Book Review - The Book of Azrael by Amber Nicole

The Book of Azrael by Amber Nicole

Booktok did not disappoint me with this book recommendation. Oh my god, I cannot express how impressed I was by this book. I've read so many fantasy romance books at this point that very little surprises me anymore, but the plot of this book left me questioning at every step. I'm usually good at predicting what will happen storywise, but I was consistently surprised by what happened in the storyline of The Book of Azrael. 

The Book of Azrael starts with Dianna, a girl who essentially traded herself into an endless contract with a monster in order to save the life of her sister. This monster, Kaden, essentially turned Dianna into a monster when they made the contract, and now demands that she does everything he bids and in exchange, she can sometimes see her sister. She is basically Kaden's second in command because she is the only person that Kaden was able to successfully turn into a monster known as an Ig'morruthen. One of the things Dianna is tasked with is finding an ancient relic, known as The Book of Azrael. Along her journey to find this relic, she comes face to face with a well-known god named Samkiel who is called World Ender since his homeworld was destroyed during his reign. After that happened, Samkiel went into hiding and began calling himself Liam (for the sweetest reason ever). So, Dianna and Liam come face to face and Dianna is taken in and tortured for information. After revealing nothing, they attempt to move her to a different location however Kaden's men come looking for Dianna. However, during her rescue, Dianna sympathizes with Liam's people and ends up killing someone on her own side, betraying Kaden. She then teams up with Liam to fight for his cause. What follows is an epic tale where they are led on a fox chase to find The Book of Azrael in which they learn that they are not as different as they may seem.

I cannot explain how much love I have for these characters. I honestly don't know if I've ever loved characters more. Dianna starts out as a morally gray villain who does bad things but only because she truly believes she doesn't have any other choice. But what she secretly wants is a normal life with her sister, and to find true love. Liam, on the other hand, is a guilt-ridden tortured soul who believes that the best thing for everyone is to isolate himself. The relationship between Dianna and Liam was literally perfect. I have never read anything in which the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers trope was better executed. Along the way they both helped each other heal and become better versions of themselves 

I was truly shocked by the ending of this book and cannot wait to dive into the next book.