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joyreads2024's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
SOOOO good but man I wish the book was longer
lisa_sutto's review against another edition
3.0
2.5 - This one felt rushed and unnecessary. If I'm 10 books in, I need to be getting that Illium story fam. Not reading an entire book that sort of goes no where about venom and holly. I personally feel like this could've been a novella.
alikatson's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 wow this was intense! I thought it would be another alpha hole romance but this was way better and there was a lot of mystery and action.
nkim77's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Venom and Holly’s story. He’s a vampire viper made from Neha and she’s some kind of bat thing from Uram. Able to fall in love after spending time on a mission together. Michaela tried to save bits of Uram’s but eventually killed the rest of his soul.
amym84's review
5.0
I held out as long as I could, but I finally had to give in and read this one! Venom is probably my favorite of Raphael's Seven so when I heard that Nalini Singh had finally decided to write Venom's book, to say I was excited it putting it mildly.
Of course, there's always the trepidation of whether or not it will live up to expectations and I have to say, for me, YES it absolutely does.
The pairing of Holly (aka Sorrow) and Venom seems like such a natural choice honestly, although it wasn't one that I immediately figured on. Not until maybe a few books ago in the series where we learned that Venom had been working with Sorrow to hone the skills she developed since being attacked and changed by the archangel Uram.
In Archangel's Viper we see Holly still dealing with the aftermath of her attack and what it did to her mentally / emotionally, but moreso here in what it's doing to her physically. She's recently made the decision that she wants to live. That no matter what life has thrown at her at this point, she wants to try to move forward. This is a far cry from what we previously glimpsed of Holly the last time she popped up in the series (I wish I knew which book that was off the top of my head, alas, I don't). Now, however, we see that, besides changing Holly into a vampire, she's now starting to exhibit strange qualities which are most akin to Venom's abilities (although still unique unto Holly). When it seems like someone has put a bounty on Holly's head in order to acquire her uniqueness, she and Venom start a search for the mysterious person. This search, however, only leads us into an even bigger mystery that stems from that fateful day four years ago when an archangel went mad.
For his part, Venom has always been the cool and collected member of the Seven. He's at ease with the group that he has chosen to call his family, but that doesn't mean he's always felt like part of the group. His Making certainly set him apart from the vampire community, and he sees a lot of what he went through in his younger years when he sees what Holly is going through now. He sees someone who might be able to understand him. I loved the "new" we got to see in Venom's character. I loved that we get to delve into his past. I feel like there's always been this cloaking of mysteriousness around him (and around all the Seven honestly until they get their own books), and learning about his past was interesting and did a lot to make me love his character even more.
I loved Venom and Holly together from the first page to the last. Their relationship didn't start out as this hidden lust. It starts out kind of antagonistic (although I wouldn't really classify this as an enemies to lovers story). They love to push each other's buttons. The repartee they exchange throughout is fantastic. Holly definitely doesn't let Venom get the better of her often. I loved seeing how their feelings for each other slowly developed throughout the story. I didn't feel theirs was a scorching hot romance, instead it builds upon this base understanding of each other. I thought it was great, seeing the realization as each of them - at separate times - figures out that they care more for the other than simple friendship.
I really enjoyed that Archangel's Viper dealt with quite a few topics that have been kind of hanging out unanswered in this series since the first book. I feel like this story was a long time coming with all the pieces falling into place. The mystery of what is happening to Holly is intriguing and I thought satisfying in its conclusion.
I don't think I've ever been disappointed in anything that Nalini Singh has written and we can now add Archangel's Viper this list as well. A fitting story for my favorite of the Seven.
*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Of course, there's always the trepidation of whether or not it will live up to expectations and I have to say, for me, YES it absolutely does.
The pairing of Holly (aka Sorrow) and Venom seems like such a natural choice honestly, although it wasn't one that I immediately figured on. Not until maybe a few books ago in the series where we learned that Venom had been working with Sorrow to hone the skills she developed since being attacked and changed by the archangel Uram.
In Archangel's Viper we see Holly still dealing with the aftermath of her attack and what it did to her mentally / emotionally, but moreso here in what it's doing to her physically. She's recently made the decision that she wants to live. That no matter what life has thrown at her at this point, she wants to try to move forward. This is a far cry from what we previously glimpsed of Holly the last time she popped up in the series (I wish I knew which book that was off the top of my head, alas, I don't). Now, however, we see that, besides changing Holly into a vampire, she's now starting to exhibit strange qualities which are most akin to Venom's abilities (although still unique unto Holly). When it seems like someone has put a bounty on Holly's head in order to acquire her uniqueness, she and Venom start a search for the mysterious person. This search, however, only leads us into an even bigger mystery that stems from that fateful day four years ago when an archangel went mad.
For his part, Venom has always been the cool and collected member of the Seven. He's at ease with the group that he has chosen to call his family, but that doesn't mean he's always felt like part of the group. His Making certainly set him apart from the vampire community, and he sees a lot of what he went through in his younger years when he sees what Holly is going through now. He sees someone who might be able to understand him. I loved the "new" we got to see in Venom's character. I loved that we get to delve into his past. I feel like there's always been this cloaking of mysteriousness around him (and around all the Seven honestly until they get their own books), and learning about his past was interesting and did a lot to make me love his character even more.
I loved Venom and Holly together from the first page to the last. Their relationship didn't start out as this hidden lust. It starts out kind of antagonistic (although I wouldn't really classify this as an enemies to lovers story). They love to push each other's buttons. The repartee they exchange throughout is fantastic. Holly definitely doesn't let Venom get the better of her often. I loved seeing how their feelings for each other slowly developed throughout the story. I didn't feel theirs was a scorching hot romance, instead it builds upon this base understanding of each other. I thought it was great, seeing the realization as each of them - at separate times - figures out that they care more for the other than simple friendship.
I really enjoyed that Archangel's Viper dealt with quite a few topics that have been kind of hanging out unanswered in this series since the first book. I feel like this story was a long time coming with all the pieces falling into place. The mystery of what is happening to Holly is intriguing and I thought satisfying in its conclusion.
I don't think I've ever been disappointed in anything that Nalini Singh has written and we can now add Archangel's Viper this list as well. A fitting story for my favorite of the Seven.
*ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
caffeineaddict980's review
5.0
This is the newest installment in the Guild Hunter series and focuses on Holly Chang (Sorrow, a girl who was attacked and manipulated by an archangel gone insane) and Venom (One of Archangel Raphael's protectors, who is a vampire.)
Holly's powers begin to grow into something sinister.
Added to that, there's a bounty over her head.
Is anyone really safe?
Wow.
That was my favourite book out of the entire series so far, although Consort is a close favourite!
A faster pace in comparison to the last installment, looking forward to the next!
A story about Bluebell would be fab!
Holly's powers begin to grow into something sinister.
Added to that, there's a bounty over her head.
Is anyone really safe?
Wow.
That was my favourite book out of the entire series so far, although Consort is a close favourite!
A faster pace in comparison to the last installment, looking forward to the next!
A story about Bluebell would be fab!
divapitbull's review against another edition
4.0
Archangel’s Viper is back to the “romance with a new couple and a mystery” formula: up this installment are Holly and Venom. Holly was the gal from Book 1 that survived Uram’s reign of terror with the added gift of a little sumthin’-sumthin’ special inside of her courtesy of the deranged Archangel. Holly has felt a sense of “otherness” about her ever since she tangled with Uram and was force fed his toxic blood. She’s sort of a vampire with her little baby vamp teeth and she does need blood, but she also needs to eat food and she’s got some weird abilities – like super speed, the ability to mesmerize prey and she’s sort of boneless at times like Venom but not snakey. Holly is a one off; like Venom and Naasir – and since Naasir’s already taken – Venom is her obvious mate.
The only fly in the ointment is that the only thing Holly and Venom think they have in common is that they love antagonizing each other. Venom was assigned to “train” Holly after she was Made by Uram since there were similarities in their uniqueness and because Venom was immune to Holly’s ability to mesmerize. But then things went to shit in the immortal world and Venom needed to be re-assigned and their training sessions were reduced to weekly phone calls. Still, they kept their antagonism alive with mature taunts of Kitty and Hollyberry and Poison and Viper Face. Venom does notice the Holly seems to have grown up in the time he was away. She transitioned from traumatized victim to resilient survivor. (And thank goodness she is no longer going by the moniker Sorrow. She gave it up because it saddened her family – but I felt it in some ways trivialized her trauma as the whole “Call me Sorrow now” had a very adolescent emo feel to it.
Now that Venom is back it isn’t long before the mystery of the day takes over. Someone has a bounty on Holly’s head and the otherness inside her is fixin to split her chest open like the baby monster in Alien. I enjoyed the development of their relationship because I much prefer the enemies to lovers snarkfest over the sappy saccharine dessert bar. Holly was a strong character who was emotional but self-reliant and able to hold her own. Venom was the typical “I don’t do relationships” aloof but tortured because I’ve been hurt before hero. I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 not because I wanted the evolution of their relationship to have been in anyway different, but because I would have liked to have seen more development in their relationship. Not more lovey-dovey schmaltz that wasn’t them; just more time spent with them as a couple.
The only fly in the ointment is that the only thing Holly and Venom think they have in common is that they love antagonizing each other. Venom was assigned to “train” Holly after she was Made by Uram since there were similarities in their uniqueness and because Venom was immune to Holly’s ability to mesmerize. But then things went to shit in the immortal world and Venom needed to be re-assigned and their training sessions were reduced to weekly phone calls. Still, they kept their antagonism alive with mature taunts of Kitty and Hollyberry and Poison and Viper Face. Venom does notice the Holly seems to have grown up in the time he was away. She transitioned from traumatized victim to resilient survivor. (And thank goodness she is no longer going by the moniker Sorrow. She gave it up because it saddened her family – but I felt it in some ways trivialized her trauma as the whole “Call me Sorrow now” had a very adolescent emo feel to it.
Now that Venom is back it isn’t long before the mystery of the day takes over. Someone has a bounty on Holly’s head and the otherness inside her is fixin to split her chest open like the baby monster in Alien. I enjoyed the development of their relationship because I much prefer the enemies to lovers snarkfest over the sappy saccharine dessert bar. Holly was a strong character who was emotional but self-reliant and able to hold her own. Venom was the typical “I don’t do relationships” aloof but tortured because I’ve been hurt before hero. I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 not because I wanted the evolution of their relationship to have been in anyway different, but because I would have liked to have seen more development in their relationship. Not more lovey-dovey schmaltz that wasn’t them; just more time spent with them as a couple.
indecisivesailorscout's review
4.0
It was so good to touch base with Holly again and actually get a full Venom story. As much as I enjoyed exploring the "otherness" of Viper Face and his tiny lady love, I didn't like this as much as Naasir's story and felt that the payoff wasn't as rewarding as the previous installment. However, overall? Still awesome. I'm so glad I decided to keep reading this series.
tessa_b's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75