Raziel (The Fallen #1) – Not bad, but it could be better

Raziel, the fallen #1, kristina douglasSorry guys, I know that Firelight won the poll, but Raziel was a quicker read and I was able to finish it before the week was out. I wanted to start Firelight on a fresh note this week.

So my quest to find a fulfilling adult angel series continues, which heavily factored into my decision to read Raziel, Book 1 of The Fallen series.  Allie Watson, a modern working woman in the city, bumps into a handsome stranger during her morning commute.  All is well until she steps off a curb…into the path of a bus.  She next finds herself in a different land and confronted once again by this stranger.

It turns out he is Raziel, a Fallen angel who guides the souls of the newly deceased to heaven or hell as ordered by the supreme being, Uriel.  But once it comes to Allie, everything goes according to plan until the gates of hell surprisingly open for her and Raziel instinctually pulls her back, though he doesn’t really understand why.  Lost with nowhere to really take her, he brings her to his home in Sheol, a land for other Fallen angels and their mates. It may not be safe for her there either as the other angels blame her for the inevitable consequences that will befall them for Raziel’s disobedience.  They must fend off Nephilim, demonic monsters from hell that are working to break down the gates of Sheol and wreak havoc.  And day by day Allie proves herself to be less ordinary as she breaks down the barriers of Raziel’s heart, much to his chagrin.

This was a short read, but it’s another book where not a lot ends up happening.  I felt like it had a lot of potential with the world building, but they spend a lot of time merely discussing how Uriel and the Nephilim will be a problem. There was just too much talk and not enough action until the tail end.

The angels must drink blood in order to sustain themselves, but they consider themselves “bloodeaters” as opposed to “vampires” though Allie can’t really figure out the difference.  I found this overlap amusing, if not convenient to subtly offer something that vampire fans might connect with if they aren’t strictly into angels.

Raziel and Allie have decent chemistry, though it isn’t smoldering and you shouldn’t expect much out of the starting gate.  The relationship manages to build throughout the book fine enough though.  We do see some focus shift to Raziel’s friend (a fellow angel) and his mate, Azazel and Sarah.  That was certainly an interesting dynamic since the angels age much slower than their mates.  Sarah looks like she could be Azazel’s mother, so there is some shock value there.  Sarah and Allie develop a good rapport with one another and I enjoyed their fraternizing (or is it sororizing?) throughout the story.

So all in all, not a lot happens yet I’m still sort of interested in the world and where things can go next.  It’s an ongoing series that does change the central character from book to book.  It looks like Azazel is up next; hopefully that promises a better read.  Considering the short length of these books, I actually feel pretty good about continuing on with this series since it’s not a huge investment of time.

This article has 5 Comments

  1. I was told that the author is Anne Stuart of bad-boy fame. I had hopes of her using that same darkness for angels…the book is on my shelf but has not been ready yet and yeah, it’s not moving up the tbr pile anytime soon from what you’re saying.

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