Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars


I am so glad I found this on audiobook at the library. It turned out to be a very good medium for this story. I have to say that for a slow starter, I really got drawn into this book, and when it ended, I had separation anxiety!



Two things kept me from giving this a five star rating:



1. The slow, meandering start. I was initially thinking, uh-oh, this might turn out to be a real snoozer. Boy was I wrong!

2. The ending was a cliffie that really got my blood pressure up! I didn't like the way this novel concluded at all. I hate feeling like I'm being manipulated to read the next book in a series, and it felt that way. I'd rather read a book series that has books that begin and conclude in a natural way. Some resolution, but threads that encourage me to pick up the next book. That was so not the case here. I would have kept reading anyway, but now I feel like my arm is being twisted to read the next book.



Things I loved about this book:



1. The scholarly tone wouldn't work for everyone, but since I am a bookworm nerd who likes to research topics that are of interest, I could really get into the angelologists and their penchant for delving deeply into subjects in their field. And their subject knowledge.. .Wow! Most of the main characters were in one way or another scholars or people who really knew their stuff. They spent their lives reading and immersing themselves in the past. That spoke to me.

2. I loved the epistolary format, a significant portion of the book written as parts of journal entries and book excerpts. It was executed very well. One would think that this would make the book dry, but it didn’t.

3. The narrator was fantastic. She did a gorgeous French accent (and believe me, most of the book is in various French viewpoints), and she made each of the characters sound very different. With the male viewpoints, her voice was lower and conveyed a male speaking. She really brought them to life, and brought a vivid image of the story to life, and I could get an idea of what each character was like based on the way she spoke their parts.

4. Ms. Trussoni gets the duality of angels. They are so beautiful they are irresistible, but there are so powerful and dangerous that one never truly forgets (or shouldn’t to their regret) their celestial nature, so far above humans. And then, there are the nephilim. Oh my goodness. They were so evil! I had hopes that creatures of a once divine origin, so beautiful to look at, would have some goodness inside. Not at all! I was continually surprised at how sinister and even corrupt they were. They thought absolutely nothing about humans, or God, or their celestial origins. They were all about obtaining and keeping power on earth.

5. Angelology itself as the focus of this book. Who knew? Wow! It’s more than just being an angel scholar. It’s your life, and there is no sacrifice too great, as I learned as I read. It’s all for a purpose, to prepare for the battle against very powerful foes, the nephilim. The people in this avocation that we become acquaintances with in this book suffer so greatly, and as I listened, it was clear why. Their foes were such that it took all their energies to fight them, and losing one’s life could be a given at any time.

6. Ms. Trussoni did such a good job of tying all the various narrators together. The story spans over a thousand years (well actually goes back to biblical times), but it all plays a part, and each narrator took my attention and held it hostage as I listened.

7. Percival Grigori was a fascinating villain. There were times I felt really sorry for him, and other times I hated him. His highly complicated relationship with Gabriella Levy-French Valco made for some good reading! The societies that the nephilim had built and how they became the ones controlling all the power and money in the modern world felt so plausible, part of me wonders if this is truly possible. It kind of makes sense!

Final Thoughts:

Although the ending was a buzz kill, I was very impressed overall with this book. The angel parts were surreally intoxicating. I found I cared about the characters, and I was so engaged with their struggles. This book found my angel love and pulled me tight to the narrative. The unreal beauty of the angels, the black hearts of the nephilim, the intense struggle of the frail humans against unimaginably strong (but strangely frail in some ways) celestial creatures. But then, those angelologists have some serious tricks up their sleeve. If you are a reader who loves angels, you should add this to the reading list.



Overall rating: 4.5 celestial stars.





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