This review is also published at http://thebookaholiccat.com Ashes of Angels is book three in the Of Angels and Demons series by Michele Hauf. This book also contains a bonus novella at the end of the book called The Ninja Vampire’s Girl. At the beginning of the book Mrs. Hauf recommends to read the novella first, and let me tell you I was glad I did it, if I haven’t done it I would have been lost for awhile while reading Ashes of Angels.
Ashes of Angels
Thousands of years ago a group of many horny angels wanted to experience carnal pleasures. They decided to leave above (heaven) and come to the world (fall) to have their new experiences thus becoming Fallen angels. Some of those angels were taken away before touching land and were converted in Sinistari demons, whose only purpose would be to hunt and kill their old friends now Fallen. Hours after the Fallen landed Big Almighty brought in a flooding to take away the remaining ones to another realm called the Ninth Void, there, they will reside until somebody summon them. And there is another key factor, each Fallen has a predetermined mate, called a muse and this woman is the only one with whom they can mate, but sometimes the muses are not amenable partners and let’s say that the Fallen are so lost in lust they don’t care about their muses willingness and end up raping them. And to top the cake, if they get pregnant they will have a beautiful little monster that will tear them apart during birth and most probably will leave them there bleeding to dead, if they are not already dead because 10 cm are not enough to birth these babies called Nephilim. These cuties will walk away from their mothers after birth, you read correctly, the babies walk away, in their two little legs and two little feet. (After this book Renesme’s birth seems like stroll in the park)
Cassandra has the luck to be a muse, she has a sigil in her arm with an intrinsic design that will matches the one her Fallen will have.
She has known all her life that sooner or later her Fallen will come for her. Since she has use of reason she has been preparing for that encounter. She knows martial arts, how to use a weapon, repellent spells and other self defense mechanisms. But when Samandriel (Sam) comes to her life she finds herself with a big dilemma, because Sam is not at all what she was expecting. First, he is not trying to rape her and actually seems to care for her, he even wants to protect her form other evil forces around her.
Sam knew shortly after he had fallen that he had made a mistake. He couldn’t understand how his brethren could behave so despicably with their muses. And since then his only intention has been to find a way to be forgiven and accepted again in Above. Many years later he has been summoned to earth, he sees this as is his opportunity to change things and get his ticket back to Above. But after meeting Cassandra his priorities start to change, maybe there are better things than Above…
I had serious problems liking Cassandra, she was a good heroine in the sense that she wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty but for me she overwrite all her training and knowledge about the Fallen to fast. She was also a yo-yo with Sam, she was on top of him one moment, one hour later she was afraid of him, I was like, ok, decided, do you trust him or not and stick to your decision, sadly she didn’t listen to my pleas.
Sam was a little bit too beta for me, I know he wants to be good and protect and all that, also he wins his fights but I think he needed to have more character and being less softy, he is a powerful being and should have behaved like one. I didn’t like at all the endearments he uses for Cassandra like bunny or cupcake, they didn’t felt right, especially coming from a being like him, as I said before, he was too Beta for me.
Their relationship was not believable for the reasons I said before, about Cassandra being on and off with him. It was difficult to picture them with a happy future especially after the way the book ended. Sam’s memory was completely wiped. He doesn’t have any recollection of what or who he was, he just remembers Cassandra and that he has feelings for her, nothing else. After this a HEA is difficult to believe.
I think because of my disconnection with the characters the sex scenes didn’t feel steamy; sadly they felt actually kind of dull.
I really like the secondary characters Coco and Zane, their relationship felt more real. They also felt truer to the story than the main characters.
In some parts the dialogue between the characters didn’t feel fluid but a bit forced, because of this sometimes I felt as if I was seeing a play with really bad actors.
There was small action throughout the book, like fights between Fallen, but for the majority of the story things tended to drag a lot. For example, they are going to attack the enemies, they arrived to the place but they decided to wait. Or they are going somewhere, but they decided to stay in and sleep better. I wanted to rush them to see real action or at least something important happening.
The world Mrs. Hauf created is a very interesting and complex. A world in which angels aren’t good and prey on innocent women; demons are protectors and vampires can walk during the day. The idea of angels ridden by lust is also different, especially with the dire consequences of their actions.
I liked how each angel is different; depending on his mastery his winds are made of that material, like silver, jade, iron… The descriptions were beautiful and well written.
Ashes of Angels is my second book by Mrs. Hauf, sadly I’m not sure I’ll read anything else from her, because I find it difficult to connect with her writing style.
My Verdict: 3 Stars
The Ninja Vampire’s Girl
It’s a short story of less than 40 pages. It is the story of how Cassandra’s sister, Coco meets her vampire boyfriend, Zane when she is trying to steal a halo to give to Cassandra for her defense.
Even though I had some problems with the change of point of view in the narrative I could say I liked this story better than Cassandra and Sam’s.
Coco and Zane’s relationship felt more real and the steamy scenes were really steamy. In my opinion Coco and Zane are also more likeable characters making it easier to connect with them.
My Verdict: 3 ½ Stars