THE STORY:
Heartbreak. Vengeance. Fury.
Mercy is an exiled angel cast down to earth and forced to live out thousands of different lives for her own protection. Betrayed by her eternal love, Luc, Mercy burns with fury. The time of reckoning is here and now she must wage open war with Luc and his demons. Ryan’s love for Mercy is more powerful than ever, but loving an angel is mortally dangerous. As their two worlds collide, Mercy approaches her ultimate breathtaking choice. Hell hath no fury like Mercy ...
Mercy is an exiled angel cast down to earth and forced to live out thousands of different lives for her own protection. Betrayed by her eternal love, Luc, Mercy burns with fury. The time of reckoning is here and now she must wage open war with Luc and his demons. Ryan’s love for Mercy is more powerful than ever, but loving an angel is mortally dangerous. As their two worlds collide, Mercy approaches her ultimate breathtaking choice. Hell hath no fury like Mercy ...
MY THOUGHTS:
I've been reading a fair few angel books lately because my NaNo novel is about angels and it always gets me curious to know how a writer resolves the angel/human love equation. Unfortunately, I was severely disappointed with the way this book ended and it's a testament to Rebecca Lim's extraordinary way with words that I managed to finish reading this one at all.
The Plot:
I don't think I'm the only reader who has mentioned the anti climatic way Fury ended and how upset it made them after the incredible first three books in this series. I was three quarters of the way through when I finally realised what was bugging me so much. It was the phenomenon of a lot of doing but not much actually happening. In my opinion too much time was spent on the minor details, to the point where everything became mundane. Lim does an incredible job of building up the suspense but when it came down to the actual nitty gritty, I felt like the easy way out was taken and it all pitched on a word or a choice to be made rather than anything proactive on the part of the characters. I've always maintained that Lim is the only author I've read so far who has been able to convey the magnitude of what's at stake when angels are involved. To have so much build up only to have the ending fizzle out in a page felt like an insult.
The Characters:
This for me was by far the most disappointing aspect of Fury. Where I found Mercy to be a gritty, gutsy heroine in previous books, in Fury she came off as selfish and I'm so sad to say, a bit of a Mary-Sue. For all intents, she wasn't exactly blameless in her own exile and yet she and the other angels treated the situation like she was the one who was completely wronged. Almost all the other angels were her close friends or people who cared about her so much that they would give their lives for her. I counted at least three other angels who were in love with her for no reason that I could discern. She certainly was never described as being particularly beautiful, nice or caring. She of course had super special powers that the other angels couldn't fathom and was able to save everyone with a single word.
Then we come to Ryan. I so adored him in Mercy. He was a bit unbelievable but still charming in Exile and in Muse I was anxious for him to catch up to Mercy so that I could get a glimpse of what their relationship would be like when the two were finally able to spend more than a few minutes together. Now I wish their love was a tragic one that could never come to pass. There was a real disconnect between the Ryan that we were introduced to in the first book as opposed to the Ryan that surface in Fury. On the one hand, Lim did an amazing job of getting across how utterly useless humans are in the celestial fight between the warring angels. On the other, it thoroughly irritated me that despite not contributing in any meaningful way, Ryan became a whiny little girl intent on dragging at Mercy's coat tails until she gave in and risked many lives to allow him to follow her. The romance between the two verged on nauseating yet still managed to be essentially shallow.
The Final Verdict:
I know it doesn't sound like I enjoyed this book much and for the most part I did have to put it down and pick it back up again several times. The thing that saved it for me was the writing. Even though this wasn't my favourite book of all time I am going to miss the beautiful writing. If only the rest of the book was of similar quality.
The Plot:
I don't think I'm the only reader who has mentioned the anti climatic way Fury ended and how upset it made them after the incredible first three books in this series. I was three quarters of the way through when I finally realised what was bugging me so much. It was the phenomenon of a lot of doing but not much actually happening. In my opinion too much time was spent on the minor details, to the point where everything became mundane. Lim does an incredible job of building up the suspense but when it came down to the actual nitty gritty, I felt like the easy way out was taken and it all pitched on a word or a choice to be made rather than anything proactive on the part of the characters. I've always maintained that Lim is the only author I've read so far who has been able to convey the magnitude of what's at stake when angels are involved. To have so much build up only to have the ending fizzle out in a page felt like an insult.
The Characters:
This for me was by far the most disappointing aspect of Fury. Where I found Mercy to be a gritty, gutsy heroine in previous books, in Fury she came off as selfish and I'm so sad to say, a bit of a Mary-Sue. For all intents, she wasn't exactly blameless in her own exile and yet she and the other angels treated the situation like she was the one who was completely wronged. Almost all the other angels were her close friends or people who cared about her so much that they would give their lives for her. I counted at least three other angels who were in love with her for no reason that I could discern. She certainly was never described as being particularly beautiful, nice or caring. She of course had super special powers that the other angels couldn't fathom and was able to save everyone with a single word.
Then we come to Ryan. I so adored him in Mercy. He was a bit unbelievable but still charming in Exile and in Muse I was anxious for him to catch up to Mercy so that I could get a glimpse of what their relationship would be like when the two were finally able to spend more than a few minutes together. Now I wish their love was a tragic one that could never come to pass. There was a real disconnect between the Ryan that we were introduced to in the first book as opposed to the Ryan that surface in Fury. On the one hand, Lim did an amazing job of getting across how utterly useless humans are in the celestial fight between the warring angels. On the other, it thoroughly irritated me that despite not contributing in any meaningful way, Ryan became a whiny little girl intent on dragging at Mercy's coat tails until she gave in and risked many lives to allow him to follow her. The romance between the two verged on nauseating yet still managed to be essentially shallow.
The Final Verdict:
I know it doesn't sound like I enjoyed this book much and for the most part I did have to put it down and pick it back up again several times. The thing that saved it for me was the writing. Even though this wasn't my favourite book of all time I am going to miss the beautiful writing. If only the rest of the book was of similar quality.
THE RATING
3/5
Wow, the writing must be seriously good for it to save the book for you that much, Lan! And man, it's the worst when the author drops the ball on the final book--it always makes me want to go in and write my own ending!
ReplyDeleteHmm, I think I'll pass on this one, even if the writing is gorg. Thanks for the helpful review!
ReplyDeleteSo glad to see you posting reviews again, Lan! Sorry to hear this book didn't live up to its predecessors in the series. Why is it so hard to write a series where every book is as good as the first?
ReplyDeleteYou gave me the first book in this series, I'm pretty sure, for my birthday this year. I need to read that, although, I guess I don't have book 4 to look forward to. Sorry this sort of thing keeps on happening with books in long series. Maybe trilogies are the longest any series ought to run for.
ReplyDeleteThat's too bad this one didn't do it for you! I've had this series on my TBR, but I hate it when the last book isn't as good as the others.
ReplyDeleteHm. I'm not sure if I've picked up this series yet. I love the cover on it. Too bad the characters weren't up to par. I'm usually not a fan of MC's who seem pretty selfish. Too bad you didn't enjoy it as much :(
ReplyDeleteI've still only read the first one. It really saddened me to hear the series doesn't end well. :( I hate when series start out strong and then crash and burn. I'll still probably attempt to finish them someday. I'll just be prepared now.
ReplyDeleteI kind of want to read this to see what about the writing made it so good for you. I havent read any of these and I'm not sure if I will, there just seem to be too many books in the world and not enough hours to read them...
ReplyDeleteI think I've seen this series around. Glad to hear the first books were awesome, but I'm sorry about the sad finish. I feel the same as you about most angel books. The stakes don't usually seem epic enough. I've started a few angel series and the only one I've really connected with was Nalini Singh's. And even with that one, I think I loved a side-character's book more, Archangel's Blade. *Shrugs* I'd happily read your book, though :D.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great one!
Ninja Girl
I've definitely been meaning to pick up this series and give it a try. Ouch though. When a formerly kick-a character loses their mojo, it's always a sad day. We need more strong females in literature!
ReplyDeleteThat's always so sad to see when an ending book doesn't live up to the previous. :( Especially since you loved the writing so much. I don't think I'll be reading this series. I've never really been able to get into an angel book before. (Still need to read Angelfall, and I'm HOPING it will be the one that breaks that cycle.) Great review Lan!
ReplyDelete