Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: No Shadows Fall
SERIES: Archangel Chronicles #3
AUTHOR: L.J. LaBarthe
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 262 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 27, 2014
BLURB:
Sequel to No Surrender, No Retreat
Archangel Chronicles: Book Three
Newly bonded Archangels Michael and Gabriel are torn from their idyllic island retreat by the singing of hymns heralding stunning news: Gabriel’s ancient foe, Semjaza, has escaped from his prison in the stars and now seeks revenge and utter conquest.
With the wisdom of Archangel Raziel to guide them and help coming from the most unlikely of quarters, Gabriel and Michael join with the Brotherhood of Archangels to hunt Semjaza down and finish him once and for all. Because Semjaza’s return to Earth doesn’t threaten just Gabriel and his loved ones—it threatens the whole of humanity.
But even more danger lurks in the shadows, threatening the Brotherhood from within. If Gabriel and Semjaza finally face each other in single combat, will Gabriel survive the contest, or will Michael lose his one true love?
REVIEW:
Book three of the Archangel Chronicles takes up right after the second book ended and continues the story with a near seamless transition. After looking over the glossary of main characters in the beginning as a refresher, I dove right into the story and it was as if I’d never taken a break between books two and three. In this installment, the Angels find themselves having to deal with Semjaza, a Grigori that had been imprisoned for thousands of years inside a star. Now that he’s free, he’s determined to mete out punishments and revenge in equal measure against anyone he feels has wronged him, starting with Gabriel, the one responsible for locking him up.
The story itself moved at a really good pace, much like the previous books, and it was really nice getting to see parts of the story from Semjaza’s perspective. I found I was a bit disappointed, however, in that I didn’t get to see more of that; I think it would’ve made the story stronger to have seen some of his revenge plans come to fruition instead of just seeing him make plans and begin to consolidate his position. Regardless of this, and my little issue with the author continuously telling us how beautiful Ishtahar is (really, its been said in every book so far, I got it) I enjoyed this book more than I did the previous two books. I adored being able to see another one of the couples besides Gabriel and Michael (Raziel and Uriel could quickly become two of my favorites, I think) and the way was opened to introduce more new characters further on the form of the Nephilim.
The fighting near the end of the book was a little less prominent than I originally thought it would be but it was easy to follow if a little underwhelming to me. I did enjoy the fact that there was a twist I hadn’t been expecting and that the way the book ended was an actual ending, not a segue into the fourth book so if you decided not to continue with the series at this point, there isn’t a cliffhanger. Like I said, I enjoyed the book quite a bit aside from some small nitpicky things and I’ll certainly continue on with the series. If you’ve read the first two books you’ll most likely enjoy this one as well but if you haven’t read the series I’d recommend starting at the beginning as they really do need to be read in order to get the most out of them.
RATING: 
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