The Book of Azrael by Amber Nicole

World Ender meets Ender of Worlds... For thousands of years after The Gods War the Etherworld has known peace but soon that too will change. An old enemy driven by revenge slowly builds an army behind the scenes. Temples are ransacked in search of an item long lost and enemies since the dawn of time must put aside their differences if they have any hope for survival.

Slow to start but once it gets going, whew! The banter in this book is great between the 2 main characters, and I loved the angle of them dealing with trauma and family sacrifices in different ways.

Diana is a hell of a relatable FMC for those who are older siblings and have had to make tough choices and decisions to keep their younger siblings safe and happy. Liam is relatable to anyone who suffers with PTSD, anxiety, depression, guilt, and a tendency to push others away when hurting.

I cannot deal with the ending oh my god I do not accept it and will be starting the second one as soon as I finish this review. I give it 4/5 stars only because I was about 25% of the way through the book before it really drew me in... it was too slow of a beginning burn for me. Once it picked up though, 5 stars!

I found the size of this book very intimidating, but I am appreciative of high fantasy and I think it has to be considered high fantasy at 800 pages long. It would be an absolute crime if this book was slow but it was enjoyable and finishing this book in two sittings is good.

A brief summary is that our protagonist has sacrificed her mortality to save her sister and is now under the servitude of Kaden, who requires the Book of Azrael.

I requested this book via NetGalley because I wanted a high fantasy novel that wasn't Brandon Sanderson or emphasized male characters too much. Of course, I wanted a book of quality with a fresh voice and that's what I got! This book is not derivative at all and I don't feel it is trying to copy formulas of big franchises.

This was a comfort read in terms of tropes like a villainous female main character (Dianna) and enemies to lovers yet not unreasonable, poorly written spice at all. This book gave me a lot of things I never knew I wanted from books. I feel that in my limited experience of high fantasy, I haven't read anything like this and I absolutely loved it.

This book is excellent from the characters to world building. I am excited to see more from these characters.

Finally, yes this book does show a bit of inexperience as a debut and the editing could be improved but it is a very promising start and I am thrilled to have read this e-ARC. Thank you to NetGalley & Rose and Star Publishing for the free copy, in exchange for an honest review.