A review by the_book_tale
When the Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.0

Thank you to the author and the publisher for an audiobook ARC!

The premise of the novel is unlike anything I’ve ever read: two friends, an angel and a demon, travel to America to save a girl from their Shtetl. 

Plot:

The pacing of the plot was perfect. It stayed consistent throughout the novel, never going too slow or speeding through sections. While the plot was relatively simple, the proper amount of foreshadowing was placed in each twist. It was possible to see them coming if you paid attention, but a few little twists did get me. The simplicity of the plot is great for younger and older YA readers though it was a tad simplistic for my taste. 

The Angel and the Demon:

The way in which the Angel and Ash, the Demon, we’re described is unique to any other work of fiction I’ve read. Their physical descriptions were interesting, but what really caught my attention were the ways in which they weren’t human. The Angel is genderless, often being referred to as it by Ash, and, at the beginning of the book, doesn’t even have a name. While it gains a name during the events of the book, it is still genderless. I have never read or seen another piece of media where a characters gender is discussed in such a way, but I loved it! Angels aren’t human. It makes perfect sense that they would not think about gender in the same way as human. It was also fun to learn how the Angel’s mind worked. The book mentioned that the Angel could not defy tasks set before it and could only hold a few thoughts in its mind at a time. It also could not learn to speak any languages besides Hebrew and Aramaic. Ash, the Demon, was also interesting. In the book, not all demons have the same abilities or strength of power. It also seems that many of the powers demons hold are not innate but are learned. Ash is not capable of many powers his brothers are capable of and is even less powerful than the Christian demons he encounters. The world building introduced through the two characters was amazing. I wish hope the author writes more books set in the same world and expands on what has already been built up. 

Overall, I greatly enjoyed my experience with When the Angels Left the Old Country. As a reader with an odd fascination of stories involving angels and demons I knew I was going to enjoy the story, but I was blown away by how unique it was. Definitely worth a read!