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A review by miras_booverse
Burn Like An Angel by J. Rose
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
J Rose stunned me again, this time with the second book of her "Harrowdean Manor" duet – "Burn Like An Angel".
It's hard for me to collect my thoughts after this book, but I'm really going to try. J Rose leaves me speechless when it comes to her books again, and the two things I'm angry about is that I didn't find her books sooner and that I won't be able to start any other of them right away. I am absolutely mesmerized by her ability to write a story in such way, that it can captivate the reader with its darkness, and not only make you want to not stop reading until you finish it, but after that, she makes you want and need more.
For the past few days, while reading "Burn Like An Angel" I was not just immersed in the story, I was WITH the characters, I was running for my life, I felt their horror and helplessness, but at the same time their hope for salvation and a better life, I saw the ruins of the riot in the institute and prayed that society would believe the patients, and not reject them or even worse - bury them even deeper because of the sins, they were forced to carry out in order to protect themselves from the horrors of the Incendia Corporation. I laughed, I was afraid, I loved and I cried along with these characters – this book was THAT good. The author is also THAT good.
But let me start from the beginning.
"Burn Like An Angel" picks up right where "Sin Like The Devil" left off and throws us shockingly back into the story. Inside the institute, of course, there is complete chaos, absolute anarchy, as the riot is just gaining momentum and is breaking out with a force that sweeps everything in its path, which makes the dynamics supreme from the beginning.
"You didn't silence me." I stare into his petrified eyes. "You just made me desperate. I'll never let you take my voice again. Never."
The book kept me on my toes all the time. Even in the moments of calm, there were still hints of skepticism on my part that the characters were safe and that I could safely rest for a few seconds before they were thrown back into a new melee and something bad happened to them. And yet, there was not a second in which I felt disoriented. Every time I sat down to read it, I immediately sank back into the story, without wondering what happened last, without losing the thread and without wanting to stop.
The action, the tension - I feel like they are repeatedly amplified when reading, once because I experienced them with the characters and once because I experienced them as a reader for the characters. The factors that made me fall in love with the duet are many, but this emotional impact it had on me, is one of the most important ones.
I feel at home curled up in Raine's arms. Breathing in his citrus, sea salt scent. Arguing with Lennox. Drowning in his watered-down green eyes. Touching Xander and dragging a smile from him on the days he closes himself off.
Somewhere along the way, they became my home.
I don't have to be alone anymore.
In this book, we get to know the men around Ripley much more, while at the same time continuing to get to know her. Or rather, a completely different version of her, which she has so far diligently tried to hide from everyone, including herself. The version of Ripley who is not afraid to rely on someone, to love, and who no longer has to deal with everything on her own because she has help by her side. And the responsible people for bringing this version to light, are Raine who was the first to reach her and break her walls made of ice; Xander, who, by opening up to her, made her fall in love with him and his vulnerability; and Lennox, who, although had the the hardest times with all this of all three of them, was the reason she realized that she wanted to have a “forever” with the four of them together.
It isn't a weakness to love or be loved. Those connections are actually what make us strong.
The moments of each of the men separately with Ripley are so full of emotions that it is impossible not to feel them while reading. You can't help but feel everything they feel and read it in their behavior. However, when they are all together, then they are a force that no one can knock down and nothing can stop. However, I can't hide that I was most excited about Lennox (not because he's my favorite, because I said about the first book and I still have the same opinion, that this is the first rh book in which I can't choose my favorite from everyone, just because I like them all and every one of them stuck out differently), but because he was the most obstinate of all, and refused to admit even to himself how much he was in love with Ripley. Which made everything even sweeter.
Beneath all that goddamn beautiful rage, we're just alike. Together, we could be unstoppable. Our rage will burn the whole fucking world.
The climax is killer good! Extremely strong and full of action, twists and emotions. It kept me on my toes, and the agony I felt as I read what was happening was only fueled by the need to go further to make sure that everything would be okay in the end.
The ending is so beautiful that I wanted to cry and rejoice at the same time. And the small surprise in the epilogue only makes me want to pick up the author's previous books faster.
If you haven't read "Harrowdean Manor" yet, fix this error as soon as possible. Only then will you understand what I am talking about.
~~~
Rating: 5/5
~~~This book was provided to me by Valentine PR and J Rose for my honest opinion.~~~
It's hard for me to collect my thoughts after this book, but I'm really going to try. J Rose leaves me speechless when it comes to her books again, and the two things I'm angry about is that I didn't find her books sooner and that I won't be able to start any other of them right away. I am absolutely mesmerized by her ability to write a story in such way, that it can captivate the reader with its darkness, and not only make you want to not stop reading until you finish it, but after that, she makes you want and need more.
For the past few days, while reading "Burn Like An Angel" I was not just immersed in the story, I was WITH the characters, I was running for my life, I felt their horror and helplessness, but at the same time their hope for salvation and a better life, I saw the ruins of the riot in the institute and prayed that society would believe the patients, and not reject them or even worse - bury them even deeper because of the sins, they were forced to carry out in order to protect themselves from the horrors of the Incendia Corporation. I laughed, I was afraid, I loved and I cried along with these characters – this book was THAT good. The author is also THAT good.
But let me start from the beginning.
"Burn Like An Angel" picks up right where "Sin Like The Devil" left off and throws us shockingly back into the story. Inside the institute, of course, there is complete chaos, absolute anarchy, as the riot is just gaining momentum and is breaking out with a force that sweeps everything in its path, which makes the dynamics supreme from the beginning.
"You didn't silence me." I stare into his petrified eyes. "You just made me desperate. I'll never let you take my voice again. Never."
The book kept me on my toes all the time. Even in the moments of calm, there were still hints of skepticism on my part that the characters were safe and that I could safely rest for a few seconds before they were thrown back into a new melee and something bad happened to them. And yet, there was not a second in which I felt disoriented. Every time I sat down to read it, I immediately sank back into the story, without wondering what happened last, without losing the thread and without wanting to stop.
The action, the tension - I feel like they are repeatedly amplified when reading, once because I experienced them with the characters and once because I experienced them as a reader for the characters. The factors that made me fall in love with the duet are many, but this emotional impact it had on me, is one of the most important ones.
I feel at home curled up in Raine's arms. Breathing in his citrus, sea salt scent. Arguing with Lennox. Drowning in his watered-down green eyes. Touching Xander and dragging a smile from him on the days he closes himself off.
Somewhere along the way, they became my home.
I don't have to be alone anymore.
In this book, we get to know the men around Ripley much more, while at the same time continuing to get to know her. Or rather, a completely different version of her, which she has so far diligently tried to hide from everyone, including herself. The version of Ripley who is not afraid to rely on someone, to love, and who no longer has to deal with everything on her own because she has help by her side. And the responsible people for bringing this version to light, are Raine who was the first to reach her and break her walls made of ice; Xander, who, by opening up to her, made her fall in love with him and his vulnerability; and Lennox, who, although had the the hardest times with all this of all three of them, was the reason she realized that she wanted to have a “forever” with the four of them together.
It isn't a weakness to love or be loved. Those connections are actually what make us strong.
The moments of each of the men separately with Ripley are so full of emotions that it is impossible not to feel them while reading. You can't help but feel everything they feel and read it in their behavior. However, when they are all together, then they are a force that no one can knock down and nothing can stop. However, I can't hide that I was most excited about Lennox (not because he's my favorite, because I said about the first book and I still have the same opinion, that this is the first rh book in which I can't choose my favorite from everyone, just because I like them all and every one of them stuck out differently), but because he was the most obstinate of all, and refused to admit even to himself how much he was in love with Ripley. Which made everything even sweeter.
Beneath all that goddamn beautiful rage, we're just alike. Together, we could be unstoppable. Our rage will burn the whole fucking world.
The climax is killer good! Extremely strong and full of action, twists and emotions. It kept me on my toes, and the agony I felt as I read what was happening was only fueled by the need to go further to make sure that everything would be okay in the end.
The ending is so beautiful that I wanted to cry and rejoice at the same time. And the small surprise in the epilogue only makes me want to pick up the author's previous books faster.
If you haven't read "Harrowdean Manor" yet, fix this error as soon as possible. Only then will you understand what I am talking about.
~~~
Rating: 5/5
~~~This book was provided to me by Valentine PR and J Rose for my honest opinion.~~~