Deal With The Devil Review: A Dark, Emotional Story About Power, Fear, and the Cost of Wanting Change

A Story That Starts With Frustration, Not Fantasy

Deal With The Devil begins in a place that feels very real. Not in some distant gothic world, but inside a feeling most of us recognize. Frustration. Anger at the news. Helplessness while watching the world fall apart again and again. Kratika Verma does something interesting here. She does not start with horror. She starts with emotion.

The protagonist is not chasing power for greed or curiosity. She is tired. Tired of injustice. Tired of watching people suffer while nothing changes. That emotional starting point matters because it grounds the story. Even before the devil enters the scene, the conflict already exists inside her. That made it easier for me to stay invested, because the motivation felt human.

The devil here is not introduced as a sudden shock element. It feels more like a consequence. A response to desperation. And that makes the deal feel less like fantasy and more like a dangerous temptation that anyone, under the wrong circumstances, might consider.

The Deal That Sounds Simple, Until It Isn’t

At the center of the book is a deal that looks straightforward on the surface. The devil will give her the power to change things, but in return, he asks for twenty souls. That number hangs over the entire story like a shadow.

What I liked is that the book does not rush past this moral weight. The protagonist does not suddenly become fearless or cruel. She is afraid. Conflicted. Horrified by what the deal actually means. And that fear is written in a way that feels believable. Killing is not brushed aside as a plot device. It is treated as a line that once crossed, cannot be erased.

The tension comes not from action scenes alone, but from hesitation. From delay. From the constant question of whether any change in the world is worth this cost. The devil, in this sense, does not just demand souls. He demands a decision that eats away at her sense of self.

The Devil as a Character, Not Just a Villain

One of the strongest parts of Deal With The Devil is how the devil is written. He is not loud. He does not scream evil. He is patient. Calculated. Almost calm. That calmness makes him more unsettling.

He does not force her hand immediately. Instead, he watches her suffer. He waits. He lets the weight of the deal sink in slowly. This makes the devil feel less like a monster and more like a mirror. He exposes her doubts, her anger, her weakness, without needing to do much at all.

Kratika Verma clearly understands that the most effective evil is not chaos, but control. The devil does not need violence when guilt, fear, and time can do the work for him. That psychological pressure is where the story becomes genuinely disturbing in a quiet way.

Suffering as the True Punishment

What surprised me was that the suffering in this book is not limited to physical pain or fear of being caught. The real suffering is mental. The constant awareness of what she has agreed to. The slow realization that power does not come without erosion.

As the story progresses, it becomes clear that the devil is not just waiting for the souls. He is enjoying the process. Every delay tightens the trap. Every attempt to escape the deal deepens her suffering. This makes the question of “Will she kill twenty people?” more complex than a simple yes or no.

The book shows how fear can rot from the inside. How knowing that you might have to do something unforgivable can change the way you see everyone around you. Ordinary people stop being ordinary. They become numbers. Possibilities. Threats. And that shift is terrifying in its own way.

Themes That Go Beyond Horror

While Deal With The Devil has clear dark and supernatural elements, the themes underneath are very grounded. This is a book about power and its consequences. About anger at systems that feel broken. About the dangerous belief that ends justify means.

In practical life, many people feel the urge to fix things quickly. To force change. To skip the slow, painful process of improvement. This book challenges that urge in an extreme way. It asks what happens when you want results so badly that you stop questioning the cost.

The story also touches on how suffering does not always come as punishment for wrongdoing. Sometimes it comes simply from being trapped between two impossible choices. That emotional space is something many adults recognize, even without a devil involved.

Writing Style and Emotional Impact

Kratika Verma’s writing style is direct and visual, but it does not feel over polished. There are moments where the sentences feel slightly raw, and that works in the book’s favor. It keeps the tone personal rather than distant.

The emotional beats are not exaggerated. Fear builds gradually. Guilt seeps in quietly. That restraint makes the darker moments hit harder because they feel earned. The book does not rely on constant shock. It relies on unease.

I found myself thinking about certain scenes even after putting the book down. Not because they were dramatic, but because they felt uncomfortable in a familiar way. The kind of discomfort that comes from recognizing a thought you wish you never had.

Who Should Read This Book and Why

Deal With The Devil is not for readers looking for fast paced action alone. It is for readers who enjoy psychological tension, moral conflict, and characters who struggle internally as much as externally.

If you like stories where the supernatural is used to explore human weakness rather than replace it, this book will likely work for you. If you are interested in dark themes but still want emotional depth, this book offers that balance.

It is also a good read for people who enjoy questioning narratives. The book does not spoon feed answers. It lets readers sit with the discomfort of unanswered questions, especially around morality and consequence.

Final Thoughts on the Book

By the end of Deal With The Devil, the central question is no longer just about killing twenty people. It becomes about what is lost long before that line is crossed. Peace. Certainty. Identity.

Kratika Verma has written a story that uses a familiar concept, a deal with the devil, but grounds it in emotional realism. That grounding is what makes the book effective. It is not just about horror. It is about what happens when frustration turns into desperation, and desperation invites something far worse.

This is a dark book, but not an empty one. It stays with you because it reflects a fear many people carry quietly. The fear of wanting change so badly that you forget to ask who pays the price.