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mollieslibrary 's review for:

Ascension by S.T. Gibson
5.0

Thank you to Netgalley and Angry Robot for sending me this ARC!

I was thrilled to receive this ARC, as I adore S.T. Gibson's prose, and Evocation was one of my favourite books last year! The first 20% of Ascension had a slower pace than anticipated, but it quickly picked up, and as expected, it did not disappoint.

Rhys is my poor tortured soul, and seeing how his anxieties and insecurities both broke me and resonated. It was hard to watch him crumble over inherited pressure and self-imposed pressure, and I’m so glad he managed to pull himself back together.

I loved the exploration of the poly relationship between our beloved trio, and how, despite some lingering jealousy, there were no hard feelings when David started something up with Maximillian. Speaking of Max, I feel like there is still something there that could come into play in future books. Also, the hints that Moira may have another love interest have left me wanting more!

It was also interesting to see Rhys invoke the power of the Archangel, and I look forward to seeing how that will manifest.

Some of my favourite quotes:
'Love, for Rhys, was a practice, very much like prayer, something to be done every day, with quiet consistency and attention to detail'

'Sometimes, things need to fall apart to come back together again.'

'When everything else failed him, books did not'

'As Rhys sat there in his kitchen watching Moira and David gossip over the food he had prepared for them, Moira's brown eyes alight with interest, David's mouth curving into a smile, Rhys felt that this might be a glimmer of the thing he had been ceaselessly searching for. He felt, perhaps for the first time in his life, holy.'