Amazon.com – Revelations: Cast in Blood
Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by Raven PA, for an honest review.
Genre: YA/Adult/Fiction/Fantasy
Plot: An unknown force threatens Heaven and Hell, along with every soul on Earth. Three unlikely heroes join together to restore universal balance. Will their shared adversary initiate an Apocalypse before they’re able to uncover the truth, or will they rise to a calling that has, from the beginning of time, been Cast in Blood?
Opinion: This is book 1 in the Revelations series by not one, but THREE authors. It is an interesting take on Heaven and Hell, Angels and Demons, an apocalypse, and the backstory between God and Lucifer.
This story starts out following one of our main characters named Lenore, or Lenny, who is a “closet” shapeshifter. After living a life on the streets, Lenny finally finds sanctuary in a church organization called Children of Light, which is run by the ever bizarre Father Hershel Chambers. Children of Light works as an outreach program instilled to help the community and assists the homeless, or so Lenny is told. Soon, the place and leader that Lenny was starting to believe in turns out to be something completely different when she is introduced to Lucifer’s first knight, Polly. Polly (Appollyn), our second main character, is the right-hand woman to Lucifer in Hell and works as the bounty hunter for escapees. As Polly is lead to the Children of Light to find an escaped Djinn, she comes across something that is much bigger than anything she could have imagined. Once Lucifer realizes that there is a significant lack of souls coming into Hell, it soon comes to light that someone or something is stealing souls from both Heaven and Hell. She (yes, Lucifer is a woman) puts Polly, Lenny, and a succubus by the name of Drew to work to find out what is going on and to restore balance back to the world before it’s too late.
I honestly had a bit of a rocky start with this book. I had barely any kind of a book description which, by the way, has been driving me ABSOLUTELY INSANE lately! I understand the idea of wanting to leave a little mystery to your story and not wanting to give too much away, but really? I need a little bit more to go off of here! Anyways, I started reading this book with only the generalization of what it was about. Demons, Heaven and hell, epic battle for the ages, blah blah blah. The first few chapters I got hooked following Lenny around this cult-like place she had started residing in. But once the story turned over to Polly and she was going through the details of her duties and her plans, I got a bit…bored. Why? Well, I felt like there was just TOO much explaining and ongoing dialogue with herself. As you all know, I am a crazy person about needing details and description in a story but I don’t want to feel like the character has just run away with her thoughts. In this case, sometimes less is more. On a positive note, this style of writing starts to taper off during the rest of the story and takes on a better flow.
Something interesting: this story has three authors and each author took on the role of one of the characters. I LOVE this idea! It definitely lets the writers give their own style and flare to the character; as well as, assists each character in keeping their originality. I have always liked a book about demons and angels, and I especially enjoy seeing how an author puts their own creative spin on iconic characters. I thought turning Lucifer into a woman was very welcome and different, and making the main characters a core of strong butt-kicking women was AWESOME! These authors did a great job of developing a backstory for this world and they even incorporated the Greek gods into it. In regards to Drew, who is a succubus, and Lenny, who is a shapeshifter; these characters started out not knowing too much about their powers and abilities. I found it unrealistic that they both just MAGICALLY figured out how to control their skills and master them. This part just didn’t seem very realistic to me, but then again, this entire story isn’t too realistic is it? Fair enough.
Though I was unsure at first with this book, I turned out to really enjoy it and found myself quite hooked on the story-line. This is book one of the series, so I will probably end up going to purchase book 2 Cast in Fire on Amazon.com. If you guys enjoy The Mortal Instruments series or anything that incorporates Heaven and Hell into their story, but hates when romance gets in the way, this series is for you! Did I mention there is NO ROMANCE?! Yes I know, awesome.
jenacidebybibliophile 