I found this fantasy romance to be pretty mediocre but enjoyable. It was a bit trashy in the vein of A Court of Thorns and Roses which admittedly I despise- but I think Amber Nicole is a good solution to Sarah J. Maas. The fantasy and romance aspects were much more distinctive than the writing which I found to be plain but clear. A solid read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book, The Book Of Azrael by Amber Nicole, in exchange for an honest review.

This review will be posted on Goodreads June 7th, 2022.

Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4763915764?book_show_action=false

**3.5/5**

The Book of Azrael by Amber Nicole was intricate yet entertaining, with its many layered twists and turns. I found myself drawn in by the very complicated yet alluring characters, and their complimenting traits. The plot itself was fast paced, which I love in any book, and therefore classify this book as a page turner. 


Firstly, Dianna’s character was the up and coming fiery, almost defiant heroine. After an unspeakably long time of weak, damsel in distress main characters, we are seeing a surge of powerful heroines, and Dianna is one of them. With her bold and strong character, and what some may label as snarky attitude, Dianne is a force to be reckoned with.

Liam, on the other hand, surprised me. I love when the MMC falls hard for the MC, and Liam fell head first.

“You love, whether you admit it to yourself or not. You are not some mindless creature, Liam. You never were. You don’t listen to what anyone says, and you shouldn’t.”

The side characters were a great addition to the storyline, and I highly enjoyed the theme of loyalty weaving throughout.

I had some trouble when it came to the world building, specially at the beginning where I had to re-read a couple times to make sure what I was reading made sense. From the get-go, there is a lot to learn— blue-blooded celestial creatures and a War that happened centuries ago. However, this may be because I am not an avid fantasy reader.

Also, the lack of editing can throw someone off while reading, so beware that there are grammatical mistakes throughout.

Overall, however, this was a very engaging debut novel. Amber Nicole really put her name out there as a fantastical author with this novel.

Book rating 4.5/5 ⭐️ spice 1.5/5 ⭐️

THIS BOOK. It has everything, the slow burn, enemies to lovers, FMC as as badass villain, forbidden romance and forced proximity. This book left me silently screaming at the end for more. I NEED the next one stat😩

This book is so good! I have read some good reviews and I was excited to read it and it's just amazing.
The world the author created, the story line, the character growth, the background story's.. Just everything was perfect.
That end. For some reason I had a feeling that would eventually happen but I didn't think it would in the first book already.
I cannot wait for the next book to come out! I need more!!!

This book was a gem. I just loved, loved and loved it. The characters were absolutely amazing. The plot was really good and fast-paced. I just could not put it down. I adored the female lead and male lead. I loved their banter. Both of them were powerful characters, especially Liam. He could not have been more perfect. Even the world-building was also really different and intriguing. I really liked the secondary characters and got attached to them really soon. Lastly, the cliffhanger is what shook me. Oh my god! It was just so unexpected and bone-chilling. All in all, this was a really good book. I just can't wait for the second book to release.

One of the best fantasy books that I've read in a long time - it gave me the same high as Jay Kristoff's Empire of the Vampire. (Which is God Tier in my books!) I was hesitant to commit so much time to a lengthy read, having not heard of the author before, but WHAT. A. RIDE. The world building, fantasy and characters are all done so superbly. I can completely understand and appreciate the hype! So darn good!

3.5/5 stars

Right off the bat, I love that the main character is a female villain. The action begins in the first scene and remains fairly steady throughout the book. For it being a debut book, I’m really impressed.

A lot of the writing was in an active voice, which takes away from some of the descriptiveness of the scenes because it’s harsh and stilted. That being said, I think the author did a great job distinguishing between the two POVs with word usage and style. Also, the final chapter was GREAT. No spoilers, but those news anchors were great comic relief.

Overall, would I read the next book? Absolutely. This is a beast of a first book in terms of length, but I more than enjoyed it enough to want to see where this story goes.

Oh. My. Gods.

I don't even know where to start!! Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book for my honest opinion.

Y'all. This book is A LOT. But in a good way. It was so hard to put down - to take breaks. I HAD to keep reading to find out more information and where the plot was going to take us. This book has a lot of tropes in it, but the good ones that you crave! It's a little long, fair warning, but you won't care about length when you get into it.

The world's, the characters, the plot. All of it is just amazing. Dianna and Liam? You will literally fall in love with them as much as I have. The supporting characters, too. My goodness. There are so many memorable and loving characters to enjoy in this book. But that cliffhanger. Ahhhhh. I need the second book in this series!! Pick this up and read it. You WILL NOT be disappointed.

Stop reading whatever you are currently reading and pick up this book!! It’s an urban fantasy with a female villain for the MC and it has almost all of my favorite tropes. The banter between Dianna (MC) and her mortal enemy, Liam, had me laughing out loud. It is SO GOOD!

There were some random “ scattered throughout and sometimes there should’ve been a space between the words, but the editing errors weren’t enough to distract from the world building, characters, and plot.

I am already on my knees begging for the second book in the series!

Things I loved about this book:
💀 The emotional healing both MCs go through
💀 The banter between the two
💀 The world building and character building is amazing
💀 Diverse characters and representation

A quote I loved:
“I don’t remember how long we talked, but somewhere amidst her laughter and smiles, I decided I would rip the world apart for her.”

An interesting premise, but poorly executed. I struggled to get through this because the poor grammar made it nearly impossible to read and because of several inconsistencies throughout. This book is in desperate need of an editor to fix the confusing wording and the many, many grammatical errors. This felt like a first draft that had a lot of potential to be come a really solid final draft with a bit more work.

The Book of Azrael
By: Amber Nicole
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I...am...not...well.
It has been a really long time since I have given a book a 5 star review and boy did this one deserve it.
This book had one of the best enemies to lovers tropes, I have ever read. Like it’s almost as good as ACOMAF. Which is say a lot!
When I first started reading and realized who was meant to the main couple I thought...there is no way! No way in the world that is going to happen...but boy was I wrong.
There are so many people I want to meet in real life. Like I want Dianna as a best friend. She was a true joy to read. Such a rich, well written character. As was Liam. I mean...gosh the depth of him is amazing and I truly felt sorry for both of them. It was such an emotional rollercoaster. One of my favorites so far this year. Absolutely incredible. I need the next one like now

First in a series! 😬
CHUNKY 😥
First of barely 2 descriptive spicy scenes happens @ 78%
Lots of tension, enemies to lovers, forbidden relationship, shares one bed, lifelong mates

This wasn’t bad. Considering the size (800+ pages), it wasn’t as repetitive as I initially thought. Lots of traveling/action- some of it seemed unnecessary and slightly ramble-y. Still somewhat repetitive, more like re-mentioning past events to que reader’s memory (because book is so big). I didn’t feel like I needed to be reminded of events.

Intriguing idea. If the other books in the series are this long, I don’t think the story is worth the page length.

Special thanks to Netgalley and Rose and Star Publishing LLC for this digital ARC.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book, a female villain (though she isn’t really) as a main character and a morally grey God working together to stop a common threat. However, there were quite a few grammatical errors and editing problems that really pull you out of the story. I did enjoy Dianna’s relationship with Gabby and the hardships she endured to keep her safe. I liked the slow burn and tension between the two MC’s. All in all not a bad book, just needs some cleaning up and possible shortening. I would be interested in reading the next book in the series.

***Thank you to netgalley and publisher for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.***

I really tried to get into this but at 28% I decided to finally give up. It was just not engaging for me and it was getting to the point where I'd skim some parts. If I'm not interested in the book when I've passed the 100 page mark, I know it's not going to be for me.

The worldbuilding was confusing. There are modern day aspects, such as cars, phones and clubs, but at the same time it's high fantasy (I prefer books where either the world is completely new and has it's own technology or an urban fantasy). The author shoved every type of myth/legend creature there is, from banshees to vampires to dragons. It was a little too much.

I also did not care for the characters. I was excited to read about a morally grey female villain but unfortunately Dianna had 3 personality traits: protect-my-sister-syndrome, I-am-sassy, and good-at-fighting. Liam was uninteresting in his POVs (until where I gave up at least).

Overall, I didn't care for this and I was fooled by the high average rating.

A really unique and exciting concept, I haven't seen anything like this. I love the reversal of the typical romance trope - the female being the dark sarcastic villant and the male the grumpy but naiive and lonely hero. The adventure aspect of this novel was really engaging and had me tearing through this book with anticipation. The romance was slow burning and electric, the tension between the couple was palpable. The overall banter and humour was brilliant and I loved this debut book so much! The ending was spectacular and im desperate for the next one

As an urban fantasy fan, with vampires, angels/demons, werewolves, witches, shades and gods (just to name SOME of the characters) this book held my interest almost from page one. Within a few chapters I went in search of Amber Nicole's website and bought a signed edition.

Dianna's character is simultaneously villainous and sympathetic; a hard combination to pull off successfully. At 841pgs this epic tale was perfectly paced, not too slow but still fully fleshed world-building. Amber Nicole takes traditional urban fantasy characters and gives them a much needed fresh twist. I loved every page!

I think there's a lot of potential in this book and it was entertaining and gripping. I think some editing would help as I had some issues with the storytelling that I found a bit jumpy.
I enjoyed it nonetheless and it's recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

*Thank you to NetGalley, Amber Nicole, and the Publishers for the ARC!*

"𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳."

I honestly cannot believe this is the authors' debut novel! This comes out on June 26th, and everyone should be *running* to buy a copy of this book!

This book follows Diana, who sold her humanity to save her sister, and is now at the monster Kaden's mercy. She gets tasked with finding the book of Azrael, which holds secrets to realm travel. She meets Liam, king of gods, who has been forced back into the land of the living and is afraid the cycles of old are repeating themselves. Liam and Diana are forced to work together to face the demons they battle.

This book had so much to love about it.
✓ True Enemies to Lovers
✓Slow Burn Romance
✓ Forbidden Romance
✓Morally Grey FMC
✓Soft MMC
✓ Forced Proximity + ONLY ONE BED
✓PTSD and Trauma Representation
✓Incredibly worldbuilding
✓ Banter and A+ Chemistry

Every single character was so well flushed out and represented. Not only are the two main characters well developed and multidimensional, but all the supporting cast of characters are equally memorable and you cannot help but get invested in their stories as well. The antagonist in this story was truly unique, and left you wanting more and more. The characters' development arcs, the progress and growth they each made was very apparent throughout the book, and made you fall in love with them all the more.

The Worldbuilding was done incredibly well. A world where Gods, Monsters, and Humans all exist is such a unique concept, and the author set the scenes and built the universe the book was set in so flawlessly without having to rely on massive infodumps.

The writing was phenomenal. It was very difficult to believe this was the authors' debut, because it felt like reading a book that should already be topping charts from a seasoned author. The plot, the romance, the transition from enemies to lovers, the inclusion of many tropes without being stereotypical or cheesy - everything was paced so perfectly and felt organic and natural. I genuinely devoured this book in one sitting because the story was so fast paced and kept me hooked from start to finish. The cliffhanger nearly destroyed me because I was dying to dive straight into the sequel, and I'm not waiting with bated breath to see when the release date announcement will be! Amber Nicole has written some truly beautiful scenes in this book that ripped me open and left me crying.
"𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳." is one of my favourite quotes from this book, and I cannot begin to express how much it resonated with me.

This book is truly a gem, and a 5 star read. There's not a single thing I would change or do differently, and I cannot wait to see the authors' upcoming works.
I cannot wait for the sequel to come out, and I jumped and ordered a hardback edition of this as soon as I finished the last sentence!

Rating: 5 Stars

I'm giving The Book of Azrael 4.5/5 stars.

This book follows Dianna - a flaming bad bitch with a snarky attitude - many years after she's literally given her mortal life to save her sister and Liam - a grumpy, charming and traumatised god - as he comes to the planet Onuna to ease everyone of the worries of an impending war. The two, although mortal enemies, must put aside the differences (or not) in order to save everything that matters to them.

Most importantly, all the things I loved about this book... Liam is honest such a softies although he has a grumpy exterior. Liam is dealing with some serious trauma causing anxieties and a deep depression. I believe that the mental health representation was done quite well and also a good addition to this fantasy novel. I don't really see much mental health rep in adult fantasy and especially not male mental health rep. I was swooning over this grumpy yet charming god.
Dianna is the hottest creature to grace Onuna (in my opinion) and not only that but she's witty and a boss biatch. I saw a few reviews that didn't like Dianna's snarky-ness but I loved it I thought her sarcasm well suited. I also saw some that didn't love how "self-sacrificing" Dianna was when it came to her sister. In my opinion it was good characterisation and it stayed consistent which I appreciated.
Amber Nicole did a fabulous job of writing the slow burn in this. It was angsty and rich and I craved Dianna and Liams interactions desperately. The tenderness in this book made me giddy for the first time in a long time and I am here for it.

The few things that would have made this book literal perfection in every sense of the word. I am in desperate need of a pronunciation guide... I think I pronounced names of places, people and things that this author created different every time I would read them because I was genuinely confused on how to actually pronounce them so please I beg for a pronunciation guide. If there is already one out in the universe please point me in the direction of it because I need it immediately... The editing and punctuation could do with a little fine-tuning. This is just me being super nit-picky but it honestly hinders my reading experience so much when its not clean editing; I'll stop and stumble and loose my flow while reading.
I think that the world building could have been a little bit clearer. In saying that this is Ambers first published novel and it's also a very large world with lots of magical concepts. I think the large world with countless characters and magical concepts is perhaps why it comes across as a little messy. I also spotted a few holes in the world building and magical system that weren't really explained but I see this often in fantasy.
There were few parts that I found predictable. Times where I'm pretty sure that Amber was foreshadowing and rather then it pass over I would guess what was coming... There was still plenty more ups and downs and spanners in the works that the handful of times that this happened it didn't hinder my fun while reading.

The issues that I had with the book didn't hinder my reading experience much I still very much enjoyed reading The Book of Azrael. If you love a good slow burn romance set in a unique fantasy world this book is for you.

This book was gifted to me by the publisher Rose and Star VIA NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Enjoyed this book--it was the first one I've gotten from this author and I was definitely in the fantasy mood! Would recommend if you're looking for a dark fantasy romance for sure!