It starts out with a big meeting with the, essentially, crime lord Kaden and his strongman, Dianna. She is immortal and became his flunky to help save her sister who also is now immortal. During this part Amber V Nicole world builds slowly so that one becomes totally immersed in what is happening. Kaden is looking for a fabled book called ‘The Book of Azrael’. It is said to contain instructions on how to kill a god, and only him and his flunkies believe it to be real.

The narrative then switches to Samkiel, a god[2]. His world is completely different. This part was a bit lofty, and I had to listen to it twice to figure out what the hell was going on. When he finally shows up in Dianna’s world, it all comes together. She gets captured by Liam and his ‘celestials’ and that is where the plot begins to build. They team up to try to bring down Kaden She sees how toxic her relationship had been and sees how different Liam[3] is. Throughout the plot, Dianna is constantly trying to protect her sister. She gave her immortal soul for her after all. Any choice she makes is one to try to keep Gabriella safe. Things get complicated between Liam and Dianna (of course, this is a romantasy after all) and they must face the sacrifices they are both willing to make to ensure everyone survives.

The relationship Amber V Nicole creates between Kaden and Dianna is a fantastic (and devastating) example of an emotionally abusive relationship. When she can “get permission” to visit her sister, she is chronically checking her phone to make sure she didn’t miss any communication with Kaden She is paranoid and can never truly be relaxed with him looming in her life. It establishes the difference between him and Liam as Dianna gets closer to the later. When shit hits the fan they regret/don’t regret decisions they made to help one another. The internal battles the two face is what I imagine it would really be like if someone decides to sacrifice something for someone. The guilt and blame are palpable. And the various plot twists and character reveals were great and not predictable.[4] I enjoyed this book and look forward to continuing the series, though I have to wait a while before the next graphic audio is out.

[1]Mostly because my best friend read it and discussed a disturbing scene and I decided it just wasn’t for me. And this is someone who dived into BUTCHER AND BLACKBIRD with enthusiasm AFTER reading the extensive content warning at the beginning.

[2] Or Liam as he is later known.

[3] Samkiel

[4] To me, at least. I think I am a writers dream cause I rarely guess plot points correctly before they are revealed.