DNF at 40%

I have tried so many times to get through this but I'm sorry I just can't do it. The way the author writes about women is gross. I know more about the main characters body type than her goals.

I really love the premise of this so I might pick it up again and force myself to finish. It's free with Kobo Plus so I've added it to my tbr.

I'm giving a 3 star rating because I usually don't rate DNF's but that isn't an option here.

Thanks to NatGalley for this e-arc! This was such a great book, and a very enjoyable read, but if feels like so things we’re missing, so that’s way I’m giving it three stars.
While I really like the plot and the characters, with a bonus point being the fact that the entire world building was easy but well thought, and most importantly easy to remember, I have to say I felt like the writing style was just not for me. I felt like it was a little bit too cold and lacked the feelings for me to enjoy truly.
With that said I would still 100% recommend this book!

This was a smooth read for me & I will be rereading this one for sure as I feel I missed things. Loved the storyline & characters. There were a few spots where I would have loved more info, but overall was a good read.

This was a very middle-of-the-road book for me. But I do know people I can recommend this book to that will love and enjoy it.

This was not for me interesting concept but poor execution. Too all over the place with minimal works building. I felt like I needed back story to understand it.

I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s pretty good. There was a lot to like and it was unique, but it fell flat in a few areas. It was strong on plot, premise, and world-building, but weaker on character development.

THE GOOD:

Good plot. Strong LGBTQ+ female protagonist, Alyssalee. Great science fiction world, premise, futuristic technology, plot, action scenes, and pacing. It had entertaining and inventive use of MMORPGs without being entirely set in a game‘s universe. (They were even crucial to the plot.) This is one of the only books I’ve read that incorporated gaming and MMORPGs into the story in an interesting, fun, non-boring way. It also had some pretty cool and creative extraordinary/superhuman abilities.

It had a surprisingly nuanced handling of religion in a story with a corrupt, authoritarian church that’s got a thing for censorship. The church is an amalgam of existing religions, worshipping a One Unified God. (I’m not really sure how polytheistic religions got incorporated into this, but it makes sense for monotheistic religions at least.) It’s the only major religion in this book’s futuristic Earth because it’s the result of the eventual merging of many world religions. I think that’s an interesting take on how religion could evolve in the future. Some of the characters working against the church organization even remain religious, implying the religion itself isn’t necessarily bad just because the official church organization is corrupt.

Despite being raised in a church orphanage and religion that discriminated against LGBTQ+ individuals, the main character (Alyssalee) had a rebellious nature, easily embraced her attraction to women, loved to curse (with her favorite word being f*ck), questioned the church like a skeptic, and generally enjoyed freaking very religious people out with crudeness, lewdness, and provocativeness. She was likable, confident, adventurous, interesting, and cared about preserving life.

THE PREMISE:

The protagonist, Alyssalee, was raised in a church orphanage in a future Earth where rising sea levels have driven people to higher altitudes or areas where the sea is kept at bay using giant walls. The world religions have been merged into one authoritarian church that worships a One Unified God. The technological advancements in this future are pretty cool. A technology called encephlotrak that allows people to control technology, like hoverboards, directly with their mind. This tech allows you to play MMORPGs with a full sensory experience (including pain when your character dies) in a virtual world. Use of encephlotrak tech takes practice and skill to master, but also allows for faster response times. Alysalee has become quite skilled with such tech, rising up the ranks of her favorite MMORPG and piloting hoverboards with precision. Others often opt to use older, manual methods instead of encephlotrak technology.

When Alyssalee is assigned to help a priest investigate and treat a recent rash of demonic possessions, she makes discoveries that the church doesn’t want publicized and begins to manifest strange abilities. Soon they’re on the run from the church and Alyssalee encounters strange happenings in her favorite MMORPG. She encounters people in the real world and in the game that can do things that defy the known laws of nature and rules of the game. Alyssalee finds unexpected allies and becomes embroiled in a conflict coming to both the real world and the virtual one of her favorite game.


THE BAD:

Most of the characters were underdeveloped, flat, and stagnant (including the love interest). Almost every character except the protagonist lacks … personality, history, depth, and flaws.

While it was cool to have a LGBTQ+ female protagonist and a F/F romance, the romance was totally insta-love with a deep emotional connection and commitment coming out of nowhere. It didn’t really feel earned and I wasn’t invested in the couple. It also seemed to be that nearly everyone was attracted to the main character (cause she’s just that irresistible), from the (age appropriate) men and women in her life to a stripper with enormous cans that she met for about 5 minutes, got a lap dance from, and never saw again. It got a little annoying/boring at times.

OTHER NOTES:

If you don’t have at least a casual familiarity with MMORPGS (like I do), you’ll probably have to look up a bunch of gaming terms and might find that aspect of the story frustrating.

This book is part of a series, but definitely does not end on a cliffhanger. There’s still plenty of material to cover, including Alyssalee’s mysterious origins.

Overall, this series has potential, but is more plot-driven than character-driven and could use some better character development/writing.

WARNINGS: Violence, death

I received a free e-copy of this book via NetGalley. I am writing this review completely honestly and voluntarily.

The plot of this book makes me entirely too happy. I’m all for against religious norms. That alone made me love it. Writing was decent and I will definitely be reading whatever comes next.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Uncanny Publishing for the opportunity to read Of Evil Angels by Steaphan Kay in exchange for my honest review.

I thought the premise of this book was interesting. A mix of religion, abilities, demons, video games, and a little romance. I was excited to read it, however I struggled to get into it and stay engaged.

I wasn’t a big fan of the MC. I found the character to be lackluster, she often made decisions (jumped to conclusions) that made no sense, and I just wasn’t interested in what she was doing/thinking or why. The romance, while an attempt at LGBTQ+ relationship it felt forced.

I know many will love this one, but for me I found myself wandering off to other thoughts or wanting to read something else too many times to say I liked this one.

This book was such a wonderful read with a well written story line, a plot that flowed smoothly from page to page and characters that were created with such great detail and depth that I remained totally engaged throughout the entire book!

I struggled to get into this book, but I persisted. Unfortunately, I was never able to really get into it.

Overall, I felt that the book's concept had an exciting & somewhat unique premise to it. That is what intrigued me in the first place.

I found the FMC bland & a bit unlikeable. The romance was another area that fell flat. While I appreciated the attempt at an authentic LGBTQ+ representation it didn't feel authentic & was basically insta-love with little reasoning. If there was more to the relationship to cause such intense feelings to develop so quickly it happened outside of the story being told, which is unfortunate.

Throughout the story, I felt as if there were parts missing. As if I was being left out of large parts of the story. This could have been an intentional choice, the style of writing, or unintentional. I'm not sure, but for me, while it made for a quick read, it disconnected me from the story itself.

Of Evil and Angels has an interesting premise but I had such a hard time getting into this book and honestly found myself wanting to skip pages to see if/when the story got better.

I absolutely loved the romance and the mcs!! and the setting was cool too. I found the writing to be a little informal for my taste but it was easy to follow along so it's a pretty quick read :)

Thanks to Netgalley and publishers for this eARC.

I enjoyed the plot and characters throughout and the LGBT+ rep was done really well in my opinion. I cant wait to see where book two brings us.

I was skeptical at first because if the whole own true god reuniting all religions thing but, I find that this book is really good and very open minded. With LGBTQ representation, and the church being evil as well as a nice twist in the end. This is a perfect read!