Archangel's Blade (Guild Hunter Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

I feel very torn about this book. On the one hand I love the author's writing style and the relationship between the the leads is beautiful and pulls you right in. I won't dwell on this aspect as it has been well reviewed by the others and I agree with what they say for the most part.

Despite this, I can only give the book 3 stars. All of the archangel books have had a level of violence (as do the psy/ changeling books to a lesser extent) but this book really ramped it up, and at times I found it hard to read. This suprised me because I often read violent crime or horror books, but I think it was the way the violence was justified and essentially permitted. I accept that in this fictional world there is some need for the brutal behaviour of the male leads, but in the previous books Elena thought about these issues more, giving me a 'way in'. I appreciate that Dmitri had a hard time but I found him quite repulsive on occasion and this is not made okay by some loyalty to a friend and being unwilling to hurt children. There does have to be something about suspending belief when you read, but if you ever met Dmitri, or were on the wrong end of him, I doubt that romance would be on your mind. Perhaps all of this lends more of a realism to a genre which often skims over unpleasant aspects, but for me it was too much with no meaningful acknowlegement this behaviour is morally questionable. Honor seems to make much of the fact that Dmitri would never harm her, but there are passages that suggest that he has been involved in sexual situations with unwilling partners, which I would find impossible to accept in a partner (which is a shame as I was fascinated by Dmitri from the get go!).

I'm aware that many will disagree with my concerns, but this bothered me significantly and I wanted to highlight it for others who may have similar reservations.

I've read three previous guild hunter books and thought they were excellent. I was very exited about fourth book knowing it's about Dmitri who was my fav character. But I must say the book is truly dissapointing. I thought the story was rather weak and it took quite a long time comparing to other books to finish it. Somehow I didn't recognise Dmitri in this book, I know that he couldn't possibly stay as that cold,sexi,demanding, cruell, down to earth man cause it would be raher hard to fit romanse in it but there was nothing left from his personality in this book, especially in later chapters, he was so not like himself anymore, totally forgettable. His story was heartbreaking but i have a really hard time beliving he would be mourning his wife for nearly 1000 years, whatever happened. Nalini did a great job with Raphael who is cold, hard and dominating on one hand but has a soft spot for Elena on the other, it didn't work with Dmitri thought. Actually I prefer to remember Dmitri as this sexy, interesting, old vampire as he was in previous books. I didn't really like his story with Honor that much, and I knew it will be hard one to get right. Honor was a very plain character, Dimitri would just crashed her in the real life I suppose, she was likeable, but no way fitting girl for Dmitri.It somehow didn't feel right. And the sex scenes........more than dissapointing, what about that honey all over the place??? Because it's Dmitri I thought the sex will blow me away but actually it was boring and again it didn't feel like it's Dmitri, vampire with hundreds of years experience. I gave it 3 stars because overall it wasn't totally awfull, but certainly the weakest book in the series, and it's a real shame about Dmitri becoming this rather forgettable creature.

With each story Nalini Singh has always managed to sweep me away into another world and make me fall in love with her characters. But then there are those rare stories which just takes the reading experience to a whole other level. Archangel's Blade is sheer perfection where every story element comes together and blows my emotions out of this stratosphere! There wasn't a moment my attention faltered or where I felt a tinge of disappointment because plot or character development didn't work for me. The intrinsically layered story allowed the characters to soar in their journey where rip-roaring action and soul claiming passion ruled. I was encompassed by Dmitri and Honor's trials and tribulations from page one!

Dmitri is dark, unforgiving, arrogant, he is brutal and has strength to match it, and Nalini Singh keeps him that way. He is called Raphael's blade for a reason. I would almost call him an anti-hero but his backstory just sucker punched me. It doesn't make Dmitri all of a sudden a goody-two-shoe but it deepens his persona in a profound way. He is complexity to the nth degree and is a challenge no woman can ignore! Complex men don't make for easy loving and Honor is about to find out how true this is.

Honor is a blend of fierce temperament, courage and vulnerability. She had to overcome a vicious attack and is now taking back the reigns of her life. Honor is the kind of character who can completely take me in to the moment and let me feel her fear, her potent fury, her passion and her strength. She shows Dmitri her own claws even as she feels the fear. She owns her sensuality again even as Dmitri challenges her boundaries in this. Everything about Honor spoke to me.

A huge part of the appeal in Archangel's Blade is the interaction between Dmitri and Honor. Nalini Singh lets the exquisite sexual tension seep through in to the dialogues, the body chemistry and ultimately, the passion, which sets the pages ablaze! Watching that attraction evolve in to something so much deeper, essential and intense was quite the emotional roller coaster ride. The mystery brought external as well as internal struggles for Dmitri and Honor to deal with. It fused the plot and romance together to a point where it heightened the overall impact of the story. Early on there were small slivers of thoughts or feelings which made me connect certain dots and wonder about a possible plot twist Nalini Singh might have in store for us. My hunch gained more certainty as the story progressed and it drove home to an ending that had me in tears.

Next to Dmitri and Honor dealing with the mysteries and their sizzle and burn attraction there were a few other characters who I loved getting to know more. Sorrow for instance is a character with an acerbic tongue whom I liked on the spot. Venom , Illium, Jason, Raphael and Elena. They enlivened the dialogues even more with banter, humor or flat out arrogance or authority. They are larger-than-life personalities not of this world and they mesmerizes me. With each novel in the Guild-Hunter series I just fall more deeper for the core cast. It is something I love Nalini Singh for! She is able to put together such a memorable cast of characters and set them in a world you can't help but want to go back to the moment you've finished a story.

While Archangel's Blade absolutely wow-ed me it is partly because the writing voice of this author just makes me live and feel it all!

A sample of Nalini Singh's lyrical writing;

She'd taste of salt and wildflowers, intermingled with an earthy femininity that sang a siren song to the man beneath the civilized surface.

Or

The tenderness of the moment destroyed him, singing to parts of him he'd thought long dead.

This is the kind of lyrical writing which bursts in to vivid imagery in my mind's eye or conveys the intensity of each emotion felt by the characters. This is writing where I have no hardships, at all, to connect to the characters. This is writing which plays my heart strings like a symphony and leaves me baffled by the end.

Dmitri and Honor's journey is one of sheer perfection where everything comes together and blew me away! Archangel's Blade is unequivocally one of Nalini Singh's bests stories to date!