Title: Unchained (Nephilim Rising #1)Author: J. Lynn
Release Date: September 17th, 2013
Publisher: Entangled (Edge)
Age and Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 400
Source: for review from publisher
Between the pissed off creatures that want demon-hunter Lily Marks dead and the fallen angel who just...wants her, Lily is about ready to trade in forever for a comfy job in a cubicle farm.
The fact that she and Julian are civil to one another is enough to have her thrown out of the Sanctuary, but she can't shake her not-so-angelic stalker or how he brings her dangerously close to ecstasy.
Her forbidden relationship with Julian provides the perfect fuel for suspicion when a traitor is discovered to be working within the Sanctuary. Lily quickly finds herself hunted by well, everyone.
Her only hope is to discover the real traitor before she loses everything--and she'll need Julian's help. That is, if Julian is really there to help her...and not destroy her.
Yeah, being a Nephilim isn't everything it's cracked up to be.
I've probably been waiting for this book for about two years now or something like that. It was announced AGES ago and I was so upset last year when they moved it to this year instead. This was one of Jen's early books ever, and to be honest, it was pretty obvious as her writing has really improved since then. Even though this wasn't the best JLA book (probably right up there Cursed for the least fav for me), I still pretty enjoyed it and would recommend it to other JLA fans.
Lily was a character I really loved! She was just so awesome and feisty and brave and can really hold her own in front of others. Even though she's like tiny, her personality really makes up for it! She's got some of the best lines in this book and as always with Jen's main character, Lily is someone you're going to root for. Though I must say, she's a bit too naive and there was one where I was like "Can't you see?!?!? All the evidence are right there in front of you woman!!!"
Julian fell a little bit flat for me. Compared to Daemon and Aiden and Hunter, this guy just couldn't stand a chance. Hell no. And what's up with the stalking?! That was so not romantic and reminded me of Edward you know who. So creepy. That thing aside, he was very genuine to Lily, and was really protective and supportive of her. Julian made her see what she didn't want to. I think they both bring out the best in each other. The scenes were EXTRA hot and definitely the steamest of Jen's books so far! Romantic fans are gonna love this one.
Must warn you now - this book has multiple POVs. Third persons and all that. I thought we were just getting Lily's (which I preferred to be honest) but then we got more character's POVs. And I just didn't like that. I knew it helped in some scenes, but overall I just didn't like the other characters too much to enjoy reading their POVs.
The whole angel and Nephilim thing was really interesting and different to all the other angel books I've read before. Yes, there was a lot of info-dumping and boring history lessons in the first half, but the second half kinda makes up for it. I can't wait to see where the author is going to take this story next. I must say, I did kinda guess who betrayed them in the very beginning, but then I suspected someone else and then went back to the original person and yes I was right. I didn't want to be right though! :(
So, while this won't be on my favourites list, I will definitely read the next book in this promising series and I need more Julian/Lily time now! :)
3.5 rating.
Totally agree with you on this one! And yeah I guessed it really early on too, which I didn't like because I felt it was a little predictable. But I didn't wanna be right either :/
ReplyDeleteI loved Lily too and I do hope she and Julian both grow as characters in the next book. Great review, Jana :)