jazzigtee's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
laurenjodi's review against another edition
5.0
Angels' Blood
5 Stars
Elena Deveraux is a vampire hunter with a reputation for always finding her prey. Hired by the lethal archangel of New York, Raphael, to locate one of his ilk who has gone rogue, Elena soon realizes that the greatest threat to her life and her sanity may just be the very archangel with the key to her heart and her soul.
World building is one of Singh’s greatest skills and the world of the Guild Hunters is no exception. Her angels and vampires are original and compelling with angels that are anything but angelic and vampires that are so much more than simply vampiric.
Raphael’s arrogance, imperiousness and domineering attitude do not make for positive first impressions. Nevertheless, as the story progresses and his backstory emerges, it becomes clear that there is more to him than meets the eye and he slowly succeeds in winning you over with his mix of intense power, romantic gestures and pure sexiness.
Elena is a wonderful mix of strength and vulnerability that one cannot help but admire and empathize with. She also has a serious problem with her mouth getting ahead of her brain, which gets her into some rather sticky situations with Raphael and his men.
The secondary cast comprised of Raphael’s fellow archangels with their own personal agendas, the men who are loyal to him unto death as well as Elena’s self-absorbed family and her steadfast colleagues at the Guild are all fleshed out just enough to keep you guessing and whet your appetite for more.
In terms of the audiobook, Justine Eyre’s narration is captivating. While she may not be to everyone’s liking, her throaty voice resonates with me and she manages to capture the essence of all of the characters, male and female.
All in all, a fantastic introduction to the series with a straightforward plot, a psychotic villain and a final twist at the end, which ensures that I will be continuing with the series sooner rather than later.
5 Stars
Elena Deveraux is a vampire hunter with a reputation for always finding her prey. Hired by the lethal archangel of New York, Raphael, to locate one of his ilk who has gone rogue, Elena soon realizes that the greatest threat to her life and her sanity may just be the very archangel with the key to her heart and her soul.
World building is one of Singh’s greatest skills and the world of the Guild Hunters is no exception. Her angels and vampires are original and compelling with angels that are anything but angelic and vampires that are so much more than simply vampiric.
Raphael’s arrogance, imperiousness and domineering attitude do not make for positive first impressions. Nevertheless, as the story progresses and his backstory emerges, it becomes clear that there is more to him than meets the eye and he slowly succeeds in winning you over with his mix of intense power, romantic gestures and pure sexiness.
Elena is a wonderful mix of strength and vulnerability that one cannot help but admire and empathize with. She also has a serious problem with her mouth getting ahead of her brain, which gets her into some rather sticky situations with Raphael and his men.
The secondary cast comprised of Raphael’s fellow archangels with their own personal agendas, the men who are loyal to him unto death as well as Elena’s self-absorbed family and her steadfast colleagues at the Guild are all fleshed out just enough to keep you guessing and whet your appetite for more.
In terms of the audiobook, Justine Eyre’s narration is captivating. While she may not be to everyone’s liking, her throaty voice resonates with me and she manages to capture the essence of all of the characters, male and female.
All in all, a fantastic introduction to the series with a straightforward plot, a psychotic villain and a final twist at the end, which ensures that I will be continuing with the series sooner rather than later.
aliyyah's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Love a good old fun paranormal romance.
geo_ix's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
I know this is more UF than PNR but if this had a teensy bit more romance in it I probably would have enjoyed it much more. The connection between these two was overshadowed by the bad guy plot, which was interesting yet at times it became a little boring. Perhaps I wasn’t in the right mood to read this, or perhaps it would have worked better in a paperback rather than an ebook for me (sometimes it changes how I read it) but either way the beginning didn’t really have me hooked. My issue with UF that I have read is that the worlds really cool and so are the characters, but I’m too into wanting romance lol. I get that’s not the point of UF, which is why I usually avoid it, but I read some novellas of this series and loved it, so I hoped I’d love this too, but clearly I’m just more into the PNR aspect than anything. Liked the book but I’m unsure if I’ll continue the series now, with my TBR I think I might just have to leave it and read Singh’s PNR instead. (Cool concept, world etc, and will be great for people who love UF books)
I know this is more UF than PNR but if this had a teensy bit more romance in it I probably would have enjoyed it much more. The connection between these two was overshadowed by the bad guy plot, which was interesting yet at times it became a little boring. Perhaps I wasn’t in the right mood to read this, or perhaps it would have worked better in a paperback rather than an ebook for me (sometimes it changes how I read it) but either way the beginning didn’t really have me hooked. My issue with UF that I have read is that the worlds really cool and so are the characters, but I’m too into wanting romance lol. I get that’s not the point of UF, which is why I usually avoid it, but I read some novellas of this series and loved it, so I hoped I’d love this too, but clearly I’m just more into the PNR aspect than anything. Liked the book but I’m unsure if I’ll continue the series now, with my TBR I think I might just have to leave it and read Singh’s PNR instead. (Cool concept, world etc, and will be great for people who love UF books)
wolfdreamer97's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
lermaline's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Nalini Singh's writing flows and is distinct from other fantasy/vampire-angels-hunter fantasy I've read. I'm looking forward to getting to the second book.
Spoiler
The french translation was probably executed by a french speaking canadian, as many words and turns of phrases are dissimilar to the belgian french I'm used to. Some specific vocabulary choices resemble what I've heard by people from Québec ("ses pantalons", etc). Unfortunately it sometimes pulled my out of the book, as a few sentences seemed to be directly translated from english without making the most sense in context, at least in my opinion. It doesn't make it a lesser book because of it, or an unenjoyable read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Torture, Sexual violence, Slavery, Sexual content, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Death, Confinement, and Blood
Minor: Child death
holl3640's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
vtlism's review against another edition
Didn't like the narrator & didn't feel like I could get into it
high_lady's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Amazing!!!!!
hsschmal's review against another edition
4.0
Teetering between 3&4 stars, but the issues that my usual 3 stars get weren't totally present in this book and idk it was interesting so 4 stars whatever ✨️