In this new adult, paranormal novel involving angels, of
both the fallen and non-fallen variety, we meet Gaia Samuelle, an
eighteen-year-old girl who miraculously survives a vehicle accident in which
her closest friends are killed. In the course of her recovery, she becomes
aware of an angelic figure that only she, apparently, can see. This, it
transpires, is Gabriel, her guardian angel, who rescued her from the accident,
an action which was clearly in breach of the rules. In a further breach of the
rules, he continues to reveal himself to her, and they fall in love. This will
have cosmic consequences.
The story is told in the first person, largely from the
point of view (POV) of Gaia. However, there are also sections written from the
POV of Cassiel, another angel who is fallen. He spends his time seducing women
and girls, and naturally has his eyes set on Gaia. Both Gabriel and Cassiel are
interesting characters, with a blend of supernatural powers and human frailties.
Although fallen, Cassiel appears as mischievous and self-indulgent, rather than
evil. Gabriel, while not fallen, is smitten with Gaia. This surpasses his
understanding. He is confused by the fact that he is not punished for his
behaviour.
Gaia is not as interesting as she might have been. There are
moments, particularly in her interactions with Cassiel, when there is a nice
ambiguity about her character. She struggles against her attraction to him. When
she is with Gabriel, she is reduced, at times, to a gibbering idiot. The thing
that most disappointed me about Gaia is that she doesn’t really get to play any
active role in the story. She is merely a passive observer of most of what
unfolds around her. This is true throughout, but most especially in the final
battle scenes. She is able to do little more than watch the conflict on the
angelic equivalent of television. I would have liked to see her with a crucial
role to play.
The minor characters are interesting, including several
other angels and, most of all, Gaia’s feisty Italian friend, Marina. There is a
nice scene when Marina’s uncle, a former Catholic seminarian, tries to have his
wicked way with Gaia.
The plot is fairly unremarkable. Good versus evil, etc.
etc.; a pivotal point in history when the future of heaven and earth is to be
decided. The battle scene is quite well described. There are moments in the middle
of the book, as the relationship between Gaia and Gabriel is developing, when
the story becomes a little slow and gets bogged down. Huge issues are avoided,
in particular, the question of how Gaia and Gabriel’s relationship can have any
real future. The old ‘I will become mortal for a time and age with you’ motif
might have been called upon, but wasn’t.
The sex scenes between Gaia and Gabriel (and the almost-sex
scenes between Gaia and Cassiel) are sensual and erotic. Humour is often used
well. However, in some of Cassiel’s first person POV scenes his nonchalance and
pseudo-teenage voice is a little overdone.
There is enough here to lift this debut novel slightly above
the level of ‘good’. I will give it 3.5 stars, rounding this up to 4 stars
where half stars are unavailable.
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