Gabriel by Nikki Kelly

Series: The Styclar Saga (bk. 2)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, immortality, vampires, angels, demons, magic

Setting: The U.K.

POV/Tense: 1st person POV, past tense: Cessie/Lailah

Age/Grade Level: Teen (12 & up, but also feels like New Adult)

Length: 375 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Feiwel & Friends

Summary/ product description: “The handsome Angel from Lailah gets center stage in this continuation of Wattpad sensation Nikki Kelly’s romantic and action-packed series about mortals, vampires, and angels.

Gabriel is an Angel Descendant. He's also an ally to a generation of vampires who want to break away from the demon who controls them. His faith in the power of good over evil wavers, however, when he discovers that Lailah, the woman he considers his only true love, may be both angel and demon. Is their love enough to overcome the dark forces who are ready to go to war with Gabriel, the vampire Jonah, and the angel and vampire forces? And can Gabriel compete with Jonah, who is also in love with Lailah?

Once again, Nikki Kelly looks deeply into the heart and soul of good and evil to create a romantic, action-packed reading adventure.”

My Review:  This sequel is slightly more interesting than the first book. I gave both 3 stars. I love the mythology, the angel stuff and that made up word of Styclar which is like heaven. This is set in the U.K. or at least I think it is. There were moments in this book where I was excited and moments when I was bored. Maybe because I am so sick of vampire stuff, or because I don’t like British-y books. I love magic and sci-fi stuff and this defiantly had some but it’s not as compelling as other paranormal books I’ve read.

I thought it was cool that Lailah had changed and now had angel and vampire abilities and her hair is now blong and black, and her eye are blue with dark spots. Transformations in characters are cool. Though I don’t get why so many female heroines lately want to get short haircuts. Like a haircut is a great disguise or something. She can now travel by thought and quickly. She can feed on sunlight or blood. She’s a pretty unique character in those ways, but I feel a lack of personality. She seems kind of quiet, I guess. Possibly a little Mary-su. We get to meet a new set of character that are Irish demon-hunters. They use like at the end of sentences a lot.

I wish that there was more romance with Jonah. Lailah forgot him and now only loves Gabriel. The love triangle was broken, but maybe only temporarily. In the previous book, Jonah had reminded me of Damon from the Vampire Diaries. Jonah’s American. He’s got a bad boy persona and a romantic nicer side. He’s get-under-your-skin annoying, but you can’t help but like him. Gabriel is more mysterious and very loving and caring. He’s light and love. He’s not the real Gabriel, the Arch Angel, but a younger angel “descendent.”

I recommend this book to fans of Twilight, Fallen, Hush, Hush, Everneath by Brodi Ashton, The Dark Element series by Jennifer Armentrout, the Halo series by Alexandra Adornetto, the Embrace series by Jessica Shirvington. If you still love reading vampire books or even angel books, then you should try reading this book. If you are sick of vampires or angels, then it’s probably not a series for you.

Cover Art Review: Somewhat cool looking cover. The fire and the birds are cool.

Lailah by Nikki Kelly

Series: The Styclar Saga (bk. 1)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: supernatural, immortality, vampires, angels, demons, magic

Setting: The U.K. (England and Wales), France and other various places

POV/Tense: 1^st person POV, past tense: Cessie/Lailah

Age/Grade Level: Teen (12 & up, but also feels like New Adult)

Length: 388 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: Macmillan: Feiwel & Friends

Summary/ product description: “Over one million Wattpad readers have made Lailah a sensation!

The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve even darker forces. Jonah and the few like him, are fighting with help from an unlikely Allie – a rogue Angel, named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.”

My Review:  This book took me way too long to finish. Almost a week, probably because I was busy. This is not a fast paced read, though. The idea behind the book is good, but I guess I just wasn’t in the mood for a new series that has vampires playing a major role.

I liked the angel stuff in this book, and the mystery of what Cessie/Lailah is. There’s something unique and interesting about the book, but sometimes it felt to wordy or clunky. I don’t know how much the editor smoothed out from the original Wattpad version, but maybe some stuff could have been cut? Maybe I had a hard time reading it was because it was written by a British woman and they talk differently there.

The romance was pretty interesting. It’s a little love-triangle like, but not in a very Twilight way. Jonah reminded me of Damon from the Vampire Diaries. Jonah’s American. He’s got a bad boy persona and a romantic nicer side. He kept bugging Cessie about whether or not she’s human or a vampire or something else. He’s get-under-your-skin annoying, but you can’t help but like him. Gabriel is more mysterious and very loving and caring. He’s light and love. He’s not the real Gabriel, the Arch Angel, but a younger angel “descendent.” Lailah has feeling for both, and makes out with them and let’s Jonah drink her blood.

The setting is very atmospheric. The story takes place in wintertime so there’s snow and Christmas and cold. It’s set in the U.K. and then they go to France too. They’re in the countryside mostly, but sometimes a city or town. I kept picturing winter landscape paintings and quaint towns.

The very end of the book made me interested in reading the sequel. As much as I struggled with this first book, I will probably check out the second book Gabriel. There have been some series in which the first book feel “meh” to me and then I read the sequel and think: “Why did I even dislike the first book? This is awesome!” My advice is don’t read a wordy book when you a sleepy because it will seem boring even during an action scene. Or maybe read Lailah as an ebook so you can change the type size. Sometimes good story a ruined by bad typography and design in print books. I read Lailah as an ARC.

I recommend this book to fans of Twilight, Fallen, Hush, Hush, Everneath, Halo (Alexandra Adornetto), Embrace series by Jessica Shirvington. If you still love reading vampire books or even angel books, then you should try reading this book.

Cover Art Review: I like the cover. The hands are a bit creepy. The girl looks angelic. The title has A’s that look like bloody vampire fangs.

A Radiant Sky by Jocelyn Davies

Series: A Beautiful Dark (bk. 3)

Genera(s): Paranormal Romance

Subjects: angels, good vs. evil, magic, abilities, supernatural, love, visions, destiny

Setting: River Springs, Colorado (present day, but River Springs is based off of Boulder, CO)

POV/Tense: 1^st person, past tense, Skye’s POV

Age/Grade Level: Teen

Length: 360 pgs.

HC/PB: Hardcover

List Price: $17.99

Publisher: HarperTeen

Summary/ product description: “Since the night of her seventeenth birthday, Skye has been torn between two opposites: Light and Dark, the Order and the Rebellion, Devin and Asher.

But her decision shocked both sides—because she chose neither.

With the help of her friends, Skye forges her own path, setting out to gather an uprising of Rogues. The treacherous and elusive half-angels may be the key to maintaining the balance of fate and free will. But completing the mission her parents left unfinished is more difficult—and dangerous—than she could have imagined. And doing so comes at a cost: Her greatest love may now be a lethal enemy. Because it’s not just the Order that sees her as a threat who must be eliminated. The Rebellion does, too.

And both sides will do whatever it takes to win.

Dark days lie ahead, and if Skye is to survive, she’ll need to rely on her extraordinary powers and the strength of her will. Because she has a future—and a love—that’s worth fighting for.

The sweeping, darkly romantic story that began with A Beautiful Dark and gathered intensity in A Fractured Light comes to a thrilling conclusion in A Radiant Sky.

My Review: I love this series so much and I’m so sad that it’s over. It’s pretty much one of the best angel book series I’ve read. I compare this series to Unearthly by Cynthia Hand since they’re both set in such beautiful places and have hot guys. I love Colorado and visited it in 2003. It’s such a beautiful place and I love reading books with setting I’ve been to (although River Springs is not real and based off of Boulder). 

This series is very character driven. Skye’s narration is spot-on and she definitely is unique and realistic. She’s sometime funny and has a lot of heart. I love the part where she comes down stairs and grab a cucumber to de-puff her eyes. I thought that was hilarious. And how she and her friend get along. Cassie and Dan has such a great relationship. They’re so cute together and they tease each other. Cassie joined the prom committee and it was kind of hilarious how Dan and Ian both made fun of prom. Ian is also a great character. I really wanted him to be loved because her seemed left out a lot, but he definitely played a big role in this book.

 I also thought Devin was doing well for just having joined the Rebellion. He wasn’t into creating chaos, but he wanted freedom. I really wish that there was more Asher in this book. Toward the end we get more of him, but I really wanted more romance. Raven, who was an enemy in the previous books, becomes a great asset and friend to Skye. She sarcastic and sometimes mean, but ultimately want to help Skye with her new group that stand between the Order and Rebellion. I also like Aunt Joe and all the new Rogues we get to meet. There’s a character called Earth. She’s likes the sister Skye never has. I really loved her. She’s a smart kid.

In a Radiant Sky, there isn’t as much romance as the previous books, but there’s a lot more action and magic. I really love how Skye has come into her power. She has wings now and can fly. She has control over the elements and has vision of the future. She’s very powerful and she has great friends that support her. I love all the magic in this series. The flying scenes were some of the best parts. Sky changing the weather was also cool. Colorado has such moody weather. Is thunder really just angels bowling, or being angry? Sky can make that rain go away. Seems like an ability I’d want. 

This book has been an epic and thrilling conclusion to one of my favorite series. It was very emotional for me. I cried a few times, both tears of joy and sadness. This book gave me all the feels. (Not as much as Boundless by Cynthia Hand though.) This book was a true The End Is Near kind of read and Sky stop the end of the. She and her groupies, a ragtag teem of teens, angels and Rogue, must save the universe from destruction. The balance between chaos and control, fate and freewill is in her hands. The ending is a battle of epic proportions and a conclusion to remember.

I recommend this series to fans of angel books like: Unearthly by Cynthia Hand, Hush Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick, Fallen by Lauren Kate, Halo by Alexandra Adornetto, Angel Burn by L.A. Weatherly, Embrace by Jessica Shirvington, Blue Bloods by Melissa de la Cruz, Angelfire by Courtney Allison Moulton, and other paranormal romance stories.

Cover Art Review: I love the cover, by the model’s pose seems a bit unnatural. I like the aurora colors and the silver dress.