Customer Reviews

Strange Angel

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

 

 

Strange Angel by Adam P. Knave does something that is becoming more and more unusual, he has written a book like nothing i have ever seen before(I read a lot, plots start seeming to repeat themselves). His characters have depth, the plot is genuinely interesting, and the voice in which it is written is captivating. The fact that the plot takes so many turns and yet doesn't leave trailing unresolved threads made me happy. You open this book(or turn on your kindle) and the story reaches out to grab your heart and mind, taking them on a strange journey that will live in your mind even after you close the book on the final page.

For those of you who do not like alot of vulgar language, this book is NOT for you, Susie tends to swear left and right and while it did not bother me too much, it may be a bitt crass for some of you, just a little warning.

Back to the Review:

Susie Sparrow has one hell of a life! Through almost unfortunate circumstances she has merged with the angel Ferapont (Susie likes to give him little nicknames like Pooky and PowerPoint, i giggled at these)
I immensly liked the relationship between Susie and Ferapont, Susie the trash talking, actions first teenager and Ferapont the calm, rational angel worked well together, they balanced out each others strong and weak points and made the story flow very nicely.

There is alot of death in "Strange Angel" and graphic, bloody scenes. What could you expect from a teenager with firey wings and can use fire as a weapon? She cant throw fireballs but she can make her internall temperature rise and fall, she learns how to channel that to a weapons (of her choice, which is usually whatever she happens to pick up) and the item will turn into a firey weapon of destruction that will not burn or melt when Susie holds it but once she lets go its gone.

About 60% into the book, it shifts perspectives. I wont give anything away but its like reading a whole new book, and i suppose it is since this is a compilation of all three novels in the series and another short story. It was unexpected but continued on nicely.

Lastly, I want to just say a bit about the cover. The title "Strange Angel" is all well and good, but the cover, the angel on front made me think "Is this going to a be a Jesus book?" since I honestly like to stay away from those. Thankfully, it was not and it was a very enjoyable read. Proof that you can't judge a book by its cover!

I just loved Susie Sparrow, the Angel, and C's [I won't spoil it for you :] dangerous and incendiary rush through a town overrun by the possessed. The character integration and detail was wonderful and enjoyable. I was instantly captivated by the story line and read the entire book in one sitting (all 270+ pages).

I'd love to see C [again, I won't spoil the story line] built into a longer series. And I think the last few chapters are a great starting off point...

So, if you want Buffy the Vampire Slayer & Firestarter all wrapped up into one package that's about to explode, then this is the book for you. :)

I really enjoyed reading this book. Adam P. Knave does a great job creating this world of demons invading this teenager's otherwise happy little suburb. Insightful and often funny, I really loved reading it.

I wound up reading Adam Knave's Strange Angel twice: this is a complex, ambitious book. It's a rare book that I read twice in a row: I needed that, for this, to get my head all the way around it.

Knave does interesting things in this book -- what first starts out as a kind of broken teenager wish-fufillment tale (girl's getting raped, she gets possessed by an angel that allows her to fight off the attack -- we're about 3 pages into the text at this point, so that's not exactly a spoiler) really morphs into something other. It's a horror novel, with all that entails -- the body count's impressive, and Knave does a good job at making the reader care about at least some of the corpses -- but there's a lot more going on here.

There's a lot of social commentary in the book, beautifully phrased, by and large: Knave is at his best when he's really cynical.

There's also something really `meta' about Strange Angel: I'd be lying if I didn't find myself thinking of Buffy while reading parts of this, but a different Buffy, who is both more and less real than the Wheedon creation, who shares some of the pathos but none of the advantages. Parts of the plot are confusing: you have to pay attention or you miss important bits -- but that's also par for the course for the genre.

What's not par for the course is the later twists and turns, one of which changed the entire direction of the plot in an unexpected and disconcerting way: the shock to the reader's system is strong, but well worth it. Knave's got a gift, and I wouldn't be surprised to see his name become far well better known among the horror community.

The book makes you think: it's a marked step above popcorn fare, and if you're a horror fan, you'll find enough in the way of established tropes to make this comfortable reading and more than enough in the way of unexpected twists to make you glad you picked up the book.

I enjoyed all the Strange Angel novellas, but this is a heavenly way to revisit Susie's world of Demons who need to be tamed--and go much further into that world. Our Ms. Sparrow is anything but a true angel. She's young but to her and our surprise tough and resilient--and fun to watch as she deals with saving the world, her annoyance at being forced to deal with that job, and being taken over by a "helper." Susie spreads her flaming wings and does what's right, and takes us along on quite a wild and exciting ride. Shades of Buffy, but far more amusing.