The Guardian, a Sword, & Stilettos by Kristin D. Van Risseghem - Review

Title: The Guardian, a Sword, & Stilettos
Author: Kristin D. Van Rissegham
Series: Enlighten
Book: 1
Format: Paperback
Pages: 260
Rating: 3.5/5

**I was given a copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review**

Zoe Jabril's life completely changes when she finds out her best friend is an angel. Things get even stranger when it turns out he was sent to be her guardian angel. Zoe is the supposed Redeemer, meant to keep the devil at bay, but meant to bring about Armageddon in the process. Only Zoe can stop the end of the world from happening. If she's the Redeemer, she will take on her true form when she turns 18, sprouting wings and taking on her angel form. It doesn't help that, along with the weight of the world, demons are trying to kill her at every turn and her feelings for the nephillim, Shay, are amplified beyond anything she's ever felt before. Can Zoe overcome her feelings and do what she needs to before the devil is released? Or is Armageddon hopeless to stop?

I found that this was a quaint, fast read. The story had a good flow and made me want to keep reading. I can't help but note, though, that every guy in this book is model-like and charming. I understand that 2/3 of the guys are of some angel form, but you have to draw a line at some point. While I love Shay, he's simply too open. I respect it, but even nephillim guys can't be that willing to be open about their feelings. Other than that, the relationship between Shay and Zoe is adorable and I ship them so hard. The music references threw me off a little. I was willing to let it by with Glad You Came by The Wanted, but I draw a line at One Direction. Guys aren't usually open about stuff like that, especially to the point where they admit to having their emotions take over when listening to a certain song, it just threw me off. I liked this book, but it focused more on relationships and talking about Armageddon rather that actually trying to stop it. If there's a whole new world opened up to a completely ordinary person, I want the action behind that, there was more time for talking before, now we need action! I'll place an assumption that there's more action in the next book. Overall, it was a lovely book and I can't wait for the story to continue on to the next book!

Angelfall by Susan Ee - Review

Title: Angelfall
Author: Susan Ee
Series: Penryn and the End of Days
Book: 1
Format: Paperback
Pages: 284
Rating: 5/5

Devastatingly heartbreaking and intense, Angelfall is the one angel book that everyone needs in their life. The second I picked up this book, I couldn't put it down. When I finished it, I knew this was going to be going on my favourites list.

Penryn Young is exhausted. Day and night, she juggles keeping her wheelchair bound sister and her paranoid schizophrenic mother alive when the angels attack. When they get caught up in an angel skirmish on the streets, Penryn gets separated from her mother. She witnesses an angel lose his beautiful white wings and helps him fend off his attackers. All seems calm when one of the angels comes back in steals her sister out of her wheelchair. Survival becomes a rescue mission. Penryn teams up with angel Raffe, who hopes to get his wings reattached, in order to sneak into angel territory and get her sister back. Angels are then enemy, but Raffe seems almost different. He's kinder and more thoughtful, but is he really different? Or is he just pretending for his own personal gain?

Susan Ee was born to torture me with her wonderful stories and her amazing characters that make me feel obsolete. Raffe. I cannot stress my love for that sarcastic asshole enough. And can we talk about how when Raffe first meet, before they even know each other's names, he smiles at how funny she is when she acts like he weighs a ton. That is so cute and no one can convince me otherwise. But then, all of a sudden he wakes up and tries to kill her and sitting there reading as if I could actually reach through the pages and slap some sense into him. There are just some times where I'm wondering "RAFFE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" and then sometimes I had to set the book down and curl up because aww cute. And then "I don't even like you." and I'm dead. Don't even get me started on how they can't be together because that would result in Raffe being sent to Punishment and possibly a Nephilim, it just breaks my heart. They so obviously belong together and it makes me so mad. The ending made me want to throw the book at the nearest wall. Luckily, I purchased book two when I got book one, so I'm going to do something I don't do often and read the second book instead of reading what I planned to read next.