The Book of Azrael by Amber Nicole

3/5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ho boy, where do I start with this book? Here’s the thing, I started this book maybe four times before stopping at around the 75-100 page mark every time. And then I finally got the motivation to push through the first 150 pages before things started to get interesting for me.

I have such a love hate relationship with The Book of Azrael, the last half of the book was phenomenal, I loved it. The beginning though? Bored the hell out of me. It was so hard to get into, so hard to like the characters – and honestly, even after finishing it, I’m still not sure if there’s a single character that I like.

There is so much that was interesting, the story itself, the history, the plot. But the characters were so flat for me, and the main character Dianna was such a pick me I’m not like other girls I’m a bitch character that her act and her scenes got old fast. I wish there was more to her than just a bitchy attitude and a sister that she’d do anything for. I wish there was a fight in her that made her interesting. Liam/Samkiel was so boring, he had no personality, no traits that would make him brooding or sexy in my mind while reading. Their relationship was a little boring and very predictable, it followed an outline for a couple that you could find on any romance plot planner.

A lot of the book wasn’t explored upon, I know it’s such a cliché for fantasy books to have a lot of confusing world building, but I genuinely would have preferred that instead of being tossed into a book with a giant war behind them, a world that has been divided by power, a missing god, and a species taking over half the world. A lot of it was really confusing and hard to get into because it wasn’t elaborated.

There were a lot of times I was rolling my eyes during scenes because the dialogue was so cut and paste, choppy, and very clearly used for one-liners for advertising, or the scene itself was planned around the very snarky and “badass” thing this main character was supposed to say and make herself seem like the coolest not like other girls girl.

With that being said, I am looking forward to the rest of the series and I hope it gets better now that the first book is out of the way. It has a lot of potential and I’m hoping that everything gets fleshed out more.

This book is phenomenal! This book keeps you on the edge of your seat, the story is captivating with complex characters and feelings. This story kept me guessing, it was beautiful to see them slowly falling for each other. The ending had me shook! I had to put the book down and walk away. I can't wait for the sequel.

Looking for great fantasy with good world#building and equally great spice? Look no more!

I've received an ARC copy through netgalley, and first off, thank you for that! I enjoyed this book A LOT. The world-building and plot were enticing right from chapter one, and I think that is so important. Many books in the romantasy genre I've read took their sweet time to have you get to know the characters, their conflicts and then throw the action and plot at you middle of the book, and this exhaust me since the first half often is so slow-going. Not this book though, na-ah. RIght from the start you're sucked in and turn pages like crazy.

The slow-burn fits suprisingly well in this fast pace, and once you hit the spicy scenes? Oh boy, buckle your seatbelts 'cause you're about to get sweating!.

5/5 Honestly.

This was absolutely filthy and vulgar. I honestly don't know what I thought I was getting when I requested this title? Maybe a dark fantasy/horror. Definitely not dark romance or erotica.

This was not for me.

My heart is still pounding from the absolute heart wrenching cliffhanger at the end of this book. I should probably take a few minutes to compose myself before I write this but I am blown away. I’ve had this book on my TBR for quite some time and I’m upset with myself for just now reading it. I fell in love with so many of the characters and their development throughout this story. The author does an incredible job of weaving the past and present to allow the reader to truly understand the world, magic, and characters. There are so many variants of love and heartbreak scattered throughout this story that I felt every emotion while reading. I was hooked by the 30% mark and couldn’t put it down after that. Definitely a must read- my heart will be broken until the next book in this series comes out.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC.

A thousand years ago, Dianna gave up her life in the deserts of Erioa to save her dying sister. 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 creatures that hunt her.

the fact it’s 841 pages and I still finished in one sitting is honestly concerning.

Thank you to NetGallery, the author (Amber Nicole) and the publishers for an e-arc of this book in exchange for a honest review
As others have, I really enjoyed this book and cannot believe the cliffhanger!!
The world building wasn’t ‘too much’ as some high fantasy’s tend to be, and was done well, the plot was very well done and had me hooked, did not feel like I was reading a 800+ page book at all!
The characters were well written, enjoyable to read and had good chemistry, and interactions!!
Would recommend and cannot wait to read the next one!!

3.5/5

This book did the same thing Crescent City did to me when I tried reading it. So much world building. I’d be lying if I said I knew all of what was going on 😅

Moments I was upset for the things that Dianna had to do. I don’t want to spoil, but I feel she gets a bit redeemed (Some surprises that I didn’t expect).

Enemy’s to lovers. Banter. Omg the banter gets good a little over half way through the book!! Once they are comfortable with each other and friends it feels so natural.

Although I felt the book was good it took me quite a while to read, kept putting it off.

I have seen such high reviews for this book and was really excited about it, but I thought it was just okay. I think this book could have been half the length it was and this would have made the plot and character development much more interesting. As it stands, the first half of the book took ages to go anywhere and could easily have been condensed. I enjoyed the plot when it got going and the world building was amazing. The relationship between the two main characters fell a bit flat for me, but I'm not a huge fan of romance anyway so maybe that's just me.

Great debut novel. Looking forward to book two. The cover drew me in and the fantastic writing, superior World building and original storyline kept me Turning Page after page.

This book is so refreshing and unique. I love when a fantasy author comes up with something completely new. I am looking forward to the second book because this was such a strong start.

Lovely debut!

“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 loved this book, it was one of the best reads of 2022. I started reading the digital version but almost immediately had to buy the paper version as much as I was enjoying it!
It’s Amber Nicole's debut novel and it’s part of the Gods and Monsters series. The second one will appear in 2024 (can't wait).

The book tells the story of Dianna, a woman who traded her life for save her sister. This cost her humanity because she became a monster.
Samael is the King of the Gods and he’s also the last one left. He has always lived isolated from civilization due to trauma.

When the two meet they will have to question everything they believe in to be able to defeat a common enemy.

World building is very complex, as is the book in general.
I also enjoyed the writing very much and the characters are masterfully described.

The plot tells not only of a war but also of love and friendship.
It’s an enemies to lovers with slow burn and the famale character is a villain, there are the one bad, the forced proximity and the forbidden romance tropes.

I absolutely recommend it, go read it!

Thank you NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Rose and Star Publishing, LLC, Amber Nicole, and Netgalley for the copy for an honest review.

When a nearly 850-page book gets out of hand, you wish it had at least 200 more, you connect with the characters so intensely, and you KNOW the story is going to expand so much more than what you read in the book. first book... there you know that reading is 5 stars.

I don't understand why I haven't heard about this book on bookstagram, on facebook, on goodreads, I don't understand. I DON'T UNDERSTAND.

When I started reading it and saw that it had almost 850 pages I said "where did I get myself?" because one knows that it will take time to read it, that sometimes these types of books, so extensive, can be a lead... but no. The Book of Azrael was a literary beauty. Is someone going to publish it in Spanish? I need more people to read it.

Here we find ourselves with an immense universe that the author only detailed for us a little, but she did it so, so well that I didn't notice that it was heavy, dense or a kind of history as has often happened to me in some fantasy books. The characters are being described and presented in a slow, precise and in-depth way, which allows us to empathize with them, understand them and feel close (although we are far from that). I liked the full range of characters presented here and I see a lot of potential for this book to be the start of a huge saga.

The book takes place from the perspective of Dianna and Liam, our protagonists. Here we live a REAL enemies to lovers because they really start being mortal enemies and little by little this is transformed, but it is not fast, nor does it come out of the galley. Come on, it's an 850 page book and the author knows exactly what she's doing.

I loved Dianna, with that unique personality in a female character that I hadn't seen in a while. It reminded me of Katniss at certain times, a person who does EVERYTHING for who she loves. That he faces what he must do without question, without thinking, even if it carries great consequences.

There were certain predictable things but I don't see it as a bad thing, it just didn't surprise me or I saw it coming.

When I read that the second book is coming out in 2024 it was devastating. But if I have to wait that long to read a second book as tremendous as this one, I expect that and more.

Undoubtedly a surprise, a reading that scared me to start it but I am very happy to have read and discovered. You HAVE to read it. Of course.

The review will also be published on magui.world (ig)

This story was absolutely addicting! I loved the morally grey FMC and the enemies to lovers trope. The writing style was enjoyable and the book was fast paced and held my attention. It ended on a cliffhanger… so beware!

This book hit all my favorite checkboxes--exciting, action-packed, tense, sexy, morally-grey MC, enemies-t0-lovers, and a cliffhanger ending (well, I love/hate these TBH!). I'm anxiously awaiting the sequel, and I'll definitely be recommending this to my bookclub!

Thank you to NetGalley and Rose and Star Publishing for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

At first glance this book reminded me so much of "kingdom of the wicked" and it was what drew me in. The vibes were immaculate.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit, although I did find it a little hard to follow at some points - mainly some transitions between scenes.
I liked both main characters - Diana was unapologetically not good at times (when she blew up that building) but it just made her more real in the end.
The ending was a cliffhanger so I need the next book sooner rather than later and I will reread this one before I read the second. The world-building was hard to follow as I said above, but extremely interesting, so a reread is definitely needed to fully understand everything before moving on.

This book exceeded my expectations. It is a fantasy book that has literally everything. It kept me guessing and I cannot wait for book 2. I love a good slow-burn romance and even more so when it's part of the story but not the entire story. I love a good female MC and Dianna did not disappoint. So freaking good!

Lately, romance have been the only books able to grab my attention. But nevertheless, I was willing to give fantasy a try. Unfortunately, the beginning of this book just failed to grab my interest. I was hoping I'd eventually be more intrigued but ultimately gave up within 20% of starting.
Coming back to this review months later, I think I'd be willing to try again sometime. However, as of right now, the winding exposition and boring dialogue thus far were not enough for me.

Cool idea, but unfortunately a confusing implementation

Getting into "The Book of Azrael" by Amber Nicole was quite difficult for me. You're just thrown into the fantasy world and it took me a while to begin to sort through what's going on. And to be honest, I was really confused until the end. Unfortunately, the flashbacks to the past have only added to the confusion.

The idea behind the story is really cool, but I don't think it was executed that well. The protagonist Dianna will do anything to protect her sister Gabby, even killing her best friend. She is very cheeky and not at a loss for a saying. I actually really like characters like that, but in this story, their behavior really got on my nerves.

Unfortunately, I didn't find Liam, also known by the name Samkiel, as well developed and I often had my problems when the company was told from his point of view.

All in all, "The Book of Azrael" didn't convince me and gets 2 out of 5 stars.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.