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bhnmt61's review
2.0
Since I am a fan of the series, I bought this book when it came out, but for some reason I never got around to reading it. But I spent the past two days in a car and on planes, and I was able to borrow the e-book from my library. For the first half of the book, I thought it might be my favorite of the series. As plenty have pointed out, the basic plot is almost identical to the first book in the series, but she solved some of the problems with that book by making the characters and their motivations more believable and understandable.
(although she still keeps the weird thing where medicines are dropped as individual tablets from a height of several miles above the planet, which is so unlikely--not to mention unsanitary--that you just roll your eyes every time it happens.)
But by the end, I was thoroughly disappointed with Angelica. All of Shinn's books end abruptly, so I was expecting that, but this one leaves so many plot threads dangling that I honestly could not believe it was over when the end showed up on my Kindle. Seriously? Not even another couple of pages to tell us what happened? (*minor spoilers ahead*)
One small example: in the first half of the book, much is made about what the new angelica Susannah will choose to sing at the annual gathering of the people of Samaria: will she sing a solo? a duet? Will Ahio write her a new mass? But we never find out. (If you've never read a Samaria book, that will sound absurdly minor, but the music of Samaria is one of the primary draws of the series imo.)
And then there are Susannah's dreams, which she's had all her life. I was expecting there to be some unique crisis that only she with her particular mix of experiences would be able to solve, but instead she is just asked to do something that anyone could do. The reader is told in a half-sentence that it's because she's the only one that's not afraid, but that is obviously not true--there are dozens of brave characters in this book.
And then there's the stupid plot device that the hero (Gaaron) gets his feelings hurt because Susannah says the name of her old lover in a dream. It has been so long since Susannah had any feelings for that guy that this was completely unbelievable. Susannah and Gaaron had plenty of issues still to work out, there was no need to throw in one more trumped up non-issue.
The book in the end is more about Miriam (Gaaron's sister) and her experiences than it was about Susannah and I suppose that is fine, but if Shinn discovered that was happening halfway through, she should have gone back and re-edited the first half of the book so that there weren't so many plot details about Susannah that were left hanging. Very disappointed in this one.
(although she still keeps the weird thing where medicines are dropped as individual tablets from a height of several miles above the planet, which is so unlikely--not to mention unsanitary--that you just roll your eyes every time it happens.)
But by the end, I was thoroughly disappointed with Angelica. All of Shinn's books end abruptly, so I was expecting that, but this one leaves so many plot threads dangling that I honestly could not believe it was over when the end showed up on my Kindle. Seriously? Not even another couple of pages to tell us what happened? (*minor spoilers ahead*)
One small example: in the first half of the book, much is made about what the new angelica Susannah will choose to sing at the annual gathering of the people of Samaria: will she sing a solo? a duet? Will Ahio write her a new mass? But we never find out. (If you've never read a Samaria book, that will sound absurdly minor, but the music of Samaria is one of the primary draws of the series imo.)
And then there are Susannah's dreams, which she's had all her life. I was expecting there to be some unique crisis that only she with her particular mix of experiences would be able to solve, but instead she is just asked to do something that anyone could do. The reader is told in a half-sentence that it's because she's the only one that's not afraid, but that is obviously not true--there are dozens of brave characters in this book.
And then there's the stupid plot device that the hero (Gaaron) gets his feelings hurt because Susannah says the name of her old lover in a dream. It has been so long since Susannah had any feelings for that guy that this was completely unbelievable. Susannah and Gaaron had plenty of issues still to work out, there was no need to throw in one more trumped up non-issue.
The book in the end is more about Miriam (Gaaron's sister) and her experiences than it was about Susannah and I suppose that is fine, but if Shinn discovered that was happening halfway through, she should have gone back and re-edited the first half of the book so that there weren't so many plot details about Susannah that were left hanging. Very disappointed in this one.
applegnreads's review
3.0
Truthfully, I was a bit disappointed with the end of the book. I mean, I knew all what was going to happen but still.
onyxburst's review
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I am left wanting more. It was fascinating to watch this book take me back in time versus to continue moving forward in the stories we have had. I think some of the conflict could have been presented differently, because it fell into the camp of “These problems wouldn’t exist if the two characters talked to each other.” And you can see that the tension could’ve been kept because one of the characters has problems communicating. So the author could’ve leaned into that. It also danced the line in some areas with problematic tropes. I think the author the problematic trope of the wild savage and wrote something that was not blatantly offensive.
I do wanna highlight some good things about the book. The characters are really interesting. It is fascinating to see the world as it was 200 years before the first book. I think the set up there was good. It showed the world developing and that was fascinating. It was also good to see more in-depth Edori life. I also really like that the story is about tidbits we have come across in previous books. I do like that the author did not make the obvious route with one of the characters when they were mad. I do want more from the characters in this book, because I want to see the relationship blossom more.
I do wanna highlight some good things about the book. The characters are really interesting. It is fascinating to see the world as it was 200 years before the first book. I think the set up there was good. It showed the world developing and that was fascinating. It was also good to see more in-depth Edori life. I also really like that the story is about tidbits we have come across in previous books. I do like that the author did not make the obvious route with one of the characters when they were mad. I do want more from the characters in this book, because I want to see the relationship blossom more.
rillaarcania's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
3.5
erintby's review
3.0
I could not believe that I hadn’t read this book before, considering I’ve read 3 of the Samaria books multiple times over the last 12 years! Not sure how I missed it. So in that regard, it was such a treasure to read a new-to-me book in this series. But honestly, I was really dissatisfied with the end, for a number of reasons.
ithiliens's review
1.0
Lol where to start.. This book was an exercise in frustration. I am shocked that more people in these reviews are not taking Shinn to task for the absurdly racist world building that felt excessive even with my low opinion of SFF's general handling of anything non-white. We get not one but TWO inherently evil races, both of whom the angels have visible and active disdain for. A white blonde haired secondary character is discouraged from having children with a character from one of these groups because his breeding is bad-- this is said by one of the wisest people in Samaria! I am NOT kidding!!!! I really hate to say it but this combined with my ambivalence toward Wrapt in Crystal is souring me on Shinn in general. Her later books have similar problems with either Orientalist tropes or fantasy racism in general but this was just beyond the pale for me. Perhaps it's because this is a work of science fiction which I am less a fan of. But then again I am used to read eye rolling stuff about aliens and purple racism in SF. the racism in THIS book however is incredibly disturbing because of the background premise of the series.
Spoilers but what the colonists of Samaria think of as a god is actually an AI, a concept that I find incredibly cynical. If that wasn't enough none of the world building holds up for me at all. Maybe some of it would be clearer if I read the others but having this "divine" appointed striation of society with angels at the top is so... horrible? I don't have a ton of knowledge of the Bible but the parallels I can see being drawn or alluded to just don't sit right with me. I looked up if Shinn is Mormon because of the whole idea of going to a new planet while the people left behind are over and over are described as being darker skinned than the darkest skinned people in Samaria is like huh!!! Maybe don't!!!!!
And to add to this, the romance was a huge disappointment. I really like political arranged marriage stories (which is what drew me to try this) and the leads do not admit their feelings for each other until the LAST PAGE. They spend so little time with each other and have such flimsy misunderstandings I really wondered what the point was. I was also frustrated by Miriam's POV constantly interrupting the flow of the story. Nothing at the end feels resolved and I think it's because the interior logic of the world would dictate the characters acting differently it instead we basically just get them accepting a "don't worry about it" and then the book ENDS!!!!!
I am really sorry to say that this has turned me off an author I like for the time being and I am honestly pretty upset about it!
Spoilers but what the colonists of Samaria think of as a god is actually an AI, a concept that I find incredibly cynical. If that wasn't enough none of the world building holds up for me at all. Maybe some of it would be clearer if I read the others but having this "divine" appointed striation of society with angels at the top is so... horrible? I don't have a ton of knowledge of the Bible but the parallels I can see being drawn or alluded to just don't sit right with me. I looked up if Shinn is Mormon because of the whole idea of going to a new planet while the people left behind are over and over are described as being darker skinned than the darkest skinned people in Samaria is like huh!!! Maybe don't!!!!!
And to add to this, the romance was a huge disappointment. I really like political arranged marriage stories (which is what drew me to try this) and the leads do not admit their feelings for each other until the LAST PAGE. They spend so little time with each other and have such flimsy misunderstandings I really wondered what the point was. I was also frustrated by Miriam's POV constantly interrupting the flow of the story. Nothing at the end feels resolved and I think it's because the interior logic of the world would dictate the characters acting differently it instead we basically just get them accepting a "don't worry about it" and then the book ENDS!!!!!
I am really sorry to say that this has turned me off an author I like for the time being and I am honestly pretty upset about it!
jerefi's review
4.0
I liked this one better than Archangel. I think it is because I like Susannah a little more as a protagonist. I will say that this book has left me much more curious going into the next book. I have a lot of questions and I feel that I was able to invest a little bit more in this book as I wasn't so pissed at the characters all the time. Don't get me wrong, they have their moments, but it makes the rewards that much sweeter and the pros far outweigh the cons.
nelsonseye's review
3.0
My rating of Angelica is hovering between three and four stars. I liked it; I found the history of Samaria interesting, and I kind of want to reread [b:Archangel|97961|Archangel (Samaria, #1)|Sharon Shinn|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388606676s/97961.jpg|3102308] again. I also liked Susannah, Gaaron, and the secondary characters. However, I needed more romance in this one. Yes, the ending worked, but I wanted more.