Cover Image: The Prophetess

The Prophetess

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Member Reviews

DNF @ 15%
The Prophetess has a promising premise but failed in executing it.
I don't like reading Fuckt*** at least once ever page. In my eyes it's a slur just as bad as r*****.
I'm all for a potty mouthed Main Character but that's step in the wrong direction for me, I couldn't get past it.

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I was torn by this one. It definitely wasn't YA as I had thought, but that really doesn't bother me. It was an ARC, so it definitely wasn't perfect, which again, isn't too much of a problem for me. The synopsis got me, a book about a fallen angel? I rarely see books about that and I was excited. However... there was a little disconnect for me. I couldn't really find a main character, it was a little scattered. However, I did like the plot and story. My rating is 2.5 rounded up to 3. Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Let me start by saying that this is definitely not a YA novel, it is NA or adult and I thinks that it's misclassified on several sites.  Also, this is not a polished, perfected novel, it has not been edited by professionals and there are some mistakes and at times it makes it rough to read and seem somewhat silly.  However, I don't read books looking for perfection, especially books by new authors; if the book holds my attention and entertains me without me having to stop and reread and or reword it to do so I am happy. 

The author clearly states that her heroine is a snarky, bad-mouthed female and she is, but at times she carries it a little too far.  Ezekiel is an angel, who was banished to Earth, with his wings intact for failing to tell Father that Lucifer was planning to attempt a coup, but this may not be the real reason.  In his defense, he knew that Lucifer was a hothead who often said things and didn't follow through and he thought this was the situation.  Now he has an chance of returning to heaven if he will work with the Prophetess (Isabelle) and stop the demon Moloch from being released from hell so he can release Lucifer.  Isabelle has a big chip on her shoulders, which the authors does explain in this first book, she is angry at God and she hates angels and she lets Ezekiel know this from the start. 

My biggest problems with this book is that in many ways it reads like a urban fantasy Harlequin, everyone is beautiful, you know the hate is going to turn into love and everyone is some shade of color.  There is no mention of ethnicity, just the hue their skin which I found disturbing in this day and age.  I did finish and enjoyed enough that is I saw the sequel was available before I forget it I would read it. 

3.25/5 STARS:  **This is an honest, unbiased review.  I would like to thank the author and/or/publisher for providing an ARC through Netgalley, all opinions are mine.**

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ARC Review: The Prophetess by Desy Smith

[Tags: desy smith, the prophetess, book review, booklr, did not finish, onestar, new adult, modern fantasy, supernatural, romance, would not ever recommend ]

This book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This review edition is an ARC and may differ from the final edition.

[insert book banner]

I have given The Prophetess by Desy Smith a ☆ rating. It is Book 1 in The First Series series. It belongs to the New Adult Modern Fantasy genre with some Supernatural and Romance elements. Floebe Publishing publishes it. It was published August 2nd, 2017.

The blurb reads:

High up in the Heavens, righteousness faces off against the greatest dissenter of all time, and in the crossfire, an Angel loses his wings…

Fallen from Heaven and forced to live amongst the Humans, Ezekiel bares the tragic fate of a disgraced Angel. Having heard the rebellious Lucifer’s plan to rise up against the sanctuary of Heaven, Ezekiel remains silent; and for his inaction, he is exiled from the pearly gates and onto the unforgiving lands of the mortals. Two thousand years pass with a cold and hollow wind at his back, and for a moment, Ezekiel is resigned to his fate.

However, in the year 2016, the winds of fate begin to change, and redemption comes in the form of his brother, Gabriel, who bears great news. Ezekiel is given a chance to return to Heaven, but only once he has taken down Moloch, an evil Demon on the rise. If Ezekiel can stop Moloch from helping Lucifer return, he will be welcomed back into Heaven. However, there is more than just a Demon in his path, Ezekiel must uncover what else fate has in store for him, including a lovely, independent Prophetess, named Isabelle, and the endless possibility for joy and whimsy she offers. Can Ezekiel rise once more to the great destiny that awaits him? Or has he been amongst the fickle mortals far too long?

Disclaimer: This novel does contains a potty mouth female protagonist. If abrasive language offends you, this novel is not for you.

Add to Goodreads [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35435605] | Amazon [https://www.amazon.com/Prophetess-Desy-Smith-ebook/dp/B073M7V1QJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501779257&sr=8-1&keywords=9781548537951]

Verdict:

If I could sum The Prophetess up in one word: Awful. Full disclosure, I did not finish the book at Chapter 5, 28% in. I am incredibly upset with this book, the author and the publishing company. I got this on Netgalley and it was categorised Teens and YA. THIS IS NOT FUCKING YA. NOT. NOWHERE NEAR CLOSE. It’s New Adult. The MC is twenty-three and the Angel, god knows how old he is.

If there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s self-published authors pretending like they’re from a legit publishing company because you expect a certain level of readiness and polish. Okay, it’s an arc. It won’t be perfect but The Prophetess reads like a very bad, very raw first draft.

One, the flow of events is incredibly messy. Two, there is little to no character development and the strange characterisation and extreme propensity for violence from Ezekiel.. Three, everyone is so fucking gorgeous that oh, we’re all dazzled by your greatness. Four is the cringey and forced sexual undertones of basically everything that occurs between Ezekiel and Isabelle. Five, there is so much sexism hidden behind a supposedly feminist lead character. Six, WHO IS THE MAIN CHARACTER HERE? The blurb makes it seem as though it’s Ezekiel’s story. Seven, when the warning says potty mouth, they actually mean cussing twelve times within say, five pages.
The sad part about all these negatives is that The Prophetess is actually very creative. It has a good plot and the worldbuilding isn’t bad. When they’re actually talking about the demons and the actual plot, it’s actually engaging. But there was no way I was putting up with any more of the nonsense to learn what happened in the end.

To break it down,

[may contain spoilers]

The Good:

1. The Prophetess has a solid plot. Only problem is it keeps detracting from it to focus on the romance between the two leads. It’s not an original plot but it was presented creatively and I particularly liked the worldbuilding behind it, especially about Angels and Lucifer and Ezekiel being cast from heaven.

The Bad:

1. There is so much sexism that I had to put this point first. Ezekiel claims that Isabelle is a ball-crushing badass feminist. But she isn’t. And neither is this book. Just because Isabelle is supposedly independent and takes none of your shit and cusses your ears bloody doesn’t mean she is a feminist or this book is feminist. It’s not. And that’s the most disgusting thing I’ve had to read.

1.1 Isabelle calls the women that Ezekiel have slept with and will hypothetically sleep with, “whores”. No feminist will ever call another woman a whore. And in the same breath, say that she deserves to wear whatever she wants, especially if she wants to look like a slut.

1.2 Speaking of which, Ezekiel doesn’t like that Isabelle wears revealing clothing and he calls her out for it, basically branding her a tramp. Ezekiel also expects to be obeyed as if Isabelle is a fucking dog and she should do whatever he asks. Not to mention, he also speaks of tying her up or spanking her as punishment. Now, there is no kink shaming. I’m down for a good BDSM romp. But, there was no set agreement or any indication that Ezekiel wanted to perform these kinds of acts on Isabelle nor any FUCKING CONSENT. So, it’s very creepy and disgusting on his part.

2. The writing didn’t flow well. One moment, Ezekiel is doing A and then, with no explanation whatsoever, he is suddenly doing B. Same goes for Isabelle and any other character mentioned in the book. In the parts that I did read, Ezekiel has an invitation/envelope of some sorts and that’s how the section ends. Suddenly, in the next section, he is all dressed up, and so is Isabelle and suddenly they’re heading to a Vampire party. There was no mention that they would go together or if they’d meet up somewhere, how to dress, what to do. It just. Happened.

3. Character development, progression and characterisation is zilch. I suppose the author wanted Ezekiel and Isabelle to be those cute bickering couples you know who will end up together because they’re so perfect for each other. Mission not accomplished. Half the time, their arguing and fighting just doesn’t make any sense. Ezekiel’s dislike towards Isabelle is not mentioned and Isabelle’s hostility towards him is because she doesn’t like anything to do with Angels. But is fine dealing with other supernatural creatures. Like, they just meet and they hate each other. The Enemies to friends/lovers trope is as common as they come but this is one instance where it didn’t work.

3.1 Also, I know nothing about Isabelle except that she is The Prophetess and apparently helps supernatural creatures, has a mom and a sister and likes to call Ezekiel fucktard is almost every sentence. Like hello please develop your character and make me care about her because idgaf about her whining and her problems.

3.2 Ezekiel is unnaturally violent which I don’t quite understand. Because Lucifer was supposed to be the violent one who killed all their fallen brothers and Ezekiel is the good guy. But there was just a lot of graphic punching and slicing Vampires in two and chopping their heads off that didn’t gel with that image. And it’s very, very confusing. Angel madness violence thing whatever Isabelle called it

4. Not to mention that EVERYONE and I mean, EVERY FUCKING ONE, in The Prophetess is so insanely gorgeous that they have paragraphs dedicated to their good looks (okay I’m exaggerating) but it’s just so cringey and unrealistic. Ezekiel literally has a WHOLE paragraph dedicated to describing how smoking hot his chocolate skin is, how sexy his blonde hair is, how ripped he is, you get my drift.

4.1 And Ezekiel cannot stop staring and ogling Isabelle. He stares at her all the time and keeps thinking about fucking her. Yuck.

5. I find it hard to believe that Isabelle and Ezekiel are supposed to be a thing because there is absolutely no sexual tension or chemistry between them. He pushes her up against walls and she grinds her knee into his dick what. It’s just not believable and it really ruins the flow of the story just to have these two have the hots for each other. Which they don’t.

6. The blurb made it seem as though Ezekiel were the main character. And this is Ezekiel’s struggles and shit. But Isabelle seems to be the driving force of the story, not Ezekiel even if the book opened that way. And again, the confusion because what is this book about? Is it about Ezekiel trying to find redemption and saving the world from the demon with the help of a prophetess who might be a potential romantic partner or is this about Ezekiel and Isabelle fucking?

7. The book came with a warning about the potty mouth female protagonist. Now, I’m all down for a potty mouth because who doesn’t? Literally, my blog is based on my love for cussing. But when you’re cussing 12 times in about 5 pages? Something’s definitely wrong. It was bothering me so much that I had to start counting them because I wanted to see how saturated with cuss words this book was. It was cussing for no reason. Just for the fun of saying asshole, turd, shit, fuck, fucktard you name it. Plus, fucktard is such an outdated cuss word, come on get with the times. I used to write like this. I got my ass chewed out for it because it’s just bad writing.

Conclusion:

I could name a lot more but I don’t want to dwell on it any more. The Prophetess is a badly written first draft that needs to go through more editors and proof readers before it is ready for the market. It had a lot of potential that went to waste. I hope that this would be different in the final edition because I received a copy of this ARC late and was only able to review it now. But judging by the lack of reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, I don’t know how far this book will reach.

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First, I would like to state that I got this arc from netgalley for an honest reivew.

Second, there is a disclaimer about the female protagonist being a potty mouth with abrasive language. If you don't like that, this novel is not for you. I love it, so I kept going!

It took me some time to get into the book because the way the angels talked, it sounded like teeange boys instead of angels from two millennia (and sixteen years) ago and it kind of turned me off from the book. Plus the way God acted was kind of... I don't know, not God-like, I suppose?

But I pushed through, hoping it would get better.

It didn't. I'm sorry, I liked the idea. I really did. It sounded so good, it sounded like a fun read that I would read through with ease, but I couldn't.

I like your ideas, so please keep writing. Please keep coming up with more stories!

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