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ameserole's review
3.0
I picked this for, you guessed it - a challenge! HOWEVER, it was WAY too short :(
Demon's Fall was a super quick audio that was filled with some short stories about a, you guessed it - an angel and a demon. In it, you will meet Kenan and Jahel. Interesting names and they are pretty interesting characters. Kenan buys Jahel, because she's a caged animal. I mean angel. Instead of treating her as a slave, he ends up falling for her.
Color me shocked people. Now it's not just him falling for her, nope - they fall for each other. Rather quickly if you ask me, but since it was a super quick book - it was bound to happen. They were okay and so was this book, I just wished it was a bit longer.
Demon's Fall was a super quick audio that was filled with some short stories about a, you guessed it - an angel and a demon. In it, you will meet Kenan and Jahel. Interesting names and they are pretty interesting characters. Kenan buys Jahel, because she's a caged animal. I mean angel. Instead of treating her as a slave, he ends up falling for her.
Color me shocked people. Now it's not just him falling for her, nope - they fall for each other. Rather quickly if you ask me, but since it was a super quick book - it was bound to happen. They were okay and so was this book, I just wished it was a bit longer.
mxsallybend's review
4.0
Demon's Fall is a wonderful little novella that begins with an interesting premise: an incubus purchases a caged and collared angel to add to his collection. As you can imagine, there is a great deal of potential contained within that premise, sexually, romantically, and even theologically. A less daring author likely would have used the concept to feed a steamy bit of BDSM erotica, populated with stock angels and demons, but even as Karalynn acknowledges that potential, she carefully steers the story in some surprising (and refreshing) directions.
mari_escapeinabook's review
1.0
This book came very close to a "did not finish" for me. It was just impossible to connect with the characters and I couldn't manage to feel anything for them. I missed action and passion.
The story sometimes felt like a retelling of Snow White, it certainly had some of the known elements from that story, but sadly it felt like a lifeless retelling. The plot idea in itself was good, but could have been developed further. There are some elements of the apocalypse in there, that is just a sidetrack from Kenan and Jahel's mission, if this is a stand alone novel I don't quite get why that was in the book at all.
On a positive note the author writes in a way that makes the story an easy read. Perhaps I'm just picky but sadly that wasn't enough for me.
raven168's review
2.0
By giving this only 2 stars, I'm not saying this was bad. But this takes place in Hellsgate, which is right outside of Hell (obviously) and populated mostly by demons. But practically every character we meet, is a good guy. Especially the main one, Kenan. I don't want to say it was a boring read, because it wasn't, but everything seemed too easy. I did love how they used souls that were bound to coins as currency there though. That was cool.
Jahel is an angel that was guarding a soul and lost it to a hellhound. So she goes to Hellsgate to try to find and save that soul. Instead, she is trapped, collared, and sold. The only fortunate thing is that it was Kenan who bought her. Kenan is an incubus, and perhaps because he's more human that the rest, but he never acts very demon like. At first he buys Jahel because her soul would make a great coin to keep in his collection. But also immediately he finds himself wanting to help her instead.
And that's what we get here. The two of them going around finding information and doing what they need to do to get this soul back. But along with their story is another one. A scroll was stolen from Heaven and the thief is determined to start a war between Heaven and Hell by kickstarting Armageddon. Honestly, that story was more interesting than the main one. I will say that I was happy with how this ended for the two of them though.
Jahel is an angel that was guarding a soul and lost it to a hellhound. So she goes to Hellsgate to try to find and save that soul. Instead, she is trapped, collared, and sold. The only fortunate thing is that it was Kenan who bought her. Kenan is an incubus, and perhaps because he's more human that the rest, but he never acts very demon like. At first he buys Jahel because her soul would make a great coin to keep in his collection. But also immediately he finds himself wanting to help her instead.
And that's what we get here. The two of them going around finding information and doing what they need to do to get this soul back. But along with their story is another one. A scroll was stolen from Heaven and the thief is determined to start a war between Heaven and Hell by kickstarting Armageddon. Honestly, that story was more interesting than the main one. I will say that I was happy with how this ended for the two of them though.
witandsin's review
3.0
An angel in Hellsgate is rare enough. A captured angel in Hellsgate…now, that presents a temptation for Kenan. The sexy incubus collects souls, and the angel’s would be a most rewarding addition. The opportunity too good to pass up, Kenan buys the angel, Jahel, intent on seducing her out of her immortal soul. What he finds instead, is that Jahel metaphorically captures his, fascinating him as no other being has and tempting him more than any woman ever could. Now the incubus is doing things he never believed he would, like helping Jahel find the soul that brought her so close to Hell in the first place. As desire, and something that is perhaps love, draws the angel and the demon closer together, their newfound relationship is threatened by the very real possibility of an apocalyptic war between Heaven and Hell.
Journey to the very brink of Heaven and the brush the depths of Hell in Karalynn Lee’s Demon’s Fall. An angel and a demon make the most unlikely of pairs, yet Jahel and Kenan are nothing less than a perfect match. Their romance is at the center of the exciting world Ms. Lee builds in Demon’s Fall, one that is fascinating and ripe with possibility. I admit, what has stuck with me the most after finishing Demon’s Fall is the world of Hellsgate and Ms. Lee’s spin on the world of angels and demons. This isn’t to say that Jahel and Kenan aren’t engaging characters, only that they had slightly less of an impact on me than the world-building Ms. Lee does in Demon’s Fall did. All in all, I found Demon’s Fall to be a highly entertaining read and I hope one day Ms. Lee revisits the captivating world she created.
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.
Journey to the very brink of Heaven and the brush the depths of Hell in Karalynn Lee’s Demon’s Fall. An angel and a demon make the most unlikely of pairs, yet Jahel and Kenan are nothing less than a perfect match. Their romance is at the center of the exciting world Ms. Lee builds in Demon’s Fall, one that is fascinating and ripe with possibility. I admit, what has stuck with me the most after finishing Demon’s Fall is the world of Hellsgate and Ms. Lee’s spin on the world of angels and demons. This isn’t to say that Jahel and Kenan aren’t engaging characters, only that they had slightly less of an impact on me than the world-building Ms. Lee does in Demon’s Fall did. All in all, I found Demon’s Fall to be a highly entertaining read and I hope one day Ms. Lee revisits the captivating world she created.
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed.
asphaltcowgrrl's review
4.0
The idea of an angel and a demon falling in love intrigued me. The story was very well developed despite being only 75 pages. Great characters that you want to know more about.
annastarlight's review
2.0
Carina Press was so kind to make Demon's Fall available for free for a short amount of time. However, this novella was not my cup of tea.
When the incubus Kenan sees a captured angel at the infamous Hellsgate market, he has to have her. What he doesn't know is that Jahel is not an ordinary angel, but one with the ability to steal his heart...
I found it highly unlikely for an angel to instantly lust after a demon. Isn't that entirely against every instinct an angel has? Shouldn't she be disgusted by his awful sins, by his collecting of souls that she tries to save? Both Kenan's and Jahel's thoughts were confusing to me, one second they lean this way, next second the other.
There was a little part focussing on a certain evil witch, and a bit of Four Horsemen lore that was pretty cool. It was well incorporated into the story, but I wish every problem wasn't solved so easily. It almost seemed like no trouble at all to overcome the Horseman War. I would expect more of a struggle there.
The writing isn't too bad, and the story isn't either. It just wasn't for me.
When the incubus Kenan sees a captured angel at the infamous Hellsgate market, he has to have her. What he doesn't know is that Jahel is not an ordinary angel, but one with the ability to steal his heart...
I found it highly unlikely for an angel to instantly lust after a demon. Isn't that entirely against every instinct an angel has? Shouldn't she be disgusted by his awful sins, by his collecting of souls that she tries to save? Both Kenan's and Jahel's thoughts were confusing to me, one second they lean this way, next second the other.
There was a little part focussing on a certain evil witch, and a bit of Four Horsemen lore that was pretty cool. It was well incorporated into the story, but I wish every problem wasn't solved so easily. It almost seemed like no trouble at all to overcome the Horseman War. I would expect more of a struggle there.
The writing isn't too bad, and the story isn't either. It just wasn't for me.
coffeeandink's review
3.0
The world-building is fascinating. Demons seduce or trick or steal souls from humans, which solidify as coins, the person's face on one side and true name on the other. The coins are used as currency. Angels protect humans but only take souls at death. If humans avoid either fate, and possibly also because of moral implications (unclear), they can choose the Third Way, where demons and angels are not allowed to go.
Incubus Kenan discovers an angel locked in a cage and buys her. She's come to Hellsgate to try to retrieve the soul of her charge from a hellhound. Kenan wants her soul -- the soul of angel is a challenge. Their attempts to find the hellhound and bargain for the human's soul become entangled with a conspiracy to start the Apocalypse.
The romance is nice, and there's some nice evasion of/turnabout of the usual tropes of angelic innocence (the angel Jahel is curious about sex, enjoys it, feels no bodily or moral shame about it). I wish it had been longer -- the relationship arc feels complete, but I would have wished for more distrustful attraction in the beginning, just because I like that kind of thing. More objectively, the bigger conspiracy plot feels shoehorned in and rushed -- it should have been expanded or left out.
Incubus Kenan discovers an angel locked in a cage and buys her. She's come to Hellsgate to try to retrieve the soul of her charge from a hellhound. Kenan wants her soul -- the soul of angel is a challenge. Their attempts to find the hellhound and bargain for the human's soul become entangled with a conspiracy to start the Apocalypse.
The romance is nice, and there's some nice evasion of/turnabout of the usual tropes of angelic innocence (the angel Jahel is curious about sex, enjoys it, feels no bodily or moral shame about it). I wish it had been longer -- the relationship arc feels complete, but I would have wished for more distrustful attraction in the beginning, just because I like that kind of thing. More objectively, the bigger conspiracy plot feels shoehorned in and rushed -- it should have been expanded or left out.
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