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chelsea_jack's review
3.0
I had hoped that books 1 and 2 in the Angel's Edge series were building to something amazing... and unfortunately I was let down.
The seeds of something great were all here. This is a world that I want to spend more time in. I love the angel - Nephiliam mythology that`s laid out here. I love that we have a variety of other magical creatures packed in, in a sort of off-hand way. Though Caspia might be overwhelmed by it all, there`s a sort of `no big deal` way that different preternatural beings are layered in.
We get a big reveal about Belial, the 'big bad' on the Dark side, and that throws Caspia into even greater turmoil than before. We get to know Jack better, and I adored him. Adored.
I loved that Caspia's still solidly Team Ethan. Her love for Logan is also still evident, though he takes a backseat this book.
Asheroth is awesome. He also deserves his own story. I love that his sanity is only so-so, and that he's aware of that. In fact, all of the characters are pretty consistent across the series, which I appreciated. The quirks that make them endearing or annoying are all still present.
Unfortunately there were a few problems, for me, with this book:
Caspia still drives me nuts. She's up and down about whether she wants to make plans, leap into action, bury her head in the sand, or what. She repeatedly voiced the desire or need to make plans, but then when her allies were laying out the final plans for the big battle... once she heard her part, she took off. I wanted to shake her - here is your opportunity to know what the heck is going on!! :P
The big battle was a bit of a disappointment - it was over pretty quickly. I think the story could have benefited from having this take a bigger focus in the second half of the book - the actual action itself rather than the planning.
Repetition - there's some repeated motions in the plot, in terms of going somewhere, leaving, then going back, then leaving again. That back and forth was a bit frustrating, but there's a bigger issue: the chapters read as though this was part of a serial publication rather than a novel. There aren't so much cliffhanger endings as there are recaps of the previous chapter embedded in each new chapter. Caspia often reflects on some big of news or some idea as though she's just remembering it again - except whatever it is usually *just* happened. So unless our girl has some kind of short-term/immediate amnesia issues....
Anyways, I really loved the world, and I think there are some really great things in here (I want more Jack, please). It just didn't all come together the way that I hoped it would.
I`d still come back for more, particularly if Asheroth, Logan or Jack somehow figured in more significantly.
See this and other reviews at ToEachTheirOwnReviews.com
The seeds of something great were all here. This is a world that I want to spend more time in. I love the angel - Nephiliam mythology that`s laid out here. I love that we have a variety of other magical creatures packed in, in a sort of off-hand way. Though Caspia might be overwhelmed by it all, there`s a sort of `no big deal` way that different preternatural beings are layered in.
We get a big reveal about Belial, the 'big bad' on the Dark side, and that throws Caspia into even greater turmoil than before. We get to know Jack better, and I adored him. Adored.
I loved that Caspia's still solidly Team Ethan. Her love for Logan is also still evident, though he takes a backseat this book.
Asheroth is awesome. He also deserves his own story. I love that his sanity is only so-so, and that he's aware of that. In fact, all of the characters are pretty consistent across the series, which I appreciated. The quirks that make them endearing or annoying are all still present.
Unfortunately there were a few problems, for me, with this book:
Caspia still drives me nuts. She's up and down about whether she wants to make plans, leap into action, bury her head in the sand, or what. She repeatedly voiced the desire or need to make plans, but then when her allies were laying out the final plans for the big battle... once she heard her part, she took off. I wanted to shake her - here is your opportunity to know what the heck is going on!! :P
The big battle was a bit of a disappointment - it was over pretty quickly. I think the story could have benefited from having this take a bigger focus in the second half of the book - the actual action itself rather than the planning.
Repetition - there's some repeated motions in the plot, in terms of going somewhere, leaving, then going back, then leaving again. That back and forth was a bit frustrating, but there's a bigger issue: the chapters read as though this was part of a serial publication rather than a novel. There aren't so much cliffhanger endings as there are recaps of the previous chapter embedded in each new chapter. Caspia often reflects on some big of news or some idea as though she's just remembering it again - except whatever it is usually *just* happened. So unless our girl has some kind of short-term/immediate amnesia issues....
Anyways, I really loved the world, and I think there are some really great things in here (I want more Jack, please). It just didn't all come together the way that I hoped it would.
I`d still come back for more, particularly if Asheroth, Logan or Jack somehow figured in more significantly.
See this and other reviews at ToEachTheirOwnReviews.com
ravenwolf_waf's review
3.0
Again with poor editing?! Okay, since I already covered this in my previous review of book #2, I won't rehash my disappointment. Suffice it to say, I'm still of the mind that someone needs to look for a new job.
Here's what I liked:
The storyline was fresh (in regards to all three books). I really liked the author's take on Light and Dark not always equalling Good and Bad. I also liked that she incorporated more than one mythology. I have only rarely seen Nephillim used this way and under this definition and I much prefer it to them being vampires.
I'm in love with Ethan. Simple as that. Of course, I always have a soft spot for Fallen Angels. His story unfolded at a decent pace and his difficulties acclimating to his new existence made sense. It wasn't too overdone and he didn't lose what made him, him.
Caspia also was a well conceived character. Some criticized the author because Caspia made continually stupid decisions. Personally, I thought it fit. If we consider that in book #1 it was late fall, early winter and book #3 takes place sometime that following summer, she really didn't have much time to adjust. Coming into the story, her biggest ability (which she's uncomfortable with and tries to deny) was occasionally drawing the future. She's the sole breadwinner because her brother is dying of cancer and both her parents are dead. Seemingly overnight and through the next few months, more abilities emerge... she learns her town is a haven for supernatural beings... she learns the strange origins of her gifts and why that places her right smack dab in between two warring groups... dealing with her brother dying then coming back with gifts of his own... discovering a semi-psychotic, self-appointed guardian angel that has a connection to her ancestors... meeting a boy that seeks her out in her dreams and then in real life who is supposed to be her "other half"... and finally, falling in love with an angel that Fell for her while he was assigned to her brother. All this while she's still trying (and failing miserably) to balance school, friends, work, and daily life. She was horribly kept in the dark until the last possible moment by people that were supposed to be helping and protecting her. So I can totally believe that she'd be a bumbling idiot half the time. I would be too. Playing catch up while blind folded with only half the information doesn't do anybody any good. No matter how strong you are. Her admitting that she'd really rather just relax with her boyfriend and hide from the world instead of learning to be half of the most powerful weapon on earth makes sense to me. I never saw Caspia as a weak heroine. Just a really real one.
Now for the things I didn't like:
The ending. It just kind of... stopped. It's like the book company said "you need to wrap this up in two chapters or less" and the author did. Don't get me wrong, what happened worked and made total sense but it could've been, well, more. It was too rushed and almost surgical with its precision. I'd have at least liked an epilogue. Liked what happened to the characters that seemed important but just sort of faded from the storyline? Or how did the town and the characters fare after the battle? What does Caspia do with the rest of her life? What about Logan? Did he survive? I wish I could say all these questions linger because it was a cliffhanger or the author wants us to make up our minds but it really didn't feel that way. It was just, "okay, I'm done, the end."
The editing... Oh... My... God... Did I mention the editing sucked?! Totally jacked up my flow half the time.
So yeah, this could've been an excellent series. It started out like gangbusters but completely fizzled out. I really don't think I'll be reading anymore from this author.
Here's what I liked:
The storyline was fresh (in regards to all three books). I really liked the author's take on Light and Dark not always equalling Good and Bad. I also liked that she incorporated more than one mythology. I have only rarely seen Nephillim used this way and under this definition and I much prefer it to them being vampires.
I'm in love with Ethan. Simple as that. Of course, I always have a soft spot for Fallen Angels. His story unfolded at a decent pace and his difficulties acclimating to his new existence made sense. It wasn't too overdone and he didn't lose what made him, him.
Caspia also was a well conceived character. Some criticized the author because Caspia made continually stupid decisions. Personally, I thought it fit. If we consider that in book #1 it was late fall, early winter and book #3 takes place sometime that following summer, she really didn't have much time to adjust. Coming into the story, her biggest ability (which she's uncomfortable with and tries to deny) was occasionally drawing the future. She's the sole breadwinner because her brother is dying of cancer and both her parents are dead. Seemingly overnight and through the next few months, more abilities emerge... she learns her town is a haven for supernatural beings... she learns the strange origins of her gifts and why that places her right smack dab in between two warring groups... dealing with her brother dying then coming back with gifts of his own... discovering a semi-psychotic, self-appointed guardian angel that has a connection to her ancestors... meeting a boy that seeks her out in her dreams and then in real life who is supposed to be her "other half"... and finally, falling in love with an angel that Fell for her while he was assigned to her brother. All this while she's still trying (and failing miserably) to balance school, friends, work, and daily life. She was horribly kept in the dark until the last possible moment by people that were supposed to be helping and protecting her. So I can totally believe that she'd be a bumbling idiot half the time. I would be too. Playing catch up while blind folded with only half the information doesn't do anybody any good. No matter how strong you are. Her admitting that she'd really rather just relax with her boyfriend and hide from the world instead of learning to be half of the most powerful weapon on earth makes sense to me. I never saw Caspia as a weak heroine. Just a really real one.
Now for the things I didn't like:
The ending. It just kind of... stopped. It's like the book company said "you need to wrap this up in two chapters or less" and the author did. Don't get me wrong, what happened worked and made total sense but it could've been, well, more. It was too rushed and almost surgical with its precision. I'd have at least liked an epilogue. Liked what happened to the characters that seemed important but just sort of faded from the storyline? Or how did the town and the characters fare after the battle? What does Caspia do with the rest of her life? What about Logan? Did he survive? I wish I could say all these questions linger because it was a cliffhanger or the author wants us to make up our minds but it really didn't feel that way. It was just, "okay, I'm done, the end."
The editing... Oh... My... God... Did I mention the editing sucked?! Totally jacked up my flow half the time.
So yeah, this could've been an excellent series. It started out like gangbusters but completely fizzled out. I really don't think I'll be reading anymore from this author.
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