The Book of Azrael: 1 (Gods & Monsters)

Product Information

I adored the way she protects the ones she loves, her wonderful sense of humor, and the way she never holds back (even if it’s constantly getting her into trouble! They are the polar opposites - one is full of life and fight, the other has shut down from the world. I’m excited to see where the relationship goes in book 2 as I feel like some significant obstacles are still coming their way. I felt like I was just reading awkward conversations between these two the whole book while having info dumps on every aspect of this world thrown at me. Even though he showed a lot of arrogance when interacting with others, he was also kind, caring, and protective, even towards his enemies 😉😉He did the best he could for his people, even though it wasn't enough at times.

Their romance is one of the slowest of slow burns and full of tender moments, and I loved that we also got to see Dianna's protective and gentle side as well with her sister Gabby. Had I known book one was going to end like this I would have waited to listen to it until February 2024 when the 2nd book releases on Audible because I despise Cliffhangers! There were also random changes in font size as well as some words and phrases that were randomly in bold, which was very distracting. It only took me like a month and a half but I finally battled my way through and boy do I have a lot to say. Her character grows immensely as she breaks her restraints and focuses on herself as she tries to save the world.I stopped it several times but my compulsion to finish things kept gripping me by the back of the neck and forcing me back. Otherwise, this book was fast-paced, interesting, and full of dynamic characters (including the side characters) that made you want to live in their world forever. There’s an actual part where she says this as a sentence ‘Logan having the same deposition toward him as I.

The first ~100/150 pages does have a fair amount of world-building and character introductions, so I was a little frustrated that it took so long for the main characters to actually meet each other. The Book of Azrael is a debut NA romantic fantasy that has glowering reviews so apparently this is a "me" thing.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. The first 400 pages involve Liam and Dianna glaring at each other every single paragraph(literally, the word glare/glared/glaring are mentioned like 72 times. Now, I know you're probably wondering why I rated this only 3 and a half stars if I ended up liking this so much. All the sex scenes have been in dreams and have been vaguely worded with gross phrases like ‘my cock was buried deep inside her’ because that’s like…. Many years ago, Dianna saved her dying sister by giving her life to a terrifying monster in the deserts of Erioa.

Please go read this book if you’re a fan of enemies to friends to lovers, forbidden love, epic plots, and rich world building. Every bit of narration has the POV ranting and raving about their feelings, but they repeat it over and over again to the point where I could not care less. I also really loved that we got 2 POVs, so we could see the story building from both Dianna and Liam's perspectives. Because, as I’ve said before, I see potential in bits and pieces, but it’s just so poorly written that I cannot give it more than one star. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

There’s also mental health rep with Liam’s character which I really enjoyed seeing, especially in a male character.