Member Reviews

Included as a top pick in bimonthly October New Releases post, which highlights and promotes upcoming releases of the month (link attached)

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I find Archangel's Resurrection hard to review. It's a pretty epic love story. But the contradictions of their relationship are frustrating and I wasn't sure about the romance aspect of it. I get why they want to make it work but when push comes to shove, they get in their own way. The intrigue and post-Lijuan world are fascinating. Once again, Singh's worldbuilding amazes and draws the reader in so thoroughly they may be surprised to return to the real world. Curious to see what happens next in this series.

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This installment in the Guild Hunter series is different. There is Angelic history and a look into events that occurred in others books from a different perspective. We learn about the origins of Naasir and he is related to Alexander. We see a side of Alexander that makes him more relatable. The love story between Alexander and Zanaya is complicated and it makes one appreciated Elena and Raphael's relationship even more. This is not entirely a love story, but that is there is flawed and real which makes this installment an interesting read.

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If I’m being completely honest I had mixed feelings about this book when the blurb was released. On the one hand, I wasn’t thrilled that readers wouldn’t be getting an update on the Bluebell/Sparkle romance. I DO think we will see them again in another book devoted to their developing relationship, but I really wanted it now. On the other hand, I was just a little bit thrilled to find out more about Alexander. Regardless, I gobbled this book up as soon as it hit my Kindle.

This is a very different story than many of the other books in this series. Starting with Alexander as a boy and working its way up to the present-day terrorizing of the world by Lijuan. This is also very much a self-contained, centuries-long love story between two Archangels: Alexander, Archangel of Persia, and Zanaya, Queen of the Nile. The cast of characters readers have grown to know and love do make appearances, but only in the context of how they relate to the main couple in this romance… Alexander and Zanaya.

I was kind of startled at first by how far back in time this author goes to tell this love story. I mean tens of thousands of years, back to when Alexander was born to two loving but scholarly parents who loved and supported him but didn’t necessarily understand his more military-minded side. Through the years until he sets his sights on one strong-willed, intelligent soldier moving her way up to general. Then through the events of the world, all the while this couple fights, makes up, and then fights again, at times deciding to go their separate ways. Always loving each other and always coming back together despite the years between them. Two archangels trying to maintain their territories and power, but still giving bits and pieces of themselves to each other. Two soulmates over time who love each other, but don’t always believe they can be together.

I will say it was quite interesting to see how the world unfolded through these characters’ eyes. Past events that are alluded to in other books, how other characters came to be, and what brought the world to the current events unfolding during Lijuan’s reign of terror.

While not my favorite of this series, I did enjoy my time spent in this world and appreciate this millennia-old love story between two powerful archangels.

Fingers crossed that the next book will move back to my beloved Bluebell and Sparkle.

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This story is a love story that lasts through eons. Alexander is the Archangel of Persia. Zanaya is the Queen of the Nile. The story starts before they ascended to be archangels. Alexander was the son of loving parents who had no power under the rule of a thoughtless archangel. He grew up to be a powerful and intelligent warrior.

Zanaya was the daughter of an angel who was obsessed with the angel who left her and who raised Zanaya to be distrustful. She also had the goal of being a great warrior.

When they first set eyes on one another, the spark was apparent to both of them. But Alexander was much older and determined not to hinder Zanaya's growth by claiming her. So the years passed...

When Zanaya got older and became a general, it was finally time for Alexander to claim the woman he loved. But then he ascended to archangel and the power disparity between them almost kept them apart. Once they began their relationship, it was a strong one, but it was also tumultuous. Both Alexander and Zanaya were prideful, stubborn people. Their relationship roller-coastered from epic highs to epic battles between them. Then Zanaya became an archangel too and the roller coaster continued. Until Zanaya went into Sleep.

She slept for millenniums leaving Alexander to live his life without her. But then Lijuan happened, and the cascade woke Zanaya in time to be in the battle of the archangels against Lijuan.

Gravely injured in the battle, Zanaya is taken by Cassandra to heal. When she awakes after only ten years, she feels different and fears that she carries a small part of Lijuan. In a way, that was a good thing because Lijuan had a plan that wouldn't be stopped by her own death.

This was another entertaining episode in the Guild Hunter series. The romance was different than in a lot of the earlier books. In fact, I had some trouble believing it. They seemed too much the same in their pridefulness and stubbornness to sustain a relationship. Fans of the series won't want to miss this one, but I wouldn't give it to someone not familiar with the series.

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Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for the advanced copy! The following review is my honest opinion.

Oh, man, that ominous title got me!

I really enjoy Nalini Singh's Guild Hunter series. It's creative and fun, and I'm invested in a lot of the relationships. I was especially hoping that this one would be part two of the 'ship from the previous book, which progressed a lot slower and didn't go as far, romance wise, as the couple's usually do in these books. That being said, when I found out it was Alexander and Zanaya, I was a little disappointed. But I enjoyed this story too, and the long history of "Xander and Zani."

The current timeline plot was good too - a dark force rises from the grave (no spoilers!)... but what I really struggled with was the way this book was structured compared to others. In most of the books, if there is history between the characters, we see flashbacks sprinkled throughout the modern day storyline. In this one, it started waaaaaay back in the day at their very beginning, and the first 40% or so of the book was their history, with minimal reference to the current events. It made for a slow, slow start, in my opinion.

I also struggled with Alexander and Zanaya's on-again, off-again relationship and constant repetition of the issues that they faced in their relationship. It got very tiresome to have the same thoughts and feelings dredged up over and over and over. We got it the first few times.

All in all, I still love this series and will definitely continue, but this one was a weak entry for me. Three and a half stars, rounded down. I absolutely still recommend this series, and don't suggest skipping any, this one included.

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Archangels have issues being in the same place and time together, but Alexander and Zanaya try to be the exception. They aren’t. We first meet them when Zanaya is just a young angel and Alexander is very attracted to her, but he knows this is not the time nor the place to pursue her, but he does keep tabs on her over time. Eventually they do come together (when she ascends) but things are volatile and Zanaya decides to sleep which makes Alexander very angry. A millennia passes and the world of course changes. War comes (remember who?) and Zanaya awakens, but is then injured and Alexander saves her, but she must sleep again. Eventually she is healed and reawakens but not all is as it should. Want to find out more? Be sure to read Archangel’s Resurrection by Nalini Singh. You won’t regret it. Great series.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this story for an honest opinion.

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The relationship between Archangels Alexander and Zanaya have been a millennia in the making. However, just as hot as their passion burned so too did their jealousy, anger, and arrogance. Time and time again, just as much as Alexander and Zanaya were together, were they apart, until Zanaya chose to Sleep while Alexander remained awake. Both Archangels were eventually woken from their Sleep during the Cascade. However, Alexander and Zanaya’s renewed love faltered when Zanaya suffered and fell at the hands of the dark Archangel Lijuan. Years later, Zanaya is healed and rises again only to find that not all of Lijuan’s evil deeds have been left behind. She and Alexander must come together again one final time to defeat the lingering darkness.

Verdict: This is the 15th installment in Singh’s Guild Hunter series. It seems that the pattern to Singh’s writing has changed and no longer do readers follow the quick timelines of love between mortals and immortals but that of relationships slowly developed over time. This pattern of storytelling started with Titus’s and Sharine’s story in Archangel’s Sun, and continued in Archangel’s Light with Illium and Aodhan. While I still enjoy the developing world post Cascade, I find this new pace in storytelling to be slow and filled with unnecessary backstory that does little to move the overall narrative forward. That said, the story is still enjoyable for longtime Singh readers and a solid stepping stone in the Guild Hunter series. Here’s hoping we return to Elena and Raphael in the next installment.

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I really enjoyed this book! Overall I thought it was a great addition to the series and I was really glad to get to see a piece of Alexander's history! I would recommend this book to all who are a fan of the series!

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Whew, what a book! Even when a Nalini book doesn't work for me, the story telling and the writing is still unparalleled. This book is epic, it spans tens of thousands of years because it's an ongoing up and down love story between two ancient archangels. When I tell you Alexander and Zanaya have LIVED, I mean it, they have been through it all, endless wars and Cascades and a relationship that is as turbulent and messy as it is powerful and all-encompassing. These two fight and breakup and makeup and there's jealousy and anger and bitterness and resentment and yet somehow, through their actions and words, you never feel like they don't belong together that they aren't meant to be together,

As I said, it spans endless millennia and they have endless emotional baggage and the ghost of Lijuan once again rears her hideously awful head. I will say a lot of this book feels like it takes place in a vacuum because there's limited interaction with other characters in the series. However, Nalini also goes back in time (like, way WAY WAY BACK) and you get the genesis of a character you've already met before (I don't want to give too much away here but when that reveal came, I was like OMG!!!). This book is really unusual from the rest of her books and also different in the sense that in a romance, you typically get characters who meet (or maybe they have met) and the book is about them FALLING in love whereas, the falling in love in this book is almost like a given, like OF COURSE Alexander and Zani love each other, it's more a question of what they are willing to sacrifice for the sake of their relationship. And for many years, that's the thing that keeps them apart.

I did like this book a lot, even though I will admit that I missed the camaraderie that's so prevalent in the rest of the series. So much of the book was about their history and the ups and downs that when the actual dark moment came, it was very near the end and happened very quickly. Which is fine, it just felt really different from the rest of the series. Also, there seemed to be a pretty big time jump (in humor years, in archangel years, it was a small bleep) from the previous book (or at least the one before it) and I hope we do revisit Bluebell and Sparkle again in a future book because this didn't have any of that paring.

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Angels and Archangels live for eons, measured in centuries... and the courtship & romance of Alexander, Archangel of Persia, and Zanaya, Queen of the Nile, burned furious and bright, continuing the patterns of fighting and making up for thousands of years. The wounds that they inflicted on each other growing each time. Zanaya’s decision to Sleep that breaks the cycle and shatters their love story. World altering events during the Cascade of Death wakens them both. And in the heat of battle, Alexander witnesses Zanaya fall, defeated by the ultimate evil they faced. A tainted miracle brings the Queen of the Nile, back but the question lingers who or what has been resurrected?

Why I started this book: Singh is on my automatic buy and automatic request since her Mine to Possess. I jumped right in when I my ARC was approved.

Why I finished it: This is the fifteenth book of the series, and do not start here. That being said, Singh is the master of using the stories of each new couple to build and enhance the world created in earlier books. This was not my favorite book, but I've never really loved the second chance trope. That being said, Singh is the best at righting a believable second chance trope and letting me believe in it. (See Mine to Possess above.)

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First Impressions
Archangel’s Resurrection is one of my most anticipated releases of the year, this series is on another level, and one of the few Urban Fantasy series I actually truly love. Nalini Singh shows that you can write a UF with a strong focus of romance. This series is always a delight and honestly I went into this one practically blind, I didn’t even know who the main characters were at first, the only thing I did know was that it featured an archangel but that was it. I knew that it probably wouldn’t be a Raphael or Illium installment though, with how this series has been written I expected it to be someone else. I am really happy that we got Alexander’s book. His character we have seen small moments with in previous books and I really wanted to get his romance with his lady Zanaya. This book was so in depth and we really go back centuries of time to get the fullness of his story and I really enjoyed that. It almost had a historical fantasy like feel to some of the book until we get to the current timeline and I think fans of the series will actually be highly entertained by this one here.

Summary
There has always been a epic love passion between Alexander, Archangel of Persia and Zanaya, the Queen of the Nile. We see the beginning’s of their stories and how they start out their lives and grow into the beings that they become. We see the instant passion that rises between them and how Alexander is forced to push Zanaya away due to her young years in comparison to him and knowing she needed to grow into herself before anything could ever happen between them. We see the growths of their characters while also building within their relationship. We see the joys and the passions while also seeing the heartbreak, the angst and loss that they both experience. We see the strength of the force of their love that will strengthen them throughout the centuries. We see the rise of their enemies but also the loss of what they suffer but through that suffering we see the growth in their love and truly realizing what they have together and letting go of pass faults and insecurities and embracing their relationship in a way that completes them in a way they haven’t yet discovered….

What I Loved
Archangel’s Resurrection is the 15th installment in the Guild Hunter series. And can you believe that we have reached number 15 on this series??!!! I can’t believe how much this series has grown. And I will say this is one of my favorite installments that didn’t feature Raphael and Elena. There was something so epically beautiful and touches the reader so deeply in reading this story. First what I think really made the difference is seeing their backgrounds from when they are fledglings to full grown archangel’s. I truly adored seeing Alex and Zanaya come together in such a way that adds clear depth to the story and also to the romance itself. Seeing such character growth was worth every moment. I adored this pairing together and the way that they come together and really work through their issues was quite heartfelt. They aren’t the perfect couple but they are the right couple for each other. I really enjoyed the way that they learn and grow in each other and make mistakes in their relationship. This is not a fairytale type of romance, they have their battles and fights that they have to overcome. And even some hurdles where they end up hurting each other even without meaning to. We also see them rise to the occasion of standing together and fighting against true evils. Their romance was so deep and entrenching because we get to see them grow through their mistakes and really capitalize on what they have together and not letting those mistakes define their relationship and in the end its learning to let go of past mistakes and learning to rely on each other and valuing each other as they should. We also get some delightful journeys with past events and characters. My emotions were all over the place with this one and I was so encouraged to see that as it really connects this book to so many of the previous books.

What I Struggled With
I will be honest …..NOTHING….This book just felt so right all the way through!

Overall View
Archangel’s Resurrection is a stunning portrayal that is packed with history, grit, and fierce passions that rise to the occasion! Its a tale that will give the readers thrills and charm and utter depths of emotion!

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Classic Nalini Singh characters in an epic “second chance” romance that spans eons.

Archangels Resurrection is one of the longest spanning romances Nalini Singh has ever written. In this book, you follow Alexander and his love Zanaya as they come together and break apart over their lifetimes. You start your in the Cascade, see Zanaya fall, and then are transported back in time to see how their relationship evolved over the years. Then you return to the modern day when Zanaya wakes up from her time healing with Cassandra.

I call this a “second chance” because, at its core, it is a second-chance romance. You have a pre-cascade and post-cascade view of their relationship. And while pre-cascade they were always clashing together then ripping apart, in the post-cascade section they become more stable and more cemented in their romance.

Unlike other books in the series, the world is playing the second fiddle in this book. The conflict was not gripping or very exciting. It honestly felt a little stale. But I do think that Nalini made it minor to focus more on Zanaya and Alexander.

So why 3 stars? Honestly, second chances arnt usually my thing. And the eons of watching their pre-cascade relationship was not enjoyable. I could appreciate the character growth but not like the romance. The post-cascade section was better and I did appreciate that they finally grew better for each other. (Although it seemed like Alexander needed more growing than Zanaya). The world building and action were not enough to pull the rating up. It really hurts as I’ve never given this series below a 4 star, but I guess 10 books means that at least one won’t click with everyone.

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It was interesting to see a lot of the history we've heard about in previous books happen to Alexander. I struggled a little with the "let's start at the very beginning", wanted more of the "what happens after Evil Queen Bitch's death". Despite that it was a compelling read that kept me glued to the page, but I hope the next book will be Elena and Raphael.

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Nalini Singh continues to captivate me with every book she publishes. The plot of Archangel's Resurrection kept me as excited as book 1 in the series and the characters are just as complex and wonderful. Each and every time I pick up a new book it becomes an instant favorite. All I can say is what I always say when it comes to Nalini Singh—give me more!

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Zanaya, Queen of the Nile, is an Ancient Archangel. She refuses to follow in her parents’ footsteps. Then Zanaya sees Alexander. They find themselves trapped in an unending cycle of fierce passion and painful separation, neither willing to compromise. Zanaya wakes prematurely from Sleep to help fight an insane Archangel intent on destroying the world. However, she does not escape the battle unscathed. Will this change affect Zanaya’s relationship with Alexander? Can they make their love work this last final time?
Alexander, Archangel of Persia, is known for his battle tactics. There has only been one woman forever in his heart, and that woman is Zanaya. Their tempestuous love locks them into a continuous on and off loop, neither inclined to concede to the other. Alexander has never forgiven Zanaya for abandoning him to Sleep. However, Lijuan’s threat against humanity and the Cascade brings his lover back to him. But for how long? Can Alexander and Zanaya break their eons cycle to be together? And at what cost?
I had a tough time connecting with Zanaya. Generally, she is everything I like in a heroine: smart, driven, and able to hold her own. Throughout the book, she proves she did not need a male to complete her. However, Zanaya’s refusal to compromise or bend a little irked me. I understand that she did not have good role models when it comes to romance and relationships. Her parents’ unhealthy and dysfunctional time together skewed her outlook on them. What I like about Zanaya is that she acknowledged half the blame for her and Alexander’s flawed relationship. She knew they had problems, yet she just did not know how they could overcome them.
I am still on the fence about Alexander. There were times when I just could not connect with him, and then he would do something that endeared me. I feel the bulk of Alexander and Zanaya’s relationship problems stems from their inability to yield when the situation calls for it. They are too strong-willed and set in their ways. I adore how Alexander did not want to impede or influence Zanaya’s growth. He waited patiently for her to become the angel she was meant to be before entering into a relationship. What I love the most about Alexander is his stance on children. He believes children, angels and humans alike, were off limits.
ARCHANGEL’S RESURRECTION is the fifteenth book in Nalini Singh’s popular paranormal romance series, GUILD HUNTER. I have been a fan of this series for years now; however, this book did not grab me as the others had. I like how the author is branching away from the main couple (Raphael and Elena) to tell other characters’ stories. My main problem is that neither Alexander nor Zanaya left much of an impression on me from the previous books. I did like that Raphael and Elena made appearances in the latter half of the book.
I like how Nalini Singh broke the story into parts. The first half involves Alexander and Zanaya’s beginnings, before they became archangels. Another section revolves around the Cascade, telling the events from another perspective. The last part focuses on the aftermath from the Cascade and Lijuan’s demise. It explains how the world and people are adjusting.
ARCHANGEL’S RESURRECTION is a fascinating tale of two obstinate archangels’ last chance at love. I am curious about which characters Nalini Singh plans to write next. I cannot wait to see what is next in her GUILD HUNTER world.

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This feels monumental. A story transcending time filled with a fury of emotion. Two souls are so intrinsically intertwined one can not exist without the other. This masterpiece takes us through millennia of love, lust, war, peace, and change. I feel as if I got a peek behind the curtain. The grownups let us in for just a moment. Truly an epic read from Nalini Singh. I don't have enough words. Fans of this series are going to be blown away. Truly one of my favorite books of the series, and after fifteen books, that's saying something!
~Tanja

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I really enjoyed this latest installment in the Guild Hunter series. I liked the focus on Alexander and Zanaya and the ways their relationship developed and changed over the centuries. I also liked the little glimpses we see from our other couples like Elena and Raphael. Looking forward to the next book!

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The Guild Hunter world is back and Archangel Alexander finally has a story to tell. Deeply passionate- but not overtly sexy - this is the story of Alexander and his timeless love that could not be stopped by grievous injury or endless SLEEP. Absolutely no one does epic, rich fantasy worlds like Nalini. I love escaping to these far away and not so far away lands and learning more about the iterations of the cadre that exist and persist in order to save the world as we know it from unconscionable evil. The plot unfolds like a deceptively simple puzzle, and just when you snick the last piece into place, the picture is one you never saw coming and you can’t help but to absolutely MARVEL at its brilliance.

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I didn’t realize how far into the series this book was so I stopped reading so I could go to the beginning. But, as always, Singh starts with a fantastic opening, both tragic and romantic. I’m excited to start with book 1.

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