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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Well, this is a tough one...
I think it's what you'd call a love-hate relationship.
I enjoyed the writing and the characters (well, for the most part) but I'm finding it hard to say I enjoyed the book.
Lou Morgan's first book in this series, Blood And Feathers, was a great read. Fantastic characters, driving story and intriguing. Rebellion, on the other hand, at least in the first half, had no real story, watered down characters and didn't really pique my interest. And I think there lies the crux of the thing. This book felt to me like two segments forced together. I can't help but think that the second half of this book is what the author actually wanted to say, but maybe she'd been told that it wasn't enough and it needed a build up to those events. So we have the first half of the book which just seems to be forced, spinning its wheels for the sake of it. As I mentioned, there doesn't seem to be any story or forward drive, it just sort of meanders. Even the characters, early in the writing, come across as thin and just a shadow of what they were in the first book. And from that I can understand why there was never a third book produced.
I so desperately wanted this book to give me the highs I got when I read the first book, but it just doesn't get the job done.
I've given this a 3 star rating simply on the merits of the second half of the book. It picked up the pace, gave things some real drive and really pushed me forward and made it quite hard to put down. The characters transformed back into the interesting and three-dimensional 'Angels' I remembered really connecting with in book one. Devious, cruel and deathly loyal. You have to love them.
Thanks for reading my review, I hope it was helpful. But, please remember, this is simply my take on this book and you may have a completely different opinion.
How I select a star rating for each book is explained in my profile.
I think it's what you'd call a love-hate relationship.
I enjoyed the writing and the characters (well, for the most part) but I'm finding it hard to say I enjoyed the book.
Lou Morgan's first book in this series, Blood And Feathers, was a great read. Fantastic characters, driving story and intriguing. Rebellion, on the other hand, at least in the first half, had no real story, watered down characters and didn't really pique my interest. And I think there lies the crux of the thing. This book felt to me like two segments forced together. I can't help but think that the second half of this book is what the author actually wanted to say, but maybe she'd been told that it wasn't enough and it needed a build up to those events. So we have the first half of the book which just seems to be forced, spinning its wheels for the sake of it. As I mentioned, there doesn't seem to be any story or forward drive, it just sort of meanders. Even the characters, early in the writing, come across as thin and just a shadow of what they were in the first book. And from that I can understand why there was never a third book produced.
I so desperately wanted this book to give me the highs I got when I read the first book, but it just doesn't get the job done.
I've given this a 3 star rating simply on the merits of the second half of the book. It picked up the pace, gave things some real drive and really pushed me forward and made it quite hard to put down. The characters transformed back into the interesting and three-dimensional 'Angels' I remembered really connecting with in book one. Devious, cruel and deathly loyal. You have to love them.
Thanks for reading my review, I hope it was helpful. But, please remember, this is simply my take on this book and you may have a completely different opinion.
How I select a star rating for each book is explained in my profile.
Okay, but, like, if it's a war between angels and fallen angels, and the fallen angels were constantly regenerating, why on earth would you punish arguably minor transgressions by cutting off an angel's wings thereby making them fall and adding them to an army that wars for thousands of years constantly just regenerating upon death? I don't need a physics degree to tell me that eventually that scale's going to tip in the fallen angels' favor.
Also there is no resolution whatsoever in this book. None of the characters grow as people in any meaningful way. You don't learn much of anything new that you couldn't have extrapolated from the first book. I read it in a day and felt like I wasted my time because I was just reading what essentially amounted to the episode before the season finale of a tv series. A tv series with seven female speaking roles across 2 books - almost 800 pages - the only gay characters having their sexuality skirted around (and then inevitably one of the gay characters is killed because of course) and a woman lead who is constantly placed upon a pedestal AND called inadequate AND called special BUT ALSO NOT SPECIAL who is supposed to save the day but is constantly just standing around confused while the male angels save and mansplain (mansplaingel?) everything to her.
Also there is no resolution whatsoever in this book. None of the characters grow as people in any meaningful way. You don't learn much of anything new that you couldn't have extrapolated from the first book. I read it in a day and felt like I wasted my time because I was just reading what essentially amounted to the episode before the season finale of a tv series. A tv series with seven female speaking roles across 2 books - almost 800 pages - the only gay characters having their sexuality skirted around (and then inevitably one of the gay characters is killed because of course) and a woman lead who is constantly placed upon a pedestal AND called inadequate AND called special BUT ALSO NOT SPECIAL who is supposed to save the day but is constantly just standing around confused while the male angels save and mansplain (mansplaingel?) everything to her.
Oh Mallory, Mallory, Mallory.
There just isn’t any other way to start this review. Alice, Vin, Mallory, and the rest of the angels are back in the sequel to the excellent Blood and Feathers, and things are getting a whole lot worse: kicked out of hell, the Fallen have nothing to lose and everything to win and have taken the battle to the humans, pulling strings behind the scenes whilst Earthbounds and Descended alike struggle to keep the balance at the very least even. Tipping it back in their favour seems all but impossible.
Alice is feeling the same about her life. Left alone now that Mallory has his wings back, and with little to nothing to her name, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Apart from the fact that that’s not quite true. Alice just doesn’t know how to find a day job when she knows Hell is being unleashed on Earth, and when she fights alongside the Earthbounds every night to drive back the Fallen. Gifted as she is, Alice is a powerful ally to them, but she fails to make the difference she herself desires.
Everything changes for her, however, when she gets hired to work at a funeral home by the Angel of Death himself. There she starts to get the frustrating impression that something more is going on behind the scenes, which is only strengthened when she sees Descended appear in the midst of a riot, Mallory in their midst.
Morgan builds on the excellent character development of the first book with simple grace and ease. Characters have changed but not, the circumstances surrounding them obviously affecting their world whilst they struggle to remain who they are. Alice in particular is torn in between her human and angel nature and Morgan does a very good job of showing her struggle to remain herself despite the chaos around her. Mallory, wings or no wings, is still Mallory, sarcastic, gun-wielding, and with a tendency to drink more than he should. Vin hasn’t changed much although the betrayal from the previous book still haunts him and has pushed him to actions he would never have usually considered.
We also get to see a whole lot more of the Archangels, with Michael being arrogant in thinking there is only one way to win this war: his way. No matter the cost. Or perhaps, by the end of the book (and one hell of a heart rending scene I still haven’t forgiven Morgan for), not so much. Gabriel is there too, making amends for past mistakes, working for Michael, searching for something that would help them put Lucifer back in his body so they can kill him.
Morgan maintains the brilliant characterisation and dialogue of the first book and adds even more fast paced action, mystery, and heart stopping moments. She has all the perfect ingredients in her hands, and damnit, she knows what to do with them. This book made me laugh out loud (I’m sorry Mallory, I’m far too much like Vin), brought a few tears to my eyes, and made me angrier at a certain character than I have been at anyone in a book in a long, long time.
Blood and Feathers Rebellion is an excellent book, well-written, funny in the right places, with brilliant pacing, and shows what modern UF has in stock for us. I finished the book wanting for more: more of the characters, more of the writing, and more of the story. Because holy hell (no puns intended…okay maybe a little), Morgan knows how to leave us hanging right at the end!
There just isn’t any other way to start this review. Alice, Vin, Mallory, and the rest of the angels are back in the sequel to the excellent Blood and Feathers, and things are getting a whole lot worse: kicked out of hell, the Fallen have nothing to lose and everything to win and have taken the battle to the humans, pulling strings behind the scenes whilst Earthbounds and Descended alike struggle to keep the balance at the very least even. Tipping it back in their favour seems all but impossible.
Alice is feeling the same about her life. Left alone now that Mallory has his wings back, and with little to nothing to her name, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. Apart from the fact that that’s not quite true. Alice just doesn’t know how to find a day job when she knows Hell is being unleashed on Earth, and when she fights alongside the Earthbounds every night to drive back the Fallen. Gifted as she is, Alice is a powerful ally to them, but she fails to make the difference she herself desires.
Everything changes for her, however, when she gets hired to work at a funeral home by the Angel of Death himself. There she starts to get the frustrating impression that something more is going on behind the scenes, which is only strengthened when she sees Descended appear in the midst of a riot, Mallory in their midst.
Morgan builds on the excellent character development of the first book with simple grace and ease. Characters have changed but not, the circumstances surrounding them obviously affecting their world whilst they struggle to remain who they are. Alice in particular is torn in between her human and angel nature and Morgan does a very good job of showing her struggle to remain herself despite the chaos around her. Mallory, wings or no wings, is still Mallory, sarcastic, gun-wielding, and with a tendency to drink more than he should. Vin hasn’t changed much although the betrayal from the previous book still haunts him and has pushed him to actions he would never have usually considered.
We also get to see a whole lot more of the Archangels, with Michael being arrogant in thinking there is only one way to win this war: his way. No matter the cost. Or perhaps, by the end of the book (and one hell of a heart rending scene I still haven’t forgiven Morgan for), not so much. Gabriel is there too, making amends for past mistakes, working for Michael, searching for something that would help them put Lucifer back in his body so they can kill him.
Morgan maintains the brilliant characterisation and dialogue of the first book and adds even more fast paced action, mystery, and heart stopping moments. She has all the perfect ingredients in her hands, and damnit, she knows what to do with them. This book made me laugh out loud (I’m sorry Mallory, I’m far too much like Vin), brought a few tears to my eyes, and made me angrier at a certain character than I have been at anyone in a book in a long, long time.
Blood and Feathers Rebellion is an excellent book, well-written, funny in the right places, with brilliant pacing, and shows what modern UF has in stock for us. I finished the book wanting for more: more of the characters, more of the writing, and more of the story. Because holy hell (no puns intended…okay maybe a little), Morgan knows how to leave us hanging right at the end!