Crushed Seraphim by Debra Anastasia: Review by AimeeKay

Greetings from the Rusty Dagger! I feel we might be close to finally catching that elusive Narwal! We are currently in the Iron Seas. Feel free to come see some of the beautiful treasures we have found there. This time Melissa sent me Crushed Seraphim by Debra Anastasia. So lets get on with the review.

Amazon

Summary from Amazon:


How does a foul-mouthed angel end up as the last hope for all of Heaven and Earth?

When Seraph Emma is maimed and tossed from Heaven by a rogue angel who's taken charge, she fears she'll never be allowed to return. Tasked with the impossible job of showing the self-loathing (and not even human!) Jason his worth, Emma is sure she's doomed to fail. 

Meanwhile, having wormed his way into Heaven, the corrupt Everett has trapped God in Hell and has designs on unleashing evil everywhere. Fortunately, if there's one thing Emma can't do (in addition to minding her language), it's give up. Determined to save Jason and get back to Heaven-even if it means going to Hell-Emma's plan is simple yet impossible: trick the Devil to save God. 

What she doesn't count on is the devotion and, well, humanity she finds in Jason; the spirit, hidden compassion, and raw sex appeal within the Devil; and the vulnerability of her own heart. With the help of two unlikely allies, she'll wage the battle for Heaven. But will Emma be sidetracked by a new sort of heaven along the way? 

What's truly more dangerous? Falling from Heaven, or falling in love?

*sigh* I really liked this book, at first. I really liked Debra Anastasia's take on angels and God. I really loved her descriptions. Especially of the angels and their wings. And I really enjoyed Seraph Emma as a character at first. She was amusing and determined. ***Massive spoiler alert*** Yes she saves heaven.If the story had ended there it would have been fine The problem is it didn't and I finished it simply because I was hoping it would make sense why it didn't if I finished the book. I know each writer tells a story their own way. That the paths they see their characters taking aren't necessarily the ones I think they would take. Generally that is fine. That can make a story go from average to amazing, It can make heroes or heroines more realistic and make it easier for the reader to connect with them. However in this case, at least for me, the path Seraph Emma chose to take just made me lose all respect for her and actually start disliking her immensely. I also understand that a good love triangle can really add something to a story. But this one just well, just ugh. It made the main character seem selfish, careless and stupid. Yes I know they are just characters in a story, they are not real. But if I fail to connect to the main character or I don't find them interesting or whatever, it tends to make me not enjoy the story. I found myself forcing myself to read the rest of the book hoping that something would redeem Emma for me.

That's were the other main problem with this story came into play. The book ended mid story, right as the heroes were preparing to go to Hell, literally! Now read/reviewed books that have ended mid story before. Generally it annoys me when a story just stops........

See isn't that annoying? Sorry trying to prove a point. (kinda hard to pull off in a post so please forgive me) Anyway. It generally annoys me when I am zipping along enjoying a story and *BAM* no more story. A good example of this was The Unfinished Song. But the writer knew she was going to end the book right then and there, and even wrote a sort of apology combined with giving a teaser of the next book. While I was agitated that I couldn't finish the book right then and there, I still was eager to get my hands on the next book and find out what happened to them. With Crushed Seraphim I was annoyed but I found myself not really caring. I had become so detached from the main character at that point that I kinda didn't care if she made her way outta Hell or not. ***End Spoiler alert***

The sad part is I really liked Anastasia's writing. I liked her descriptions, and I enjoyed her characters, even Emma, at least up to that one point. I wouldn't not read another book by the author simply because of this one. I might however think twice about reading the sequel to Crushed Seraphim, if only because of my dislike of the main character. If you've read this book and would like to share your opinion in the comments, whether you agree with me or not, please do. I would love to know what others have thought of this one..

Til next time

AimeeKay

P.S.: For all those who saw my review of the first two Unfinished Song books, the third book Unfinished Song: Sacrifice is finally out!
Here's the link to it on Amazon!