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vikit's review
2.0
I received a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review from NetGalley.
I read a couple of books from the author before from her Vicious circle series and even thought i wasn’t really fan of the writing style or didn’t love the series the author have great ideas. So when I saw the gorgeous cover of this book and read the synopsis there was no doubt in my mind whether to read it or not. Unfortunately, I misunderstood the synopsis a bit and not just because of this but ended up struggling with the story.
First of all, I didn’t realize how much this story revolves around angels and God and such. Yes I could have expected it based on the cover but the synopsis didn’t give too much indication regarding this so I went into reading with hope. Well, this hope of mine got dashed pretty quickly but regardless of my dislike of angels there are a couple of great ideas in it.
My main problem other than the topic, was the writing style or more like the way the story was presented in a discursive and unfocused way. And this didn’t help me create a clear picture of the world building which is complex but really confusing and holey. Not just the supernatural aspect of the story but the basic world too. Sometimes I felt like it had a dystopian background with the devastation some scenes represented but I couldn’t be sure because it was just a feeling I got during reading. So in the end I didn’t understand the meaning behind half of the plot and it bothered me so much. I tried; I really did but had no luck in really immersing myself in the story.
As for the characters, the story is told from 4 different points of view and this was my favorite thing about the book. These four characters not just completely different but also represent different sides of the world, the story even though they all had something common. I loved how it showed the good, the bad and everything in between.
There is Jovienne, who is an abhadhon, basically an enforcer angel who does the dirty work for God. The thing s though she is really didn’t want to become one but her loneliness and infatuation with her teacher lead her to this path. She only realized that she had a choice when it was too late. So in the beginning she is bitter about her predicament and starts to fight tooth and nail to get out of it or to find some freedom. As she progresses she finds out a lot of things about her past and herself. She could be interesting character but her point of view is specially detailed and there is a lot of extra information and scenes that just confused me about her. But she is a fighter for sure. I absolutely loved her connection with Eitan. Their bickering was a great addition to the story.
Then there is Araxiel, the demon who got a taste of freedom from Hell and doesn’t want to go back. no matter what, so he is even willing to approach the one who can send him back and offer her a tentative alliance, at least until he reaches his goal after that everybody is for themselves. He is cunning and greedy and manipulates others around him spectacularly.
Or Andrei, Jovienne former teacher who is lost, who was lost even before meeting the girl. I didn’t particularly like him; he is a bit of a coward at the beginning and makes a lot of bad decisions but slowly starts to redeem himself.
I didn’t enjoy the book and even think that starting the book after Jovienne training and the initial realization of her new powers created an empty space in the plot and also helped with my confusion. It’s a shame because I had high hopes for this book.
I read a couple of books from the author before from her Vicious circle series and even thought i wasn’t really fan of the writing style or didn’t love the series the author have great ideas. So when I saw the gorgeous cover of this book and read the synopsis there was no doubt in my mind whether to read it or not. Unfortunately, I misunderstood the synopsis a bit and not just because of this but ended up struggling with the story.
First of all, I didn’t realize how much this story revolves around angels and God and such. Yes I could have expected it based on the cover but the synopsis didn’t give too much indication regarding this so I went into reading with hope. Well, this hope of mine got dashed pretty quickly but regardless of my dislike of angels there are a couple of great ideas in it.
My main problem other than the topic, was the writing style or more like the way the story was presented in a discursive and unfocused way. And this didn’t help me create a clear picture of the world building which is complex but really confusing and holey. Not just the supernatural aspect of the story but the basic world too. Sometimes I felt like it had a dystopian background with the devastation some scenes represented but I couldn’t be sure because it was just a feeling I got during reading. So in the end I didn’t understand the meaning behind half of the plot and it bothered me so much. I tried; I really did but had no luck in really immersing myself in the story.
As for the characters, the story is told from 4 different points of view and this was my favorite thing about the book. These four characters not just completely different but also represent different sides of the world, the story even though they all had something common. I loved how it showed the good, the bad and everything in between.
There is Jovienne, who is an abhadhon, basically an enforcer angel who does the dirty work for God. The thing s though she is really didn’t want to become one but her loneliness and infatuation with her teacher lead her to this path. She only realized that she had a choice when it was too late. So in the beginning she is bitter about her predicament and starts to fight tooth and nail to get out of it or to find some freedom. As she progresses she finds out a lot of things about her past and herself. She could be interesting character but her point of view is specially detailed and there is a lot of extra information and scenes that just confused me about her. But she is a fighter for sure. I absolutely loved her connection with Eitan. Their bickering was a great addition to the story.
Then there is Araxiel, the demon who got a taste of freedom from Hell and doesn’t want to go back. no matter what, so he is even willing to approach the one who can send him back and offer her a tentative alliance, at least until he reaches his goal after that everybody is for themselves. He is cunning and greedy and manipulates others around him spectacularly.
Or Andrei, Jovienne former teacher who is lost, who was lost even before meeting the girl. I didn’t particularly like him; he is a bit of a coward at the beginning and makes a lot of bad decisions but slowly starts to redeem himself.
I didn’t enjoy the book and even think that starting the book after Jovienne training and the initial realization of her new powers created an empty space in the plot and also helped with my confusion. It’s a shame because I had high hopes for this book.
verlkonig's review
2.0
Jovienne is nothing if not an ass-kicker of a book. The eponymous lead seems to be modelled on a gothic rocker from the 80's, which may or may not be your cup of tea. Add into the mix an unhealthy dose of Christian mythos, atheism, Hawaiian witchcraft, murder, and a sickeningly touchy feely demon and you may or may not have yourself a party.
The story follows Jovienne, a young woman who, after suffering the loss of her family in a car accident, is trained to slaughter demons by her tutor Andrei. Right at the beginning, her learned skills are put to the very literal test - if she kills a powerful demon, she will be rewarded with abhadon status. (An abhadon is a kind of angel specifically created to kill demons). On the other hand, if she fails, she'll be tortured in hell forever after. So there's a fair bit riding on this test. The real hard stuff comes later, when Jovienne struggles with her new status/servitude and what it means.
The story is quite convoluted. I found it difficult to follow each character's motives. Jovienne's motives were the most clear - she wanted to be free from her forced servitude. However, I couldn't understand so many of her choices! At first I thought I was missing important information so once she did something I would skip back a few chapters to check what I'd missed - but I hadn't missed anything. It was just hard to follow and Jovienne's headspace is a difficult one to get into, especially considering all the info dumps, changes of POV, and 'revelations' that meant nothing to me since I didn't understand where these revelations came from or what they meant.
The world building needs a little work, as does the plotting. Being introduced to so many characters and ideas so early on before they had any bearing on Jovienne's story made things difficult for me. Also, there were some characters who I thought were utterly expendable (looking at you, Nathan!)
Jovienne was at first a character I was lukewarm towards. I appreciated what an ass kicker she was and liked her fiery spirit (note: the sassiness, fiery spirit etc does not need to be mentioned every 10 pages. We get it.) However, her bitterness and rage get tiresome quickly, especially when I just couldn't understand her at all. In the second half of the novel I'd gone from being lukewarm to actively disliking her and her foolish, rash decisions. The only thing I didn't mind about her was her apparent interest in saving innocents, but I also HATED how she behaved around Araxiel - because she is a virgin, she allows this creep-o to tear her clothes off and be unspeakably rapey??? No thank you! I expected more of you, Jovienne!
I felt much the same apathy towards other characters - Andrei, who was kind of flat and dull; Eitan, who we barely got to know; Araxiel, whose motives were unclear; and Damsel, who was as one dimensional as possible to ensure we had no sympathy for her.
Overall, the action scenes were many and fun, but there was little word building, or character growth. Add to this a weirdly happy ending for what was a grim book and I had sincerely run out of patience for it. However, I truly believe that with a bit of editing and altering, this would be someone's perfect novel. It's dark and violent and full of cool angels wearing leather and stabbing hell spawn. Not my cup of tea, in the end, but certainly somebody's.
The story follows Jovienne, a young woman who, after suffering the loss of her family in a car accident, is trained to slaughter demons by her tutor Andrei. Right at the beginning, her learned skills are put to the very literal test - if she kills a powerful demon, she will be rewarded with abhadon status. (An abhadon is a kind of angel specifically created to kill demons). On the other hand, if she fails, she'll be tortured in hell forever after. So there's a fair bit riding on this test. The real hard stuff comes later, when Jovienne struggles with her new status/servitude and what it means.
The story is quite convoluted. I found it difficult to follow each character's motives. Jovienne's motives were the most clear - she wanted to be free from her forced servitude. However, I couldn't understand so many of her choices! At first I thought I was missing important information so once she did something I would skip back a few chapters to check what I'd missed - but I hadn't missed anything. It was just hard to follow and Jovienne's headspace is a difficult one to get into, especially considering all the info dumps, changes of POV, and 'revelations' that meant nothing to me since I didn't understand where these revelations came from or what they meant.
Spoiler
(See: the nephilim. See: Jovienne's grandma, and who she was. See: Eitan's mysterious past. See: the Cinders/Senders, and who they were. What).The world building needs a little work, as does the plotting. Being introduced to so many characters and ideas so early on before they had any bearing on Jovienne's story made things difficult for me. Also, there were some characters who I thought were utterly expendable (looking at you, Nathan!)
Jovienne was at first a character I was lukewarm towards. I appreciated what an ass kicker she was and liked her fiery spirit (note: the sassiness, fiery spirit etc does not need to be mentioned every 10 pages. We get it.) However, her bitterness and rage get tiresome quickly, especially when I just couldn't understand her at all. In the second half of the novel I'd gone from being lukewarm to actively disliking her and her foolish, rash decisions. The only thing I didn't mind about her was her apparent interest in saving innocents, but
Spoiler
SPOILER ALERT - she murders Nathan without a second thought at the end, who had done nothing but be unlucky.I felt much the same apathy towards other characters - Andrei, who was kind of flat and dull; Eitan, who we barely got to know; Araxiel, whose motives were unclear; and Damsel, who was as one dimensional as possible to ensure we had no sympathy for her.
Overall, the action scenes were many and fun, but there was little word building, or character growth. Add to this a weirdly happy ending for what was a grim book and I had sincerely run out of patience for it. However, I truly believe that with a bit of editing and altering, this would be someone's perfect novel. It's dark and violent and full of cool angels wearing leather and stabbing hell spawn. Not my cup of tea, in the end, but certainly somebody's.
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