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The Last Angel Warrior by John W. Wells IIIThe Kalib Andrews Chronicles #1
Published by Loud Fridge Publishing on October 5, 2020
Age Group & Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Source: Publisher
"I’m not going to be the good guy in this story. You should know that before you get the wrong idea. You’re probably expecting that I’m some kind of hero, or warrior, or chosen one. Yeah, I’ve heard it all before. But I’m not. I’m just a normal kid. Some would even argue that I’m evil, and I guess… I am. It’s complicated; you’ll see."
When Kalib Andrews imagined his sixteenth birthday, he never thought his adoptive parents would try to kill him. Or that he’d spend it running away from The Order - a secret society seeking the blood of the last Angel Warrior to raise a lost goddess.
Then again, Kalib never suspected that Angels, Demons, Nephilim, and Magicborne even existed. And he never - even in his wildest dreams - thought he was one of them!
Packed full of exhilarating action, suspense, mystery, and magic, this is the first book in an exciting series that will keep you on the edge of your seat. The Last Angel Warrior is the perfect read for fans of the Percy Jackson series and those who love young adult fantasy novels.
A copy of the book was provided for review purposes - thank you! Receiving a copy does not guarantee a positive review and therefore does not affect the opinion or content of the review.
I think I walked into The Last Angel Warrior with higher expectations than I should have because I walked out feeling way more disappointed. Angels, demons and magic? Running away from a secret society that wants to kill the protagonist so they can use his blood to raise a goddess? Adoptive parents being murderous?
Hell yes, sign me right up. I want to know all about this whole parents being murderous business.
God, I sound like an awful person. But anyways, I DNFed the book at 53%. 😔
Some Thoughts While Reading What I Did of The Last Angel Warrior:
Wells’ writing style didn’t flow well – The sentences often felt choppy, and sometimes even bland. I’ll give credit though: there were moments the novel had great lines, but I just felt like snoozing more often than not. I’m also not a huge fan of Kalib’s narration, but this one is more of a personal preference (and maybe a little of the writing style).
The Last Angel Warrior started out strong, but not beyond that – Seriously, can you get any stronger than “Two nights before my sixteenth birthday, my parents tried to kill me” as a first sentence? What the actual hell, tell me more!
Getting to that point and setting up the story, though… that’s where everything went downhill. It takes about roughly 40% of the book before things felt like they were picking up and we got to the part where Kalib’s world becomes a 180 and he finds out he’s not even human. Personally, I felt the set up could have cut down to maybe 20% and it would’ve been fine. And maybe if I had trekked through the rest of the book, I would have different thoughts.
I didn’t really care about the characters – I think I’ve forgotten most of them already while writing the review (rip) except for maybe two. Damien was a hoot, though, even if I sometimes hated him. Triston I half expected to break out in a villain song and dance with all his conspiracy theories. But in the grand scheme of things, I also didn’t care what happened to them. A hellcat could pop out and chomp them both in one bite and I wouldn’t notice.
The Last Angel Warrior has an interesting premise and strong start but fell short with the writing and slow build-up.
Sophia started blogging in February 2012 for the hell of it and is surprisingly still around. She has a GIF for nearly everything, probably listens to too much K-Pop and is generally in an existential crisis of sorts (she's trying her best). More of her bookish reviews and K-Pop Roundups can be found at The Arts STL.
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