Reviews tagging 'Rape'

I’ve always found Satan to be a compelling literary figure, and I really like interpretations of the fall of Satan when they’re done well. Angels Before Man was fine, but there were tonal shifts that I though could have been done better, and overall, reading it just felt like work.

This book is split into two halves. The first half is about Lucifer’s birth and early life in heaven, where he learns about his place in existence and figures out his “role” as the angel of beauty and worship. This part of the book draaaagged and was pretty repetitive. It’s literally millions of years of Lucifer being self-conscious/ashamed of his beauty. This aspect of his character is important, but I don’t think it needed to be reinforced quite as much as it was. One thing I did like about this section of the book was that it established God as a self-centered and domineering figure early on, in a way that was obvious to the reader, but not to Lucifer himself.

The second half depicts Lucifer’s alienation and disillusionment with God, and ends with him being cast out of heaven. This part had a lot more going for it as there was more conflict for me to sink my teeth into and the pace picked up significantly. I liked the examination of conflict in a society made up of people who don’t understand death and where war and deceit haven’t been invented yet. I liked God’s ambivalence over whether or not he wanted his creations to embrace complementarianism (in the sense that some of his creations are meant to be two parts of a whole, while others are meant to be autonomous individuals who care only about him). I wish we could have gotten more Uriel content, because I honestly became more invested in his story within the few pages we got of his POV than I was in the other characters who got way more screentime.

I could name a number of other things that the second half of the book did well, but all of that is somewhat diminished by the fact that I had to get through a lot of what I considered to be filler content in the first half of the book first. By the time things started getting interesting, my patience had worn thin and I just wanted to get to the end of the story.

There is also a significant increase in graphic violence and sexual content in part 2, which I personally felt was fitting for the story being told, but may come as a surprise to some readers (the first half is REALLY tame compared to the second half). I’ve listed some content warnings below.

Content Warnings

maximauve's review

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

When the author warns you that part 2 does not need to be read, believe them. Do not read the second half.

Content Warnings

troll_for_initiative's review

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

cakeboxing's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

As horrifying as it is beautiful, as pleasurable as it is disturbing. This book had me totally, completely at its mercy.
"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable."

The writing style was unique. Most of the time, it was excellent and the prose elicited stronger emotional reactions from me than I would have thought. But I often found myself rereading passages multiple times to try and understand it, and came away forced to guess the implied meanings.

To me, the ending felt lacking, and a bit dissatisfying, but also leant true to the character of this version of God that had been built up in this book.

If you want a book that will mess with your mind, heart, and (Christian) religious beliefs, this is the one to reach for.

Content Warnings

madscanread's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The slow corruption of a pure, innocent angel to a hysterical, unstable beast spurred on by a cruel, jealous father. A book to make you hate god viscerally and while not making you love Lucifer, it at the very least makes you understand and mourn for him.

Content Warnings

tinyelfarcanist's review

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“Angel of beauty.” That’s what Lucifer has been called from the moment of his creation. Ashamed of his appearance, he wants nothing more than to spend his days worshipping God. That is until archangel Michael grabs his attention. A lyrical retelling of Lucifer's fall.

This is one of the darkest books I've read and I suggest you look at the content warnings before diving into this one. The following is a list of the topics included in my review, just a meagre example of those contained in this novel.

CW: swearing, blasphemy, and mention of wicked acts.

"He is beautiful," the seraph said as the cherub cried out from a scathingly sore throat. "The most magnificent of all your angels, Father."

I loved the prose reflecting Lucifer’s mental state. Lucifer is an interesting character if unappealing at times.

This book is split into two distinct sections. I divided my review as such. Don't be fooled by the sweetness of the first part, this book doesn't shy away from picturing the depravity that a tortured individual is driven to.

Part 1:

So. Fucking. Cute. A naive and recently created Lucifer shares sweet banter with other playful angels in Heaven...

What else could an angel be but happy?

On the surface, this is a story about a beloved bard finding his purpose, a story about a narcissistic pimp and his favourite twink. A story about angels in love.

Why would God make him so beautiful if that beauty wasn’t meant to be admired?

Paradise is not what it seems.

Part 2:

Looking deeper, this is a commentary on jealousy, identity, and religious trauma.

The Lord said, "Sing, angel," His voice all-encompassing, "and you will be saved." Lucifer did so, fearing his God.

For a restless angel like Lucifer, mindless worshipping and hedonism won’t do.

Angels Before Man is powerful in its painfully accurate depictions of depression, wrath, passion, and pride. It is a blasphemous display of the unforgiving Father and the angel who was punished for questioning.

God may have created his equal. He made a perfect angel, and He will soon discover that power corrupts. Lucifer grows more spiteful every time he’s reprimanded.

Let’s not forget that for all of Lucifer’s deviousness, he is God’s creation.

Content Warnings

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