Review: Storyline was Captivating
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 09 18, 2013
SPOILERS AHEADI was hooked from the first sentence onward. I'm a slow reader and I finished this book in about two sittings. The storyline was captivating, writing was decent and the characters were intriguing.I loved the idea of a soul reading tattoo artist, soul mates, and the bonus of people with wings. There's lots of fighting and a couple sex scenes (yes, one does shatter glass). The writing wasn't the best I'd seen, but wow, I loved the imagery.In the book, Serenity struggled with her mother's abandonment of her and her father's apparent suicide. Later, she found out the true reason her mother left their family and that her father was actually murdered, but hadn't found out where her mother gone to or who killed her dad. I look forward to figuring out this little mystery!I had this weird love/hate relationship with the characters.I don't get book boyfriends that often. I gained one with 'Kindred of the Fallen'. Cassian... *sighed dreamily and gazed off into the distance* Could I be his soul mate, please?Overall, I dislike Cyrus, Serenity's soul mate. He was very possessive, to the point where he wanted to control Serenity's thoughts and actions. There was even some dub-con elements too (if you look at it that way) when he had unprotected sex with Serenity to only get her pregnant, and even ordered his wards to take away her birth control without her knowledge. Cyrus stalked Serenity before formally meeting her. I feel bad that I do not like Cyrus since he was a major part of the novel, but there you go.Serenity, I flip-flopped on. The novel was basically her journey, discovering that Cyrus and the Kindred, so you empathize with her. I did enjoy her overall, but some moments I wanted to scream at her for being stupid.Abaddon, though not well-developed, was probably my favorite character. He was always stoic, and sarcastic. I loved him. I will enjoy seeing more from him in the future and seeing how his character develops (maybe see him crack a smile).Talus was the more rebellious sister of Cassian. I hated her for the majority of the novel until a certain event happened (yes, I know I labeled this with Spoilers but that doesn't mean that I will give everything away). After that event I grew to understand her more and even like her.I honestly didn't really feel anything for Serenity's ex, Evan, other than that I felt bad for him getting dumped, and that he was crazy.The author didn't explain clearly what the Kindred were. They're not aliens, not Gods, not humans, nor higher beings. All of those options were ruled out in the novel. But... then what were they? Rushdan also didn't explain Serenity's soul reading ability (since it seemed that none of the other Kindred had this gift).There was a handy dandy glossary in the back to explain the different houses, the Kindred words, etc. Yet that's the problem. The book was done, over. It would have been better if the glossary was in the beginning of the novel, so it was in the forefront of my mind as a reference I could return to, instead of a 'surprise' explanation of things. An alternative could be using footnotes.I look forward to reading the sequel, 'Protectors of the Flame'.~I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a honest review.~-Books A to Z Book Blog