This story has great world building, it’s not your normal nice and pretty fantasy novel, some of these creatures are down right scary! It is a very slow burn of enemies to lovers, Dianna would do anything to save her sister Gabby even if that means betraying the very powerful monster who has held control over her for years. When she meets Liam, the World Ender after trying to kill his fellow men, they strike a bargain and everything changes. This was a long book with lots of details but it was well done. The ending leaves you with baited breath waiting for the next one to come out, I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and all opinions are my own.

Dianna sacrificed her life a thousand years ago to save her dying sister. Everything she’s done since then has been to keep her sister alive and to keep her master, Kaden, happy. He’s searching for an ancient book, a relic from the time of gods that will allow him to gain control over all worlds. But as Dianna continues to commit atrocities in his name to find this book, she begins to hear rumors that a god still exists and may even have reawakened to stop Kaden. As they race against time to find this book, Dianna realizes she may have to reevaluate her loyalties if she truly wishes to save her sister.

This work started off strong. I loved the concept, and I enjoyed Dianna as a protagonist for the most part. The story told from her POV was good and made me want more, which led to me enjoying the first third of the book. But Liam’s POV was awful for me – he was bland and difficult to connect to or like, and I felt that he had no real depth. Unfortunately, this made the middle portion of the work much less engaging for me. I did think that the enemies to lovers was done well and felt realistic without being too rushed or forced.

However, Dianna wasn’t really a villain, and I would have liked to see her be a dark, eviler heroine rather than a misunderstood softy. She was also so selfless, with her life only revolving around someone else’s wellbeing the whole time, that it made her feel a little more one dimensional and sometimes like more of a caricature than an actual character. Similarly, there should have been way more to the dynamic between Kaden and Dianna – he is a completely evil being with extreme and unknown power, yet he wasn’t really involved in the story in a meaningful way. There was a lot of potential for their dynamic to add real depth and conflict to the work, but I felt that it was overlooked in a way that detracted from the read for me.

The worldbuilding was fine overall. I enjoyed the inclusion of gods, monsters, and mortals, though it did take a bit of time to get situated within the world as a reader. After getting into the book a bit, the factions and politics are given context that makes sense without going through too many info dumps (though there were a few of these). I did enjoy the exploration of the different races and their interactions with each other, though this played a minimal role in the book.

On a more technical note, I’m not sure that this work was edited at all. There were many errors throughout ranging from missing words, incorrect punctuation, and extra spaces. On top of that, the dialogue was extremely stilted and formal, even between two sisters who are each other’s best friends. There were also random changes in font size as well as some words and phrases that were randomly in bold, which was very distracting. The writing overall left a lot to be desired, which made it difficult to fully immerse in the story. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why the writing wasn’t good other than that it just felt on the low end of mediocre.

This work was close to 800 pages, felt like it was 1200 pages, and should have probably only been 500 pages max. If it underwent some much-needed in-depth editing, I would be more than happy to reread it and alter my rating. Until then, I can see why others liked it, but it just wasn’t for me.

My thanks to NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing for a review copy of this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I wasn't sure what to expect going into this one but it was Read Now and the cover pulled me in, so I went for it. I did NOT realize this was first in a series and got more and more nervous as the page count dwindled and the plot kept spooling out. The ending was absolutely explosive and I have no idea how I'll survive the wait to book two.

Paranormal romance is one of my favorite sub genres and this one added in the enemies to lovers aspect that made it hard to resist. The Book of Azrael is a super slow burn romance wise, and much of the majority of the plot is spent on world building and the lives of the characters before and after the war and the search for an ancient book that may or may not exist.

One of my favorite aspects of this story is the relationship between the main character Dianna and her sister Gabby. Dianna would and has done anything to protect her sister and the love between them is palpable. I also really enjoyed the banter between the two MCs but also between Dianna and her friends, who she clearly loves almost as dearly as her sister. All in all, this was a solid paranormal romance and first book in a series. I hope book two delves deeper into the main relationship and that all isn't what it seemed from that ending.

This book was very disappointing to me. I loved the cover and only saw good reviews so I was excited to read it. However, I really did not enjoy it and almost DNF'd. The writing was not very good, very chopping, and would have greatly benefited from an editor. The e-book format also was horrible and the font size changed within the sentences many time per page which was very frustrating. I did not understand the world building (names of places were thrown out all the time and I did not know if they were referring to cities, nations, worlds or what else). The characters and creatures/species were not well developed in my opinion. I could not follow what creatures where what and where they came from. I feel like I was expected to understand everything without the author actually explaining anything.

I absolutely fell in love with the cover, it's amazing. Moreover, this book contains my favourite trope, which is real enemies to lovers and I always prefer dual POV. I loved the world building, but especially Dianna. I loved that she was a badass warior, but also Liam was super nice. The world building was amazing and also the slow burn between the two MCs. The action scences were superb as well.

What a breathtaking ride that was! This book was incredible. I absolutely love the narrative and the main characters.🥰
Worldbuilding✅
Story telling✅
Love connection✅
Tension✅
I also need the sequel NOW because of the ending!🥴

“I didn’t remember how long we talked, but somewhere amidst her laughter and smiles, I decided I would rip the world apart for her.”

I was hooked! This story is told using the POV of Liam and Dianna. Dianna is far from the typical character written today as she remains true to herself at all times and the amount of snark and attitude and self assured ness is refreshing!
I truly enjoyed that the story was as amazing as it was without relying on spice to keep it interesting. The banter and flirty remarks were great and kept anticipation up.

If you love a solid enemies to lovers, complex world building, strong main characters, side characters just as amazing and a unique fantasy element that’s not been done endlessly than this is the book for you☺️

This is a fantasy story with very contemporary elements. They have TVs, phone, and access to most modern day amenities. However it is filled with monsters and gods that come in all shapes and sizes. This is always a fun dynamic to have the two main types of fantasy stories come together.

This book has a lot of truly beloved tropes: Nightmare scene, One bed, and what I consider to be Enemies to friends to lovers. Who doesn’t love the combination of watching characters go through the stages of understanding and acceptance of the other and setting aside differences. This book I feel like is a very good example of the enemies to lovers as compared to what I usually see.

So one think I didn’t love was the use of very contemporary names for characters that were supposed to be hundreds of years old. Liam’s name was great, but I did think it was weird that the bad guys name was Kaden. That probably wasn’t my favorite decision because I just couldn’t imagine him as some big tough scary guy.

I would have loved to see more world building with the shadows, vampires, and witches. They get vaguely brought up but I would have loved to see more of them in the beginning of the story when the crux of the plot was being developed. I felt a little confused right off the get go so it would have been nice to have a few of the gaps filled in so I felt I had a better understanding of the world that was created.

I enjoyed the relationship that sparked between the two main characters. As I stated before this was an excellent execution of the enemies to lovers plot. It was slow, building, and oftentimes very endearing to both of them. I truly enjoyed the character work between them as they bonded and as we learned more about them. That was truly top notch.

Absolutely loved this book. Before I even knew what the book was about the cover grabbed my attention and I knew I needed to read this book. This is the first book I have read from this author and I am looking forward to reading her other books. As well as the next book in the series, I can’t wait to see how it continues after the cliffhanger at the end of this book.

***Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher who provided me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.***

The premise was strong and the characters were complex and likeable, but I just couldn’t get past the writing. I struggled through every chapter of this book because it writing wasn’t smooth or consistent and it really took a lot away from the story for me. I can’t say I’d be eager to read the next one but I am curious as to how it plays out.

WOW! wow, wow, wow, wow. First of all, how have I not heard about this book until now? I can't even form words. I went into this book with zero expectations and I got an absolute masterpiece. When this series is all said and done, it may just end up being tied with ACOTAR.

The characters are amazing, ALL OF THEM. Even all the side characters. Liam and Dianna are just so fleshed out with great voices, I connected so much with them. Even when they are being absolutely terrible I still love them and the dynamic and banter between the two of them is pure gold. Also, It's a slow burn and enemies to lovers (TRUE enemies to lovers). Like these two actually hated each other in the first half of the book, none of the "I'm secretly in love with you but don't want to show it" stuff. It was glorious.

I hope we see more of the side characters and the hand in the sequel and get to know them more because I loved them all. AND THE VILLAINS!!! The villains you guys are AMAZING! what I wished every villain could be but rarely ever are.

The pacing was perfect and the plot and world-building were great (No info dumping!) The author handles world-building, backstories, and lore so perfectly. I have literally nothing bad to say about this book, other than the CLIFFHANGER that will torture me for the months to come until the sequel arrives.

I wish I could give this more stars. This has made it to my list of favorite books of all time.

Please just read this book.

Thank you, Netgalley, for sending me the eARC of this spectacular fantasy in exchange for an honest review.
I was immediately attracted to this book because of its compelling and intriguing title, and the gorgeous book cover. This book was quite lengthy and I usually avoid lengthy book, but I did not regret for a single moment and this beautiful, gripping story of Liam and Dianna did not bore me for even a single minute. I was instantly hooked and could not put it down.
The story revolves around Dianna who is a beautiful and lethal immortal woman. She wasn’t always immortal. There was a time when she was a simple orphaned girl trying to protect her little sister, who had to sell her mortality in order save her sister to a powerful monster, Kaden. Now, centuries have passed, and Dianna has been molded as a perfect weapon in the hands of Kaden. Dianna is recently ordered to search for an ancient book of Azrael which could free the immortal to another realm. On the other hand, Liam or Samkiel, who is the last of gods and famously known as World Ender, is still swallowed by grief and lives half of a life in his palace alone overburdened by the regret and misery. When one of his loyal servants is killed by one of men of Kaden, he has to come to the world to stop the monster from getting the precious book. Liam and Dianna will have to work together despite their hatred and difference in order to stop Kaden and his followers from ravaging the world.
The enemies to lovers fantasy romance was highly enjoyable and captivating. Although it took me a while to connect to the characters and completely comprehend the flow of events, the overall word-building and character development is so enchanting. The various orders of supernatural beings, the bravery of celestials and inner circle of Liam, the ongoing banter of Liam and Dianna, and above all the beautiful and sassy, Gaby, was so amazingly portrayed that it will pique one’s interest immediately. The writing style was so poetic, descriptive, witty and amazing.
Overall, the book was so adventurous, excellently well written, with well-developed plot, and extraordinary world-building. It has everything a fantasy-lover would ask for. I would highly recommend it!

I went into this book with really high expectations and I found that unfortunately this fell a little flat for me.

While there were for sure aspects of this book I enjoyed; the broad range of creatures, the expansive world, and the flashbacks between the past and the present, I found that the things I did not enjoy about this book overshadowed my ability to enjoy the good parts. I did unfortunately find that the grammar and spelling mistakes were drastic enough to remove me from the story more often than not. While grammar is absolutely not everything and i'm not someone who tends to notice every little error as I don't personally have the best grammar myself, there were cases here that actually pulled me completely out of the story. There were times I would read a word and immediately think "wait thats not right" or I would complete a passage and have to stop and go back because the way its structured feels clunky and confusing.

Another disappointing thing I found was that while the world was interesting and I actually enjoyed the time spent explaining how the things worked and time simply spent on world-building. I don't know if it just felt like more was being explained than what was actually used but there were times when I felt the author spent too much time on explaining elements that weren't that confusing and were made more complicated with the excessive explanations or just spent time on elements that didn't feel necessary. I will say that additionally I struggled with the modernism of this and how it tied into more traditionally fantasy but that could be something that really only bothered me.

Overall, this book was fine, but unfortunately when I hit 75% I was just ready to finish this and move on to something new instead of being excited for what would happen in the end. For me, thats a telltale sign I'm not enjoying the book and its just not working out for me. I would be interested in giving this book a reread if it possibly got a bit of a rework or some more intensive editing done that just cleaned up the book as a whole.

Also, thank you to Amber Nicole and Rose & Star Publishing for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wow! After hearing so many good things I knew I had to start this book! The Book of Azrael completely blew me away! It exceeded my expectations and I love these characters so much 😭 Also that ending? SHOCKED ME. What do I do now with my life 🥲

I'm not sure where to start with this review - I grabbed this book on a whim because I liked the front cover and the blurb intrigued me. This will be one of my better decision of 2022 because The Book of Azrael completely blew me away. I loved the author's style of writing, the world building was solid and it managed to pack a punch that left me wanting more at the end. The author's taken a love of mythology and made the themes, characters and world her own, creating a story that I thoroughly enjoyed and, to be honest, am as close to fangirling about as I get.

So, what's got me all in a twist? Dianna, our heroine (or villain, depending on how you look at her), is a centuries-old monster of the old world. Believed to be trapped in another realm, her kind wait in the shadows, working with vampires, witches and the like to do the bidding of Kaden, their leader and the clear winner of the 'ruthless, psychopathic, mass-murderer' award. Ruling with an iron fist, he makes Dianna his second after she gives her life into his service following a deal she made with him to save her sister. And use her he does, both her body and her immense power as she follows his orders to carry out dastardly deeds, all in the name of finding the mysterious Book of Azrael. When a god, gone so long he's believed to be either a coward or non-existent, answers the cry of one of his people, things get real. Samkiel, who now goes by Liam, is the last of the deities remaining after a war of god tore the known realms apart (hence the apocalyptic tag I dropped in there above in my shelves). When he crosses paths with Dianna, who's desperate to keep her sister safe, both of their lives become intertwined and she's forced to decide whose side she's on.

While I could go on and on about this book, I'll reel myself in because I really enjoyed going in mostly blind to this novel. If you're like me and select books based around the inclusion of romance for the most part, give this one a go. While the first part builds the world post-gods and focusses on Dianna's life and reputation, once Liam enters the scene the two are drawn together and the plot shifts into their changing dynamic as the get to know each other. Their love/hate relationship, tension, chemistry and dialogue is fantastic and their characters well-developed. Dianna was a powerful warrior-type and I loved how the author had her character still reflecting her formerly mortal life to show a different, more compassionate and vulnerable side to her after a life of spilling blood. As for Liam, where to start? Helllooo, new book boyfriend. From his initial pity party and internalised hatred to his mannerisms as he adapted to the world he had isolated from for so long to his jealous and possessive bursts, he had me from when he first started torturing Dianna - literally.

I will mention that I spent the first part of the book not fully knowing what the heck was going on. There are a lot of references to past events for both the gods and the evil/monster-based characters, but to be honest, I enjoyed the writing so much I didn't care. There were references to past evil, fallen celestials walking among mortals, betrayal and immense power. If you're looking for romance from the get-go, it's not there, but trust me, hang in there because this book is worth it. It's classic good versus evil with the bonus addition of mythology and romance set amongst both fantasy and modernity. The book is definitely on the lengthier side and ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, so there's obviously more to come. I loved it, enough to give it five stars straight out the gate. I've never read anything by this author before (and can't find anything - debut novel? If this is the case, I can't wait for more) but this won't be my last. It's only August and I'm already chucking this book down as one of my top ten for 2022. Yep, I'm calling it. I loved it that much and can't wait to see where the series goes.

So many great romance reads this year!!! I absolutely adored this book and finished it in one sitting! The world-building was top notch and the characters were on a whole other level of their own. This is my first read by this author and she has instantly become a must read. If you absolutely love fantasy romance reads, then this book is a definite yes for you! I know I'll be checking out her books in the future.

The Book of Azrael is one of those books that needs a chance at the beginning because the more you read, the better it gets. It did take me a little bit to fully get into it but I’m glad that I stuck with it.

Diana gave up her life to save her dying sister and now she serves Kaden, a monster who uses her for whatever means. Liam is the “mythical” king, long thought dead and forgotten. He is the World Ender who has locked himself away from his people and his responsibilities. When an attack on his people sends him back to the realm he want’s no part of, he finds himself working with Diana in the hopes of saving both their worlds and the realms in between. But can these two enemies put aside their differences and trust each other enough? Guess you’ll have to read the book to find out .

This one was fun and unique with perfect pace, action, adventure and some funny banter. A slow burn enemies to lovers trope with a fair amount of tension, a good plot and world building. The characters really ended up growing on me and I will definitely pick up the next book! Cliffhanger? Yes. Spicy? No. Pretty safe with a bit of sexy time towards the end but nothing major.

The first book in a new fantasy series, the Book of Azrael is a dual narrative story following Dianna and Liam as the former enemies combine forces to search for a book that could destroy everything they know. This book took me about 60% to get into and I wasn’t a huge fan of the writing style, but the story and evolving relationship between Dianna and Liam helped me stick it out long enough to get into the book and finish it. The world building is complicated and I had to skim some things to not find myself bogged down but ended up binging the last 40%. The book ends on a cliffhanger so now I have to wait for book 2 to find out what happens next! I’d recommend this book with a warning for heavy world-building but to give it a chance!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me a copy of this.
It was very high on my TBR after seeing so many 5 star reviews and everyone obsessing over it on Instagram and TikTok.

As good as some parts of the story were, it didn't live up to the hype for me.
I think it was unnecessarily long, and perhaps should have either been split into two or shortened a bit so it didn't feel like the story dragged on so much.

I enjoyed the world, the action and the enemies to lovers which is why I've given it three stars, but other than that it falls a bit flat for me.