Review: Shadows of the Soul by Angelique' Armae
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 02 20, 2012
Isabele Godfroie Heart is a Paradisian Scholar. A woman who both fights evil and translates ancient text,she is charged with keeping St. Gabriel's Abbey free of demons and other cursed entities. Isabele likes her job and is content working for the arch-angel Gabriel. What she isn't content about is the loss of her memory after a battle a few years previous.  All she knows is she had a brother. Everything else from her birth to recovery from her injuries is shrouded in mystery. What she does know for sure is that no one will help her recovery her memory.Sent from the Abbey by Gabriel to translate ancient text for a mysterious half-demon, Isabele finds herself drawn to him in ways she can't understand. Her distrust of the half-demon and those who surround him make team work nearly impossible.  Isabele doesn't know who to trust and because she is unable to trust the half-demon she places herself and those around her in jeopardy.I was intrigued by parts of this story.  Isabele was interesting and the story had some novelty.  The biggest problem I had with it was characters being introduced who contributed so little to the story and didn't really move the plot along.  Nor did these characters seem to have a background.  They just appeared leaving me wondering if I had missed something. At one point I thought I needed a spread-sheet just to keep the characters straight and to understand what powers they had.I also had a problem with the twists and turns in that I had them figured out long before the reveal and was not surprised at all.  It was too formula and "has been done before" too many times. I am also a tad tired of main characters who never talk to each other before something untoward happens. Really when you are fighting bad guys isn't it a good idea to mention to your partner in battle that you know they are coming?I gave this a 3 star and might have rated it a 4 if there had been any surprises for me at all.  While it's a fun read I wouldn't buy a sequel.Karen Bryant Doering