The Book of Azrael was probably one of my favorite books in a long time. I loved the MC, the enemies to lovers, the world building, the morally grey characters, the villains, and the character development. I thought this book was well written with an amazing plot and characters. This book is also extremely unique with regards to the characters, world(s), and magic. I honestly can’t say enough good things about this book. I CANNOT wait for the next book and wish I could order it now. I can’t believe this was a debut. Absolutely amazing, would definitely recommend and can’t wait to read this again before the next book comes out.

This was tough… I think it had a lot of potential, the plot sounded interesting enough but I am shocked this is receiving as good of reviews as it has been. It definitely needed another round of editing (in length and grammar) and I can’t believe this is going to be a roughly 6 book series. I feel like everyone is trying to cash in on ACOTAR’s fame.

I ended up skimming through most of the last half because the first half was such a slog to get through. Sorry to all who worked on this but, definitely not for me.

In a world filled with Monsters, Gods and Mortals, the battle between good and evil is stirring once again. Thousands of years ago, Dianna gave up her mortal life to save the life of her and her sister during the time of the God’s War. At the time, her only concern was for her sister. She did not know that she was trading her mortal life for an immortal one with a ruthless and evil creature, Kaden. Now Dianna serves her “savior” as his second in command, earning her very own reputation as a powerful and ruthless henchman. For centuries, Kaden has had her on a mission to find an ancient artifact, one that will help him destroy an ancient fabled God and ultimately the creatures that hunt her kind. But when that fabled God, known as the World Ender, returns to her world, Dianna takes a daring decision. One that changes the trajectory of her and her sisters fate.

Ok, make way for Amber Nicole! It is not very often I get excited about new authors but this is hands down one of my favorite fantasy books I have read. The world building is fantastic, especially for a green author! The creatures and powers are unique and the urban/modern elements woven in keep you captivated.

But the star of this novel, DIANNA! Literally THE BEST FMC I have read in a long, long time! I really loved how Dianna is the written as the villain and we get to see the story unfold through her POV. I definitely recommend this series. I got a vibe mix between The Plated Prisoner, The Savage Lands and a bit of From Blood and Ash so if you loved any of those series, you would love this also. This is also a TRUE enemies to lovers trope.

Things to note: there are some typos so just a heads up if that sort of thing distracts you. There are a handful of missing quotation marks, some missing spaces and 2 or 3 repeated sentences. This sort of thing doesn’t bother me unless it's throughout the whole book but I know others get thrown from the story when this happens.

Also, the author plans for this series to be 5-6 books long. This is the first installment with the second book set to release in 2024…possibly April 2023? So we’re in for a long road with this.

This book delivers: Enemies to lovers, Slow burn, Strong FMC, FMC is Villain, World Building, Only One Bed, Forced Proximity, Forbidden Romance, Dual POV

Instagram post scheduled: 5/25 - 6/08

Having given up her mortality to save her sister, Dianna lives under the command of Kaden, who is searching for the Book of Azrael. When Dianna meets Liam, the fabled World Ender, ancient enemies must work together to save everything they hold dear.

A lot was going on in The Book of Azrael, and while much of it sounded fascinating in theory, on the page I found it quite a struggle. I'm really sorry to say I thought the quality of the writing was very poor, to the extent that it made reading the book a real slog and not an enjoyable experience. A dark and complex dynamic like Dianna and Kaden's should offer something with a lot of depth and potential, but I felt the portrayal was shallow. Dianna read like a composite of Celaena Sardothien and Jessica Jones, but without the emotional depth of either. While there's nothing wrong with tropey writing per se, I do think it needs to offer some originality or a different angle, otherwise it's too easy to compare unfavourably to other works that are of much higher quality. This one absolutely wasn't for me.

I am grateful to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC of The Book of Azrael. These opinions are my own.

Wow. Absolutely spectacular.

The Book of Azreal is jam packed full of all the tropes we know and love.

Enemies to Lovers.
Slow burn romance.
Morally grey characters.
Forced proximity.
The ‘only one bed’.
Forbidden romance.

The world building itself is quite intricate, but the author did a wonderful job at introducing all of these new concepts and places that it never felt like it was a big info dump for the reader. Very easy to consume all of this new knowledge – without distracting the reader from the storyline itself. On top of that, the pacing of the entire plot is consistent, and I found myself being physically incapable of walking away from the book. I ended up binge reading the entire thing in a 24hr period. And that cliffhanger ending! It packed a punch and had me physically sobbing. I need book two immediately.

I will try to put my feelings about this book into a condensed more sensible version than the one I've been babbling to my husband. All while wiping more tears! You have to read this book!

Liam and Dianna are the true definition of enemies to lovers. The banter between them had me laughing out loud! Hands down the best I've experienced in a book. I related to Dianna's character so much! Her ability to make a sarcastic, usually hilarious, comment even in the most serious of times made me love her so much. Liam was such a loveable grump, but with so much depth. My heart broke so many times for him and his story. He was just as sarcastic as Dianna, and I loved it. I mean come on he lowered his body temperature to make his feet cold to give himself and excuse to cuddle her.....the "AWWW" that came out of my mouth made me thankful I was home and not in public. I just loved them!

I can't possibly put into words how many different aspects are involved into this book. The world building, the politics, the emotions, even the dash of spice. The Book of Azrael has it all. I can honestly say this is one of my favorite books of all time (and I've read SJM) I will be recommending this book to everyone and it will haunt me until the next book release because, by the way, the cliffhanger is brutal!

Amber Nicole is an author I will be following impatiently waiting for her new books. Her writing is beautiful! The talent this woman has is amazing. Go get this book!

There are no words.
This book is phenomenal. The world building, Characters and development are well thought out and constructed. This book has the highest highs and the lowest lows and yet it still makes you root for the characters that are not 100% morally just.
I can't believe this book is over, I want to go back and read it again. Actually I want the next book in my hands.
The Book of Azrael has had me in a chokehold for four days and I wouldn't exchange those days for any amount of money.
Amber Nicole, you are a literary genius. Thank you.


I was gifted a copy of The Book of Azrael In exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

As much as I wanted to adore this book, I was left a bit disappointed.

I loved the concept of it all and I really like the main character, I just can't vibe with the overall story and length of the book.

In my opinion it should have been shorter.

A beautifully written book. Really enjoyed reading this. Thanks to publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read. I can't wait for more in this universe

4.5! I LOVEEEEE THIS SO MUCH OHMYGOD. the banter between dianna and liam..? the forced proximity…? are we sure this is a debut book bc WHEW.

i love the way dianna was written, though her narrative somehow gives “i’m not like the other girls” vibe which is true honestly because she was a lot worse, but it could’ve done better. i love how cheesy this book is, like liam is so, so, soooo head over heels for her since, idk, midway of the book?? good for him! their POVs is very interesting, both different and a monster in their own way. they both equally powerful and terrified many creatures so it was a fun read.

their banters were everything!! she was hot-temper, snarky and somehow always ended up putting herself in a very dangerous situation. on other hand, liam was careful, always calculating. this man could just stand and he would intimidate the shit out of people. and the way dianna is the only one who dares to talk to him in a playful (re: irritating) manner, that says a lot about their dynamics. wish i could see their full potential being unlocked, but i guess we’ll see that in book 2 because damn, that ending…

give this a fair try everyone! this book has a powerful start and it continues to hold us hostage till the very end of the book. dianna my broken meow meow and i’ll give her the whole world.

thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wish I could read this again for the first time!!! I devoured this book and can't wait to read more from this author!

DNF. I really tried to get into this book but it was just too hard, much of the dialog didn't r flow as good as it should have, and I couldn't connect to any of the characters.

This book definitely scratched an itch that hadn't been itched in a while. I have gone through so many fantasy romance books in the past few years that they all started to feel very redundant and boring. This book however, completely exceeded my expectations. The characters, the plot, and the world-building were all very incredibly carried through. I was reading and enjoying myself so strongly that I did not even realize I reached the end of the book. The ending literally made me audibly gasp. I am so excited to read the next book and I hope it comes out soon. Overall, 4.9/5.

I love finding a new fantasy series to obsess over!!

I love a morally gray character and our female lead Diana fit the bill. Liam, our male lead is so complicated and
has the weight of the world on his shoulders( literally).

I loved that this was a plot with a romance. Even though we were obviously here for the slow burn romance, the plot itself was the main story and kept me intrigued.

AND THE CLIFFHANGER! Has me so eager for the next.

I really liked this book. There were parts of it that seemed to drag just a little ( Liam's flashbacks were meant to give us more of the story but kind of dragged at times) but overall, I really liked this book. It had great world-building and I loved the characters. I can't wait for the next book.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve been reading a lot of young fantasy for some time now, so I was looking for a good fantasy book that had more adult themes, and this book really hit the spot. I loved the strong female lead character, Dianna sees herself as a monster, surviving only to keep her sister safe. Dianna is turned by the male antagonist into a pure killer and is blackmailed into working for him in exchange for her sister’s life.
Liam the main protagonist is a king of kings, traumatized by an ancient war that ended his father’s and the rest of the god’s lives. Labelled world ender, Liam is brought back into the world to fight an ancient enemy lying beneath Dianna’s skin. Dianna and Liam soon team up in a rush to claim a book written by a former god, that has the secret to opening the pathway between worlds. Spending so much time together Liam and Dianna realize that they have more in common than they first thought.
This does contain a slow-burn romance, but it has so much else going on that the romance is just an added extra. There are a few things that degraded it slightly, I do think that the book needs to be edited again as it has a few repeated paragraphs and it does contain a bit of added fluff that doesn’t necessarily need to be there, because of this I have only given it four stars. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, it had great world-building and I loved the mythical gods and beasts aspect. I’m going to buy this in hardback and looking forward to the next in the series.

Solid story and I did enjoy it but I’m only giving 3 stars because there is a lot of fluff to be cut out. The relationship was nice and believeable but it was a very slow burn. I think if edited correctly this could be a great book.

To be entirely honest I did struggle while reading this book. I felt that the characters and plot were thought through well. But not executed as good as they should have been. I would give this a 2 star considering it was hard to read for me and felt more like a chore to finish.

I want the sequel now! This was amazing, the chemistry the love story! I loved every part of it. Also I loved that Diana and Liam’s had a slow burn.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review. So first off, this is a 4 star read for me. The plot is interesting and I’m immediately hooked with the romance. I really can’t put this book down. I feel like it could have been a 5 star read if it was edited better. Our FMC, Dianna is a female villain or more accurately imo an anti-hero meanwhile the MMC, Liam is such a sweet cinnamon. The romance is pretty slow-burn which makes sense since our leads are tortured souls learning to heal together. I mean they basically started out as strangers and enemies. All in all, I really like this book and I can’t wait for the next one especially with that cliffhanger at the end.

✰✰✰/✰✰✰✰✰

This was a pretty solid debut.

I really liked the world, it was an interesting blend of technology and fantasy. The plot took some time to set itself up, but it was compelling enough to keep me hooked. I enjoyed some of the quips and the interactions between Dianna and Gabby were really sweet. However, there were a few things that kept me from being fully immersed.

The writing
It was a bit clunky, and it really felt like it needed a few more rounds of editing. There were a lot of repeated phrases and questionable word choices that made some of the dialogue and narration jarring and awkward.

500 pages??
This felt way longer than it actually was. Some of the fluff could have been cut to make the story feel more cohesive, and less like the characters were jumping from plot point to plot point. It felt more like a sequence of fun action scenes, oh-yes-now-plot-things, and fluff senes than a whole story.

Characters
There was something that just kept me from completely connecting with the characters. Dianna made a strong impression when she was first introduced, but nothing was ever actually done with her character. She's just a strong woman who gets into bad deals with powerful men AND NOW- oh wait that's not important anymore the male lead is here. Liam's chapters were hard to read because the constant flashbacks just felt like info-dumping and distracted from the main timeline.

Not a bad book overall, it was really just all the minor details that added up and kept it from reaching its full potential.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing me with the eARC for this book!