Sins of the Angels

Review originally posted at Squirtoon's Bookish Blog

At first, I couldn't get into this at all. The prologue really bogged me down, and I found the first few chapters too wordy, and not interesting enough. This was the first book I'd picked up as part of NetGalley though, so I wanted to stick with it. Abandoning the first book I picked up wouldn't be great, would it? 

If you've noticed the rating, you're probably wondering what the hell I'm thinking. The thing is, this book gets better if you get through the first couple of chapters. It didn't redeem itself back to 5/5 levels for me, but still, it clawed it's way from a 1 to a 3, and then I got to the climatic ending, and we're up at a 4, pushing towards 4.5 if I was feeling generous. Which, after reading the first chapter of the next book that was supplied at the end, I decided I was. 

The Good: 

The plot is probably my favourite thing about this. Angels protecting people are stories as old as time, but this is a whole other level for so many reasons that's difficult to go into without spoilers. Let's just say, there's more to both Alex and Aramael than meets the eye. 

Alex is a strong main character. She's got her issues, for sure. More issues than most. She's got her flaws, and they're handled quite well. I enjoyed following the story from her perspective, and enjoyed reading her interactions with the other characters. 

Even better than Alex, though, is Aramael, the angel of the story. His story of who is, what he is, and how he has to deal with the dramas of Heaven were my favourite parts of this. You only see snippets of the drama going on up in Heaven, but there's enough drama for a whole seperate novel, probably multiple. I'm looking forward to seeing more of it. 

The ending was the best part. If you've read my previous reviews, you'll know I hate it when I can figure out the climax, or the big reveal, before it happens. I like to be surprised. With this, I didn't expect it, and I genuinely want to pick up the next book.

The Bad (but not too bad): 

The writer's style at the start did bog me down a little, as I said above. I'm glad I stuck with it, though. 

There was the odd cliché in this. Very minor, but probably predictable spoiler here, we've got the start of a forbidden romance. The whole, we can't do this, it's forbidden sort of thing was going on. What, thankfully, redeemed it for me, is the characters' response to it. Particularly, the female in the situation. She didn't halt her whole life because she couldn't have the angel. She got on with it. Hallelujah. The whole forbidden romance thing, whilst hinted at, isn't a main theme at all. In fact, it would be quite easy to ignore it if you really want to, which is pretty much what I chose to do. 

I'm curious as to why this book seems to be being republished under a different author's name, I'll admit. It seems the series is complete, or, there's at least 4 books, so why change things now? Just a curiosity I've got regarding this. 

So, in summary, yes, I would buy this book. Especially if you enjoy urban fantasy stories, with a hint of romance. And who doesn't like a good series to sink their teeth into?

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and of course, the author for the opportunity to read this book!