This is a Quickie Review. For the full review, please visit The Romanceaholic.Expected Release Date: September 5, 2011
Publisher: Entangled Publishing
Imprint: N/A
Author’s Website: http://www.sarahgilmanbooks.com/
My Source for This Book: Netgalley
Part of a Series: Yes, Book 1, Return to Sanctuary
Series Best Read In Order: N/A
Steam Level: Warm
I really, really wanted to love this book. It started off wonderfully. The universe that Ms. Gilman created was fascinating, with fallen angels and demons exist in full view of the public, and while the public at large is both fearful or and prejudiced against each group, both are protected by law and congregate together in what is similar to our Indian Reservations. Poachers hunt archangels in order to sell their feathers for insanely high prices, and the public looks the other way because of their prejudices. Demons have formed an alliance with the archangels, where the demons protect the archangels as sort of a demonic Secret Service group, and the archangels in turn share their psychic gifts (such as healing) with the demons.
All of this was incredibly intriguing, and the plot itself grabbed hold of me from the opening sentence and simply refused to let go. Add in Wren, the tortured hero whose parents had been brutally betrayed and murdered by the demon Guardian charged with protecting them, and Ginger, the orphaned heroine raised by a demon Guardian, who discovers quite by accident the plan to capture Wren and dashes off to save him, and this should’ve been the most spectacular book that I’ve read all year.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t quite the case.
This book could’ve been amazing. Instead, while the premise was absolutely fantastic, and I myself fell a bit in love with the characters, the multiple issues with the novel kept it from being a favorite of mine. That said, I did enjoy the storyline, and will almost certainly pick up any sequels simply because I want to know both what has happened to the characters, and as much detail as I can about this world. I also think that with experience, Ms. Gilman has the potential to be an absolutely incredible writer, and I look forward to watching her skill mature as she grows into herself as an author. She’s already proven that her imagination is an incredibly powerful thing, and I think with a few tweaks to her writing style, she will definitely be an author to watch.
For that reason, in the end, I’m going to recommend this one for fans of angels and demons, of revenge plots and betrayal, and of discovering love long after you’d given up on that dream. 3.5/5 Stars.
