A review by lem119
The Angel's Cut by Elizabeth Knox

5.0

I didn't enjoy this sequel to The Vintner's Luck as much as I enjoyed the original book, but it was still very good. There were even aspects of it that were better than the original. For example, whereas I felt that apart from Xas, Sobran, and Aurora (and Celeste, to a lesser extent) the supporting characters in The Vintner's Luck were not very well fleshed out, The Angel's Cut featured far more interesting backstories for even the more minor characters. And the major roles, well, I loved seeing more of Xas's point of view, and Flora in particular was wonderful. I also liked the setting, 1930s Hollywood. Like The Vintner's Luck, the pacing of the story was a bit all over the place, but also like the original, what was important in The Angel's Cut was that it definitely struck an emotional chord. I already knew that I loved Xas, of course, but I really loved the other characters as well. This story had a happier ending than The Vintner's Luck, or, well, a more open ending—I'm not sure quite how put my comparison into words—but it was no less dramatic. But speaking of the ending of The Vintner's Luck, I loved how this story continued the threads started there—with Lucifer, and with keeping Xas's relationship with Sobran as an important part of his character—while also developing new stories and relationships.