawed inventing, halting any forward societal progress. But a mysterious strange offers Aurelie a job that gets her inventor gears going and she accepts. Meanwhile, Des, who is part of the Iron Guard that hunts demons, notices Aurelie seems to attract demons. This sets him on a collision path into Aurelie’s life.
I really liked the concept of this book whereby any kind of creation allows demons to cross into the human world. There are broad categories of demons sorted by the way in which they come into being. A demon can appear through the common definition of invention in which a person creates a useful tool, for example. Since invention is illegal, those who create end up in prison. Dreaming also creates demons as does the birth of a child.
Because Wisteria’s citizens no longer invent, the nations around them progress while they remain stagnant. Luckily for them, their demon problem means the other countries no longer want to acquire them. However, this ruling and the fear of demons maintains the current monarchy and they use it to their advantage.
The characters Aurelie and Des are 18 and 19, respectively. THE DEMONIC INVENTIONS OF AURELIE BLAKE falls squarely within the upper YA age range. However, there is a steamy scene in which certain anatomical parts are exposed before fading to black. So that may push this book a little more into New Adult territory, depending on one’s preferences. Aurelie is rather naive, which is not incredibly unexpected considering she stays almost exclusively on campus. So it’s not a surprise that she doesn’t recognize when a stranger emotionally manipulates her to invent something.
Aurelie’s and Des’s relationship starts as instahate before rapidly morphing into instalove in the span of about a week. A demon murdered Des’s parents when he was a baby, so the Iron Guard took him in and trained him from a young age to hunt demons. So he is always looking out for danger and never has time to be vulnerable. At least, not until he falls for Aurelie. I felt their relationship moved incredibly quickly. Thus, I felt the ending would have been more hard hitting if they hadn’t consummated their relationship. However, I understand why the author chose to go that route with their relationship. (Carpe diem!) Lastly, I felt like the plot in general was fairly predictable. I called the major plot points early on, so they didn’t hit this grisled fantasy reader as hard.
Overall, though, I enjoyed reading THE DEMONIC INVENTIONS OF AURELIE BLAKE. The writing style is easy to get into and I like the premise of demons appearing through invention. Hopefully the next book will delve more into the politics and magic system.
Rating: 3.5
Content warnings: sexual content, gore, death, violence, death of parent (historical)
Reading format: e-ARC
If you liked this book, you may also enjoy The Magician’s Daughter by H.G. Parry.
This is a very cool premise. My first thought was why didn’t she move to another city if she loves creating so much? Lol. I guess there wouldn’t be a story then😉