Jovienne

Three and a half
A new author to me but such an eye catching cover. I'm always on the lookout for original urban fantasy and certainly feel that this books ideas ticks all the right boxes. Yes it's about Angels so if theology not really your thing then it might not suit but as it's the story of a human woman who becomes a warrior for God I thought I'd give it a go.
It's hard to like Jovienne and even though she feels that she has been manipulated and is used I really couldn't quite see past her bitterness at times. Yes she is incredibly brave ( although some might say foolhardy ) but her anger meant she makes hard decisions and takes such stupid chances. Yet this book details her progression in such a way that I found it hard to put down.
Frankly at first I was a little confused by the authors use of different perspectives as she introduces characters that initially have no bearing on what Jovienne is going through in San Fransisco and then it all falls into place as the connections start to happen.
Andrei was a sort of mentor and trainer to Jovienne and clearly has feelings for her but having pushed her away it's hard to trust him and yet he does have redeeming qualities.
Nathan is introduced as a man marked by stigmata and he turns out to be more than instrumental if Jovienne is to rise above her base instincts. Sometimes she can resist anything except temptation !
Then we have Araxiel, a demon hiding on Earth with no desire to return to Hell . His selfish thoughts are consumed with his own wellbeing leaving him with the cunning idea of manipulating Jovienne and quite frankly he does a pretty good job.
We do meet other characters as Jovienne isn't the only one fighting against the Demons and the author lets her imagination play here. Are Angels all good? Do they always do the right thing? Perhaps more importantly though is what is the right choice as after all we were all given free will . Plus just what does it take to become demonic?
So many questions and yet some answers trickle through. There's very good reason why Jovienne is the way she is and her past helps define her. Hurt, betrayed and yet she carries such guilt because of one small childish action and I understood why her own survival meant little to her.
It's a little wordy at times which occasional meant it felt dry and I wanted more feelings, more humanity I guess. Yet Jovienne really wants to help but her hands are tied. Speaking of hands those blessed by God have unusual powers that range from being able to move at great speed occasionally to the use of ghost like hands that stretch like something out of the Fantastic Four ! Plus I understand the use of more angelic terms but some of the words used just didn't wow me. All in all very different to other books I've read and it's the start of a series that hopefully will be fleshed out enabling the various characters to show more warmth and feelings.

A difficult book, both to read and review. Jovienne is a strong woman, forced into being something she does not wish to become, leading to what amount sto disregard both for her life and for God, making her rebel against any type of authority. Haunted both by her mentor and a demon, she must fight, not really knowing the reason for her struggle. Imaginative, and I will be on the lookout for the next installment.

This was my first Robertson book. This story was intense and complicated. There was a lot going on. We didn't get a ton of backstory on the characters, but the way the story moved it wasn't really necessary to understand the characters. I liked the storyline as well as the writer's voice. I'm very curious as to where the story will go in the next installment.

Jovienne was something of a mixed bag read for me. I adored the plot idea, which was original, fresh and full of great potential. However, I never really connected with Jovienne. I wanted to care about her, relate to her, but I simply couldn't, and that lack of empathy with her affected my overall enjoyment of the story. I did like the secondary characters, such as Araxiel and Andrei. Even so, right from the start Robertson throws the reader into a complex plot, starting at one point and then jumping back in time, without sufficient world building for us truly to understand what's going on. Things do become clearer as the story progresses, and I came to appreciate the mythology, but Jovienne's decisions still seemed completely erratic. In conclusion, I am awarding this book three stars. I adored the premise; however Jovienne's characterisation and insufficient world building early on let down what could easily have been a four star story. This is the first work in a series. Based on this first book, I would consider reading the second, but I wouldn't rush out to grab a copy.