Reviews

Zhubaal by Larissa Ione

zbrarian's review against another edition

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5.0

Good read

Fast paced....nice to see familiar faces. Interesting take on Elves...I'd love to see a story about Gadreel...that would be interesting!

angie_stl's review against another edition

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5.0

Demonica Underworld

Razr is just as great as an other Demonica Underworld book I've read! I still have two more to go to catch up and that just means I have two more great reads to look forward to!!

dragon_lion64's review against another edition

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4.0

I love the covers of these 1001 Dark Nights books. They always have the most brilliant colors yet it is mostly words with just a few pictures which are usually in the zeroes of the 1001. I give kudos to the graphic artist who designs these covers.

This is Larissa Ione’s fourth novella in the 1001 Dark Nights series. The 1001 Dark Nights series is a collection of paranormal and contemporary romance stories by various authors. I only follow a few of the authors so I haven’t read that many of them. I have noticed, however, that Larissa works with a lot of other authors on different projects like the Rising Storm series which is a long story written by various authors and Blood Red Kiss which is a book that has stories by Gena Showalter and Kresley Cole, two authors in my top ten favorites along with Larissa Ione of course.

We, the reader, have met Razr before in the last book of the Demonica series, Z although he remained a mystery. He is an angel who was kicked out of Heaven, along with two other angels, for making the huge mistake of losing the Enoch Gems during a battle against demons. His wings were bound and he also must endure beatings at irregular intervals. He carries his own whip and hands it to the nearest person when the glyph on his hand starts to glow. If he isn’t whipped right away, he experiences excruciating pain. In order to get back into Heaven, he has to find the Enoch Gems but he works in the underworld in Sheoul-gra for Azagoth aka the Grim Reaper so he doesn’t have a lot of time to go look. He’s in luck though because Azagoth decided to give him time off to locate the gems. Razr can’t wait to kill whoever was responsible for stealing the gems.

Jedda is a Gem Elf who, along with her two sisters, stole the gems from Razr while he and his team were busy fighting demons. She and her sisters can sense gems and felt the powerful jewels so they stole them from their human keepers. Each one of her sisters absorbed the power of the gems so that their life forces are dependent on the gems and then hid the physical gems. Jedda hid hers in Scotland with dhampires guarding it. Her gem just happens to be Razr’s gem, the one he has to get back in order to get back into Heaven.

Razr found the dhampires who were guarding his gem but they told him without its current owner, they had no way to access it. That led him to Jedda.

Jedda lives in the human realm and works as a specialist with gems. She was at what she thought was a gem conference when Razr found her but she soon found out it was a trap. A fallen angel named Shrike used some evil power from some evil demon or deity that he worshipped to put a spell on Jedda. She will weaken and eventually die if she doesn’t hand over the gem and a crystal horn that Shrike needs for some evil purpose.

Razr agrees to help her only because he needs the gem himself but he also has an unexplainable attraction to Jedda. He wants to believe that she just acquired the gem from a gem dealer or collector after the initial theft but he isn’t so sure. He has no clue that giving up the gem’s power will kill her.

This was a quick and enjoyable read. I always like Larissa Ione’s characters because she makes both the females and males baddass…no innocent little miss perfects in her books. I look forward to her next book. I wonder who it will be about.

www.paranormalromanceslut.com

alexperc_92's review against another edition

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4.0

I received an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Review and blog tour can be found on *Milky Way of Books*

Razr's story was a good and funny. Leaving the steamy part aside the novella focused also on creating the amazing world of Elves! Full of gemstones and fighting scenes this addition to 1001 nights novella series was a very good one!

katkinney's review against another edition

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4.0

Razr is a fallen angel who failed in a mission years ago. Jedda is an elf with a gift for dealing with magical stones… and a secret. They have to work together to find some stolen gems that are a part of Razr’s past, and of course, have sizzling chemistry. This was a fun steamy Demonica novella!

renpuspita's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

3.5

 3,5 stars

Well, for the love of me, I can't remember when Razr first introduced into Demonica series. If anyone know when, please tell me.

For the record, from all Demonica Underworld novella, I just re-read Azagoth (and I believe there's no Razr). I skip re-read Hades and Z, since I don't have much time. Also I remember back then both novellas just left an okay-ish impression :P. Especially Zhubaal, lol. As for the heroine, Ione introduced a new character with a new race. Not human, not angels, not demons, Jedda is an elf. More precisely, a gem elf. I don't think that to introduce elf is weird. If vampire and werewolf alike exist in Demonica world, why not elf? Also, I find the concept about gem elf is unique. Their appearance ofc seems elfish, but they have a special diet which consist of gem stones. I like that Ione write the detail about the elf, their realms, and their gem connection with care. I wonder if there's any elfkind beside gem elf. Plus point to mention Rivendell, Pandora and Na'vi. It amused me to read all that pop cultures.

What I don't like is....how Razr and Jedda's relationship work so fast. Too fast for my liking perhaps. I know, I know, this kind of insta-lust is a common trope in romancelandia, esp the paranormal ones. Heck, even Rev and Blaspheme in "Revenant" also work fast, not forget to mention Azagoth-Lilliana, and Idk how many. I just think Razr-Jedda kinda jump to each other..too fast :P. I feel that, maybe because this is novella, the way Razr can forgive Jedda's mistake (and by mistake, it's pretty much colossal since SpoilerJedda stole a diamond gem that Razr guard with all his life, hence make the human that contain the gem died in horrible manner ) so easily make me go "huh?". IMHO, Jedda do nothing to earn Razr forgiveness in a first place tho, not like what Lilliana did with Azagoth (and boy, the way Ione handle how Lilliana groveling is good). It's like Ione said "oh well, Razr, Jedda, it's not good to always dwell in the past. Time to moving on and go jump to each other". That just some nitpick that I don't like. The rest is okay tho. Although, the attraction between Razr and Jedda mainly because of the gem first and their problem solved in deus ex machinae plot, at least I got my happy ending. As for the steamy scenes, nah, Ione never ever disappoint if you get my meaning :P.

A nice addition to Demonica Underworld, and well Razr at least better than sulky Hades or Zhuubal, hence the rating. I also want to know who is Jim Bob, Azagoth's angel informant that still have his identity revealed. He must be in higher position in Heaven, since he knows everything. I assume he will play an important role in the future.

leeannreads105's review against another edition

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5.0

Loved it

Another awesome story in Ione's world. My absolute favorite character is Azagoth as well as his story but this book is a close second. Loved everything about it especially the introduction to elves and their realm. Couldn't put it down and I'd recommend it to anyone loving the paranormal romance world.

rclz's review against another edition

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4.0

These are always good quick reads and this was no exception.

somewherelostinbooks's review against another edition

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4.0

When I went to read Razr, I realized I missed the previous book in this series. However, Razr worked really well as a stand-alone novella. Razr is an angel being punished for losing precious gems with hold immense power. Jedda is a gem elf, which is a new introduction into the Demonica world, who gains power from different gems. She ends up with one of the stones Razr is looking for. However, outside forces push Razr and Jedda together as they try to find away to both survive their enemies and come together. This was a satisfying short story with plenty of action and steaminess between Razr and Jedda. Both Jedda and Razr had flaws and there were definitely challenges in their relationship but the attraction and later love was able to overcome. This book reminded me how much I like Larissa Ione's writing and I'm going to go back and read the books that I missed!

cupofteabookblog's review against another edition

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5.0

Jump into this enemies to lovers tale full of enchanted gems, another worlds, and a romance that cant be ignored!