Review: Necessary Evil and The Greater Good - Adam Ingle

Mestoph, a demon, and Leviticus, an angel, are bored with their day jobs in Hell Industries and Heaven Inc. so they concoct a plan to bring about the very thing that has been forestalled by their squabbling organisations; the end of the world. But the best laid plans of angels and demons oft go awry, and soon the pair find themselves chasing a Greek goddess to Iceland while fighting off various attempts at their lives.

This novel is insanely ambitious. It uses various mythologies, people and religions to great effect; Norse, Greek and Christian elements all fuse into one story-line, and what could have been entirely nonsensical actually turns into an amusing, confusing adventure. Let's not forget to mention cameo appearances from some of the worlds' most notorious bad guys and inspirational good guys.

Necessary Evil and the Greater Good is a novel to be taken with a pinch of salt. The adventure its-self is complex, convoluted and strangely compelling. I found myself constantly wondering what on earth could go wrong next for our characters.

Mestoph and Leviticus are both great characters in their own right, with Mestoph just winning out with his family issues and the fact he can't really get over his demonic tendancies. Although they are plotting the end of the world, you end up really rooting for them. My favourite, however, was Stephanie, a human who has got caught up in their plans. She deals with the situation really well, and is not afraid to voice her opinions and fight for her life is she needs to. I loved her dreams/nightmares and the way that they foreshadowed events to come. Coming up a close second in running for best character is Sir Reginald Pollywog Newcastle III, a little Scottie dog with a big personality and a rather large secret. My only critisism in these characters is that I never really found myself empathising with them, apart from Stephanie.

The ending was certainly the best part, and is particularly interesting if you happen to know a little bit about Norse mythology. The climax is huge and the scenes really keep you reading. However, it does tail off at the end with a couple of funny scenes and a fairly unexpected revelation.

All in all an entertaining read, but it did confuse me a little bit at the start and the middle as the plot got more complex. I think it was just a little too explanation heavy to begin with and that might have been why. It is definitely something for fans of Good Omens, as the style and the subject matter is similar, but it is is no way a rip off. It wasn't quite for me, but anyone who likes a good adventure and books that adult mythological retellings would definitely enjoy this book.

Thank you to the author who kindly gifted me a copy of this novel. This has not affected my rating.

Kyra_x

Review: Guarding Angel - S. L. Saboviec

Guardian Angel Enael has always had trouble connecting with her humans, that is, until she meets the charismatic Kaspen and he teaches her how to understand them. Unfortunately, Kaspen has secrets of his own, and one very big problem in the shape of a former lover, Yasva. When Yasva falls from heaven and becomes a demon, Enael and Kaspen are thrown into peril, along with their humans. Yasva will stop at nothing to get Kaspen back, one way or another, and with her abilities as muse, she gets stronger every day. Yasva has big plans for the world, and it seems that it is up to Kaspen and Enael to stop her.

I loved the idea of this novel; the way that Saboviec has blended traditional ideas of heaven and hell in the Christian sense and mixed them with religions from all over the world. She has taken all the ideas of angels and woven them into a tapestry that blends in perfectly to the story. I loved the way that the angels were ranked, giving new life to old terms such as Seraphim, Nephilim, Archangels, Cherubs, Muses and Guardians, and giving new stations to angels that would be essential to the running of the heaven system. In this book, everyone goes to heaven unless they choose not to, and here humans are reincarnated into other lives to enrich their souls. This makes sense of the feeling of purpose we try to have in our lives. I also liked the fact that hell still exists in this version of life and death, but here the lines are blurred; demons are not always evil. It added another dimension to the book and helped with the overall story, especially the idea of the fearlings.

Enael and Kaspen were very interesting characters. As much as I liked them and understood them, I never really loved them. Maybe they were too far removed from my human state at first, because they both seemed to go through human lives without honestly caring, and their emotions worked in a very different way to my own. However, I did like them more when they began to take control of their own destinies and made their own decisions. Perhaps that is why I felt much more drawn to Yasva. I completely understood her motives, her actions and her words. Everything about her just made sense to me, and she felt like a much more real character.

Another point to make is the romance. Angels seem to love differently to humans and therefore it was a slow, steady kind of relationship. This is fine; I liked that there was no insta-love, and I liked the way the feelings came slowly. However, I never truly saw any spark. Their love was tentative and to be honest, it was more of a companionship than a relationship.

Guarding Angel is a nice read, but I thought it might have been more suitable for me as a holiday book due to the languorous style of the writing. The style was good, but the pacing was slow, even the end, which got slightly more into the action. I can see a lot of potential for the second book, with the biggest focus being on the structure of heaven and control over Earth's plan.

The cliffhanger wasn't so huge that you were gobsmacked. In fact, I expected it. You could see the end coming and you kind of knew what would happen in the end. However, the way the climax weaved its-self into historical events was very well executed; it really lent a sense of place and time, which I felt was missing earlier in the book. I do wonder what will happen during the inevitable struggle in the second Fallen Redemption book, and with Voctic yet to make an appearance, my guess is that it's something to so with his tea shop in Asia.

Overall, this was a good read, suitable for people who prefer smoothly flowing books and different takes on heaven, hell and the afterlife. A must read for someone who loves books about angels.

Guarding Angel on Goodreads

Thank you to S.L. Saboviec for gifting me a review copy of Guarding Angel. This has in no way affected my rating of this book.

Kyra_x

This is The End

A group of actors find themselves in the midst of the apocalypse with now way out. They must every ounce of courage and brains that they have, and unfortunately there's not much to go around.

This movie is absolutely packed with stars; not only is there Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco and Jonah Hill as part of the main cast, there are appearances from Emma Watson, Paul Rudd, Channing Tatum, Rihanna and Micheal Cera as well, along with many more that I can't remember. That is one of the major selling points for the movie, and the other is that they are all playing themselves, after a fashion. You seriously begin to doubt that they are all the terrible people they claim to be, and that their real reactions to the apocalypse would be to do a load of drugs and make home videos, but hey, it would pass the time.

The main plot is pretty straightforward; all the celebs are at a party in James Franco's house when the end of the world hits. Most of the guests run outside to see what is happening and are killed by the giant hole that opens up next to the house. Fires begin to blaze everywhere and our protagonists get back inside sharpish. They try to survive now, splitting rations of food and trying to save water, while outside beasts roam the earth, hunting down those who are doomed to hell.

This is a very dark kind of comedy, full of drugs, swearing, severed heads, demons and some pretty gross aspects to do with bodily fluids. Needless to say, this is definitely a film for people who like toilet humour and weirdness.

Although quite entertaining, I would not watch this again as it really is not to my taste humour-wise, so it gets a 3 out of 10.