Archangel’s Blade is not an easy book to read. Nalini throws everything and the kitchen sink in here in regards to Dmitri and the heroine, Honor. These two have gone through hell and back and have barely survived. Their pasts are full of torture, violence, death and disturbing acts placed on their person and their psyche. Only when they both come together and find love and understanding with one another is where they’re able to fully heal. This is a powerful story that shows how love can heal all wounds.
Honor is a member of the Guild Hunter just like Elena, the vampire hunter turned angel who is mated to Raphael, the powerful archangel of Manhattan. Honor is recovering from a horrific vampire attack, where she was held captive for months and was drained of her blood, raped and tortured for no reason. She lives in fear and can barely function, going as far as blaming herself for her attack because she was forced to feel pleasure from some of the tortures she went through. Her boss, as way to push Honor to stop hiding, orders her to investigate a possible serial killer targeting vampires. Honor will have to work alongside Dmitri, who frightens her to her very core not only because he’s a vampire, but one who’s seductive and close to amoral as you can get.
Dmitri is not impressed with Honor at first because he can sense her fear and loathing. He really doesn’t have a high opinion of woman because they fawn all over him and allow him to use their bodies for sex and other degrading acts, or so we’re led to believe. His heart belonged to only one woman back when he was mortal and he will never love another with such devotion again. But as he gets to know Honor, the walls around his heart break down. He wants to avenge Honor for what she went through while he comes to terms with his own guilt over the senseless murders of people he loved before he was changed into a vampire. Honor begins to see the true Dmitri and how he’s scarred like she is. Honor wants to take what Dmitri is offering. She begins to heal also and comes to the conclusion that Dmitri is her salvation, and so much more.
Archangel’s Blade is a book where revenge and forgiveness go hand in hand. This is also a very dark and angst ridden read. What Dmitri and Honor have gone through will numb your heart because it’s so disturbing. I raged alongside both of them when they tell one another about their suffering. Dmitri makes no excuses for what he does. But the one thing that makes him redeemable is his undying devotion not only to Raphael, but the memory of a woman who was once his entire life. To explain why this is so important would be a big spoiler and is better left unsaid. I will tell you this, when Dmitri loves, it’s unlike anything you will have read before. Watching him and Honor first as adversaries who eventually become each other’s yin to their yang is a thing of beauty. Their love and passion is an accumulation of two souls who have been searching for one another for far too long.
There’s a big twist regarding Honor that may seem ridiculous and too convenient, but it works when all is said and done. When it’s revealed, you may break down in happy tears because it’s the ultimate happily ever after.
Awe. I am simply in awe of this book, with Nalini’s imagination, characterizations and over storyline and plot. Kudos, big big Kudos to Nalini for Archangel’s Blade. I announce my favorite phrase with this one- I want to have babies with this book it’s so damn good.
I bow down to Nalini for writing Archangel’s Blade. I had tears in my eyes, which doesn’t happen very often. Archangel’s Blade will be in my top 5 for 2011 and a book that will stick with me for years to come. (Available September 6th, Berkley)
Final Grade: A
9 comments:
Man I love this book!!!! Dmitri is just BAD ASS and stays bad ass and I love it!!!!!
Wow Katie! Now I really can't wait to read this one. Great great review!
Okay, now I'm going to have to start with the first one. What a great review! You've definitely sold me on it.
Thanks for the great review and the warning about Honor being raped. I also wondered how Dmitri could compare to her other heros but looks like I won't find out first hand. Rape in general but especially of the main character is a deal breaker for me. Christine Feehan came off my auto buy list for that reason and looks like Nalini will be joining her. That's a bummer because I was really looking forward to this book.
Anon: Dmitri never forces himself on Honor. He's actually very careful how he treats her because of the abuse she's been through.
When I saw Dmitri uses sex to get what he wants, it's in regards to the women who come on to him and he uses his sensuality to have his way with them, which they accept.
In the past books, Dmitri has a sex scent he seems to use to make women aroused around him. But with Honor, he doesn't dazzle her with this scent.
The love scenes between Dmitri and Honor are very hot and emotional. Force is never used.
I had to stop reading Feehan also because her heroes became very stalkerish and too aggressive to the point they force their heroines to accept them that makes me uncomfortable.
Thanks for the clarification but two months of torture which includes rape - I'm guessing repeatedly over two months - is enough to keep me from reading this book even if Dmitri manages to behave himself. Thanks again for all the great reviews.
I will still read this book, because Nalini Singh is within my top 10 favorite authors of all time, but I have to agree with the other Anonymous about the fact that Honor has been repeatedly raped, albeit not by Dimitri.
I've found that rape of the heroine has become an increasingly common theme among many of today's popular authors, even among those in my favorites list. Granted, rape does occur in real life, but this is a difficult/horrible experience that unfortunately seems to have become almost a "gratuitous" addition. Not taken lightly, no, but occurring in a somewhat commonplace manner.
I am only on the 6th chapter, so I ended up skipping the review... But what I've read so far, Dmitri is awesome - doesn't let up, but still somehow caring.
I take heart with what both Anonymous posts have written and agree that rape can be over simplified and misused in the genre. I look forward to finishing this book to see how I react to it all.
Thanks for the review!
For me, this was a B- book. A few comments:
1) I'm terrible at predicting plot developments, but I pegged that reincarnation device from the very beginning. Overall, it was fine and I have no real objections, but what I noticed is that it took a lot of mystery out of their relationship for me.
2) Singh's prose is sometimes a bit too florid and purple for my liking. I like her writing best when she's not trying to make everything so lush and visceral and descriptive.
3) I missed Raphael and Elena. I wished they'd been in the story more.
4) I've noticed in a few of her stories that once Singh's characters have sex, they have A LOT of sex. For me this is not a positive because I'd rather read story than sex. (However, in this case, I will say that I liked how the dream/memories worked to introduce sex into the book before the characters were actually in bed together. Reminded me of Grace and Niall from Son of the Morning.) The issue for me about the abundance of sex is that it often appears at a time when the climax of the story is approaching, so the sex gets in the way and muddies the waters.
5) I wasn't terribly bothered by how quickly/easily Honor seemed to have gotten over her 2 months captivity of being tortured and raped -- it's a romance, after all, and I'm willing to buy into the premise of the love of a good man and all that -- but her sudden sexual healing DID pull me out of the story a few times.
6) I've said it before, but this cover is AWFUL. Horrible, horrible, with its hunched over, cartoony, mulleted, weird-colored man-titty. I hope that the next book gets a better illustration.
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