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shoegazesecondhand_books 's review for:
The Book of Azrael
by Amber V. Nicole
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
That. Ending.
I'm going to blame my wavering ability to focus on this book on my going back and forth between the audiobook and eye-ball reading it. Although approachable and modern, The Book of Azrael is dense high-fantasy with a million names and complicated places and I would have had a better time just eye-ball reading it.
Now that you have your PSA:
"I didn’t remember how long we talked, but somewhere amidst her laughter and smiles, I decided I would rip the world apart for her."
• We've got a MORALLY GREY FMC y'all! No dainty mortal maiden or malnourished street-kid here, we’ve got POWER. Dianna is a force to be reckoned with in a way that really shouldn’t be this refreshing but it is. Her powers are clear and exciting and we stannnnn.
• I absolutely adore an overly formal fish-out-of-water God-type, and Liam (Samkiel?) fits that bill perfectly.
• Surprise to no one, our characters have *trauma* but it feels real and worth exploring as opposed to shoehorned-in tragic backstories.
• For how long it is, The Book of Azrael has great pacing and character development, and the world building (set in a sort of modern/near-future, post-Gods War Earth) is seamless.
I am going to be filing this under "fantasy books that have dialogue like Star Wars or Marvel movies" - this isn’t a critique but a calling out of the specific vibe that exists in a lot of the most popular fantasy series (that is also really hard to execute well). It can occasionally feel too unserious, but in Dianna's case it’s actually really refreshing to have such realistic and funny banter amidst such heavy plotting (example: having our main tell someone to go fuck themselves was GREAT). It also effectively makes Dianna and the other earth-bound folks stand apart from our Very Special God-Prince.
TLDR; If you like a complex, modern, action-packed fantasy that manages to keep the overarching plot in the foreground (as opposed to falling too far into the trappings of the romance - although that's hot too), this is the right series for you.
Really looking forward to diving into the next book, because holy shit what a cliffhanger!
I'm going to blame my wavering ability to focus on this book on my going back and forth between the audiobook and eye-ball reading it. Although approachable and modern, The Book of Azrael is dense high-fantasy with a million names and complicated places and I would have had a better time just eye-ball reading it.
Now that you have your PSA:
"I didn’t remember how long we talked, but somewhere amidst her laughter and smiles, I decided I would rip the world apart for her."
• We've got a MORALLY GREY FMC y'all! No dainty mortal maiden or malnourished street-kid here, we’ve got POWER. Dianna is a force to be reckoned with in a way that really shouldn’t be this refreshing but it is. Her powers are clear and exciting and we stannnnn.
• I absolutely adore an overly formal fish-out-of-water God-type, and Liam (Samkiel?) fits that bill perfectly.
• Surprise to no one, our characters have *trauma* but it feels real and worth exploring as opposed to shoehorned-in tragic backstories.
• For how long it is, The Book of Azrael has great pacing and character development, and the world building (set in a sort of modern/near-future, post-Gods War Earth) is seamless.
I am going to be filing this under "fantasy books that have dialogue like Star Wars or Marvel movies" - this isn’t a critique but a calling out of the specific vibe that exists in a lot of the most popular fantasy series (that is also really hard to execute well). It can occasionally feel too unserious, but in Dianna's case it’s actually really refreshing to have such realistic and funny banter amidst such heavy plotting (example: having our main tell someone to go fuck themselves was GREAT). It also effectively makes Dianna and the other earth-bound folks stand apart from our Very Special God-Prince.
TLDR; If you like a complex, modern, action-packed fantasy that manages to keep the overarching plot in the foreground (as opposed to falling too far into the trappings of the romance - although that's hot too), this is the right series for you.
Really looking forward to diving into the next book, because holy shit what a cliffhanger!