Tagged: seth
Sins of the Warrior by Linda Poitevin
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Heaven and Hell are at war
The clock is ticking
Homicide detective Alexandra Jarvis’s niece is missing and pregnant with Lucifer’s child, her sister has descended into madness, and the human race has begun a relentless spiral toward self-destruction that Alex is desperate to stop. Now Michael, the Archangel she holds responsible for Earth’s plight, has returned—and he’s demanding her help to track a missing god.
Heaven is losing
Fighting for the very survival of his own realm—and that of humanity—Michael’s only chance to defeat Hell lies in returning Heaven’s long-lost daughter to her throne before it’s too late. But first he’ll have to convince Alex to help him—and to keep her out of Seth’s clutches long enough for her to do so.
There can be no right choices
In a desperate bid to save both their worlds, Alex and Michael must put aside their animosity and find a way to work together in the face of increasingly impossible decisions…and unimaginable sacrifices.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from the author in exchange for an honest review.]
One of the things I’ve found in a lot of books is that if the main character’s ‘soulmate’ dies, they come back by some miracle or were never actually dead in the first place. But oddly enough, the Grigori Legacy doesn’t play with those rules as it’s not the sort of book to have a cut-and-dry good versus evil plot. It definitely doesn’t follow the conventions of the urban fantasy genre and despite missing the ‘soulmate’ in question, I personally wouldn’t have it any other way.
Sins of the Warrior is the darkest book yet in a series of quite dark books. Alex has to make some awful choices: does she pursue the daughter of God as asked by Michael in order to balance Seth’s power or does she try to focus on saving humanity, starting with her niece who has only days to live? It’s a brutal push-and-pull dynamic and Alex has to make absolutely unthinkable decisions. I can’t go into much detail without spoiling some of the shocking twists, but needless to say she has to choose between a) saving humanity in exchange for a possible eternity in Hell if Seth nabs her and b) letting the angels and the Fallen battle it out without her so she can save her niece from certain death. Again, if you’ve read the previous two books it’s not that hard to predict what Alex chooses, especially given her current state of mind.
The thing I love about Linda Poitevin’s Grigori Legacy is that despite the whole Heaven and Hell existing thing, there is no clear good and evil. Her God (a woman, no less) is a benevolent creator who gave people free will but arguably takes it a little too far when it comes to not monitoring what Lucifer plots in Hell because she loves him so much. Her Heaven is one where angels had free will before the fall but had it give it up (along with their soulmates) afterward because God couldn’t bear more of her angels defecting to Lucifer. Poitevin’s God isn’t one who is cruel or overly nice; she simply is. And she has flaws of her own, just like her creations. These are some fascinating characterizations that I’m sure will be very controversial among certain sects but they’re refreshing nevertheless.
Alex goes through a lot in this book. With her newly gained immortality that she never wanted and the end of the world looming over her as the Naphilim grow, she’s teetering on the edge of insanity. Yet she still soldiers through with seemingly no regard for her own welfare in a desperate attempt to save everyone that she can, even if it means working beside those she despises, like Michael. We also get to see some chapters from Michael’s perspective as he wrestles with keeping Alex sane while knowing if she loses her sanity it may be the kindest thing for her because of what she (and the rest of humanity) faces. Michael was never a sympathetic character in the first three books but Linda Poitevin does an amazing job with his characterization in this last book. He too goes through quite a bit by the end of the novel.
Basically, if you’ve read the first three books, you’ll probably love Sins of the Warrior. I know I did. You’ll be up reading into the wee hours of the morning much like I was in an attempt to find out how Alex’s story finally does end.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Between by Megan Whitmer
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
When a supernatural freak of nature forces her family to separate, seventeen-year-old Charlie Page must turn to her frustrating (yet gorgeous) neighbor, Seth, to help reunite them. Seth whisks Charlie to Ellauria—a magical world filled with the creatures of myths and legends—and tells her of the Fellowship, the group charged with protecting mystical beings from human discovery. (All except Bigfoot: that attention whore is a total lost cause.) But when Charlie learns that she’s under the Fellowship’s protection herself, well, “stressed” is an understatement.
Ellauria should be the safest place for Charlie while the Fellowship works to find her family, but things in the mystical realm aren’t what they seem.
Magic is failing, creatures are dying, and the Fellowship insists Charlie holds the key to saving everyone. With her family still missing and the danger in Ellauria growing, Charlie doesn’t know who she can trust. She’s dealing with a power she never asked for, falling for a guy she can’t have, and being forced to choose between her destiny and her heart. And if she chooses wrong, she could destroy magic forever.
Charlie may be in over her head.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I wavered on requesting this one for ages. It sort of sounded like your typical fantasy (girl has special powers, gets attacked, hot protector dude steps in to save the day, whisks her away to a strange land to master her skills, etc.) and that made me a little reluctant, but at the same time I fell in love with the cover. It’s a shallow reason for reading a book, I know, but it did look interesting and that’s why I requested it in the end.
Luckily for me, Between is actually a pretty good book.
The thing that impressed me most was Megan Whitmer’s world-building. Not only does she populate Ellauria and Earth with familiar creatures like sirens, harpies, elves and fairies, she adds in creatures that you don’t see very often (ones that I’m pretty sure she created) like jourlings and the ever-important dying race of muralets. Instead of being one happy quasi-Medieval world, Ellauria is full of politics and danger lurks behind every corner. Not everything is as it seems and trust me when I say that everyone seems to be playing their cards close to their chests.
I have to admit, the characters were decent enough as well. Charlie is far from the Mary Sue you so often see in these types of books simply because she actually has to work to develop her powers. At the same time, she’s constantly worried about her missing brother and mother and she thinks she’s falling in love with the one man she really, really shouldn’t. Add to that the fact that the Between, the source of all magic, seems to be dying. She’s stressed constantly and you can really tell, unlike some books where the main characters doesn’t seem to be fazed by anything. Seth is your typical tragic bodyguard character archetype but he also has quite a bit of depth and I was really starting to enjoy his character by the end. The only one that disappointed me was Charlie’s brother and I can’t tell you about that without giving away spoilers.
The only thing I was disappointed with is the plot. For most of the book, it really seemed like Charlie and Seth were wandering around with very little purpose with training scenes thrown in to spice things up. But then at the end, when we meet the bad guy, I was supremely disappointed. Let’s just say that the man at his side was a walking stereotype that has been used so many times in the good vs. evil fantasy novels. It was kind of disappointing when the rest of the book had been so strong. Still, I will read the second book when it comes out. The cliffhanger at the end was just too much to ignore!
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Sins of the Lost by Linda Poitevin
(Cover picture courtesy of the book tour a couple of months ago.)
From the author of Sins of the Angels and Sins of the Son comes the newest novel in the “electric, thrilling and extremely intelligent” (Ex Libris) Grigori Legacy series.
Heaven and Hell are on the brink of war as Lucifer builds his Nephilim army and waits for his new agenda to become a reality — that of having a Nephilimchild of his own bloodline to lead his forces to cataclysmic victory.
With rumors of the pending war rampant on Earth, Alex fights to save humanity from its own panic – leaving little time for her fledgling
relationship with Seth, the man with heavenly origins who has captured her heart. But when Nephilim children begin to disappear, along with Alex’s own vulnerable niece, the inevitable war between Heaven and Hell becomes as personal as sin.Heaven has its own plans to fight the coming apocalypse, but first it needs Seth back. Asked to betray the man she loves, Alex must turn for help to the soulmate she thought she’d given up — the Archangel Aramael, who may be her last chance to save her family and humanity from the ashes of Lucifer’s Armageddon.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through the blog tour a while back in exchange for an honest review.]
The phrase ‘action-packed’ is bandied about quite carelessly when it comes to describing books, but let me tell you I’m dead serious when I say that Sins of the Lost is action-packed.
Not only is poor Alex trying to stop the oncoming apocalypse, she’s lost her soulmate and is trying to love another (who just happens to be the possible catalyst for said apocalypse). To say that there’s a lot of drama and tension in this third book in the Grigori Legacy is an understatement. It never gets into soap opera ridiculous drama levels but it really is the kind of book that will keep you on the edge of your seat. That’s why I ended up reading this book until four in the morning when I had to work at 8:00am; I just couldn’t stop no matter how much I tried to exercise my self-control.
Alex is of course my favourite character, just like in the previous two installments. This time she’s dealing with even more psychological scars and although some readers may be frustrated with her I believe her reluctance to join in the fight between Heaven and Hell is more realistic than if she were gung-ho about the whole thing. Let’s face it, she’s gone through a lot and it’s all because of their idiotic war that could have been prevented. While Alex is my favourite character, Seth is the one with the most surprises up his sleeve. His character arc, looking back, is very realistic but at the time you really don’t know where his character is going to go. He’s wonderfully ambiguous which ratchets up the tension even more. As for Aramael, I can’t really say much without giving away some major spoilers but let’s just say that his fans will be pleased.
As for the concept, I believe that some would call it ‘blasphemous’ or ‘heresy’ but I love how Linda Poitevin has arranged her versions of Heaven and Hell. God being a woman doesn’t even touch some of the other unique spins on classic Christian theology. I won’t go much further into it because I don’t want to bring my personal beliefs into things but if you’re reading this series, take it for what it is: fiction. It’s not intended to offend or harm and Linda Poitevin does an amazing job at world-building.
I can’t believe it took me so long to finally get to Sins of the Lost but I’m really glad I did. The only bad thing about it? Because of that insane cliffhanger I’m now desperate for the fourth book to come out. I guess that’s just the mark of a great book.
I give this book 5/5 stars.