Review by wei_lan - Angels Before Man

wei_lan 's review for:

Angels Before Man by rafael nicolás

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was so intriguing and gut-wrenching for me. As someone who grew up in a deeply religious household, I related so hard to Lucifer’s relationship with God.

1. Lucifer’s questions and perspectives felt comforting to me because I experienced the same sort of rabbit hole that began as being curious and ending with anger and hatred. I wish I had this book when I was in highschool.

2. I adored Lucifer so much. His initial shyness and curiosity was what really hooked me in. I could see him changing and becoming more confident but being perceived as vain and immodest and it really made me think about the difference between them. Like, why should Lucifer not be proud of his appearance when he is the angel of beauty?

3. I knew what was going to happen but it still tore me to pieces when it happened. I almost stopped reading this when

Lucifer and his angels began burning heaven. But it was Lucifer’s understanding that they were probably going to lose that made all the difference. I was cringing hard at the thought of Lucifer believing that he could actually defeat God in their final battle, but him recognizing that it was near, if not completely, impossible made me love him even more. I think it also shows that he isn’t actually cocky with his confidence. He believes in himself and that’s enough for him.

4. There were a couple of times I zoned out and got lost or confused. Visualizing the angels’ houses was difficult for me and when I read about the on a bed or entering a room I was kind of taken out of the story trying to imagine what a bedroom would look like in heaven for an angel.

5. As far as I can remember, there was not a single female character. I don’t know how to feel about that because I’m pretty sure this was based on biblical canon and I don’t there are any female angels, but having all male characters did make it harder for me to keep track of who was doing/saying what at times.

6. Hearing Lucifer create words with meaning was so cool!! Hearing him create “c*nt” and “f*cking” was so funny to me.

Content Warnings