Reviewed by PizzyGirl

TITLE: For A Glance

SERIES: The Serpent’s Throne Trilogy Book 1

AUTHOR: Dan Ackerman

PUBLISHER: Acquitted Books

LENGTH: 211 Pages

RELEASE DATE: October 1, 2018

BLURB:

This new m/m saga by Dan Ackerman expresses Ackerman’s familiar languid sensitivity, sensuality, and charm, featuring Lucifer, who first appeared in What Everyone Deserves (2017 Rainbow Award honorable mention), now in his own novel.

As the king of Hell, Lucifer’s role is mainly bureaucratic–sorting souls, managing unruly demons, and dealing with the politics of Heaven. A demon sneaks a human lover into Hell, leaving Lucifer conflicted, and with an opportunity for revenge against his enemies back on Earth.

Meanwhile, at a brothel, Lucifer meets Ira, a lovely gray demon. Starting a romance is difficult with his life in constant turmoil and when there are souls to save that don’t want saving. Mundanity and horror mix in a sprawling, alluring hellscape.

REVIEW:

This book stumped me. I really enjoyed it, but at the same time, I was kinda bored and I can’t quite say why. I mean on the surface, there was everything I needed to really love this tale, but I just didn’t feel that compelling NEED to keep reading.

I really loved this take on Satan and the fallen and Hell. It was unique and yet not.. The author painted a picture of a hell that sought to mirror human society earth in many ways while also being oddly evil in an acceptable way. The design of the 9 districts still referenced the 9 circles of hell, but also pulled in many characteristics of historical human society that Hell actually came across as mundane. So again I am stumped on how to feel because I did appreciate the uniqueness of the design while I also felt like the focus was too often on the normality of it all. And maybe that was the point and I just missed it.

The characterization in place was also very unique and yet not. Sata was this anathema. He was Satan with all the evil and monstrous abilities and desires. But he was also quite human with all the same wants and desires. He just wanted to be loved for who he was and to have someone to love in return. He was always surrounded by creatures, yet he was very lonely. His cat obsession was hilarious. I absolutely LOVED his humanity and his flaws and was rooting for his happiness. But he was also utterly annoying in that he was selfless to the point of being a doormat sometimes. Both he and Ira had personality traits that I find hard to deal with in real life and so it took away from some of my enjoyment of the story.

Ira was a character I wanted to like and mostly did, but there was a part of me that just could not connect to him. He was such a broken creature that I felt so much sympathy for him. I wanted him to stand up and take something, anything for himself! I wanted to hold him and make sure he was treated with respect and dignity. But he never really got to a point where he could do those things. And maybe it’s because this is book 1 in a trilogy and he just hasn’t had the time to develop, but he was offered the world and wanted many things, but was too timid to ask for it until pushed. Probably more issues because of my impressions than issue from the character himself.

Finally, the plot was good and yet I was a bit bored. I felt like there was a lot of world building going on and a good bit of romantic plot, but in the end, I kept thinking things were just moving too slowly. Was I engaged and interested? Absolutely. Was I interested in discovering who Satan really was and what he wanted in life? You bet. Was I strung along needing a HEA for the Ira/Satan romance? Oh hell yes I was. But do I want these things badly enough to continue this trilogy? I don’t know.

And that’s the crux of this whole review. This book was good and there was sooo much i found fascinating. But I was never compelled to NEED more and still don’t understand why this needs to be drawn out into a trilogy. Maybe book 2 will help me better understand things.

RATING: 

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