Thank you NetGalley!
What to say about this book other than AMAZING! I loved it from the very start. The story is original and very interesting.
The MFC is a badass villan which is trying to keep her sister safe. And to do that, she make an alliance with someone really unexpected. Both of the MC are grey morally characters which is always good, mostly if they are both good-looking god-monster. And the heat is strong in here. I’d say 🌶🌶/5 in a spice level.
This book is a REAL enemy to lovers with a slow burn sooo good that will keep you up til the end of it! Looking forward to book number 2 and see more of the interesting world building.

Promising concept, however, I found the story a bit chaotic and rushed at times. The writing was fine and the story was okay though.
Also I am not sure if this is the final format, but the big spacing does feel unnecessary, on the other hand it is easy to read-quick.

I just dont think this was for me :/

The beginning of this book was a tad bit slow, but once you get to about 20% of the book, the book really takes you on a wild amazing ride. I sincerely loved this book and rated it 4.5 stars. This is an amazing debut novel and was so gripping, I wish the date for the sequel was already released. This book literally made me blush, cry, scream, and laugh. The book follows Dianna, who made a deal with Kaden (the big bad of the book) to save her sister's life 1,000 years ago. While on a mission for Kaden, she meets Liam a God who Kaden is seeking to destroy. Once Dianna and Liam meet, things sure do get interesting. My only complaints for this book are the slow pacing in the very beginning and the world-building is a little messy. There is just a lot going on with the world-building where there are a lot of creatures that are remnants of Gods that we only see through flashbacks very briefly. This world that we are in is also very similar to Earth where they have phones, TV, cars, etc, which made me confused for a second. Regardless enough world-building is done to understand the main conflict and make it a very interesting fantasy book. The spice in this book is top tier and I just love the connection between Dianna and Liam. There are so so many tropes in this book including 1-bed trope, who hurt you, jealousy trope, grumpy x grumpy, forced proximity, and enemies to friends to lovers. Thank you so much to Netgalley and Rose and Star publishing for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Thankyou to Rose and Star publishing for the Arc!

Every trope in this book is my favourite
- Enemies to lovers
- a little grumpy x sunshine
- Morally grey characters
- Forbidden love
- Slow burn
- One bed
And our all time favourite "Who did this to you"
All jam-packed into this fun, fast paced Fantasy book.

Dianna was unapologetically herself and I loved it, she's a badass
Her and Liam's banter is brilliant, I couldn't stop laughing at some points!
There's a little bit of info dumping but once your past that it's perfect
I can't wait for book two after the cliffhanger!

[Thanks to NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing for providing me with a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest opinion!]
I almost DNF this, but I don’t have it in me to DNF an ARC. The 5 stars reviews must be either from people who know the author or people who didn’t even read the whole thing. Don’t get me wrong, the plot and the way this book is sold is amazing, but that’s as far as it goes. The book itself was painfully slow and had way too much filler. Most of the scenes were unnecessary to the point where I skipped a whole chapter to see if I got lost and I absolutely didn’t. You can’t sell a book under the “enemies older than time” and “villain’s pov” tags when your one dimensional main character is actually a hero who has killed in the past to protect her sister, or when the love interest is as bland as a 14-year-old with Daddy Issues who just falls for her in a few pages (and viceversa).
I just feel like it really needs a team of editors to take out half of the book and polish the rest of it to maybe turn it into a good book.

Like I said, it was a good idea, but it was all so poorly executed and I will definitely not be reading the rest of the series.

4 stars

Tropes:
- Enemies to lovers
- Forbidden love
-Morally grey FMC
- Abit of grumpy/sunshine vibes
- Fast paced
- Fantasy but not too heavy

I enjoyed the concept of the book! It was face paced and wasn't too fantasy driven. Which is enjoyed for the first book, but I'm expecting (or hoping) to see more in the second book. There is alot we still need to understand and I can't wait for everything to unravel.
I LOVED Dianna. She is an unapologetic badass and I was so shocked when we uncovered her true identity - it definitely adds to the forbidden love aspect of things.
Liam is perfect. He is a hero is all essence who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders (quite literally). The banter between him and Dianna was perfect. His POV was so cute - him finding difficulty understanding his feelings towards Dianna and the way he describes it is utter perfection.

The book wasn't spicy (just alittle here and there), but I think the build up to their romance was great and I'm hoping to see more development in the future books.

I don't know how to digest the ending of the book, it doesn't end of a cliffhanger per say but it definitely leaves you heart broken and wanting to know what happens in the second book. There is prophecy towards the end and we saw just the tip of it happening. The lead up to the ending was so fucking sad.

All in all, I can't wait for the second book - I really want to know what will happen between Dianna and Liam.

The Book of Azrael by Amber Nicole is a very well written and gripping book. I was hooked from the start and I especially liked that it was dual perspective

4.5⭐️ rounded up for a delicious gods & monsters fantasy romance!

Big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest & unbiased review.

Now, let's get into it:

A trope round-up, for funsies:
🦇 enemies-to-lovers
🦇 one bed
🦇 magical war
🦇 "who did this to you?"
🦇 forbidden romance: species natural enemies
🦇 slow burn
🦇 unworthy of love/forgiveness
🦇 nightmares
🦇 gods & monsters

And now, for the good stuff:

Once upon a time, Dianna was a mortal in Eoria, who lived with her sister and parents. However, a collision of worlds and plague simultaneously decimated the long-lost civilization, and Dianna was left only with her sister, Gabby, who was dying. In a desperate attempt to save her, Dianna pled to save her, and Kaden listened - in exchange for saving Gabby's life, the two would no longer be mortal and Dianna would serve at his side. Fast forward to present, Dianna is Kaden's glorified plaything and is being dragged along on the search for an old relic - the Book of Azrael.

Dianna ends up getting captured by Liam - god of the Etherworld and Netherworld, son of Unir, the World Ender. Not eager to return to Kaden and with the blood deal guarantee of her sister's well being, Dianna teams up with Liam to find the Book before Kaden. As natural enemies, Liam (god) and Dianna (monster) struggle to find common footing. However, as they begin on their journey, lines are blurred and new feelings take root. It becomes clear that the devastation they all feared from Kaden and the Book may be overshadowed by the devastation they will cause each other.

"Ah, yes, but a monster is still a monster, no matter how pretty it is."

Y'all, let me just say, at the beginning of this I was straight up confusion about who and what the hell was going on.


HOWEVER... As I got past the info dumping, I was in👏🏼ves👏🏼ted👏🏼.

The side characters? Amazing. The character growth? Fantastic.

I absolutely adored the banter between Dianna and Liam. At several points, I was literally LOLing.

"You are absolutely tormenting. You realize that, correct?"

Not me, like this, watching this unfold:


At some point in their travels, Dianna and Liam call a truce, and she helps him talk through a lot of his pent-up anxieties and concerns. Dianna tells him that she's always afraid, yet accepting, that Kaden will find her and take her back, as hostage.

"I will not let him have you." Jaw, meet floor.


No spoilers, but I can say with certainty that the ending was 🔥. Prepare yourselves for a tormenting cliffhanger!

Thank you Amber Nicole and Rose&Star publishing for this NetGally arc!

This book was such a wild and wonderful adventure! Diana is my kind of heroine - fire, rage, and so much heart! And that slow burn ooooh ✨🥰✨I saw it coming and I enjoyed how they got there. Liam was such a golden retriever/grumpy bear 🥺

Looking forward to the next book!

First off thank you to NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing, LLC, for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review

Dianna is a creature of legends. Hundreds of years ago she traded her life for her sister's and now works for the King of the Monsters, Kaden. When Kaden becomes obsessed with finding the Book of Azrael, Dianna is sent into the lair of the Gods, her ancient enemies, to retrieve it.

Samkiel is the King of the Gods, having made an ultimate sacrifice hundreds of years ago, he has been living in solitude. When one of his elite warriors, The Hand, is killed Samkiel must return to secure the world once again from the threat of the monsters.

I so wanted to like this book. The plot is interesting , the characters are interesting , but it just all felt so incredibly unedited and unreviewed.
Some examples from my read (no spoilers):

78% - “I had not left the Ovlivian blade in the ground…” - Oblivion? Once again. Did anyone proofread this at all?"
37.0% “You know I’ve always wondered if the celestials convoys were nicer than the public ones used in the cities” I said as a popped another small piece of chocolate in one of the lounge chairs (did she put the chocolate in the chair?)
…one paragraph later
“You know I’ve always wondered if the celestials convoys were nicer than the public ones used in the cities.” I said as I popped another small…”"
24.0% “I listened to him repeat the same questions repeatedly”"
18.0% "“Wisps of curls that stuck out of the bottom stuck out of the bottom”
17.0% -“My fingers across the clothes Logan had given me.” - This was the full sentence. What did your fingers do across the clothes
8.0% "“I’d opted for a short, soft green dress. My short, soft green dress had a halter top…”

This isn't even all of them, just all the ones I took the time to input into Goodreads.
I really think that if the author can hire a good editor this book it would be an amazing high fantasy story, but as it is now, I just can't recommend this to anyone. Hopefully the author/publisher has updated the manuscript from the e-arc prior to publishing cause I would love to see this story reach it's full potential.

I was not expecting to love this book as much as I did and I have to say I’m pleasently surprised by this story.Considering this is the authors first book, I think she did a really good job with the worldbuilding, it has its flaws (that I’ll mention later), but you can tell that Amber tried really hard to set the scene and gave a lot of details about the world.
I found the plot very original and interesting, while also being somewhat familiar. I like that the supernatural beings coexist amongst mortals and actually make use of human tecnhology to aid them. I find that this story is a mix of modern and old, the supernatural beings are ancient and theirs surroundings are those we are accostumed to in these types of books, but they are also evolved and use things like cellphones (which I surprisingly didn’t mind and found really cool).
There are two POV’s which I love, we get to know what’s going on throught both MC eyes, I was able to understand their feelings and motivations better and I really appreciate that.

I loved the fantasy aspect of the book and I thought that the fight scenes were really good.

I really like the characters, they are complex and multi-layered, it’s not your average extremaly good or extremely evil characters. I found the character development, in terms of personality, very good throughout the book. Not only are the MC’s really likeable, the side characters also surprised me and had a purpose in the story.

Our female MC, Dianna, is a very strong, fierce girl, capable of terrible things to ensure the protection of the one she loves most, her sister. She was turned into a terrible beast, but her mortal heart remains, preventing her from becoming a true monster. As the story progresses, we see she is more that just a villain, she can do good things and really just wants someone to love and care about her.

Samkiel (Liam) is a savior for some and a destroyer for others. He is a King to his people, but pain and grief made him walk away from his responsabilities and hide from the world. He’s known as the World Ender and many fear him, for he’s the most powerfull (we’ll see about that). I love the way his character was built, he’s the light to Dianna’s darkness, but that doesn’t mean he’s pure goodness, for he has also done terrible things.

I really liked watching their relationship grow, they’re very respectful of each other.

With all this being said, there are some things that just didn’t work for me. First of all, this book needs a lot of editing, I’ve encountered many grammar and spelling mistakes (and english is not my first language) and there’s a lot of filler information that only drags the story and adds nothing to it. I found some things to be very repetitive (like having the same thing being told in the different POV’s) and other things seemed rushed for me - for example, Dianna and Liam are enemys, and although their relationsphip was a slow burn, they became comfortable around each other too quickly. There are a lot of characters in this book, lots of names being thrown around with very little explanation as to who they actually are. I also don’t like that some of them have such common names, it made me cringe a little bit.

In the beggining of the book, it feels like we’re thrown in the middle of the story and have no idea what’s going on, it’s very confusing. Later in the book, some things are explained in more detail, but it still wasn’t enough. I would love if there was a better explanation of the world they’re in, I’m not sure I completely understand the different realms that exist or even what plannet they live in.
I feel like the author tried really hard to set up the world building and the characters in the beggining, so that later on everything starts making sense and we know what is happening (which i highly appreciate), but I still found myself having a hard time understanding everyones motivations and connecting with the caracters.

There are also some inconsistensis that had me confused:

-The blooddreams: sometimes Dianna is seeing the memory, other times she is “inside” the person’s head and living the memory. I just don't understand how they work;

-Dianna says she hates her kind and they’re monsters, but then gets very defensive of them and is hurt to know how many have been killed by Liam and his people. This is somewhat ironic seeing as she has killed so many of Liam’s kind;

-Liam is the World Ender, feared by everyone, the most powerful being. But, at the end of the book, suddenly he’s not strong enough to fight "the bad guys" and ensure the safety of the world.

Despite its flaws, I strongly believe that this has so much potential, and could turn out to be a really great series. I give it 4 stars because it kept me hooked since the beggining and I found the story and characters very intriguing. I was not expecting the ending and I look forward to reading the next book, that I hope will be able to answer the questions this one has left.

The characters are phenomenal. I absolutely adore Dianna and Samkiel, aka Liam. But what took me by surprise is how attached I've become to the secondary characters, i.e., Gabby, Logan, Neverra, and Drake. And Kaden is such an amazing villain! I can't wait to learn more about him.
⁠
The world-building and story are so unique! I genuinely haven't read anything like this before. And the best part is that there are no info dumps! ⁠ 👏
⁠
And the story kept me on my toes the entire time! So many plot twists I did not see coming! And that cliffhanger... I sobbed. You've been warned.

However, there are some typos and errors throughout the story. Hopefully, this won't be an issue in the next book.

Overall, The Book of Azrael is a fantastic, captivating story! I can't believe it's a debut novel! This is the best fantasy book I've read this year. And depending on how the series goes, it may top ACOTAR for me... Like Rhys and Feyre, who? Nah, Liam and Dianna!!

Such an amazing book! Fast paced, tons of action! Loved the 2 povs! I seriously cannot wait for the next book! Great fantasy book without the boring world building!

Thank you Net Galley for the e-arc.

I can tell that a lot of work went into this but this book just was not for me. The writing style didn’t click and it seemed like there was a lot of back and forth between a formal and casual writing style. I would have loved to see the characters more fleshed out as I didn’t really understand their motivations. It’s a unique story idea and maybe I need to give it a go another time.

I honestly didn't expect to love this book as much as I did. The characters were phenomenal and the two main characters were so fleshed out and developed and I loved seeing their character development and their changes over the course of the book. I also really like the romance and how it could be categorized as a slow-burn. Overall I really enjoyed it and I can't wait for the sequel.

Firstly thank you to Amber Nicole & @netgalley for the opportunity to read this e-Advanced Reader Copy ❤️

This book follows Dianna, who gave up her life many years ago in order to save her dying sister. She never anticipated such a monster would answer her plea. Now she is at the mercy of Kaden ... where she is tasked to secure an ancient relic from thr very creature

She called upon anyone who would listen, not expecting a monster far worse than any nightmare to answer. Now she does what Kaden asks, even if that means securing an ancient relic from the very creature that hunted her...A King thought long dead and long forgotten.
In the old world his name was Samkiel. In the new world it is Liam, but one title remains true throughout time. He is the World Ender, a myth to his enemies, a savior and King to those loyal to him. After the Gods War, he locked himself away, hiding from the world. He denied his crown and responsibilities, leaving the very ones who needed him most to deal with the fallout of the death of their homeworld. Now an attack on those he holds dear sends him back to the one realm he never wished to visit again and into the sights of an enemy he thought imprisoned eons ago.
Now enemies older than time must put aside their differences and work together in hopes of saving both their world and every realm in between.

This was a powerful fantasy read with some fab twists & turns which leave you reeling. I really enjoyed Liam's character & the concept of the book!

I did have some qualms:
1️⃣ Dianna kinda annoyed me as I felt she needed more depth.
2️⃣ Diana & Liam's relationship dynamic seemed a bit too fast paced to me.

Rating ~ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️. 5/5

💭 Overall if you enjoy fantasy I'd recommend giving this a go!

** Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review**

The Book of Azrael is the first book in the Gods and Monsters series which follows Dianna, a woman who gave her mortal life to save her sister, and Liam, king of the gods and more commonly known as the World Ender. The two must work together to face a common threat to their world and all that they love.

I wasn’t sure if this book was for me at first, but I’m so glad I read through to the end! It’s not my typical fantasy that I pick up, but I’m willing to stray a bit from my normal to read the rest of this series once it’s released.

I felt like I was always kept on my toes while reading this. I really got drawn in and invested in the characters and the plot. The amount of planning that must’ve gone into this book shows! There were lots of little details and foreshadowing that got weaved in that really paid off in the end.

I really loved the characters as well. Dianna and Liam are both great main characters and I love that we got to see both of their POVs. I think that added a lot to the story by allowing us to learn more about their backstories. I absolutely adored the side characters too. They didn’t feel flat and they helped to complement the main characters.

My only critique is that there were some grammar and spelling issues that did rip me out of the narrative a bit and some scenes were told or recapped in both POVs which became slightly repetitive.

Besides that, an amazing book and I’d definitely recommend picking it up and giving it a chance if you love high fantasy and enemies to lovers!

2.5/5
The book of Azrael is an enemies to lovers romance following Dianna an igmoruthen (not exactly sure what that is but “villain”) and Liam (king of the worlds/ God) who have to work together to find the book Azrael and save the world.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. I liked the idea of this book but it was way too long and really needed editing. I enjoyed the enemies to lovers aspect and the main characters relationship and acceptance of each other’s flaws. The plot was interesting at times but then would just drag. There were so many typos and grammatical errors that it took me out of the story quite often. Overall I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. I think it could be great with some editing and a bit more world building.

Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

At first, I wasn’t sure if The Book of Azrael and I were going to gel.

But then I gave it a few days and picked it back up and I was like “look, it’s my fault. You did nothing wrong.”

Because I genuinely really enjoyed this book. It felt both familiar and new at the same time. Which, I don’t know about anyone else, but that’s a feeling I could use more of in 2022 and beyond.

5 STARS!!!!
Before you read the review I would just like to state, I ended up staying up all night long just to finish this book (I swear that is no exaggeration). And for the record, I’ve NEVER done that before. I couldn’t stand to wait until the next day to find out what happened next.

wow wow wow!! This book was just wow! It had all the tropes I could’ve asked for, and so much more. We follow Dianna, a blood thirsty creature who gave up her life to save her sister. And Samkiel (aka Liam) who’s the son of a god and is bestowed with the nickname worldender, you’ll have to read to find out why. When they strike a deal to work together in order to ensure Dianna’s sister, Gabby is safe, they find out more about each other and the secrets each of them keeps. Their mission: find the book of Azrael before someone else finds it and uses it to destroy all of humanity.