Claire Delacroix - Fallen

The Eyes of the Republic are Everywhere.
When her estranged husband's mysterious death is declared an accident, Lilia Desjardins knows that it is a lie. She leaves all she knows to risk the dark heart of the Republic -- only to find that she herself has been targeted by forces unknown.
Adam Montgomery will do anything to complete his earthly mission, even if he has to tangle with the enigmatic Lilia Desjardins. But when his contact is murdered and he must rely on Lilia’s silence to save him from the slave dens, Adam knows that his wings were only the first sacrifice required of him.
As danger and intrigue surround them, Lilia and Adam realize that they must work together -- body, mind, and soul -- in order to save the world.

Comment: Another PNR/UF book I had in the pile for years. I've tasked myself the reading of at least two of these books per month which have been languishing in the pile, so that I can get it over with, whether it's a good or a not so good read. Sadly, this one wasn't addictive as I hoped for.

In this book, the world is a complex and terrifying place, the result of nuclear wars and radiation. Some areas of the planet are livable, others not so much, but always some people fight against the tyrannical governments which arose from chaos. In such a state lives Lilia, who wants to find out why her husband was killed in a radioactive zone and his body cut. She knows investigating might be risky but she just has to know what happened. 

Adam Montgomery is an Angel in disguise, whose wings were clipped so he could blend in. He knows his mission is dangerous and if he dies as human, he won't return to his angel status, he will only be another soul in Heaven. Nevertheless, he and his fellow angels want to protect humans and especially the innocent ones, including the "shades" who have weird mutations and differences, deeming them "inferior" or without rights. When Adam and Lilia meet, they are both wary of one another but equally attracted. Can they join forces to discover who might have killed her husband?

I think the idea of this book (and series) is actually quite good. Not truly original, but interesting enough to make me curious to see how the author would develop things. I was even more interested since this author also writes as Deborah Cooke, whose dragon PNR books I enjoyed a lot. However, the aim here didn't make me think romance, but more UF and I can't help but saying some chapters were quite boring to me.

I liked the story's idea. No matter the details, the classic trope of good vs evil, whatever the shape used, is a guarantee that we will want to root for some characters, even if the conflict is only the search for solutions or peace. Thinking of this, I would say the story line here is pretty basic but, unfortunately for me, the content wasn't as appealing as I imagined. The writing isn't bad nor difficult, but the plot choices and the characters as a whole just didn't wow me. I think the story could have been more engaging with the reader, in the sense that I wish we could have more positive elements to counterbalance the obviously despairing vibe of the world these people live in.

I also liked the story includes angels in disguise but to be honest, not much is shared abut them beyond the generic. They are portrayed as these amazing bus distant beings, and living among humans can only be their downfall if they develop feelings, so it was a bit annoying to have to accept this when everyone could have been done in a less basic manner, or the author could have given them all more complex personalities or a more likable hierarchy or something, to make them more approachable.

Adam is characterized as special, simply because throughout his mission, he does develop feelings for Lilia but for the life of me I can't understand why if all their interactions were superficial and even their monologues stuck mostly to plot details or the very basic lust. The romance part clearly felt underdone to me and knowing about the author's work in PNR, I think she could have done a more balanced job of it here too. Adam never really felt alive to me, I didn't really connect with him, but I was even less impressed by Lilia.

She is a good person, so likable enough, but I think her good qualities don't mean she is an easy character to like reading about. Adding the fact she is often doing things that might be unlawful or complicated because it has to be secretive, made me think of her as a hidden super heroine, and I feel I only got to know her for her secrets and her goals. I feel her character and personality weren't very well fleshed but perhaps that was just my impression.. I should say she has some pain and sadness following her over some events in her past, so I guess this can be seen as depth, but not enough to win me over.

The world in this post apocalyptic series can't be cute and joyful, I understand. But it's all just on tones of bleakness and while this is realistic to the information we get, I still wish the author had introduced other elements to make things more appealing too. For instance, instead of just focusing on the bad and offering small glimpses of hope, why not set this at a time that the world had already gotten a more stable structure? The story itself isn't bad, but I struggled to feel interested in the people, both good guys and bad guys and everyone else.

I probably won't read the rest of the original trilogy intended, nor the other two stories which followed them.

Grade: 4/10