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L'amore Immortale (2012)

by Sabrina Benulis(Favorite Author)

3.14 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

8854135429 (ISBN13: 9788854135420)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Newton & Compton

series

The Books of Raziel

review 1: Archon is book one in a series about Angela Mathers, a troubled young woman who dreams of angels and is apparently unkillable (she knows, she's tried). The book starts as she's released from a mental institution and starting out at a new university, West Wood Academy, a priest-run school for blood heads like her (red-headed children with powers). Society sends all such children to one place, because one of them is going to be the prophesied Archon, who will unlock the lost book of the archangel Raziel and have the power to remake the universe. And seeing as Angela dreams of angels, she is attracting attention from anyone who has a stake in the Archon prophecy, whether they want to stop her or control her. This was a breathless, strange little book. And I mean that in a goo... mored way. Breathless because things happen so fast and even the characters that the narrative is following don't fully understand everything as it's happening. Strange because it's this odd blend of alternate reality, dark fantasy, theology, mystery, and YA romance. There are red-headed witches, evil angels, half-demon priests, and a whole lot of surreal gothic ambiance (somewhat unclear, but I think it's supposed to take place in the future). Also a whole lot of bloody violence, shifting alliances and trust issues. It makes for a compelling read, because you're never quite sure as a reader whose side someone is on or what their end game is. It's not the type of read you can skim- you will miss important details if you do that, and probably be confused. But if you pay attention, enough questions are answered that you will be drawn into the world of the story.Overall it was a satisfying read in itself, but also sets the stage for a pretty sweeping fantasy series. It's definitely on the darker side, though, so if you're looking for something light and fluffy, this may not be for you.
review 2: The blurb sounded so promising, but I was very disappointed. When I first picked up the book I saw the acknowledgements, and that the author thanked God first. now I have nothing against religion; each to their own. But seeing as the book was about angels, I was already doubting my decision to read this, but I gave it a go. It's wasn't preachy or overly-religious or anything like that, which was good. There was a lot of lore here (hence the need for the dictionary at the back), and the sheer amount made the book seemed bogged down. Too focused in prophecies, and angels, and fokelore to really focus on the story and the characters. So many times I became confused as to who was who, what certain things meant (like being the Archon, for example, and why everyone was fighting over it considering that it didn't sound like a good thing to be), who was aligned with who and why, and why people took the actions they did.There were some interesting aspects to Angela's character, but these were not fully explored, instead she became so bogged down in the world there wasn't the time. In the whole book Angela and those around her kept saying that she was not the Archon, so I knew that she had to turn out to be in the end, and while she did, the reasons for this and what that meant were so confusing. Also, I couldn't tell whether this was supposed to be a young adult book or not, because while the majority of the characters were 18 or so, the writing seemed to be aiming for an older audience. Often I became confused as to where the characters were, what their surroundings looked like, and what they were doing, and I think this was the fault of the writing.Often unclear, and sometimes focusing on the most minor elements of an environment, I found it sometimes to be convoluted, like the writer was trying to make the story seem more adult. At times, when the characters were just being bitchy to one another I really felt like I was reading a teen high school novel, and then other parts were so bogged down in folklore and mythology that I felt like I was reading an entirely different book. In the end though, I don't think anyone really learned anything, and that all of the characters seemed to get what they deserve...either die or become insane. The explanations of the angels is something else I want to touch on briefly, because they did not seem well explained enough, and it left me wondering whether the author even had a clear picture. At one point one the angels had 6 pairs of wings, and that threw me because it had never been described before. That's what I felt through the whole book, like the pointless and more benign things were explained over and over again (such as Angela not being able to die) but other things, such as the relationships between the angels (Isfrael and his Thrones for example) or specific aspects about their person, were left out. There was promise here, and I could feel it during some passages or chapters, but ultimately this book couldn't decide what it wanted to be and it left itself in the middle of nowhere. less

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