Overall Merit: Wait for it, wait for it...I actually liked this book. True I have to give it a bit of leniency seeing as it was self published (if it were published by a big house then I'd bump each of the scores down about a point), but that aside, once I got past the errors and looked at it big picture, I truly enjoyed this book. The characters had legitimate struggles and there were times when I thought Sofia was literally going to go insane. The only thing that really bothered me (aside from the minor typos) was the beginning. This book was good. It was a great concept with a great cast of characters and if it had gone through a more intense publishing/editing process, I think I would be in love. Score- 9
Characters: Wow, Sophia had kick in her. I was actually so proud of her for not being a typical fantasy heroine and being like "Damian is so hot. We MUST be soul mates." Nope. After the initial realization that he was indeed very hot she fought tooth and nail to keep herself from falling for him. Hell, they didn't even sleep together until the very end of the book! Damian was such a bad-ass, and a legitimate one too. So many times, writers will try to make a "bad-ass" character who just falls flat on his or her face. Damian did not disappoint and neither did his immortal siblings who were super fun characters as well. The only character that upset me a bit was the antagonist. There was the typical femme fatale character floating around and she was annoying, but not gut-wrenchingly evil. However, Czerno played a surprisingly small role. It seemed like his henchmen were scurrying around while he sat back and didn't do all that much. For the most part, solid protagonists and a few good supporting characters. Score-8
Blush Factor: This was refreshing. They were attracted, but they resisted. Key word being: RESISTED. It was like a dream come true (pardon my platitude). Most power couples will make a flimsy effort to resist and end up in each other's arms by page 100, Sofia whacked Damian upside the face and made him work for her attention. I'm not a crazy feminist by any means and would have been just as please if Sofia had to work to make Damian admit he liked her. Turns out they were a great couple, which made me even happier when they finally got together. So many romance novels smoosh the love interests together without making them do any work! Score- 10 (yes, look at that, a 10)
Structure: The viewpoints weaved a bit between Sofia and another character named Two, but I loved all the perspectives, which is rare. Usually I find I like on perspective over the other(s), but Ford kept me entertained throughout. The only issues I had with this were sometimes she didn't explain some of the technical inner workings of her world well enough e.g the way the powers worked, the hierarchy of gods/Watchers and the beginning. The beginning felt rushed, the characters didn't get fleshed out until later and the premise wasn't explained very well so I was sort of lost until I got a good 50 pages in. Score- 8
Plot: There were a ton of things going on at the same time and the non-stop action kept me reading. I liked the underlying storyline, which was essentially the timeless battle between good and evil. However, I would have liked more insight into the world of the "baddies". Great idea, great potential. I'm not sure if I'll read the sequel, but it's a possibility. Score- 8
In summation: Read this book and support a self-publishing author. Best part is, it's super inexpensive so I should hear no complaints on that front.
Vervain says: "There are three levels of deities: the primordial gods, the Watchers, and then the gods on Earth (Damian, Dusty, Jule, and Czerno). It's a bit hard to keep straight sometimes."
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