Customer Reviews

Angel Falling Softly

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I consider calling Angel Falling Softly a mockery (of Mormonism, LDS doctrine, LDS culture) to be odd in the extreme. It is, in fact, a story about a woman's relationship with God; it is the furthest thing from a mockery. People who covenant with God are usually not squeaky-clean individuals carrying out squeaky-clean agendas with squeaky-clean results. Such men and women are real, flawed individuals who fight and argue and weep and (even) bargain with God. God, as He points out to Job, is big enough to take it; so is the God of Angel Falling Softly (nowhere in the novel does the narrator/author state that any of the characters know God's mind absolutely and are thus, automatically, carrying out God's will). Redemption doesn't happen easily. It doesn't happen over night. It doesn't happen in 236 pages, and it certainly doesn't happen without people making some fairly awful decisions to begin with.

SPOILER ALERT:

In fact, the book ends on a remarkably judicious note. Characters who were heading in a spiritually unhealthy direction, end facing in a spiritually healthier direction. I am not referring to Rachel, who pays a serious and heart-breaking price for her decision. What God thinks of that decision, the author humbly does not attempt to answer.

In conclusion, and getting to the vampire element of the novel, I consider the assumption that Rachel, for all her flaws and justifications, has "damned" her child to be faintly ridiculous. The original Dracula by Bram Stoker does link vampires to damnation and is about as replete with sexual imagery and allusions as a Victorian novel can be, but it hardly makes sense to refute the sexual link yet adopt Stoker's theory of damnation. Nowhere does the author imply that Miladi is anything more or less than a flawed, even sinful, daughter of God who has managed to overcome (to a degree) a horrific past. Nor does the author imply that her condition is anything more than a rather troubling disability (and, yes, seemingly unending mortality can be a troubling disability, a view that is in keeping with LDS doctrine). I agree with previous reviewers that the description of Miladi's "disease" is incomplete. I also agree that the sex scenes may seem overly detailed (as an active Mormon, I did not find them troubling, but I realize others might) although I consider them necessary to the plot and to character development. However, I find previous reviewers' apparent disgust and anger that Angel is somehow deceptive to be unfair to the author, the publisher and to the true hardiness and depth of LDS doctrine.

Here's a collection of reviews from several well-respected authors and critics:

William Morris, founder of the literary blog A Motley Vision: Mormon Arts and Culture:

In melding the vampire genre with Mormon literary fiction, Eugene Woodbury has created a hybrid that is startling, fresh, insightful, and heartbreaking.

What's remarkable about Angel Falling Softly isn't just that Woodbury does something new with vampire themes or that he provides a complex, touching portrait of a Mormon mother desperately trying to save her terminally ill child. It's that he weaves these elements together with well-deployed literary allusions and quotations (often Biblical) that add substance to the questions raised about belief, redemption, desire, sin and death.

The novel is insistently literary while being solidly genre-based. What most amazed me is that he pulls it all off without violating the supernatural and metaphysical boundaries of Mormonism or of the vampire genre. He plays the two worlds against each other in a way that maximizes reading pleasure and says something new about the Mormon experience.

Angela Hallstrom, author of the novel Bound on Earth:

This tale of two women--one a vampire, the other a bishop's wife--is more than a good read. It is a provocative meditation on life and death that will leave readers both satisfied and unnerved. It kept me reading, and it kept me guessing.

C. L. Hanson, blogger and novelist:

Woodbury captures human relationships with realism and depth of feeling. He also paints a warm and homey portrait of Utah Mormon culture as seen from a sophisticated worldly perspective. All this is woven into a suspense-filled tale of a dangerous friendship as two women--born lifetimes apart--find the desperate courage to bet it all.

Moriah Jovan, novelist:

This isn't just a vampire story. It's a character study of the things Latter-day Saints might do when pushed into a corner with no apparent way out. The theme of the entire book can be summed up in one line: "Christians claim to believe in eternal life. So why are you so afraid of death?" Woodbury does nothing the easy or expected way in this story. There are a lot of questions and almost no answers--and I liked that. More, please.

Angel Falling Softly contains extraordinary writing and fine storytelling. Eugene Woodbury's brilliance and depth of knowledge is clearly evident. However, mixing LDS fiction with vampire fiction limits its appeal to a narrow audience. Congratulations to Woodbury for pulling off this bizarre combination of genres with flair and fangs.

Good read if you remember that it is entertainment. Ethical vampires and true believing Mormans interact. Both come out smarter and more able to come to terms with life.

Angel Falling Softly

By Eugene Woodbury

Vampires are people, too, with feelings just like us.

Well, almost.

Who says they should just hang out in the dark, remote region of Transylvania? Why not the suburbs of Salt Lake City, where they can learn the art of being a good neighbor, pay fast offerings, make passes at return missionaries, and bring children back from the dead?

Why not?

I've had the chance to read reviews of "Angel Falling Softly," both pro and con. I've had friends refuse to review it. I wondered whether I should, but in my musings, the prism turned, and I saw the story a little differently than I did at first.

When I began reading this book with the mesmerizing cover, it was hard to put down. No matter what I was doing, I felt drawn to it. I even saw a slender, white haired young lady jogging around town, and thought of Milada Daranyi. (Is that a cool name, or what?)

About halfway through my reading, I realized this book was no fence sitter. Either you liked it, or you didn't. I know card carrying Mormons who would slurp it up like ice cream and ask for more. I know other card carrying Mormons who wouldn't get past the first arousal-before-blood-taking scene, which had my toes hanging over the line of acceptability, but pulled back before I tipped completely over the edge.

This book is not for everyone. Definitely not for anyone who can't question the sanity of a bishop's wife. In retrospect, the vampire. Milada, stuck to her morals, even showing an improvement over her early life when she became a vampire through no fault of her own. She goes to neighborhood barbecues. She shows compassion toward the original owner of a company she buys out. She no longer sucks people dry. And she can quote scripture as well as the bishop's wife. After all, she was around when the monks were writing it all down.

To her credit, Milada balks at the outrageous request of the bishop's wife. She doesn't want to do the thing that was done to her. But neighbors are supposed to help each other when they can, right?

If there is any recoil to the storyline of this book, it should not be against the vampire, it should be against the bishop's wife, who in her faithless, maniacal desperation to save her daughter, ends up losing her anyway. How ironic.

In other areas of the book, the stock market trading descriptions, though impressive, meant nearly nothing to me. The medical jargon was a little easier to follow, although it still seemed more obscure than I think it needed to be.

This is a highly imaginative novel. I would not put it on the shelf next to Gospel Doctrine, but it did have some interesting premises, such as the one the young daughter, Jennifer, put forth about vampires living such long lives (aging one year per century) so they have more time to prepare to meet God. Also, vampires in this book do not wither and die in the sun, nor do they sparkle. They get horrible sunburns that take at least three days to heal.

Angel Falling Softly was, to put it very, very mildly, a disappointment. The concept of the worlds of vampires colliding with the world of the Mormon faith sounded very intriguing. Sadly, what I discovered was little to no actual Mormon "faith" in this book.(Which is why I've decided to classify it as "mainstream fiction", rather than "LDS fiction").

If you are expecting any spiritual growth in the Mormon mother, Rachel, you will be sadly disillusioned by the end of this book. Rachel to the bitter end (and I do mean "bitter!") demonstrates more faith in the "eternal life of the "living dead (i.e., vampires)", than she does in the eternal life offered by God Himself. There is no discussion of the promise of a literal resurrection and the opportunity of being reunited with one's family with glorified bodies "forever and ever, worlds without end." There is absolutely no faith or trust in the superior Parental love of a Heavenly Father to care for a loved one's spirit after death, a child who was, after all, His daughter before she was Rachel's. To the very end of the book, Rachel, who presumably is meant to represent a "typical" Mormon mother (married to a bishop, presumably in the temple, though that is never addressed, either), appears much more bitter than faithful (i.e., full of faith) a challenge she never overcomes.

As for the vampires themselves, I scarcely know what to say. Their origins are so murky and their backstories so disjointed, that it's difficult to judge them one way or the other. One theme the author seemed to take some delight in, was a number of provocative vampire/lesbian themes, though the vampires actually appear to be more bi-sexual than strictly lesbian. And I'm not talking "just talk". I'm talking scenes sufficiently graphic that I would have quit reading the book then and there, had it not been for the alleged "LDS theme".

To be honest, if this book had been about any other character than a Mormon one, I would never have bothered to finish it. The only reason I kept reading, was (1) because the main character, Rachel, was LDS, and (2) I kept hoping (against hope, as it turned out), that Rachel would wake up and exert some actual faith in a loving God and the Plan of Salvation He's provided for our eternal happiness. Now that I've finished the book, I feel more manipulated than anything. The LDS "hook" is definitely what will keep LDS readers reading when, under any other circumstances, most would likely abandon this book well before the end. A calculated manipulation of LDS readers on the author's part is my suspicion.

I'm giving the book one star for such an "empty, faithless, utterly non-uplifting" story, but a second star because it was, to be honest, competently written. I thought the author made an over-the-top attempt to make the book sound "literary", when it could have been told much more straightforwardly. Example:

**Rachel was standing outside the Relief Society room waiting for Sunday School to conclude when Charlene Millington rushed up to her with such enthusiasm that Rachel had to restrain herself from pirouetting out of the way like a rodeo clown dodging a charging bull.**

Couldn't Charlene simply "rush up" with her news? Perhaps if the book had had a lighter tone, this line would have fit. But the attempted comedy of it fell flat in such a heavy-themed, and ultimately depressing story.

My ultimate recommendation? Don't waste your time on this book! However, if the premise sounds just too intriguing to ignore, then my follow-up recommendation would be not to waste your money on a "new" copy, but either borrow one from someone else (I'd be more than glad to give you mine, though hesitant to inflict it upon you), or buy a used copy for as cheap as you can.

Just don't say you haven't been warned

I found this book by doing my regular "Utah" keyword search. I have read just about every other series involving Vampires but this one tied in my home state as well. My husband is Military and we don't make it home all too often, reading this book made me feel like I was home. I could picture the places they talked about. I giggled out loud when I read "RC Willey". I enjoyed the book because it was very well written as well as the location. Any book that can make me feel like I am inside the book is good for me. I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes supernatural style books.

Angel Falling Softly gives a fresh twist to the traditional vampire story. The characters are vividly and honestly drawn. It's a sensual, immersive read; highly recommended.

This book strayed so far from any LDS values. It was full of sex scenes and I was unable to finish the book as I felt as if I was reading a porno. If you are looking for an uplifting LDS book, don't read this one.

I cannot believe this book was placed in the 'LDS Fiction' section. Although, the characters were supposedly LDS they did not espouse anything remotely close to LDS values. I feel like I was taken advantage of. This book was a major disappointment and I will no longer buy books from this publisher or the author.