Of Evil and Angels

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!

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.

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 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.